Big Boys

Big Boys
"Big Boy" is what Sue said when she saw this picture of a Union Pacific train at Tehachapi. The term was apt, I told her, because "Big Boy" was the term given by the Union Pacific to the largest steam engines ever built. It also is apt because this last weekend my middle son Jeff and I were like boys chasing trains over the Union Pacific's former Southern Pacific Tehachapi mountain pass. We had perfect weather and tons of trains. The grades on these hills are brutal and these modern Big Boys were working like demons pulling a heavy train around Tehachapi Loop. Jeff and I had a great time and we saw many, many trains!

[Click here to see more photos on Flickr]

Special train through town

An elegant conveyance
This evening I photographed a Union Pacific passenger special as it passed the historic former South Pacific Coast narrow gauge railroad depot in Agnew, now part of Santa Clara, California. This depot is also the home of the California Central Model Railroad club that is so much fun and that Kenneth and I belong to.

Old trains new venue

Old trains on Flickr
I love trains! I have been scanning some of my favorite old train photos and placing them on Flickr. This is a slow process as each photo has to be scanned and then spot removed, color balanced and exposure adjusted in Photoshop. It is worth it to be able to share some of these gems. They don't serve much purpose sitting in boxes!

[Click Here to see more on Flickr]

Technorati Tags: Railfanning, Southern Pacific, Trains, Alcos, Railroading, ssloansjca

Spirit of Washington Dinner Train

Part 3 of 3
I am a die hard train buff. This is the last of my three part coverage of the Spirit of Washington on June 8, 2007. This is the train on its former route between Renton and Woodinville, Washington. This provides an overview of all three short videos with special coverage of the return of the day's lunch charter and the dinner train on the spectacular trestle near Bellevue. This also features the Oriskany Strings song, The Train Don't Run Here Anymore.

[This video also available here on YouTube]

Fun weekly bike rides

Mellow Bicycle Rides
Every week I lead one of three weekly Whine and Dine Bicycle Rides. The rides start in April and run until September. They are very fun and social. We go out for burritos and wine after every ride and, if it is warm, the evening often stretches to after 10:30pm. Also, we have been doing some special weekend rides, like the one at last weekend's Russian River Rally. It is very fun! If you are interested, you are invited to attend.

[Click Here to See More Whine and Dine Photos]

RRR Weekend 2007

A fun Russian River Rally
These are photos from the Russian River Rally (RRR) the weekend on July 21 - 22, 2007 at Casini Ranch near Duncan Mills, CA. Nancy Kenny and Pat and Mylo Stenstrom organized this wonderful event. They did a fantastic job. These are vacation photos of the weekend. I hope you like them!

[Photos, some without captions, of entire event]

[Photos just of Whine and Dine ride at RRR]

Spirit of Washington, Part Deux

Spirit of Washington Train, Part Two
On June 8, 2007 I shot video of the Spirit of Washington, a dinner train, that runs from Renton to Woodinville, Washington. It uses rare locomotives called F-units. The track it runs on is due to be removed for a highway project and it only has about a month left to run. They ran two Spirit trains on June 8, including a lunch charter train for employees of T-mobile. The Quicktime movie above is the train after it left Renton. This video focuses on the train in Woodinville, Washington. This follows part one, previously released.

Update:
This video is now available here on YouTube.

Train Meet at Mott, May 31, 2007

Meet at Mott, May 31, 2007
These two Northbound Union Pacific freights met today at Mott siding. Mott is on the former SP Shasta line, near Dunsmuir. As the trains met clouds rolled in from an approaching thunder storm. I am heading north and this seven minute Track Warrants video is the first for this trip. I am on the road! This was Quicktime Video shot less than five hours ago and edited in a campground near Ashland on my laptop and posted using a nearby open wireless network.

This video should soon be available here on YouTube.

It is time to play!

I am on vacation
This is a time to visit family and play. Normally I go on a June bike tour. Not this year! We have many activities planned and will be posting them to this blog. Last week was busy. It was final's week at SJSU and I wrapped up my class. Stay tuned for more! Meanwhile it is play time. The photos shown here are from last Sunday's "Strawberry Fields" ride that Nancy Kenny and I went on. That was a lot of fun. I even got to photograph a train while on the bike ride. But, I sure dragged my butt to work the next day.

SP "Scab Trains" of Altamont Pass, 1985

"Scab Trains" of Altamont Pass
In May of 1985 the Southern Pacific Railroad was preparing for a possible union strike. To train its management crews to operate trains in the absence of union crews, the SP conducted management training on the embargoed SP rail line over Altamont Pass. The union train crews called these the scab trains. It was SP's last use of this famous line.

• This video is in Quicktime 7 format. You can download the free Quicktime player for Windows or Mac here
• UPDATE -- This movie is now on YouTube!

International Train

International Stack Train on Tehachapi
Pardon my hobbies. On April 29, 2006 this double stack train was seen going over the Tehachapi mountains with locomotives from Canada, the US and Mexico. This power set contained BNSF, CN and Ferromex power. This train with its unusual power set is shown here at Bealville and Caliente California.

• This video is in Quicktime 7 format. You can download the free Quicktime player for Windows or Mac here
• This video is also now available on YouTube

Takin' Me Home

SP Commutes 1985, Volume 1
In the summer of 1985 the Southern Pacific Railroad's commute equipment stopped operating on the San Francisco peninsula and was replaced by Caltrain. This ended over 100 years of SP commute operations on the San Francisco peninsula. This short Track Warrants video, converted from silent Super8 movies, captures that period. As well as the film, this video features the music of Heather Sullivan.

• This video is in Quicktime 7 format. You can download the free Quicktime player for Windows or Mac here
• This video is also now on YouTube.
  

SP4449 Heads North, 1984

SP4449 Heads North, June 1984
I just recently had some super8 movies I shot during the 1980's converted to digital video. This short movie clip was made of the World's Fair Daylight returning to Portland in 1984. My then very young sons and I chased the train north. This video is unpublished and features a full daylight train with McCloud steam, SP, Amtrak and even some BCR Alco action. Since the film was silent, some music from the band Everyday Jones was dubbed in to give it a bit of a Winterail flavor.

• This video is in Quicktime 7 format. You can download the free Quicktime player for Windows or Mac here

Walk in Ventana Wilderness

A hike in the Gorge
This weekend our bicycle club had a bike ride and a campout at Arroyo Seco called the Lupin Loop. The Ventana wilderness, which is also called the "Gorge" starts here. We had to work on Friday so we did not ride down with the club. On Saturday they had a hike and so we went for a hike in the Gorge. It is amazing that something so rugged is so close to home.

The Bill Darrough Story

The Bill Darrough Story
As shown at Winterail 2007
The photos in this show were taken by Bill Darrough and/or are from the collection of Bill and Jack Darrough. This is an amazing collection of photographs. In a conversation with Bill Darrough's brother Jack in August of 1988 Jack said, "Bill died in 1942, he was 22 years-old. He suffered from severe teenage acne and they had treated it with massive doses of radiation, which at the time was thought harmless. The radiation cleared his acne but Bill died of cancer." According to Jack, he and Bill came from a railroad family. The members of a railroaders family were then given passes and could travel free on the nation's passenger trains. The period that Bill lived in was near the climax of the era of steam railroading in this country. Jack said Bill would pack two suitcases, one with film and the other with sandwiches and the young man would go on trips alone photographing trains. In my opinion had he lived he would have been one of the greatest railroad photographers of the twentieth century. It is an amazing story and so my son Ken and I are trying to tell it.

Santa Fe Train 1983

Santa Fe, Near Collier, CA, 1983
In the summer of 1983 I borrowed a VHS tape deck and a camera and went out and shot some video. It was the first video I ever shot and the beginning of the end of my film making for about 20 years. After sitting around about 24 years this early tape is in pretty bad shape. But, here is one clip that is barely salvaged. This is the face of railroading not so long ago.

Technorati Tags: Trains, Railroads, Railroading, ATSF, BNSF, train video, trackwarrants, Track Warrants, ssloansjca

Whine and Dine Season

Whine and dine season is here!
It is April and that means the 2007 Whine and Dine rides have started. Yesterday's ride was great fun. A lot of old friends showed up for the ride as well as some new friends. There is a blog for the rides. Everyone is invited. These are great bicycle rides.

Technorati Tags: Cycling, ssloansjca

A Sunday in Mojave

Just over a week ago in the desert
Here are a few of the photos I took with a film camera recently in Mojave. Mojave is where the mountains end and the great Mojave desert starts. A lot of trains roll through Mojave. Morning is the best light and the looming mountains make for an impressive backdrop for eastbounds.

Technorati Tags: Trains, Railroads, Railroading, Tehachapi, BNSF, Union Pacific, ssloansjca

Fun with trains and light

Train approaching Tunnel Two in Tehachapis
March 25 7:34am -- I am in the Tehachapi Mountains on my way to Fullerton going to a conference. I have been coming to the Tehachapi Mountains to photograph trains for many years. This video was shot in a location I have been trying to catch a train in for awhile. It requires just the right light, a train at just the right time and is best this time of year when the hills are green. Saturday evening, March 24, 2007 the timing was right on! I shot it on Kodachrome 25 film (yes I found another roll) and on video. I edited the video at my room in the Mojave Motel 6 as other trains rolled by. I asked for, and got, this motel room in their little used wing facing tracks. I even opened the window so you can hear the trains really well. It sounds like they are running right through the room. Too cool! This is my favorite motel!

Technorati Tags: Trains, Railroads, Railroading, Tehachapi, BNSF, train video, ssloansjca

It's The Canyon

The Canyon
I have been coming to the canyon since I was a child. My father used to bring me here. Over the years I have come here with my own kids, grandkids, wives, friends, I have even brought dogs to the Feather River Canyon! It is "the canyon," a river canyon with a railroad. This was once the home of the Western Pacific, then called "The Feather River Route." Now the tracks belong to the Union Pacific and it is a busy railroad. But, to me, it is more than a place where cool trains run. It is a place with many memories and a place that I love.