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But it is a scene from 95' if you just get rid of the cars F59, put a motor in the F40 and repaint Caltrain over the Amtrak California
Well I spent most of the last two weekends chasing nature around, but I did manage to get some trains in. First up was a warbonnet unit at the lead of the afternoon extra Z train. And by extra, I am guessing because there were only about 5 cars on this one. The last trailer you see below is the end of the train.
Warbonnet on Z Point by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Short Z passing the farm by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Late afternoon extra Z train by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
A little retro film look processing just for fun.
Warbonnet analog look by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
The next time out I caught a different warbonnet heading the opposite direction on an intermodal.
BNSF 768 at Christie by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Warbonnet leading eastbound intermodal at Christie by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Had enough time to get ahead of it at the Muir Trestle
Warbonnet up high by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Warbonnet running on the Muir trestle, Martinez California by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Playing around with my rented 500 f4, I shot this from clear across the bay. There is no cropping here, the thing is a bazooka of a lens!
Maybe Amtrak was paying back UP for power hours?
UP wtih Amtrak assist by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
UP container train at dusk along the Hercules shoreline by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
As the train came closer…again, no cropping
UP 6074 Up Close by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
I could also get the nearby mallards in the creek from 50 yards away
Late fall afternoon on Pinole Creek by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Working on my model railroad skills at the Emeryville station
Emeryville Minature by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Finally, a couple from the bridge at Point Pinole park. You can see San Francisco and the bay bridge in the background thanks to compression. These were shot with my cheap(ish) super zoom (18-250) from Sigma, on the 7D. The dust is due to recent track work. There is fresh ballast all the way from Richmond to Martinez.
Next stop, Martinez by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Kickin up fresh ballast dust by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Amtrak at late afternoon running by Point Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Working on my model railroad skills at the Emeryville station
Emeryville Minature by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
The Emeryville station module is coming along fine. My bird photo buddy recently bought a used Canon 500L from Borrowlens.com and loves it. He is trying to get me to buy a 600L from them.
The 600 is a great lens, but it's as big as a howitzer (and as heavy). The 500 is huge too, but still hand holdable for a bit at a time, like shooting from a car or something. But if you always shoot from a tripod, go for it

The 600 is a great lens, but it's as big as a howitzer (and as heavy). The 500 is huge too, but still hand holdable for a bit at a time, like shooting from a car or something. But if you always shoot from a tripod, go for it
The 600L would not be much larger or heavier than my second series 2.8/400L, which I can only use with a tripod.
You got some great photos there! I also like the tilt shift look on the station.
Was that you today, at Collier Siding taking a picture of the BNSF 5491 West? I was trying to motion you up to the signal box because we were meeting the afternoon empty UPS train there plus the UPS train had to wait for another OIG stack train and a Z-9 behind us. Happy Thanksgiving my friend,
John Dickinson
Yes that was me! Sorry I didn't pull over, I just realized you were shouting at me as I pulled away. Funny story, I was out to get some butter for my nieces, who are visiting for the Thanksgiving, and were making cookies. Me being me, got distracted when I noticed your train holding, so I thought I would just pop over for a quick picture. Then I saw the other stack train behind you, and figured, oh just one more picture...Then I saw the third, the Z train and figured...Man I have never seen so much traffic in one afternoon! Well, yeah I was about an hour and a half late with the butter, and was more than a bit in trouble when I got home!
Your train:
BNSF 5491 holding at Collier by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
The stack behind you:
Holding in Franklin Canyon by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
The meet up with the empty UPS:
Empty UPS meets westbound stack train by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
And the westbound UPS
Z train rounding the curve at Hercules by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
I believe this used to be tunnel #2?
Z train coming into Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Then it got held up before North Bay
UPS train in Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Z watiing for the green light by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
5 Idling in Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Happy Thanksgiving to you (and everyone viewing!) as well!

Great photos there. You can tell them that BNSF delayed you, that's what I tell my wife when I am always late. I hope you had a great holiday. See you out there. I am going to be busy now since it is UPS peak season.
Thanks guys! I haven't had much time to chase trains lately, mainly because the time of year means no daylight when I get off work, and the weekends have been spent shooting nature at places not very near any tracks.
Still, I have managed to catch a few.
Capital Corridor at the Martinez Amtrak station
Martinez Station by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Shiny hardware running light through Martinez
UP 9657 plus 1 running light at Martinez by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Late afternoon running along San Pablo Bay near Crockett
Evenining Capital Corridor running on the bay by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Sun setting on the Corridor by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
These hills should all be bright green by now, but the storms have been tracking well north all year. An eastbound vehicle train runs through Franklin Canyon at Christie
Horn blast by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Vehicle train heading toward tunnel 3 by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
BNSF heading inland by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
November afternoon train by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
The UP is busy replacing ties between Martinez and Richmond
Placing out new ties at Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
A Capital Corridor eases by the track work
WB corridor passing MOW work at Pinole by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
East bound mixed freight rounding the bend and heading toward the farm and tunnel #3.
BNSF 7820 leads a mixed freight east at Christie California by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Mixed freight heading east at Christie by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Dry December in Franklin Canyon by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
As they head into the sunset…I hope to get out and get more trains soon (but I did get a bald eagle last week in Northern California, which was very lucky!).
Feel the power of General Electric by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
Wow! Awesome Photos ITsed65!!! Great Work!
I lived in NoCal (Sacramento and Monterey) in the 70's and 80's. It is unusual to see the hills that dry in December.
I lived in NoCal (Sacramento and Monterey) in the 70's and 80's. It is unusual to see the hills that dry in December.
We've had droughts before, but this is turning out to be the driest year ever recorded. I'm having to drive hundreds of miles to go birding as my usual spots for ducks and geese and such are dry as a bone. There should be two feet of water across this marsh by this time of year.
Marsh at Coyote, December 2013 by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
And one I forgot from the last post. A rare EMD on this sub was at the tail end of this consist. An old SD, so I am guessing it was just being shuttled to yard duty somewhere else.
Five GE's with an EMD chaser by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
We've had droughts before, but this is turning out to be the driest year ever recorded. I'm having to drive hundreds of miles to go birding as my usual spots for ducks and geese and such are dry as a bone. There should be two feet of water across this marsh by this time of year.
I lived in Sacramento during a record two year drought in the mid 70's. At that time, Shasta Lake got so low that you could see the original Southern Pacific roadbed along the Sacramento River. If you have the time, it might be worth a trip up to Redding and Dunsmuir to photograph that.
Ringing in the new year with CDTX 2014. Happy New Year!
2014 by
lennycarl08, on Flickr
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