Best Catches this Year

[bpetit]

I had a ton of em this year.


Did any of you guys catch rare extraordinarily things on your railroad line?

[Ericmopar]

I caught this former SP unit still in it's original colors, in Fernley NV on a family trip.
As of Sept. 2013, it was still in Bloody Nose livery.

Eric and Moms Sept. 2013 Road Trip 102.JPG

[arizonachris]

Don't y'all ever get tired of those horns, Brennan? They always blast there way thru there? Wow!

Nothing ever special around here. Just BNSF from the LAX terminal going to and from Port of San Pedro, then PHL down in San Pedro/ Long Beach. Boring actually.

[JohnTrainHead]

So, uh, what is a normal catch for you?

[BillS]

Incredible amount of traffic! That is one busy line. Where did you film that, and over what time span? And, how's your hearing?

BillS

[bpetit]

Don't y'all ever get tired of those horns, Brennan? They always blast there way thru there? Wow!

Nothing ever special around here. Just BNSF from the LAX terminal going to and from Port of San Pedro, then PHL down in San Pedro/ Long Beach. Boring actually.

Incredible amount of traffic! That is one busy line. Where did you film that, and over what time span? And, how's your hearing?

BillS

@JohnTrainHead, a normal catch is Dash 9, SD75I, or SD70M-2.

@Arizonachris No the variety makes it interesting especially the P5s (always think of an IC SD70)

@BillS Its two trains between 10:30am and 1pm with the a third one at times (coal, grain). This is in Louisiana and the time span for is around 8 months. My hearing hasn't changed, I think I can still hear them a mile or two away. So in total I spend 2-3 hours a day sitting there.

[PolyesterMafia]

Nothing out of the ordinary, picture or video-wise. But I did get my first in-cab experience with an actual working locomotive, thanks to the kind folks at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum. A GATX GP38-2.

[shicoe30]

Good stuff from Louisiana! Love it! CN throws a bone out now and then

Can't wait to see all the stuff that'll get dumped in here. Bring it on my fellow railfans!

And oh boy, this thread has got me tempted . I went through and tried to pick out my favorite catches out of the thousand-some images I took over this past year. There's a lot. So I'm gonna do a post for each season I think. Needless to say there was A LOT of good stuff going on in Wisconsin (and a few other choice midwest-great plains locations) this year, even with the SOO SD60s being stored all year. Prepare yourselves, this is gonna take a while. I'll try to provide a narrative to make it a little more interesting.

Winter
The winter of 2013 was a good one, I was employed and my 1994 Dodge Ram ran like a champ, and the trains were pretty good too
On the first day of the new year, I was off to a good start when I stumbled upon Wisconsin and Southern train #10 (Horicon-Milwaukee) as it ambled into the small hamlet of Ackerville.


A few short days later on the 4th of January, my first Blue and Gold leader of the year presented itself on a pleasant morning leading Canadian Pacific ethanol train #642 in Milwaukee


It took a couple weeks for the next good catch to present itself, but I couldn't resist this one. Squeezing a train in with about 20 minutes to get to work is tough, but an ex-BN SD40-2 passing a heavyweight? No brainer! On the 22nd of January, I finagled a shot of WSOR Train #4 (Horicon-Janeville) squeals around the tight turn onto home rails after a trip south on the CN at Waukesha.


Now onto the 26th of January, where an early morning tip roused me from my bed and south of Milwaukee to witness a battle-scarred CP SD40-2 and a DME counterpart handling (at that time) hot international train #282 at a location known as Oakwood.


A few hours later, and many many miles northwest, Wisconsin and Southern Train #4 works out of the small community of Woodland, behind seven Electro-Motive products.


We've arrived in February now, on the 2nd as a matter of fact, as the classy and massive SD9043MACs of the Indiana Railroad find themselves on the head end of eastbound Canadian Pacific jun freight #286 as it heads south for Illinois, leaving Milwaukee distant on the skyline.


A bit later on the 2nd, WSOR Train #4 made it's daily jaunt down the CN to get to home rails, and what better place to shoot than from the shoulder of a freeway off-ramp!?


A few days later on the 5th, in less than ideal conditions, the INRDs had already flipped back and forth again and are headed east along the shores of Pewaukee Lake with CP 284 on the drawbars.


A day later on the 6th, the sun shone once more, and WSOR T004 made a nice daylight run down the CN again, with clean non-dyno SD40 #4052 (one of the best looking on their roster IMHO) on point.


The 8th of February turned out to be an absolutely ridiculous day for things on rails. Starting my foamage in the wee hours of the morning as a snowstorm wraps up, making my way west to Portage, I stopped by the CN and found one of the rarer SD60Fs on train A491 as he sits after making a set out at Duplainville.


Now, many miles west after a treacherous drive on poorly plowed roads, the sun is bright and shining down on the first "Candy Apple" SOO motor I had seen in a long time, as it and a "Bandit" bring Portage-Madison local G63 south past the steam plume of the Columbia Power Plant


Soon afterwards, and a hundred yards or so from the shot above, CP coal train #810 has reached it's destination at the power plant. This train almost always sports BNSF EMDs, and this was my first ever BNSF MAC!


As I began to make the long trek home towards Milwaukee, I heard "CSXT 4574 go ahead with your counts" crackle over my big scanner, and knew I was in for a treat. One of CSXT's first gen 70MACs leads an all "Dark Future" consist east into the giant S curves east of Wyocena, Wisconsin with junky CP 284.


Finally back towards home, I was gonna call it a day until I saw this lash pass underneath me on the CN. In some glorious late afternoon light, CN A446 (Green Bay-BRC Clearing) rumbles through the densely populated area of Waukesha behind a nice pair of ponies.


A week and some change later, the morning of the 15th finds a hot CP 282 climbing through the tight esses on the departure from Milwaukee behind a pair of Ex-SOO SD60s.


A little later in the morning, in one of the few places to shoot westbound trains on the CP in the morning, my first experience with an SD50 came with junk manifest #283 as it creeps upgrade around the heavily super-elevated curves in Wauwatosa.


Near the end of the month, on the 24th, the salt rush was on at the Port of Milwaukee. Though the massive 1000 foot bulk carrier on the left is in winter layup, the rails below are humming with action as CP GM42 shuffles salt hoppers behind a pair of nearly immaculate Geeps.


Later in the day, a lashup that will be hard to duplicate again outside of Railworks (Thanks again Ian for these two great models!) ambles through Duplainville with CN A446 dragging behind.


I again find myself in a new month, and on March 2nd, a big blue filthy Dash-8 leads CN A446 through Waukesha.


Less than a week later on the 7th, CP threw out a hot 282 in daylight again, seen here with a wonderful pair of SD60s entering Milwaukee. If you look to the left side of the frame, you'll notice a red truck between the gates. Yes, I got stuck in the snow, extremely close to the tracks. With tires balder than Bruce Willis and three inches of solid ice under six inches of fresh powder, that's as far as she went before coming to a halt (even though I had her in 4LO going in). Probably one of the scariest experiences in my time spend railfanning. I got the shot, and the engineer still waved, so that worked out. I was going to chase this train, but the 45 minutes of digging under the tires, and rocking the truck to get it freed put a damper on those plans.


A day later, on the 8th, the eastbound Empire Builder (Train #8) came into Milwaukee behind heritage unit 184. Just had to shoot it passing the Miller Brewing complex "What made Milwaukee Famous!"


Another day later, the 9th, brought more Heritage to the CP. This time on a freight! The New York Central Heritage unit had to show up in miserable weather, while I was bedridden with a really nasty flu. But a good friend of mine was not gonna let me miss it, so I put on my long underwear, three pairs of socks, a few jackets, and my big warm bomber hat and trudged out onto frozen Pewaukee Lake for a pan (my favorite thing to do in less than sunny conditions). Soon, the big ACe and a new GEVo pounded along the shore with junk freight #284 trailing behind.


Hopping into my buddy's car, we raced into downtown Milwaukee to capture the classy looking unit working the east end of Muskego Yard in some much more urban environs.


A week later on the 15th, the Indys showed up again, er, one did. A Big MAC and a CP SD60 bring daily automobile train #281 west past Pewaukee Lake.


March 29th brought my first ECO-experience, with a pair of CP's newest GP20C-ECOs and two elder EMDs bringing no-longer-hot train 282 into Milwaukee. Funky lookin buggers.


And we'll finish off the winter post with perhaps the tastiest power on CN's roster, the freshly painted ex-Oakway SD60s. Here 5425 leads the A446 through Colgate, WI.


Stay tuned for Spring!

[BillS]

Great pix, shicoe!

BillS

[NS9030]

Those are some of the best shots on the net, getting right up there with the Dannemans
Ok Ill play

Central Of Northwest Ohio? by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
NS 8101 on a 51R at Swanton, OH between the New York Central era intermediates.

An S&A Sunset by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
NS 1065 resting in the sunset for a crew to tie onto 61A and take it east.

IORY LNL by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
An Indiana & Ohio LNL returns south over the old DT&I at Malinta, OH with IORY 4082, Espee painted IORY 9400, and an ugly CP patched NREX 5678.

K657 With BA Power by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
K657 with two 600 series BNSF C44-9W's at Leipsic, OH.

Catchin Some Rays by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
11K with NS 8114 in the lead at Holland, OH.

[NS9030]

Part two

Protec Bound by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
L75 with a GP59 leading with 59 empty coil cars at Leipsic, OH.

Whitesnake by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
65R with NS 1068 leading at Holland, OH.

David And Goliath by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
Q324 with a BNSF ES44 and a CSX slug set at Tontogany, OH.

Odd Power by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
Q324 with IC 1039 and BCOL 4613 at Perrysburg, OH.

CSX841-Leipsic-6-10-13 by Weno Rerpy, on Flickr
IORY southbound grain train from Metamora, OH rolling south through Leipsic, OH with CSX 500 "The Spirit of Grafton" trailing.

[arizonachris]

Wow is the only word I can think of. Just wow.

Quite a few of those shots would be great desktops.

[bpetit]

I'll take the IC one since it speaks to my heart

[Bart35]

Some fantastic shots

[BillS]

What Chris and Bart said!

BillS