Some photos of my railfanning around the East Bay 2013

[Drewster]

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

 

[Trainfanne54]

Nice shots Itsed65!

 

[Itsed65]

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

 

[Bill Anderson]

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.

 

[Itsed65]

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

 

[Bill Anderson]

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.

 

[brad_in_omaha]

You got some great photos there! I also like the tilt shift look on the station.

 

[Itsed65]

Thanks Brad!

 

[JSJD]

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

 

[Itsed65]

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!

 

[JSJD]

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.

 

[Trainfanne54]

Awesome sets of shots.

 

[Itsed65]

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

 

[brad_in_omaha]

Wow! Awesome Photos ITsed65!!! Great Work!

 

[Bill Anderson]

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.

 

[Itsed65]

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

 

[Itsed65]

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

 

[Bill Anderson]

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.

 

[Trainfanne54]

Awesome shots Itsed65!!

 

[Itsed65]

Ringing in the new year with CDTX 2014. Happy New Year!

2014 by lennycarl08, on Flickr