Now I am not an astromoner, nor a scienist, at any level so keep that in mind as read this post. I do, as does Deb, enjoy amatuer astronomy though and we try to follow or view most astronomical events as time permits. As such, there is an upcoming event that we are excited about along with the photgraphic possiblities that come along with it…
BNSF Unveils a New Site for "Friends"
A few days ago BNSF unveiled a new web offering called “Friends of BNSF.”
According to John Ambler, BNSF vice president, Corporate Relations,
“Friends of BNSF will allow us to keep the community informed about issues that are important to freight rail transportation and its role in the U.S. economy. Rail fans, freight rail advocates, members of communities in which BNSF operates, and of course our employees and retirees are all welcome at Friends of BNSF.”
A View of Metrolink's New "Guardian Fleet" - the Safest in the Nation
At a series of stations throughout Southern California, Metrolink (Southern California Regional Rail Authority, SCAX), the southland’s local commuter rail provider, debuted their new cab and passenger cars. The new equipment, dubbed the “Guardian fleet,” is considered to be the safest in the nation…
BNSF and Others Threw Quite the Railroad Party
Lately I have been consulting for a couple of rail and historical web sites to include standing up new web presences for each entity and creating accompanying artwork. This effort has occupied all of my free time, as the lack recent posts can attest to. However, I made sure to clear my calendar for Saturday, November 13, 2010. In my calendar I created an entry to block out my time and labeled it simply “Cajon Day…”
BNSF Celebrates the 125th Anniversary of Railroad Service Over Cajon Pass
Rail service through the Cajon Pass is turning 125 years old on November 9, 2010 and the BNSF Railway and the San Bernardino History & RR Museum are throwing a party to commerate this historic occasion on Saturday, November 13, 2010, and you’re invited!
To get in the spirit of the event, I created the poster above as a salute to all of the men and women who persevered and conquered the pass by rail and to those who operate the trains and maintain the line today. I get a lot of enjoyment out of watching the trains struggle up and down the pass and try to visit it regularly…
An Idea Fueled With Passion Comes to Fruition in Stunning Fashion
Ah, rail-related daydreams, if you will, are part of the railfanning process I suspect. For me it was winning the lottery and buying the Loop Ranch, at the heart of the famed Tehachapi Loop near Keene, California, and opening a bed-and-breakfast for railfans from all over the world to enjoy. To date, that dream has not been realized. Perhaps it might, someday, if I play the lottery. (NOTE TO SELF: Buy a lottery ticket…)
Martha's Sunset
The BNSF 4311 West Became Everyone's Bad Day
The radio crackled as an assertive and calm voice made a call for help, “Fort Worth Mechanical, this is BNSF forty-three eleven West.” (We later learned that the voice belonged to the BNSF engineer of a westbound manifest train. His name is Leonard.)
In short order the reply came in loud and clear, “Fort Worth Mechanical, go ahead BNSF forty-three eleven West.” (Fort Worth Mechanical is BNSF’s Mechanical Department which is based in Fort Worth, Texas and is a help-desk of sorts for the operating crews out on the rails.)
Leonard then proceeded to describe the predicament that he, his conductor, and their manifest train were in, some thirty-five miles west of the crew change point at Needles, California, “I keep getting a wheel-slip alarm on one of the units. If I go over 5 miles-per-hour then the alarm goes off.”
Review: Pentrex's "Doublestacks over Donner"
One of Pentrex’s latest releases, Doublestacks over Donner.
Back in May, when I ordered the “At the Throttle Cab Ride Volume 5 - The Surfline” from Pentrex, I also ordered their latest release, at the time, Doublestacks over Donner.
Donner Pass has always been one of my favorite locations for vacations with the family. The area is steeped in history and offers a myriad of outdoor activities to do and breathtaking vistas to behold.
For the railfan, Donner Pass is one of the premier locations due to the arduous climb that trains must make through tunnel and snow sheds to conquer the pass. This route dates back to the original transcontinental route that the Central Pacific Railroad completed in the late 1860’s to meet up with the Union Pacific Railroad at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869.
Considering most of the line was built back in the 1860’s, many of the tunnels can no longer accommodate the longer and larger containers that are part of today’s international transportation system. As such, this line saw a marked decrease in traffic with many of the doublestack trains being rerouted through the longer, yet less-restrictive, Feather River Canyon route.
Through the years of mergers and acquisitions, this line eventually became part the Union Pacific Railroad and remains a core east-west corridor for the Union Pacific Railroad today. As such, UP decided it was profitable to increase the tunnel clearances on Donner Pass to accommodate the new doublestacks and shorten the distance for trains heading over the Sierra Nevada Mountains. So in 2008, UP began modifying the tunnel portals and linings accordingly.
This video documents the renewed life that the line over Donner Pass is experiencing thanks to Union Pacific’s work in the tunnels. I couldn’t be happier. There’s little that rivals seeing Theodore Judah’s dream of a railroad over the Sierras come true with a nearly 2-mile long doublestack train clawing at the grade! But I digress…
The video presents the glory and splendor of the Donner Pass region unlike any other video I’ve seen in recent memory. The video quality and post-production work is good and the 16x9 format lends itself nicely to wide vistas and spectacle that is Donner Pass. The piece is well written and the narration is spot on. A nice surprise of the DVD is the little bits of historical and operational datum that the narration provides.
If I could be critical of one aspect of the production, it would be the maps displayed in the video. They are just not on par with all of the other aspects this gem. A rework of the maps, with more details and a fresh look, would have completed this effort perfectly.
However, this is one of my favorite videos from any railfan video publisher. I highly recommend it. A job well done Pentrex, it is truly fun to watch. I will watch it often until I can get back to Donner personally.
My Rating: A+
2 Hours
In Color with Stereo Sound and Narration
Presented in High Definition 16x9 Format
ISBN: 1-56342-295-6
UPC: 7-48268-00578-7
Much More Than Just a New Pretty Face
The Circus Has Come to Greater Los Angeles, On a Train
On Monday, February 12, 2010, I learned from a railfan site that a special train was arriving from Fresno about the time I would be getting home. The train, known on the Union Pacific Railroad as SFRLA-12, was a special, customer unit train - the “Blue Unit” of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® Circus…
When "Progress" Goes Too Far, Lessons from Los Angeles
Review: Pentrex's "At the Throttle Cab Ride Volume 5 - The Surfline"
Pentrex’s latest episode in their popular “At the Throttle” series, “The Surfline”
Most rail enthusiasts and photographers have a few railroad DVDs or videos as part of our movie collections. At one time, it seemed, it was a requisite element for expressing your membership in the club - it was about ownership.
Before the proliferation of video cameras and content that we see today, it was rare to see a “movie” devoted entirely to railfanning in general, let alone on on a particular subdivision or topic…
BNSF's New Look
Yesterday, BNSF Railway Company unveiled their new look - a redesigned and extensively upgraded corporate web site at bnsf.com. BNSF describes their recent effort as the culmination of months of work to review all content, photos, and graphics and “lays the foundation for continued improvement.”
Despite not being a “rail shipper” myself nor a BNSF customer directly, I have been to their web site countless times for information that I need in my work as a rail journalist/photographer. In my opinion, the new site has a much “lighter” look and feel, yet the content seems more …
U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces Proposed Regulations to Prevent Railroad Crew Distractions While Operating Trains
In an age when more and more devices are becoming available and adopted for daily use in this “connected” world, the DOT takes a harder line on rail safety by proposing a rule “to prohibit the improper use of distracting electronic devices by on-duty railroad operating employees.”
I can appreciate the reason and the intent of the new federal proposal, but keep in mind that there was already a company policy against texting and still the Metrolink engineer chose to disregard it and text away.
Is this a case of over reacting? Shouldn’t we be focusing on in-cab controls and line safety devices to protect rail travelers and the public? Next time, God forbid, it might not be a cellphone but some other distraction that we failed to rule against.
Let me know your opinions.
From a United States Department of Transportation press release:
DOT-98-10
Monday, May 17, 2010
Contact: Mark Paustenbach
Tel: (202) 493-6024U.S. Transportation Secretary Announces Proposed Regulations to
Prevent Railroad Crew Distractions While Operating TrainsU.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood today continued his campaign to stop distracted driving by announcing a proposed rule to prohibit the improper use of distracting electronic devices by on-duty railroad operating employees. If adopted, the rules would explicitly restrict and in some cases prohibit the use of cell phones and other hand held devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) by safety critical employees, including locomotive engineers, conductors, switchmen, and other train employees.
“Operating a passenger or freight train demands the full and undivided attention of crewmembers at all times. Lives depend on it,” said Secretary LaHood. “We want to make sure that railroad employees know not to use hand held devices on the job because doing so jeopardizes safety.”
The proposed rule announced today is the latest in a series of actions taken by the Department to combat distracted driving. During a seminal September 2009 Distracted Driving Summit, Secretary LaHood announced the Department’s plans to vigorously pursue regulatory and other steps to reduce the risks posed by distracted driving.
The rule would prohibit the use of an electronic device—whether personal or railroad-supplied— if it interferes with that employee’s or another employee’s performance of safety-related duties. Railroad operating employees would be permitted to use cell phones or similar electronic devices under highly limited circumstances.
The notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) provides certain exceptions for watches, calculator use, medical devices, railroad radios, cameras used to document bona fide safety hazards or violations of rail safety laws and various emergency situations. The regulations would also authorize the Federal Railroad Administration to review a railroad’s training program on the use of electronic devices and require that records be kept documenting employees receiving recurrent training at specified intervals. The NPRM seeks comment on whether violations of the rule should be used as a basis for revoking a locomotive engineer’s certification to operate a locomotive under other FRA regulations.
“There should be no confusion about when and where cell phones, video games or PDAs may be used by train crews,” said FRA Deputy Administrator Karen Rae.FRA is proposing to codify a modified version of its 2008 Emergency Order No. 26 (EO 26), which sets forth stringent restrictions on the use of electronic devices by railroad operating employees. FRA issued EO 26 less than three weeks after a September 12, 2008 collision between a Metrolink commuter train and a Union Pacific Railroad freight train in Chatsworth, California, killing 25 people.
Preliminary investigative findings revealed that the engineer operating the Metrolink train was text messaging at the time of the collision. While longstanding railroad operating rules and EO 26 have restricted the use of electronic devices, FRA has determined that Federal regulations are necessary to more effectively prevent the inappropriate and unauthorized use of these devices on the job. A final rule would supplant EO 26.
The proposed rule will be published in the Federal Register on Tuesday, may 18. Comments on the proposed rule may be submitted throughwww.regulations.gov (Docket# No. FRA-2009-0118). The deadline for submitting comments on the proposal is June 17. Click here to view the NPRM.
(Apparently Just Amtrak's) 2010 National Train Day at Los Angeles Union Station
May 8, 2010, a date that I eargerly anticipated, had finally arrived! It was National Train Day (for 2010) and I was off to the festivities and fun to be had at the event held at Union Station in downtown Los Angeles.
This was going to be my first National Train Day event and I was excited as a kid at Christmas about the possibilities that someone who loves all things rail might encounter at an event such as this. After making sure I had all my requisite gear safely secured in or on my backpack, I headed off to the Upland Metrolink station to catch a westbound commuter that would deliver me directly to Union Station in just under one hour’s time…
What's Wrong with this Pcture?
I was doing some post-processing work on my photos in preparation for upcoming blog post about the National Train Day events in Los Angeles a week ago and I came across this photo. Something just doesn’t seem right about it.
Can you spot it?
Post your answer as a comment below:
In the Ballast with the Santa Fe 3751 at Los Angeles Union Station
Continuing my coverage of the San Bernardino Railroad Historical Society’s former Santa Fe 3751 steam locomotive’s departure from Los Angeles Union Station en route to San Bernardino, California with an excursion train as part of the San Bernardino Railroad Days and Bicentennial Celebration, I have moved my vantage point into the ballast area at the end of the platform…
On the Platform with the Santa Fe 3751 at Los Angeles Union Station
Indirectly associated with the events of National Train Day, the former Santa Fe No. 3751 was going to pulling an excursion train from Los Angeles Union Station to San Bernardino, California as part of San Bernardino Railroad Days and Bicentennial Celebration.
It was perfect timing for me as I was going to be attending the National Train Day events at Los Angeles Union Station yesterday anyways so I altered my schedule a bit so I could see the 3751 leave LA…
A Day Chasing Steam - The Santa Fe 3751 Heads South with San Diego Steam Special II - Part 3
Our savior, so to speak, declared that he was certain the San Diego Steam Special II would be stopping at “Poinsettia” for servicing which will take about an hour. He also said that the Santa Fe 3751 would be performing a series of run-bys at that location as well!
“Really?” I exclaimed as I gave Dan a raised-brow glance. “Let’s see where Poinsettia is,” I said as I pointed the man towards my truck…