The Railfan Thread

[Liquid]

Revived.

I'm a big fan of trains, but I'm not a bona fide trainspotter yet. I don't have a camera worth using.

My street is built upon an old railway station on the North Wales Coast Line, so I see trains all the time. I mean it when I say that the line is 5 yards from my back door. It runs parallel to the main road, and the particular stretch of line that I live on is the busiest spot in North Wales for rail traffic. Chester, Liverpool and Manchester aren't far away either, should I want to go see more than the usual variety that I see, which are;

150/4s, 155s, 158s, 175s and the 221s are the MUs that frequant it. Locomotives are much rarer, but twice a day there's a 4 carriage Holyhead - Cardiff express hauled by a class 57. The 57 is also used to haul the 390 Pendolino on weekends. Doesn't make much sense, using an electric train on non-electrified tracks, but I'm not complaining. I prefer locos over MUs.

I also see a lot of 66s, in both Freightliner and EWS livery, and the occasional Network Rail 31 & Work Trains.

 

[catamount39]

I'm Interested to see how many other "railfans" (train spotters in England ) are here at GTP, so I think I'll give this thread a shot. This thread is anything and everything railroad related. From the USA to Russia, anything railroad related goes! Post photos you've taken or have found, talk about recent railroad news, talk about your favorite locomotive's or railway's. From the hardcore railfan, to the casual observer, it all goes! 👍

To kick things off, here's some photos from Vermont Railway (top and bottom) and the Conway Scenic Railway in New Hampshire (middle) that I've managed to take here in New England.

And here's a photo from the Southern Railway in '73. GP7's and GP9's lead a merchandise on the "Rat Hole".

Model railroad stuff is acceptable too.

 

[TB]

This is the only train car I've ever paid much attention to.

 

[Driving Park]

I made a thread eight years ago with the exact same title and premise, so suffice it to say you're not the only railfan on this site. Hasn't been active since before I graduated high school though (I've now got a career and a college degree).

The best thing I learned out of that thread is GTP's own @Jordan is a railfan!

My current residence in Indiana happens to be right next to the Indiana Rail Road main line, and I see the 2-4 trains a day go by through my windows all the time. Sometimes I hear the horn and run out to catch it at the nearby gate, or time it so that I catch it while driving home. While it doesn't have a lot of traffic, the INRD is fun to watch because it keeps its units (SD90/43MACs and Geeps) impeccably clean, and their red and white scheme is a beauty.

Unfortunately that's about the only railroad action that goes on around here...the nearest relative hotspot is an hour north in Indianapolis. Whenever I visit my family back in the DC area, I often drive down to Petersburg, Virginia to railfan. Petersburg is just south of Richmond and is a hotspot, with around 50 trains per day (I usually get to see 20-30 since I don't stay for 24 hours) coming from intersecting Norfolk Southern and CSX main lines.

I could go on...I have plenty of model trains, favorite locomotives/railroads etc., and plenty of pictures I've taken from Petersburg trips. I might put some up when I get home tonight. 👍

 

[daan]

Threads hitched together.

Choo choo.

Sorry.

 

[catamount39]

I made a thread eight years ago with the exact same title and premise, so suffice it to say you're not the only railfan on this site. Hasn't been active since before I graduated high school though (I've now got a career and a college degree).

The best thing I learned out of that thread is GTP's own @Jordan is a railfan!

My current residence in Indiana happens to be right next to the Indiana Rail Road main line, and I see the 2-4 trains a day go by through my windows all the time. Sometimes I hear the horn and run out to catch it at the nearby gate, or time it so that I catch it while driving home. While it doesn't have a lot of traffic, the INRD is fun to watch because it keeps its units (SD90/43MACs and Geeps) impeccably clean, and their red and white scheme is a beauty.

Unfortunately that's about the only railroad action that goes on around here...the nearest relative hotspot is an hour north in Indianapolis. Whenever I visit my family back in the DC area, I often drive down to Petersburg, Virginia to railfan. Petersburg is just south of Richmond and is a hotspot, with around 50 trains per day (I usually get to see 20-30 since I don't stay for 24 hours) coming from intersecting Norfolk Southern and CSX main lines.

I could go on...I have plenty of model trains, favorite locomotives/railroads etc., and plenty of pictures I've taken from Petersburg trips. I might put some up when I get home tonight. 👍

They even had the same name. You're lucky though, Indiana Railroad is still quite the treat. Glad to see that there are railfans here at !

Threads hitched together.

Choo choo.

Sorry.

Nah it's cool (punny )...I didn't even know this one existed. Heck the titles were the same. I would have tried to revive this one had I known.



To celebrate the rebirth of the thread...how about some N&W 611?

 

[daan]

I plan on going on this magnificent beastie at some point.

http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobite-steam-train-details.cfm

 

[catamount39]

I plan on going on this magnificent beastie at some point.

View attachment 482110

http://www.westcoastrailways.co.uk/jacobite/jacobite-steam-train-details.cfm

You won't regret it. 👍 I've seen many videos of the Jacobite behind either 2-6-0's or Black Five 4-6-0's and it's one of the world's greatest lines with beautiful set of coaches.

 

[cjr3559]

Railfan here! Well, used to be huge into it for about 5 years some 10 years ago. Bought camera gear and everything. My train chasing slowed down considerably when the gas prices started to rise and haven't been trackside in a while. Still have a passing interest and they're still a welcome sight.

Here are some of the better pictures I took between 2005-2010:

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=23848

 

[AudiMan2011]

Suppose I should share a couple of snaps from catching steam trains:

2012:

LMS Class 7P No. 46115 'Scots Guardsman' during a water stop at Keith Station hauling the Great Britain V railtour.

2014:

LNER Class A4 Pacific No. 60009 'Union of South Africa' during a 20 minute stop at Elgin Station hauling the Great Britain VII.

Hopefully next year I'll be able to catch No 70013 'Oliver Cromwell' when it hits the north of Scotland for the Great Britain 9. Praying we don't have another SPAD incident like what happened with Tangmere this year.

 

[catamount39]

@cjr3559 It's quite the feet to get your photos accepted by railpictures.net, well done! Great action of Norfolk Southern, and with those ex-Conrail units. 👍

Something I found on Youtube, pre-dawn on the HSB in Germany, with their small fleet of 2-10-2's warming up for the oncoming day.

 

[cjr3559]

@cjr3559 It's quite the feet to get your photos accepted by railpictures.net, well done! Great action of Norfolk Southern, and with those ex-Conrail units. 👍

Something I found on Youtube, pre-dawn on the HSB in Germany, with their small fleet of 2-10-2's warming up for the oncoming day.

Thanks for the comment about Railpictures, they do have strict acceptance rules. Those pictures are only about 10% of everything I ever took!

 

[Darla Starch]

WORDS. Getting back into this. The amount of wants to see this run again....

 

[Johnny1996]

Norfolk Southern SD60 at the Juniata Locomotive Shop in Altoona, PA. Yes its my own shot and the photo was taken without trespassing. The vast majority of my photos make it to my Instagram page and will likely never go on sites such as RailPictures just simply because of personal preference.

 

[Driving Park]

@catamount39 That J (N&W 611) is a beaut. I'd love to see it on one of its excursion runs someday.

Here are some of the better pictures I took between 2005-2010:

http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=23848

Those are some seriously lovely photos. 👍

Here's some of mine, taken with worse equipment and far less skill. All were taken in Petersburg, Virginia.

 

[MatskiMonk]

Hopefully next year I'll be able to catch No 70013 'Oliver Cromwell' when it hits the north of Scotland for the Great Britain 9. Praying we don't have another SPAD incident like what happened with Tangmere this year.

I took a ride on the Cromwell down to the south coast a couple of years ago.

Oliver Cromwell by Matt Stokes, on Flickr

I should get around to uploading the rest of my Rail pics. I'm not so much of a fan, but I often accompany my Dad on train trips.... makes a change from photographing cars.

 

[catamount39]

Developed quite the soft spot for British steam, the elegance of English locos is very classy.

 

[AudiMan2011]

WORDS. Getting back into this. The amount of wants to see this run again....

It's likely a Big Boy will be running again soon as No. 4014 is being restored.
https://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/photos_videos/bigboy/index.shtml

I also think Challenger No. 3985 is still up and about, though news on that has been quiet.

 

[Driving Park]

It's likely a Big Boy will be running again soon as No. 4014 is being restored.
https://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/photos_videos/bigboy/index.shtml

What @SecretAgentZero posted isn't a Big Boy though, it's an Allegheny.

 

[catamount39]

Sadly an Allegheny may never run again, not sure if either of the surviving ones could be overhauled independently. CSX would have to want to do it, as it'd be quite the task for a privateer group on donations.

Then again there are a bunch of lunatics planning to build a replica of the Pennsylvania RR 4-4-4-4 T1 Duplex, so, who knows!

Photo of said planned replica, numbered just after the final T1 and with upgrades the group plan to make to the original design, such as the light in the airpump housing shroud thing, and a different valve gear.

It's likely a Big Boy will be running again soon as No. 4014 is being restored.
https://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/photos_videos/bigboy/index.shtml

Union Pacific should complete the work by 2017 I'd say.

 

[ECGadget]

I suppose you could call be a railway fan. I grew up watching the tubes in London, and the good old Class 43 Intercity trains that were being privatised at the time. Sure, I do not like trains as much as aircraft, but I wouldn't miss a chance to go see some either up close. So I didn't...
With the Class 68 it was too early in the morning to start it up... so I wasn't allowed xD

 

[Carlos]

Not sure if I'm a rail fan, but I do work with them. I'm in an office that is open 24/7. We work in three shifts. Night shifts are pretty relaxed, one time I took the Ps4 with me (what am I playing? (photo below)). Maybe I can take some photos of trains when there is not much to do. The office is next to central station of Rotterdam, our office at the 6th. Nice bonus is that the airport is just some miles away so I can watch planes come and go.

Welcome to my office

Nice view after heavy rain

The bright yellow one on the photo above is our intercity. Better photos: (not mine)

Above the intercity is our sprinter, we have currently two types of those running:

And next year we add this one, the sprinter "next generation"

Personally I don't really like the styling But we have more, also used as intercity:

Ehhh I mean

In the past you could walk through all the trains, they removed that now.

Another intercity

The intercity direct, goes to Belgium

The intercity direct should've been this one:

You can see my office on this photo, most right building. Anyway, this train fell apart after some time. After much inspections this thing was declared unsafe. A bit sad, because this thing went 250km/h.

And the Thalys that goes to Paris, not really a Dutch train though

Now you've learned something about Dutch railways

 

[Darla Starch]

It's likely a Big Boy will be running again soon as No. 4014 is being restored.
https://www.up.com/aboutup/special_trains/steam/photos_videos/bigboy/index.shtml

I also think Challenger No. 3985 is still up and about, though news on that has been quiet.

Personally intend to try and swing a Big Boy trip when the opportunity arises.

 

[Driving Park]

Sadly an Allegheny may never run again, not sure if either of the surviving ones could be overhauled independently. CSX would have to want to do it, as it'd be quite the task for a privateer group on donations.

And as long as CSX is involved, you can replace the "may" with a "will". CSX doesn't seem to want to do anything, what with having no heritage units to speak of and not treating its employees very well.

Big Boy running again is exciting. I'm pretty sure 3985 is still running, as well as C&O 614 and the 611.

 

[Shaun]

It's always interested me somewhat that people find trains of interest.
Personally I'm sick of the sight of them.

Each to their own though. 👍

 

[catamount39]

And as long as CSX is involved, you can replace the "may" with a "will". CSX doesn't seem to want to do anything, what with having no heritage units to speak of and not treating its employees very well.

Big Boy running again is exciting. I'm pretty sure 3985 is still running, as well as C&O 614 and the 611.

3985 has been sidelined since 2010 with bad piping, and C&O 614 has sadly been in limbo since 1999. N&W 611 just returned this year after a 21 year hiatus at a museum, and is better than ever!

Personally, I want to make a road trip to heaven on Earth, aka, the mountains of New Mexico and the C&T. 3ft gauge steam for the win.

 

[Johnny1996]

Back in April, I went railfanning with a few friends. We saw some cool power but nothing could've prepared us for what we saw at the end of the night. A westbound train went by and passed an eastbound, and what we heard on the scanner was along the lines of, "262, you've got flames shooting eight feet in the air from your second unit." Turns out that said second unit blew a turbocharger and went aflame. My video below.

 

[catamount39]

Back in April, I went railfanning with a few friends. We saw some cool power but nothing could've prepared us for what we saw at the end of the night. A westbound train went by and passed an eastbound, and what we heard on the scanner was along the lines of, "262, you've got flames shooting eight feet in the air from your second unit." Turns out that said second unit blew a turbocharger and went aflame. My video below.

That must have been...exciting. GE's tend to blow turbo's a lot.

 

[Johnny1996]

That must have been...exciting. GE's tend to blow turbo's a lot.

GE. Generally Explodes.

 

[Driving Park]

3985 has been sidelined since 2010 with bad piping, and C&O 614 has sadly been in limbo since 1999. N&W 611 just returned this year after a 21 year hiatus at a museum, and is better than ever!

Personally, I want to make a road trip to heaven on Earth, aka, the mountains of New Mexico and the C&T. 3ft gauge steam for the win.

Lame! Guess I'm not up to speed on my active steam knowledge. The 614 and 3985 are 2 of my favorites.

Love me some Cumbres & Toltec, but my personal favorite is the Durango & Silverton. I need to get out there someday!