Some photos of my railfanning around the East Bay 2015

[BB Michigan]

Awesome pictures, very enjoyable thread to scroll through.

 

[SamReeves]

Lastly, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this bunny rabbit, hopping accross the yard

Heh, that's fantastic.

 

[mrmoose]

Great stuff as always!!!

 

[Abilene Ks Railfan]

Last bit from Roseville, and next I will have some different stuff.

They used the wye to turn this trio around, I'm guessing to align the Calfornia Northern Genset it a certain way.

This pair was parked right by the road conviniently

Bit of a pano shot of the stacker stopped for a crew change

Lastly, I couldn't resist taking a picture of this bunny rabbit, hopping accross the yard

Wow, look at all those SD40-2's, send some of those out this way!!!!

 

[shekky]

nice work! i know that area. the shot of the BNSF on the bridge is epic; now i know what the geeps are doing, 'cause i shot them in pinole about three years ago.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Good photos of Roseville Yard. I used to photograph trains there in the 70's. I should start scanning my old slides of the SP & WP in Sacramento to post up here.

I also like snakes. I have a birds & trains thread, you should start a snakes & trains thread.

 

[Jon Bentz]

Very nice series of photos. I like the galloping Jack Rabbit! Thanks for posting nice sharp well composed photos.

 

[Superchief3751]

It's been quite a while since I last posted at RRforums (been really busy) but I have to say I'm really happy to see a stellar set of images from the Bay Area. I've taken shots at nearly all the same locations. You've done a great job there, and I'm especially glad you've discovered the accessible areas in Franklin Canyon. As you experienced yourself, with enough patience and luck you can get some great shots that make it look like you're miles away from civilization, when you're actually not!

 

[Itsed65]

Very nice series of photos. I like the galloping Jack Rabbit! Thanks for posting nice sharp well composed photos.

You're very weclome. Trust me, I have hard drives full of unsharp, badly composed, horribly exposed photos too!

Good photos of Roseville Yard. I used to photograph trains there in the 70's. I should start scanning my old slides of the SP & WP in Sacramento to post up here.

Would love to see those, especially the WP. As far as the snakes go, I prefer to see them from a distance that is too far to phototgraph from

 

[Itsed65]

Not much to post this week as I have been working mandatory overtime (BOO!)

BUT, I did catch this while on the way to my dentist at the VA clinic on the old Mare Island shipyard. It is parked out all by itself. Looks like it's a long way from home, and I have no idea what it is doing there. Perhaps one of you Washingtonians might have the story?

My favorite enigne as a kid was the old SD-9. I had an old Ahtern Blue box BN unit that I ran into the ground. I remember watching the real things in cascade green line up to battle Mullen pass in Montana from my cousins house on the western side of the rockies. This one is much cleaner!

 

[Itsed65]

I'm kind of backlogged on doing some post processing, but here are a few older ones from last summer that I took before I started posting here...

A hot afternoon last summer in Hercules

California State Railroad Museum: Overhead roundhouse shot

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola California: F7 in the shop

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola California: You can drive a train here, for real! FP7 that at one time led the Zephry

The Western Pacific Railroad Museum: GP7 and a B unit doing some switching at the Western Pacific Museum in Portola CA. The engine itself was dead in the Geep and motive power was actually being provided by the WP F7 B unit behind it.

Trying to be "arty" at the WP museum. You can walk all over the yard and climb on anything you want. It's a fun afternoon.

Too bad the sun was on the wrong side of me...

Last from the WP Museum

Thanks for looking...I have some more BNSF coming soon.

 

[papio]

Nice shots of some interesting oldies.

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

BUT, I did catch this while on the way to my dentist at the VA clinic on the old Mare Island shipyard. It is parked out all by itself. Looks like it's a long way from home, and I have no idea what it is doing there. Perhaps one of you Washingtonians might have the story?

There was a fight about who was to provide rail service on Mare Island. The developer, Lennar, wanted control over rail service on the island, and wanted the contract operator serving Alstom to leave the property. (Some folks feel that Lennar does not want any rail on the island, as they feel it is an impediment to their housing development plans.) However, the STB has to approve any abandonment, so Lennar brought in the TC&O unit to show that they were "serious" about providing their own rail service. Time will tell.

Here is a link with more on this subject:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17387984?nclick_check=1

 

[Itsed65]

There was a fight about who was to provide rail service on Mare Island. The developer, Lennar, wanted control over rail service on the island, and wanted the contract operator serving Alstom to leave the property. (Some folks feel that Lennar does not want any rail on the island, as they feel it is an impediment to their housing development plans.) However, the STB has to approve any abandonment, so Lennar brought in the TC&O unit to show that they were "serious" about providing their own rail service. Time will tell.

Here is a link with more on this subject:
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_17387984?nclick_check=1

Wow, what an interesting story. Thanks for the info and the link!

 

[Bill Anderson]

Good photos of the Feather River museum at Portola. My friend and I toured it in 2003 on the way back from a motorcyle trip to Utah. We spent the night at a railroad themed B&B which had a view of the Portola yard and UP mainline from the back deck.

 

[Itsed65]

So I went out after work on Saturday (more overtime ) with camera and lenses and parked by the tracks near the Amtrak depot in Martinez. It was cold and drizzly for May, but I still sat there for over an hour and the only thing that came by was a Captial Corridor, which I have about a million pictures of...

So I headed home, thinking the day was a bust, but as I headed back to the freeway I caught sight of this westbound BNSF on the steel trestle and the chase was on! Luckily I was in my GTI and not my Odyssey I had to get to the other end of Franklin canyon fast if I wanted to get some shots!

I got to the first of two private rural crossings, and not wanting to push my luck I stopped and got out with enough time to set the camera up, leaving my 24-105 lens on as I find it the best bet for general shots. Just in time I heard the horn, and the stacker came round the bend.

Now one of the cool things about a full frame dslr is the insane amount of cropability you get while still maintaining image quality. This is the same picture digitally "zoomed" which gets rid of all the visual clutter in the above photo. If you look hard you can see teh conductor and engineer in the cab.

You can see the grass turning color in the canyon

Another close up

Heading away is a better look at the browning hills and the warbonnet loco.

Ordinarily that would have been that, but driving home I noticed that the train had to slow as it passed the eastbound UPS train in the siding. If I hurried I could catch it as it went through Pinole. Vroom vroom...I got to the downtown about 4 minutes before the train.

Notice the "tree" masquerading as a cell tower behind the train.

So what I thougth was going to be a bust of an afternoon actually ended up being pretty fun, with some decent shots being aquired. Even better it was the opening weekend of a new watering hole just a few hundred yards from where I took this shot. Time for a beer!

 

[pilpro]

Again, great shots! I saw that stacker coming through Albany shortly thereafter while on 580. I slowed down so quickly to catch it my wife pointed out I was going 35mph on an insterstate!

-Paul

 

[austinjacox]

Great Shots looks like you had some good weather for Railfanning. And great shot of the two BNSF GP60Ms i like that cloudy formation

 

[Itsed65]

Again, great shots! I saw that stacker coming through Albany shortly thereafter while on 580. I slowed down so quickly to catch it my wife pointed out I was going 35mph on an insterstate!

-Paul

Dang, I didn't even think about it continuing on past Point Richmond, I should have tried to beat it to Emeryville for another shot!

Great Shots looks like you had some good weather for Railfanning. And great shot of the two BNSF GP60Ms i like that cloudy formation

Thanks, yeah cloudy weather can actually be a good advantage, especially in some of the lighting situations of my favorite spots. Over the years I have seen all kinds of rare equipment out on the end of the BNSF line here. I only wish I was into the photography thing a little earlier.

 

[Itsed65]

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.

Same train going through Pinole

Same fake tree cell tower

Afternoon refinery switching

Some remote control action going on

Paint job has seen better days