Western Pacific 608

#1587

When I took this photo of WP 608 on the Sacramento Northern West Sacramento Port Job passing a UP E9 on the westbound San Francisco Zephyr in Sacramento, California on 2 January 1974, I had no idea that in 26 years or so, the 608 would be at a museum in Portola, California, that the museum would have a Rent a Locomotive program and that I would have a young daughter who would enjoy running the vintage EMD. Caroline ran the engine when we rented it around the year 2000.

Mike Tisdalee

Happy Holidays

#1586

Sacramento light rail on K Street, 2010

Mike Tisdale

Santa Sunday, 2022

#1585

Video of tonight's Sacramento Southern Polar Express train.

Mike Tisdale

Santa Saturday, 2015

#1584

1950s transition era from steam to diesel?

No, the California State RR Museum's SP E9 6051 and the North Pole Express passing ATSF 2925 (4-8-4)? and 5021 (2-10-4) along the Sacramento River.

17 December 2015

—?in?.

Mike Tisdale

Re: The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

#1583

开云体育

Phil,? I remember the Lechmere chain of department stores.? Spread around the Boston area, but like many other retail chains, now long gone.? Named for Lechmere (square and T station).? I moved to the Boston area from upstate New York and Lechmere was popular then.

Yes, Switzerland is fascinating.? Scenery, scenery, scenery -- in spades, especially the vertical features! All those mountains and valleys became a mecca for all sorts of railroad, tram, and cog design and construction -- and new tunneling techniques.? It is astounding to see the vertical heights reached and how that is accomplished.? The era when so much tunneling and construction was completed astounds me, as well -- the 1880s, for example.? In Germany, I have ridden the Zugspitzbahn a number of times, via cog and then aerial tramway through tunnels to the 2933-meter peak.? For someone who does not like heights, it is perhaps thought of worrisome.? (I didn't flatten myself on the car floor, though; I still have a bit of dignity left.)

Dave.

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
Get

Show quoted text

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Phil Burton <philip-b@...>
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2022 3:48:37 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

?

Dave,

?

From what I have read, Switzerland is a mecca for railfans.? However, I’ve only ridden the line that goes between France and Italy.?

?

When I lived in Boston (actually Cambridge) in the 1970s, I would ride the Green Line to Lechmere Square, where there was this big discount store called Lechmere Sales.? Area has changed quite a lot since then.? ?Nice to see this extension done.

?

Sad, sometimes, how long it takes to get major rail transit projects done in the US.? In New York, my hometown, the Second Avenue subway was first proposed in 1920.? A much reduced line was finally opened in 2017.

?

Phil Burton

?

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave Saums
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2022 4:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

?

Phil,

Thanks?for posting this.? Quite fascinating to watch the video.? I had ridden the BLS into Interlaken in 1984 and that remains as quite a stand-out memory for me.

The cost of these trainsets must have been measured against the prohibitive cost of attempting to change all of the station platform heights and track gauge for one of the two lines, I expect.??

Hard to believe that this has moved forward to production and implementation.

(This morning was also the opening day for the MBTA Green Line Extension (GTX) project in Boston, with a standing-room-only first departure at 4:45AM in the snow -- and the GTX opening is a year behind schedule for this something-like $2.9 billion project to add five more stations to this light rail line.)

Dave Saums
Amesbury MA USA

?

Re: The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

#1582

开云体育

Dave,

?

From what I have read, Switzerland is a mecca for railfans.? However, I’ve only ridden the line that goes between France and Italy.?

?

When I lived in Boston (actually Cambridge) in the 1970s, I would ride the Green Line to Lechmere Square, where there was this big discount store called Lechmere Sales.? Area has changed quite a lot since then.? ?Nice to see this extension done.

?

Sad, sometimes, how long it takes to get major rail transit projects done in the US.? In New York, my hometown, the Second Avenue subway was first proposed in 1920.? A much reduced line was finally opened in 2017.

?

Phil Burton

?

Show quoted text

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dave Saums
Sent: Monday, December 12, 2022 4:58 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

?

Phil,

Thanks?for posting this.? Quite fascinating to watch the video.? I had ridden the BLS into Interlaken in 1984 and that remains as quite a stand-out memory for me.

The cost of these trainsets must have been measured against the prohibitive cost of attempting to change all of the station platform heights and track gauge for one of the two lines, I expect.??

Hard to believe that this has moved forward to production and implementation.

(This morning was also the opening day for the MBTA Green Line Extension (GTX) project in Boston, with a standing-room-only first departure at 4:45AM in the snow -- and the GTX opening is a year behind schedule for this something-like $2.9 billion project to add five more stations to this light rail line.)

Dave Saums
Amesbury MA USA

?

Re: The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

#1581

开云体育

Phil,

Thanks?for posting this.? Quite fascinating to watch the video.? I had ridden the BLS into Interlaken in 1984 and that remains as quite a stand-out memory for me.

The cost of these trainsets must have been measured against the prohibitive cost of attempting to change all of the station platform heights and track gauge for one of the two lines, I expect.??

Hard to believe that this has moved forward to production and implementation.

(This morning was also the opening day for the MBTA Green Line Extension (GTX) project in Boston, with a standing-room-only first departure at 4:45AM in the snow -- and the GTX opening is a year behind schedule for this something-like $2.9 billion project to add five more stations to this light rail line.)

Dave Saums
Amesbury MA USA

The amazing new Swiss mountain train that can jump rail tracks

#1580

开云体育

Not exactly jump off, but adjust to different gages while in motion.

?

Hermosa Thursday, 1983

#1579

Head on shot of UP 3985. It was leading a Denver-Laramie round trip excursion back to Borie, where a diesel would replace it for the run back to Denver. 3985 would return to Cheyenne.

I was inspired by Jim Ehrenberger's photos of steam on Sherman Hill, but Lucius Beebe got a similar view of UP steam hard at work as seen on the cover of the book on Beebe and Clegg's photography by John Gruber, John Ryan and?

—?in?.

29 May 1983

Mike Tisdale

stock photos - (mostly steam) loco stock photos

#1578

开云体育

?

Phil Burton

Belgian Monday, 1981

#1577

Dendermonde, St. Gillis, Belgium.

The view out the back of my friend Luc's house. EMU 731.

Luc was an exchange student who stayed with our family in 1974. In February and March 1980, I visited him at his home in Dendermonde, Belgium.

Dendermonde is a town about 30 km northwest of Brussels and is a railway junction, with an east-west line meeting a line that goes southeast to Brussels. In early 1980, the lines in Dendermonde were all diesel, but when I returned in November 1981, wires had been strung and the trains to Brussels were EMUs.

IIRC, there were 2 trains an hour between Dendermonde and Brussels, one that made fewer stops and the other that made all the stops, including Dendermonde St. Gillis, which you can see out the back of Luc's house here.?

21 November 1981

Mike Tisdale

Sunset Sunday 2015

#1576

Capitol Corridor train passing the West Oakland yard. The new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, container cranes at the port and hills of Marin County are silhouetted against the sunset.

Oakland, California

13 July 2015

Mike Tisdale

Sparks Thursday, 2018

#1575

Light power move at the Sparks, Nevada depot.

Sparks is east Reno, where the SP/UP yard is.

There is an old joke, Reno is so close to Hell that on a clear day you can see Sparks.

27 Oct 2018

Mike Tisdale

From CNN: Why Switzerland built a 2-kilometer-long passenger train

#1574

开云体育

?

Why Switzerland built a 2-kilometer-long passenger train

?

?

Phil Burton

Metrolink Monday, 2017

#1573

November 7, 2017?

LA Union Station Metrolink 18529 and new F125 908

— in Los Angeles, California.

Mike Tisdale

Re: about Justin Franz

#1572

Good comments about safety and forming relationships with rail workers.?

A few years ago, a friend who worked for a California short line invited me to ride along with them on their morning run.??

I showed up dressed to work on the railroad with steel toe safety boots and work clothes.? Another fan had been given an invite for that morning and he showed up in sandals, shorts and reeking of marijuana.? Our friend who invited us had to tell the other fellow that he had to leave because he wasn't dressed to be in? a working rail yard and nobody wanted to get a drug test violation from smelling him.??

Mike Tisdale

On Friday, October 21, 2022 at 06:18:09 PM PDT, Dave Saums <dsaums@...> wrote:

Ernst,

I am very glad to see that you have remained on ObsCar.? You have been a long-time contributor and I have always enjoyed reading what you write.? I have always found that following the rules -- staying out of the way is one -- is worthwhile.

I suspect that the poster here is an employee who has seen his share of nonsense.? I do not doubt at all that railroad engineers and conductors see a lot of really stupid behavior, the most obvious being drivers who ignore crossing gates and flashers.? However, there are more than a few railfans everywhere who get a little too carried away and do thing like run across the track at the last minute, to get to the sunny side, or something similar.

In the area where I live, I have been really dismayed by the number of night flash photographs published -- which clearly were fired directly in front of a freight train, so potentially blinding the engineer for some number of seconds or minutes.? It seems that no matter how often someone points out on social media groups that this is a bad idea and dangerous, there are just some railfans who do not get the message.? That is just one example of a common problem.

All told, though, I find it hard to believe that someone would criticize Justin Franz's photograph that was included in this article.? It is excellent, and I would have loved to call it my own.? There is no trespassing here, either.? I also do not doubt that the individual who posted comments about trespassing in Canada over railroad yards with a drone was reflecting on the amount of just dumb nonsense that he has seen from the locomotive cab on innumerable trips.

Dave.

Dave Saums???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Mountains-of-the-Sky Photography, Amesbury MA?? 01913 USA
Email:? ?dsaums@...?????????????? Tel:??978?479 7474?????????????
Editor, Rutland Railroad Historical?Society "Newsliner" Quarterly Magazine???? ???????????????????
Web:? ???

Show quoted text

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Ernest H. Robl <ehr@...>
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2022 11:11 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz

?

Why not belive him?

?

I did photography professionally / as a business for most of my life.? (Retired now.)? My university degree is in journalism.? (Yes, there were times in my life where my primary income was from other work, but I always did some freelance journalism and photography during that time.)

?

I made a decision early on that the most important thing I could develop with the contacts I had in the railroad industry was trust.? I was able to access many railroad facilities in the U.S. and Europe and spent many hours riding on locomotives -- always with permission.? I learned a lot about railroads and, as far as I know, there were never any complaints about my behavior on railroad property.

?

I put a great value on my reputation as someone who could be trusted not to cause problems -- and in many cases, the railroads returned that trust.? It's not that I never wrote anything critical of railroads, but that was separate from my dealings with those who provided me access.? (I particularly made sure that I would not distract operating crews or interfere with operations.)

?

I could write an entire essay on the issue of developing trust with the people that I dealt with and give dozens of examples of how that trust worked out.? I even had cases where railroad special agents (whom I got to know through my involvement with Operation Lifesaver) went out of their way to help me out on projects.

?

I do not recall any instance where trespassing would have gotten me a photo that I could not have made without doing so.

?

-- Ernest

?

-----

Ernest H. Robl -- Durham, NC, USA -- Photojournalism; writing, books.

Covering travel & transportation for 45+ years. Now mostly retired!

-----Original Message-----
From: <[email protected]>
Sent: Oct 20, 2022 7:37 PM
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz

?

"Never trespass and be careful"

?

Sure..... I believe him :)

?

....

?

For Sunday, Amtrak 160, 2022

#1571

I photographed the eastbound California Zephyr at Applegate California in 19 Oct 2022 and noticed that it had heritage unit 160, the Pepsi Can scheme P42, leading. Thoughts of doing something else after shooting the Zephyr went by the wayside and I folloed it up the mountain, getting more photos at Dutch Flat, Emigrant Gap and Soda Springs.?

Rather than drive like an idiot and see the train go by as I tried to get out of the car, I took it easy and shot it at locations far enough apart that I could get set up before the train arrived.

Mike Tisdale

Re: about Justin Franz

#1570

开云体育

Ernst,

I am very glad to see that you have remained on ObsCar.? You have been a long-time contributor and I have always enjoyed reading what you write.? I have always found that following the rules -- staying out of the way is one -- is worthwhile.

I suspect that the poster here is an employee who has seen his share of nonsense.? I do not doubt at all that railroad engineers and conductors see a lot of really stupid behavior, the most obvious being drivers who ignore crossing gates and flashers.? However, there are more than a few railfans everywhere who get a little too carried away and do thing like run across the track at the last minute, to get to the sunny side, or something similar.

In the area where I live, I have been really dismayed by the number of night flash photographs published -- which clearly were fired directly in front of a freight train, so potentially blinding the engineer for some number of seconds or minutes.? It seems that no matter how often someone points out on social media groups that this is a bad idea and dangerous, there are just some railfans who do not get the message.? That is just one example of a common problem.

All told, though, I find it hard to believe that someone would criticize Justin Franz's photograph that was included in this article.? It is excellent, and I would have loved to call it my own.? There is no trespassing here, either.? I also do not doubt that the individual who posted comments about trespassing in Canada over railroad yards with a drone was reflecting on the amount of just dumb nonsense that he has seen from the locomotive cab on innumerable trips.

Dave.

Dave Saums???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Mountains-of-the-Sky Photography, Amesbury MA?? 01913 USA
Email:? ?dsaums@...?????????????? Tel:??978?479 7474?????????????
Editor, Rutland Railroad Historical?Society "Newsliner" Quarterly Magazine???? ???????????????????
Web:? ???

Show quoted text

From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Ernest H. Robl <ehr@...>
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2022 11:11 AM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz

?

Why not belive him?

?

I did photography professionally / as a business for most of my life.? (Retired now.)? My university degree is in journalism.? (Yes, there were times in my life where my primary income was from other work, but I always did some freelance journalism and photography during that time.)

?

I made a decision early on that the most important thing I could develop with the contacts I had in the railroad industry was trust.? I was able to access many railroad facilities in the U.S. and Europe and spent many hours riding on locomotives -- always with permission.? I learned a lot about railroads and, as far as I know, there were never any complaints about my behavior on railroad property.

?

I put a great value on my reputation as someone who could be trusted not to cause problems -- and in many cases, the railroads returned that trust.? It's not that I never wrote anything critical of railroads, but that was separate from my dealings with those who provided me access.? (I particularly made sure that I would not distract operating crews or interfere with operations.)

?

I could write an entire essay on the issue of developing trust with the people that I dealt with and give dozens of examples of how that trust worked out.? I even had cases where railroad special agents (whom I got to know through my involvement with Operation Lifesaver) went out of their way to help me out on projects.

?

I do not recall any instance where trespassing would have gotten me a photo that I could not have made without doing so.

?

-- Ernest

?

-----

Ernest H. Robl -- Durham, NC, USA -- Photojournalism; writing, books.

Covering travel & transportation for 45+ years. Now mostly retired!

-----Original Message-----
From: <[email protected]>
Sent: Oct 20, 2022 7:37 PM
To: <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz

?

"Never trespass and be careful"

?

Sure..... I believe him :)

?

....

?

Re: about Justin Franz

#1569

开云体育

I enjoyed seeing the article and the photograph.? Justin is also a really nice guy -- and his photography is outstanding, as is also true of his journalistic talents.

I would rather enjoy the point of the article and the image.

Regards,

Dave Saums

Amesbury MA

Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
Get

Show quoted text

From: Stephen Host <steve@...>
Sent: Friday, October 21, 2022 4:14:36 PM
To: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Cc: Dave Saums <dsaums@...>
Subject: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz

?

Right, that's a whole other matter and I agree about that - I don't want
to get any railroader in trouble by my presence or actions I take
posting photos afterwards.

In fact I only take pictures of the people with their permission,
otherwise I avoid them as much as I can to give them privacy.

I don't own a drone but I see far too many vantage points on his flickr
that would be a violation of the same rules in Canada, flying drones
over rail yards is actually illegal

Is it trespassing? probably not.. probably worse. It would be nice if
the advice given out is adhered to is all, in a national forum such as
Dpreview. Trespassing in the USA (on a railroad or not) is a much more
serious matter than it is here in Canada, where here it is a fine (and
not criminal unless it's trespass by night which is around houses after
10 PM). In the US it's a criminal record.... if I had that on my record
they'd never let me across the border to visit my American friends and
family!

I've never ever had a ticket for anything like that in my middle aged
life :) Speeding tickets... fine... but it's been a while :) a long
while.

- Steve

On 2022-10-21 06:29, Dave Saums wrote:
> Steve, I would disagree. This past Sunday, I was out with a friend
> and we had a discussion about railroad photography, specifically about
> not posting any photography where it is evident that there is a rules
> violation. (We were chasing a branch movement and the ditch lights
> were not on.) That is hardly the first discussion on that topic.
>
>? My own rule is not photographing crewmen getting on or off equipment,
> as another example.
>
>? Asking permission is another.
>
>? I do not know about drone rules, though -- I do not own one.
>
>? Dave
>
>? Amesbury MA USA
>
> Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
>? Get Outlook for Android [3]
> -------------------------
>
> FROM: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
> headtailgrep <steve@...>
>? SENT: Thursday, October 20, 2022 7:35:55 PM
>? TO: [email protected] <[email protected]>
>? SUBJECT: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz
>
> "Never trespass and be careful"
>
> Sure..... I believe him :)
>
> BTW - Drones are trespassing, in this country (Canada) when you are
> flying them over rail yards.. drones are probably the worst offenders
> for rules violations...
>
> But then again, photographers don't care as long as the shot is in
> hand :) Drones are probably among the worst offenders these days given
> you can fly in, and out of many places , including private
> infrastructure and airspace without being detected (so far, that's
> also subject to change).
>
> - Steve
>
> On 10/20/2022 4:34 PM, Dave Saums wrote:
>
>> Phil, thanks for posting this and for pointing to the comments
>> section. This was really enjoyable to see -- although some of the
>> comments leave a little to be desired.
>>
>> I can understand that someone in the UK would find Montana or Idaho
>> or the Columbia River Gorge to be a bit challenging, from a shadow
>> perspective, not having normally to deal with very high geographic
>> features.
>>
>> Looks like I will have an opportunity to ride to a relatively high
>> point with very high trestles and vertical drops in the White
>> Mountains in New Hampshire on Sunday -- have to be prepared for
>> snow, though. One never knows what to expect at this time of year.
>>
>> Regards,
>> Dave.
>>
>> DAVE SAUMS
>>
>> Mountains-of-the-Sky Photography, Amesbury MA 01913 USA
>> Email: dsaums@... Tel: 978 479 7474
>> Editor, Rutland Railroad Historical Society "Newsliner" Quarterly
>> Magazine
>> Web: [1]
>>

Re: about Justin Franz

#1568

Right, that's a whole other matter and I agree about that - I don't want to get any railroader in trouble by my presence or actions I take posting photos afterwards.

In fact I only take pictures of the people with their permission, otherwise I avoid them as much as I can to give them privacy.

I don't own a drone but I see far too many vantage points on his flickr that would be a violation of the same rules in Canada, flying drones over rail yards is actually illegal

Is it trespassing? probably not.. probably worse. It would be nice if the advice given out is adhered to is all, in a national forum such as Dpreview. Trespassing in the USA (on a railroad or not) is a much more serious matter than it is here in Canada, where here it is a fine (and not criminal unless it's trespass by night which is around houses after 10 PM). In the US it's a criminal record.... if I had that on my record they'd never let me across the border to visit my American friends and family!

I've never ever had a ticket for anything like that in my middle aged life :) Speeding tickets... fine... but it's been a while :) a long while.

- Steve

Show quoted text

On 2022-10-21 06:29, Dave Saums wrote:
Steve, I would disagree. This past Sunday, I was out with a friend
and we had a discussion about railroad photography, specifically about
not posting any photography where it is evident that there is a rules
violation. (We were chasing a branch movement and the ditch lights
were not on.) That is hardly the first discussion on that topic.
My own rule is not photographing crewmen getting on or off equipment,
as another example.
Asking permission is another.
I do not know about drone rules, though -- I do not own one.
Dave
Amesbury MA USA
Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
 Get Outlook for Android [3]
-------------------------
FROM: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of
headtailgrep <steve@...>
 SENT: Thursday, October 20, 2022 7:35:55 PM
 TO: [email protected] <[email protected]>
 SUBJECT: Re: [ObservationCar] about Justin Franz
"Never trespass and be careful"
Sure..... I believe him :)
BTW - Drones are trespassing, in this country (Canada) when you are
flying them over rail yards.. drones are probably the worst offenders
for rules violations...
But then again, photographers don't care as long as the shot is in
hand :) Drones are probably among the worst offenders these days given
you can fly in, and out of many places , including private
infrastructure and airspace without being detected (so far, that's
also subject to change).
- Steve
On 10/20/2022 4:34 PM, Dave Saums wrote:

Phil, thanks for posting this and for pointing to the comments
section. This was really enjoyable to see -- although some of the
comments leave a little to be desired.
I can understand that someone in the UK would find Montana or Idaho
or the Columbia River Gorge to be a bit challenging, from a shadow
perspective, not having normally to deal with very high geographic
features.
Looks like I will have an opportunity to ride to a relatively high
point with very high trestles and vertical drops in the White
Mountains in New Hampshire on Sunday -- have to be prepared for
snow, though. One never knows what to expect at this time of year.
Regards,
Dave.
DAVE SAUMS
Mountains-of-the-Sky Photography, Amesbury MA 01913 USA
Email: dsaums@... Tel: 978 479 7474
Editor, Rutland Railroad Historical Society "Newsliner" Quarterly
Magazine
Web: www.rutlandrailroad.org [1]