Some photos of my railfanning around the East Bay 2015

[pilpro]

Love all the Geeps!!! Especially the blue and yellow bonnets. Brings back memories of the Oakland branch.

Paul

 

[Itsed65]

Thanks, I just realized I had a duplicate photo in there, fixed now

 

[Itsed65]

Not a great start to the holiday weekend. I got rained out today after only a couple of Amtrak corridor trains. Rain in May is almost unheard of in these parts, it should be sunny and in the 80's by now. Although I know it's nothing for you guys in the Northwest, I lost my gills when I moved from Washington back in the 90's

Eastbound and in push mode, next stop is Martinez

Westbound toward Richmond

Not happy with the lens flare on this one, I think it might be the filter

Close up

Hopefully the sun will come out soon and I get can some freight action along the bay.

 

[Itsed65]

Caught the eastbound UPS for a change on Memorial Day

Then caught the old Geeps hauling a covered hopper back from the carbon plant

Not much else freight traffic over the holiday

 

[Bill Anderson]

Just some random stuff from the last month...

Not a very good photo, but I caught this pair of Geeps pulling some empty spline cars while driving down CA Hwy 4 and shot this accross the passenger seat in my van with the window up and not even looking thorugh the viewfinder. I was actually surprised it was usable at all.

That is a neat photo from an artsy standpoint. It looks like a shot of a model railroad or (if not for the renumbering patch) an old slide from the 70's.

 

[Itsed65]

That is a neat photo from an artsy standpoint. It looks like a shot of a model railroad or (if not for the renumbering patch) an old slide from the 70's.

I wish my model railroads ever looked that good! I think one of my first Athern's was a blue and yellow "super geared" Sante Fe F-7.

This lone GP-38 was struggling to move a huge string of tank cars on its own.

Here you can see them putting down the sand for traction.

 

[Itsed65]

So last Thursday I was out in Franklin canyon hoping to see something new, but I just caught the same old westbound UPS train...

But at least it was an interesting lead locomotive. Looks like it had a fire.

Heading away

So as I was heading home, I saw the train stopped at the siding right outside Hercules. I thought, great, I can catch it again further down the track and I knew the location I wanted to get it at...the old wooden trestle over Pinole creek. So I waited, and waited, and waited until my bladder betrayed me, and I had to leave. Sigh, I don't know why the train was held, they usually stay right at speed to the UPS facility at Richmond. I am going to steak this location out again soon...

 

[Itsed65]

OK, so I stopped after work at my spot and waited. After an hour and the best lighting, here came the train, only for me to discover that the sun was beaming almost directly down the track, casting a shadow over the engines. Ah well. I also discoverd that this shot really requires either my 10-24 lens on my crop camera, or my 16-35 on my full frame. I had the 24-105 on my 5DII today and as you can see, it really doesn't work well for the spot that I can get to. Next time I will be even better prepared....(yeah right)

Westbound UPS train at the trestle over Pinole Creek

 

[jkinzel]

Now that is nice.

 

[Itsed65]

Now that is nice.

Thanks! The beaut of the UPS train is that comes by every day at around the same time, so if I get off work early enough, I can grab some tacos and sit down and wait for it to come by. As I said I am going to come back to this bridge with my UWA lens to see if I can get a shot with more of the train on the bridge.

I am off to Yosemite this weekend, so no train pics for the next few days,but hopefully I will see some trains to shoot during trip

 

[Itsed65]

I've had a chance to play with my new 100-400L and must say I am impressed so far. Here are a few from my usual spots.

UP coal train westbound passing eastbound Amtrak California

Pretty awesome image quality. This was taken from over a quarter mile away.

Coal train again

Close up

DPU heading into the afternoon sun

 

[Itsed65]

Caught an old GP60 at work at Martinez a couple of weeks back...

I have about 1,000 Yosemite pictures to go through, but I did get some new train stuff this weekend, and I hope to be able to get to it soon as well.

 

[Bill Anderson]

I love my Canon 100-400L zoom. It is what I carry for bird shots and grab shots of trains.

 

[Itsed65]

Union Pacific's (formerly SP's) West Oakland yard, along with Amtrak's facility to the right. You can see the Bay Bridge and San Francisco in the background.

More

Amtrak

I've been outside all weekend. More to come!

 

[Itsed65]

Some color on the weekend light power move for a change. This was a couple of weeks ago and this red HCLCX unit has been working the Martinez yard. These were taken at Emeryville...

Still getting the feel of my 100-400L. This Capital Corridor is pushing its way through the port of Oakland.

UP stacker running along the bay through Hercules. Playing with my old Tammy 10-24 on my 40D

Same train zoomed in a few seconds earlier

Last one, Amtrak California San Joaquin slowing to a stop at the Emeryville Depot on a warm Saturday morning.

 

[Itsed65]

Something a bit different. It was north of 100 degrees at my house yesterday, so I hopped a ferry boat into San Francisco to cool off and enjoy a nice lunch on the waterfront. On the F line of the SF Muni rail system, they run old classic street cars from all over the country and they are quite popular. I didn't ride it, as being disabled it can be a bit of a pain in the rear, but I still like seeing all the different old style cars. Here is an example:

Of course the challenge of trying to get a good clear shot is a daunting one, and my freinds weren't really interested in sitting in the hot sun waiting for me to get the perfect shot, so I had to settle for a few with poles, cars, etc getting in the way. There is always another day!

One from Milan Italy

One from Boston

Hope everyone has a great 4th!

 

[SamReeves]

Nice pics.

Good to see the old SP headquarters still standing there on Market.

 

[mkstarks]

Fantastic photos all the way around bro, keep them coming.

 

[Itsed65]

From our unusal rainy day in June a couple of weeks ago...

I caught the operation lifesaver pushing through Martinez on the Capital Corridor

Some colorful lease power working the Martinez (Ozal) yard

And a few odds and ends...

Light power move at Eckely California staring the same red Geep

Some kids at the beach giving a wave to the crew

It looks like this unit, pulling a small manifest through Emeryville, had a small fire

And I am still trying to perfect this shot...I need to back up a bit furhter, but there are light poles just out of the frame...

 

[Itsed65]

Some more from the last few weeks

Captial Corridor train along the bay

UP empty stack

Same train from same spot, but zoomed across the bay. The town of Hercules is visible as well as the Conoco Phillips refinery in Rodeo.

One more Amtrak CDTX on its way to Jack London via Richmond, Berkeley and Emeryville.

BNSF container train coming out of Franklin Canyon

GE DC POWER

And there it goes...

Lastly, not a train obviously, but this guy was hunting above the tracks and I was wondering if one of you knowledgeable bird types could tell me what it is?