Some photos of my railfanning around the East Bay 2015

[Itsed65]

Something interesting...on my way to my latest never ending dental treatment , I noticed that the California Nornthern GP-15 on Mare Island has been re lettered as shown. The company apparantly belongs to the Tri City & Olympia Railroad Company, which would explain the TCRY SD-9 that has been parked there for the last several months. It will be interesting to see if they re letter that unit as well.

 

[SamReeves]

Interesting. I guess they run as a one-man crew?

 

[NM_RailNut]

Probably so, if that unit never leaves the island; they may have a brakeman in addition to the engineer/operator, though.

 

[Itsed65]

I've never actually seen the thing move. The SD-9 was in a different sport for first time in a few months the last time I was there. Apparantly though, a company called Alstom on the island got the contract to refurbish the Amtrak California car fleet, so there might be more action in the near future to watch.

 

[Itsed65]

Well here is something you don't see every day...I was sitting trackside eating some tacos when I heard a very odd sounding horn, almost like a whistle...then the California Zephyr comes into view in reverse, conductor in the back door spotting for the engineer, backing into the Martinez Depot. I don't know what happened or why it was doing this.

Still backing up...

It left again in about 30 minutes, while the local idled...

Finally a pair of Geeps running light came back to the yard, my tacos were finished and it was time go go home.

 

[Itsed65]

The Richmond Pacific is very busy these days hauling loads of Iron Ore from Utah via the UP interchange along I-580 in Richmond and taking it to the docks to be loaded on ships bound for China...Here one of their SW-1200's is taking some empties along Wright Avenue in Richmond California

There may not be many opportunites left to see these clean examples of old EMD switchers at work. The RPRR has taken delivery of some shiny new (for them anyways) GP-15s

 

[pilpro]

Awesome!!! I was curious if the SW1200s were still around. Too busy with work to go down there even though I just live up the road. I can hear the new GP15 Leslie's at night but was wondering about the old switchers. Again thanks for the virtual railfanning. Much appreciated and incredible pics.

-Paul

 

[Itsed65]

Awesome!!! I was curious if the SW1200s were still around. Too busy with work to go down there even though I just live up the road. I can hear the new GP15 Leslie's at night but was wondering about the old switchers. Again thanks for the virtual railfanning. Much appreciated and incredible pics.

-Paul

You are very welcome! And speaking of the GP15's...

On my way to my Friday afternoon thirst quaffing last week, I caught site of not just one, but two of them!

424 pulling out some tanks long hood forward

Then coming back light in a few minutes to get more

Now with a gondola

423 is waiting for all the swithing to be done with a load of empties bound for the UP interchange track

After he left, back came 424 with a string for the yard, but I was not positioned very good to catch it...ah well, next time

 

[NM_RailNut]

Now that is a sharp paint scheme. 423 do look a little odd without the Gyralite, though.

 

[pilpro]

I usually only catch them near Stege Wye on my way to work. Great shots of them working the industries. Love it!!!

-Paul

 

[Itsed65]

More action from Emeryville as a Seattle bound baretable train slows to a stop at a red...

After a few minutes I saw what the train was holding for...

Notice the FRED on the front of the engine. I am guessing it was for the train that this group of units is picking up.

As a bay area native, it's nice to see the old colors...

After the trio left, the baretable got the signal and headed out

Next, the challenge was to see if I could catch this train in Hercules, 12 miles north east from Emeryville.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Good photos. What are you shooting with these days?

 

[Itsed65]

Good photos. What are you shooting with these days?

Thanks Bill!

I use both a Canon 40D and a 5DMkII, and my primary train lenses are my 24-105L, 100-400L, and 16-35L. That said I have gotten some great shots from my 70-200 2.8L, and on the 40D I have a great Tamaron 10-24 for wide shots that has worked really well also. (The above UP set was shot with the 5D and both the 24-105 and the 100-400)

If I want to travel light, it's usually just the 5D with the 24-105 as it is pretty much the perfect all around set up. If I take 2 bodies, I will usually put the long lens on the 40D and either the 24-105, or the 16-35 on the 5D2.

I have some really nice Canon primes that I want to try on trains, but I just really like the versatiltiy a zoom offers shooting moving objects, so I always chicken out.

I also just got a nifty little Fuji FX-100 that seems like it will be the perfect museum camera, so i am definatly bringing it along on my next visit to Sacramento and the RR museum up there.

I know you shoot a lot of birds too, and while the 100-400 can be kind of slow to focus, I did catch this guy stalking me the other day waiting for trains in Hercules. You have definately been trackside too long wating for a train if these guys are taking an interest in you

 

[papio]

Awesome shot!!!

 

[Bill Anderson]

Thanks Bill!

I use both a Canon 40D and a 5DMkII, and my primary train lenses are my 24-105L, 100-400L, and 16-35L.

My bird shots are with my 7D/100-400L. I will also use it to photograph any trains which happen to pass by a location where I am shooting birds.

I use my 5D MkII/24-105L for landscapes and sunsets. I am trying to get more disciplined about setting up my 5D/24-105L on a tripod to shoot trains passing by Sunset Ave. even though my primary purpose for being there is to shoot birds with the 7D/100-400L.

I have not ventured into the world of really wide angle zoom lenses. I would love to see some of your train shots using your 5D/16-35L to see what the effect is.

I agree with you on the versatility of the zoom lenses, which is why I don't own any prime lenses.

 

[Itsed65]

The superwides let you get more of a train in the shot, especially when you are close. I was about 16 feet away from this when I took it, but still got 8 cars and the loco in the shot. I usualy crop wide angle shots to a "hi def" ratio of 16:9. This was taken at 16mm

This was a little less, about 29mm

This was taken from the same location, with the loco down the street, getting ready to back onto the pier and pick up some empites. This is with the 24-105 at around 100mm. I don't have anything super dramatic on hand that really shows off the 16-35, but I will try to get something soon. I'm off this morning to do some wine tasting in Sonoma

 

[Itsed65]

I may have posted this one before, but it is another example of the 5D with the 16-35. This one is pretty heavily processed in CS5 using shadows and highlights because it was very backlit. I did not touch the saturation though. Another cool thing about ultra wides is the color seems to really pop with them, especially when using on a landscape. You get really deep blue skys, etc. When I go to Yosemite, I probably use it more than any other lens I have.

 

[Itsed65]

Oh, and the rest of Friday's Richmond Pacific pics...all shot with the 5d, first 2 with the 24-105, last 2 with the 16-35

GP-15 backing up to clear a switch on the pier

Straight up roster shot

Side profile...the guy on the back is a railroad employee getting a ride to his car

And the last one with the freindly cremember smiling for the camera!

 

[Itsed65]

So as I mentioned earlier, I wanted to see if I could beat the UP baretable from Emeryville to Hercules...Luckily it was a Saturday morning, so the usual crush of traffic on I-80 hadn't formed yet, and I made the trip in good time, with even time to hit the restroom at the park where I was going to set up

Not five minutes later, I heard the horn of a train going through the Pinole grade crossings. I had made it!

The SD70M's appear around from around the corner

I've been getting a lot of lens flare lately.I need to ditch the UV filter on the lens.

Unfortunately it was just after noon and the sun had switched, so the sky, already dull from overcast, got blown out in these pics.

Lots of fishermen out on the bay

 

[Itsed65]

Caught the newest "Lifesaver" scheme for CADOTX (Otherwise known as Amtrak California) 2004

The next day I saw it again, but was on the wrong side of the light of course I did the best I could in PP to bring it out