Beware of Basalt!

UP Bend Local on the Oregon Trunk at Trout Creek - 1997

Oregon is pretty much made up of basalt.  As igneous rocks go, basalt has a higher concentration of iron versus silica, and that makes it dense and also sharp when it fractures. In the photo above, you can see the road below the trestle. Getting this shot requires a climb up a fractured basalt rock fall. All was going great up till the last few feet where the rocks got much bigger, and also less stable. I stepped on one that wobbled sharply under my weight. Of course, in these kind of situations the railfan's first impulse is to protect your camera, and not your body. Down I went, and got a nasty little contusion on my leg that took weeks to heal. 

How to Drag a Locomotive and Derail a Locomotive

                    TIPPING OF EMD DDM-45-MG IN PATROCÍNIO-MG ( BRASIL ) - JANUARY 2013

This video was sent to me by Flavio Lage. Ingenuity turns to disaster.  If I were teaching mechanical engineering I think I would have my class do the math on this.

"Fifi" - She Ain't No Poodle

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi" on display at the  Henderson Nevada Executive Airport
March 29, 2013

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

B-29 Superfortress "Fifi"

The Commemorative Air Force (link,) had several airplanes in its operating collection for display and for rides this weekend in Henderson, Nevada. A good time was had by all, especially those with the bucks to ride the planes! I was content with the chance to see and photograph these lovely war birds. The B-29 "Fifi" is the only operational B-29.

Albina from the Top Deck of the Fremont - Part 2

Albina Engine Terminal - August 1997

SP's 8100s were more common in Oregon that the AC44s

Watch out for the dirty dirt. Those piles probably now repose at the big hazmat dump at East Carbon, Utah.

Speed lettered, and sub lettered. D&RGW SD40T-2 5352.

In Praise of a Closed Bridge - Bridge Pedal Part 1

Providence Bridge Pedal Event - Top Deck of the Fremont Bridge - August 1997

Albina Diesel from the Fremont Bridge - August 1997

Now a Portland tradition, the Providence Bridge Pedal (link) was in its second year in 1997.  Portland's Willamette River bridges are closed in rotation as the event proceeds. I took advantage of the event to take some photos of Union Pacific's Albina Yard from the top deck of the Fremont Bridge, I-405. As you can see its merger mania time, as UP is digesting its new fleet. Just a couple of years earlier, it was not uncommon to observe a sea of Zito Yellow, as C&NW SD50s and SD60s were very common in Portland.

Vancouver Center - Pre Mill Plain Overpass

C&NW 8501 leads an empty UP grainer through the crossovers at Vancouver Center in 1996.

This photo predates a whole host of changes to the area. The curves were realigned and the station platform was completely redone. The diamonds across the main for access to the Port of Vancouver are yet to be installed, and the Mill Plain overpass has not been built.  The pole on the right marked the tacit railfan boundary.

Unfinished Overpasses - Part Two

SP 7132 W. between Spadra, and the East Switch of Walnut, California. Grand Avenue extension overpass, 1990.

Grand Avenue is a major north/south San Gabriel Valley thoroughfare, and for years it terminated at Valley Blvd. in Walnut. With the huge amount of housing development in the Chino Hills/Diamond Bar area, it was extended all the way through to the Corona Expressway in the early 90's. The view above has changed drastically. The remains of the Benton and Machlin Feed Lots can be seen on the right, with the UP grade behind. Local landmark, Elephant Hill, is seen above the end of the train. This was the chronic power shortage era on the SP as evidenced by the EMD "Bandit" leaser, and the "cheapy" MK GP40M-2 rebuild 7132.

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The Sound

Amtrak's Truest Blue - A Surfliner Treat on the Starlight

Amtrak FP59PHI 465, and FP40H 415 head up the Southbound Coast Startlight in March of 2001. Location is Nicolai Street in N.W. Portland, Oregon.

Amtrak FP40H 415 just out of the paint shop.

Amtrak FP59PHI 465 on the Southbound Coast Starlight - Portland, Oregon March 2001

Japanese Hudson in Paradise

Cat's Squirrel

Yes, Mick was Jethro Tull's first guitarist, and then Mick had a falling out with that flute player, oh well!

Blodwyn Pig - A Head Rings Out

Not only could Mick Abrahms play better guitar than most of his British contemporaries, he could also sing.

And the man can still play, although I think this video was made before his stroke. Love ya Mick.

Mick Abrahms band, after the breakup of Blodwyn Pig. 

Mick's website is here.

In Praise of Unfinished Overpasses

BNSF PASTAC (Pasco-Tacoma) train swings off the Fallbridge Sub, Vancouver Center, Wa. - March 2001
Always a lot of power on this train to get over Napavine Hill

NB UP grainer pulls by the Vancouver Depot - March 2001.

Crossing over at Vancouver Center

In March of 2001, the new Mill Plain Blvd. overpass over the BNSF Vancouver Yards was near completion, but not yet open. The projects purpose was to improve truck access to the booming Port of Vancouver, and that it did. So I ignored the "Keep Out - Construction Area" signs to do some shooting without having to watch my tuchus.

Urged On

The crewman in the cab is just missing a riding crop. Photo taken at Frost, California.

Repeat after me "Dampfschneeschleuder"

The Bernina Pass is the highest adhesion railway pass in Europe. The self propelled rotary was built in 1910 and still operates mostly for photo trips. Wikipedia article in German.

Personals Ad: "Looks are not important, can even be a "real dog."

"I have my eyelashes done every week."

Personals Ad: "Must like, or at least tolerate the Jefferson Airplane"

Jefferson Airplane TV appearance from 1967.

Personals Ad: "Must also believe in the Invisible"

CN Eastbound on Yellow Head Pass, Mt. Robson is on the left, I promise. Photo taken in September of 1982.

Personals Ad: "Must love photographing trains in the rain"

Northbound Canadian grainer, Vancovuer, WA. 2007

Northbound Canadian grainer, Vancovuer, WA. 2007

One of the very few EMD SW1500s in orange paint to be seen in Vancouver. Unit is ex Frisco, by this 2007 date end cab switchers at Vancouver were rare, replaced by GP38s and GP39Ms.

Talgos are used to rain, and also, unfortuantely, to mudslides that keep them from running.

The usual crossover at Vancouver Center for UP southbounds to get them lined up to exit stage left at North Portland.

UP, fierce or sad?

The Portland Vintage Trolley on Sixth. Future operation of these cars is in question due to finances.

Yellow Line at N. Interstate and Killingsworth. Apartment block on the right is brand new development. The MAX line in N. Portland has spurred quite a bit of new development despite what those morons at the Casacade Policy Institute say.

Thrash and Clagg - Class 37

The beolved British "Tractors."

Cheap Date

And they didn't even stay for the cartoon. Stunning photography as usual in these films.

Chinua Achebe 1930-2013

Chinua Achebe passed away yesterday. The man was an excellent writer. If you have any interest in either Africa or good writing, I highly recommend his books. Extensive Wikipedia article is here.

Life During Wartime (I got some scanner batteries to last a couple of days)

Keep Calm and Carry On
Caltrain, Fourth and Townsend, San Francisco, California - March 2003
Notice the heavy fortifications against Pigeons.

San Jose, California - March 2003

I am pretty sure that this couple were not enemy combatants. This photo was taken on a trip to California that I almost cancelled due to the invasion of Iraq. I was very leery about shooting on station platforms, and was even asked by a security guard at Fourth and Townsend in San Francisco if I was a terrorist!

Changing train number indicator board on CalTrain. San Jose, California - March 2003 
Can't get much more Bay Area than this.

Altamont Commuter Express at Santa Clara, California - March 2003
The coding must go on. I would not be surprised if 75% of the ACE ridership are IT developers.

Yardmaster

This cat is a dead ringer for my own cat Nomad.

Burning Ring of Fire

Modern Day Drovers Caboose

Basel Switzerland, Feb. 2013  - Photo by Mario Stefani, Courtesy of Flavio Lage

Imagine that there is no Eisenhower Tunnel through the Colorado Rockies. Now imagine truck drivers parking their rigs at Winter Park on a flat car and hopping aboard a passenger car for a trip through Moffat Tunnel. The railway tunnels through the Alps are vital to European commerce, and truck drivers get a nice ride in something just a little more plush than the old drovers cars for stockmen that used to be found on Western railroads in the U.S.

Roman Around West Colton

SP Alco C-628 in switching service at West Colton, California circa 1979
I have always wondered what the rationale was for particular units getting the "Roman"  SP  on the nose, as opposed to the usual "Gothic."

The "All Door Car" Lives in Brazil

Photograph by Diego Bini, via Flavio Lage. All Door car in cement service.

ALL All Door Car, photo by Digeo Bini, via Flavio Lage.

Not sure if these cars are based on any of the Thrall All Door boxcars which were once quite the rage for shipping lumber from the Pacific Northwest. In the U.S. they were supplanted by the center beam flat car, which has got to be one of the most aesthetically unpleasing freight cars ever built. The design still sees use in Brazil.

R.I.P. Captain Peacock

Frank Thornton  (1921-2013)

The cast of Are You Being Served?

Like his co-star John Inman, Captain Peacock is now free as well. The only living member of the cast is now old jugears, Nicholas Smith.

Darth Vader Trucks

GE HiAd Trucks - BNSF Dash9

I have always thought that these trucks were aesthetic mismatches to the rest of the locomotive. GE Dash9s are all about angles, and these trucks have a retro Flash Gordonesque-Diesel Locomotive Truck wearing spats look to them.