Riding the Pacific Sands on the Surfline Shores Railfan 2017-11-18 | Over the weekend of October 28/29, I had the unique experience of riding the Pacific Sands between Los Angeles and San Diego. LA Rail runs scheduled excursions throughout Southern California using its fleet of 1950’s vintage rail cars attached to regularly scheduled Amtrak trains. On this trip we were coupled to the rear of Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train #564 departing LA Union Passenger Terminal at 7:25 am.The route travels through Orange County with several stops along the way before meeting the Pacific Ocean at Capistrano Beach. From there it parallels the waves and Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) south until it passes through Del Mar where it turns inland to climb through Carroll Canyon up to Miramar. From there it drops back down to parallel I5 again eventually reaching the classic Santa Fe depot in downtown San Diego.This video shows some of the highlights of my trip in one of the Pacific Sands roomettes. Unfortunately my camera battery died at the Miramar summit with the backup also being DOA. If you’re interested in taking one of these excursions, you can find all the information you need at http://www.larail.com
Coast Starlight At Hercules Shores Railfan 2022-10-06 | I was going through my many video clips and discovered this one. It's a Sunday morning in Hercules CA and Amtrak's southbound Coast Starlight is on time.
Hide and Seek with the Zephyr Shores Railfan 2022-07-04 | I checked the status of the WB California Zephyr this morning and found that it was over 3 hours late arriving in Reno. I grabbed my video camera and headed down to the yard at Sparks only to find the switching crew busy kicking cars. I decided to shoot some of their action while waiting for the Zephyr. As the crew was backing a set of cars into the yard, the Zephyr appeared from behind the consist.
Railfanning Sparks NV 5/26/2022 Shores Railfan 2022-05-28 | I stopped by the Sparks NV rail yard the other day and came across UP moving cars (mostly double stacks). Eventually they backed into one of the many spurs to allow Amtrak's California Zephyr headed to the SF Bay Area and running about 3 hours late.
California Zephyr at Verdi NV Shores Railfan 2022-04-01 | While recording the 444 axel freight at Verdi NV, the westbound California Zephyr came through town pulling an interesting combination of cars. Behind the locomotives came cab-baggage car 90221, a former EMD F40PH. That was followed by the regular consist of baggage and passenger cars. Three trailing cars all owned by Web Rail LLC brought up the rear. Two of these were former Northern Pacific Dome cars and the last was a former Pullman dome car named Babbling Brook.
444 Axels at Verdi NV Shores Railfan 2022-03-30 | This is the same train seen at Sparks yard dropping off 3 container cars. Upon leaving the yard and heading West, I jumped on I80 intending to catch the train at Verdi NV arriving with about five minutes to spare. It took about four minutes for the entire consist to clear the road crossing and travel through the high-wide detector about a half mile west. My scanner told me that 444 axels had passed through the detection equipment.Here's the first video in the set shot at Sparks yard: youtube.com/watch?v=9VlYk8SCxsg
Sparks Containers 3-25-2022 Shores Railfan 2022-03-30 | I stopped by UP’s Sparks yard the morning of March25 and noticed a westbound UP container train at the east end of the yard. I decided to head to the west end of the yard where access is available on a public street. As I exited the car, I saw the four road engines pulling three double stack cars in my direction. I was treated to quite a show as the locomotives passed me by, reversed into a siding and pushed the cars into a spur track. They then returned to the main line and backed up to reconnect to the other cars. A few minutes later the train was headed west towards California.I quickly returned to my car and jumped on westbound I80 intending to catch the train at Verdi NV arriving with about five minutes to spare. It took about four minutes for the entire consist to clear the road crossing and travel through the high-wide detector about a half mile west. My scanner told me that 444 axels had passed through the detection equipment.Here's a link to the action at Verdi: youtube.com/watch?v=ZqbUznhTzsg
Railfanning Lockwood NV 2-19-2022 Shores Railfan 2022-02-20 | Lockwood, NV, is a small unincorporated town just east of Sparks off I80. After several days of cold clear weather with me staying warm at home, I decide to head out and record the WB California Zephyr running 6 hours late. As a bonus I caught an EB stack train with three locomotives on the point and two more about 2/3 of the way back. Watch for the hotbox about 9 cars from the end.
Railfanning Sparks 11/24/2021 Shores Railfan 2021-11-24 | On the day before Thanksgiving, I dropped by the Sparks, NV, yard to catch some video of whatever might be going on. If it was quiet, I could at least record the California Zephyr headed to Oakland, CA, and running about an hour late. I was fortunate enough to find UP locomotive 5296, a GE model AC45CCTE, assembling a container train. Just about the time that job was finished, here came the Zephyr.
Amtrak in Western Nevada 2021 Q1-Q2 Shores Railfan 2021-06-29 | I went through the footage that I accumulated since moving to Sparks NV in late 2020. Here’s some clips of Amtrak’s California Zephyr in and around Reno. The locations and mile posts are approximations since I could not always determine the exact coordinates.Clip 1 – Lockwood NV just east of Sparks – EB at MP 252 on December 19, 2020.Clip 2 – West Reno – EB at MP 238 on February 6, 2021Clip 3 – Sparks – EB at MP 242 on February 6, 2021Clip 4 – Sparks – WB at MP 242 on February 17, 2021 – Running 6.5 hours lateClip 5 – West Reno – at MP 238 on February 17, 2021Clip 6 – West Reno – at MP 238 on March 5, 2021Clip 7 – Mogul NV at MP 234 on May 14, 2021Clip 8 – Derby NV at MP 269 on June 25, 2021Clip 9 – Verdi NV at MP 230 on June 25, 2021
Spring Railfanning - Sparks and Reno Shores Railfan 2021-05-31 | The weather is getting better now that Spring has arrived. These two videos were shot in April and May, one east of Sparks and one in West Reno. Information on the locomotives is below. In the first video I arrived just as the train did and managed to capture just a second or two of the motive power.Location 1: Exit 40 off I80 east of SparksLocomotives on point:UP 8347 – SD70ACe – 4300HPUP 8706 – SD70ACe - 4300HPUP 4420 – SD70M – 4000HPLocation 2: Truckee River Trail off old US40 west of RenoLocomotives on point:UP 9009 – SD70AH – 4400HPUP 7828 – AC45CCTE – 4500HPUP 6006 – AC44CW – 4400HPLocomotives mid-train:UP 8717 – SD70ACe – 4300HPUP 8800 – SD70AH – 4400HP
Railfanning Sparks to Fernley NV - 3/24/2021 Shores Railfan 2021-03-25 | I finally had an opportunity to railfan the stretch of UP trackage between Sparks and Fernley NV. By shear luck I passed an eastbound manifest as I merged onto eastbound Interstate 80. The manifest train was waiting to leave the yard in Sparks with two EMD units on the point and one EMD mid-train. I caught it off Exit 28 at the Wild Horse Canyon Road and again at exit 40, the Canal Road crossing.Motive Power: EMD 9012 (SD70AH) on the point with EMD 8780 (EMD SD70ACe) behind. EMD 7030 (ACC4460CW) 109 cards behind at mid-train. Total length was 185 cars.
Rochelle IL Railfan Day 2001 Shores Railfan 2021-03-02 | Back in September 2001 I was working as an independent software developer and corporate trainer on all things related to business software. AT&T had contacted me to teach a group in the use of main frame report generators. We scheduled the three-day class to begin on September 10th.in St. Louis, MO. I scheduled myself to fly into Chicago on Friday the 7th where I rented a car and drove to Rochelle, IL for the night. Trains magazine had scheduled an event for Saturday at the Rochelle Railroad Park where photographers were treated to a day of railfanning at the junction of UP and BNSF mainlines. This is a slide show of that day where I shot several rolls of 35MM print film. On Sunday I visited the Illinois Railway Museum before flying to St. Louis for the class. Tuesday was the 11th which was a day that will live in history forever. My return to the SF Bay Area was scheduled for Wednesday night but that didn’t happen due to air traffic being grounded. I managed to get a ticket on Amtrak from St. Louis to Kansas City where I boarded the Southwest Chief destined for Los Angeles. I picked up a rental car around noon Sunday and drove the 350 miles home.Music by Jason Shaw
Cumbres & Toltec Slide Show - Part 2 Shores Railfan 2021-02-09 | I recently moved to Reno NV where the railfan opportunities are fewer than those in my previous home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is especially true given the fact that we get real winter weather here. As a consequence, I’ve been going back through my 35mm film archive to find content to share.This video is a slide show of the second day of my 2002 trip to Chama NM for a railfan trip on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. It starts with the climb up from Antonito CO to Lava Loop and ends with a couple of runbys at Tanglefoot Loop just east of Cumbres Summit.The video of the two day round trip can be found here: youtu.be K6TDnw6kFwMusic by Jason Shaw
Cumbres & Toltec Slide Show Part 1 Shores Railfan 2021-02-03 | I recently moved to Reno NV where the railfan opportunities are fewer than those in my previous home in the San Francisco Bay Area. This is especially true given the real winter weather here. As a consequence, I’ve been going back through my 35mm film archive to find content to share.This video is a slide show of the first day and a half of my 2002 trip to Chama NM for a railfan trip on the Cumbres and Toltec Scenic Railroad. It starts with my Friday afternoon arrival where I got to prowl the railyard in Chama and ends with trackside images shot along the route on our way to Antonito CO. The video of the two day round trip can be found here: youtu.be K6TDnw6kFwThanks to Jason Shaw for the sound track
McCloud-Burney Excursion 2003 Shores Railfan 2020-12-29 | I haven’t been out gathering pixels much lately with the current pandemic at large. I went through my still photos from many years ago and came up with a short video of an excursion I took back in May 2003. We traveled between McCloud and Burney CA with an overnight stay in Burney. The trip was on the now defunct McCloud Railway behind 2-8-2 Mikado No. 18. That locomotive now serves patrons of the Virginia and Truckee Railroad that runs excursions between Carson City and Virginia City Nevada during the summer.
Sunday Outing with Skookum Shores Railfan 2020-09-25 | The Niles Canyon Railway came up with a plan to run excursions during the pandemic. Open air cars and a limited number of tickets gives the public a chance to ride behind their 2-4-4-2 steam locomotive known as Skookum. This video was shot aboard the train that ran from Sunol to Niles and back on Sunday September 20. All aboard.
Steam Compilation 2000 to 2002 Shores Railfan 2020-04-13 | Complete footage of the excursions noted below (shot between 2000 and 2002) can be found on this channel. All of the clips were shot using a Sony Digital-8 camera which uses digital tape to record the images. Resolution and framing duplicates that of 8mm movie footage but records using digital technology.The BCRail footage was shot during a 3 day excursion that ran from North Vancouver to Kelly Lake (north of Lillooet BC) and return.3:11 - The July 2000 footage of SP 4449 was shot in and around Seattle, WA. The BNSF railroad ran the excursion over several weeks as a thank you to its Pacific Northwest employees. I happened to be working in Seattle at time and was able to catch several days of the action.7:15 - The footage of SP&S 700 is from an ill-fated excursion I took between Vancouver and Spokane, WA. On the last day, the train derailed in the yard at Pasco, WA, as it was backing to pick the passengers for the final leg of the journey back to Vancouver.9:30 - The March 2002 footage of SP 4449 is from an excursion between Portland and Bend, OR, where the locomotive was painted in its American Freedom Train colors to honor those killed in the September 2001 terrorist attack on the US.12:54 - The Cumbres and Toltec footage was taken during a two day excursion between Chama, NM, and Antonito, CO, during early October, 2002. The scenery is spectacular including the gorgeous fall foliage colors.
A Day Out with Skookum Shores Railfan 2020-02-18 | The Skookum is 2-4-4-2 Mallet steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1909. It served most of its working like in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Following a wreck in 1955, it was left damaged and abandoned following the accident. It was restored to operating condition in 2018 by the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad shop in Garibaldi, Oregon and is currently on loan to the Niles Canyon Railway.
Saturday at Santa Clara Shores Railfan 2020-01-20 | I headed the 25 miles south to the Santa Clara Caltrain station on January 18, 2020, to record trains run by Caltrain, Amtrak (Capitol Corridor) and Altamont Corridor Express (ACE). There was a surprising amount of activity for a Saturday but this is the heart of the Silicon Valley where many people put in long hours to create high tech devices and applications.Caltrain runs trains between San Francisco and Gilroy, south of Diridon station in San Jose. Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor trains run between Sacramento and Diridon station while ACE operates between Stockton and Diridon. In this video, you’ll see all three operations with a surprise visit from the southbound Amtrak Coast Starlight.The junction just north of the Santa Clara station directs Caltrain north to San Francisco while Capitol Corridor and ACE trains turn right at the junction and head to the east side of San Francisco Bay. At Fremont, ACE and Capitol Corridor trains branch right and head to Niles where ACE continues up Niles Canyon toward Stockton while Capitol Corridor trains travel north to Oakland and eventually Sacramento.The trailer at the end of the video was shot at the South Bay Historical Railroad Society facility in the old Santa Clara depot. They're open Tuesdays 5pm to 8pm and Saturdays 10am to 3pm.
Railfanning Pinole 11/17/19 Shores Railfan 2019-11-20 | Bayfront Park in Pinole, CA, is one of my favorite railfan sites. I hadn’t been there in quite a while so I dragged myself out the door at 6:30am on a Sunday morning for the 45 minute drive to the site. Upon arriving I was astounded to find a fairly massive bridge that connected the park to an existing bay-front trail. I had heard the talk about this structure but hadn’t really followed its construction. Anyway, it offers some prime locations for watching and recording trains.The rail line is double tracked and signaled for travel in both directions. It is owned by Union Pacific who shares the road with Amtrak San Joaquin and Capitol Corridor service along with the Coast Starlight and the California Zephyr. BNSF also has a line on the cliff above the UP line that serves the port of Richmond.Here's a link to a video I shot on digital-8 tape in 2002 of this same location. Not how much it's changed. youtube.com/watch?v=XJYGIB1rdKA
Fremont Afternoon Rail Fanning - 10/21/2019 Shores Railfan 2019-10-23 | On October 21, 2019, I traveled to Fremont, CA, to record the afternoon commuter trains operated by Amtrak’s Capitol Corridor service and by the Altamont Commuter Express. The Capitol Corridor trains travel between Sacramento and San Jose while ACE operates between San Jose and Stockton, CA. This is the first time I’ve recorded those trains in the afternoon and quickly discovered that the sun was at a difficult angle to record. That’s why you’ll see me shooting from the trees and the deck of the Fremont station. The last three trains were shot just about sunset at the Mowery Avenue crossing in West Fremont. Capitol Corridor power is provided by EMD F59PHI and Siemens SC-44 locomotives while ACE relies on F40PH-3C locomotives from Morrison-Knudson and Motive Power.
Railfanning San Mateo 10/1/2019 Shores Railfan 2019-10-03 | On October 1, 2019, I traveled north a few miles to San Mateo to shoot video of CalTrain passing through town during the morning commute. Trains traveling south away from San Francisco are pulled by their locomotives while those headed north are pushed. Beginning at the depot and moving south there are five consecutive grade crossings just one block apart. That makes for a lot horn blowing as the trains move through town. For those shots taken looking north of the depot, notice the catenary infrastructure put in place a couple of years ago in anticipation of Caltrain’s electrification sometime in the near future. Music is “Rocky Top” courtesy of Jason Shaw.
Railfanning Vancouver WA 7/30/19 Shores Railfan 2019-08-17 | On a recent trip to Portland, OR, to visit family, I had a chance to stop by the Vancouver, WA, Amtrak station and gather some midday footage of the passing trains. You’ll hear two persistent background noises, the steady hum of nearby metal recycling plant and the whoosh of planes taking off from Portland International Airport.In the space of about three hours, I captured two stack trains, one string of auto racks, a Amtrak Cascade Talgo and Amtrak’s Coast Starlight (details below).1. UP SB stack train with all GE motive power2. Amtrak Cascades train #504 from Portland to Seattle with a Siemens SC-44 on the point3. UP NB stack train with a C45AH on the point and two SD70ACe’s behind4. BNSF SB auto racks with an SD70Ace on the point followed by a C44-9W and an AC4400CW DPU5. Amtrak SB Coast Starlight with two P42DC’s on the point
Railfanning Sherman Hill Shores Railfan 2019-06-05 | On our annual road trip my brother and I headed east to Cheyenne, WY, with plans to drop down into Colorado and return home over US 50 through Colorado, Utah, Nevada and California. Unfortunately, we were pretty much shut out by the weather that dumped a lot of snow on our intended route. We returned home by retracing our route on I80.I was still able to capture some video on Saturday, May 18, on Sherman Hill and at the Cheyenne Depot. Pulling off US 287 at Hermosa just as an eastbound manifest came into view, I shot the train with a fair amount of wind noise. My attempts to edit the sound were somewhat successful.We headed back to Cheyenne via Hermosa Road, a rutted and bumpy dirt track, and eventually found a much smoother I80. Stopping at the UP depot, we found the freight waiting for a new crew and caught it as it left town with three locomotives on the point and a mid-train helper.
Niles Canyon Steam - 4/28/19 Shores Railfan 2019-04-30 | The weather and my schedule finally cooperated so that I could venture the 20+ miles from home to the Niles Canyon Railway in Niles, CA. From April through August, the railroad runs excursion trains between Niles and Sunol every Sunday. On the second and fourth Sunday each month, they pull their excursions with one of their many steam locomotives.On this weekend they were using the Clover Valley Lumber Company No. 4, a 2-6-6-2T steamer built in 1924 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works. Operations call for the steamer to pull the train upgrade from Niles to Sunol while the return trips are handled by a diesel locomotive. On this day, the diesel was an EMD GP 9 built for Southern Pacific in 1955. Since the line follows an old SP route, it’s possible that the diesel ran on this line during its heyday.Filming locations start at Sunol and include shots at Brightside Yard, Vallejo Mills, Niles Station and finally pulling upgrade at the Farwell Bridge.
Waiting for Train 6 at Emeryville Shores Railfan 2019-03-27 | I booked a short trip from the San Francisco Bay Area, to Reno, NV, to visit relatives and to check out the housing market there. The schedule called for taking Amtrak Train 6 (the eastbound California Zephyr) from Emeryville to Reno, on a schedule just short of seven hours. Little did I realize that the previous day’s westbound Zephyr was 12 hours late due to severe weather in the Midwest. That resulted in the eastbound departure leaving three hours late. While waiting, I caught several Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin trains as they passed through the station. Two of those trains were powered by the new Siemens SC44 Charger locomotives.
Caltrain at Speed Shores Railfan 2019-02-19 | This is a compilation of Caltrain commuter action showing trains traveling between San Francisco and San Jose along the Peninsula. The action was shot over a period of 6 years at Burlingame (2018), Belmont (2014), San Carlos (2019), Redwood City (2016), California Avenue in Palo Alto (2016) and Santa Clara (2013) and is in geographical order north to south. Trains depart San Francisco with power at the head end and return from San Jose in push mode. Locomotives are either F40PH-2 and its variations or P36PH-3 and its variations. Enjoy.
Railfanning San Carlos 1/21/19 Shores Railfan 2019-01-30 | On President’s Day I traveled to the San Carlos Caltrain station, a place that I commuted from back in the previous century. Since it was a holiday, there were not a lot of passengers to fill the trains which were running on a regular week day schedule. In the space of an hour and a half, I captured nine trains, some of which stopped and some that sped through the station running on a limited stop schedule.Trains appear in the following order:Local 159 – NB on the SB track due to maintenanceLimited 258 – NBLimited 261 – NBLimited 263 – NBBaby Bullet 360 – SBLimited 262 – SBBaby Bullet 365 – NBLimited 267 – NBBaby Bullet 266 - SB
Railfanning Livermore and Pleasanton Shores Railfan 2018-11-01 | Recently I had a conference in the East Bay about 35 miles east of where I live. I decided to try and catch some video of the Altamont Commuter Express (ACE) trains that travel between Stockton and San Jose each day. I got up early and drove to Livermore where I shot two westbound trains. Following the conference, I drove to Pleasanton and shot one eastbound train before jumping into the commute traffic to head home.
Railfanning Mowery Ave in Fremont 8/23/18 Shores Railfan 2018-08-25 | On a recent gloomy morning, I headed to Fremont, CA, to catch the morning parade of passenger trains passing the grade crossing at the west end of Mowery Ave. Between 7 am and 10 am, a total of ten trains pass this spot. I caught nine of those but missed Capitol Corridor #525 due to an emergency Starbucks run when I ran out of caffeine.
Amtrak at Kelso, WA 7/30/18 Shores Railfan 2018-08-19 | While visiting relatives in Portland, OR, I took a day trip north to Kelso, WA, to record passing trains at the Amtrak station. While there, I caught the southbound Amtrak Cascades traveling from Seattle to Los Angeles. Since the platform at Kelso is too short for the Cascades, the crew does a double spot to accommodate passengers in both the coaches and sleepers. I also recorded northbound Amtrak Cascades #504 headed from Portland to Vancouver, BC. The train was powered by a push/pull set of the new Siemens SC-44 locomotives recently placed in service.
Freight Action at Kelso 7/30/18 Shores Railfan 2018-08-13 | While visiting relatives in Portland, I took a day to travel north to Kelso, Washington to record trains at the Amtrak depot. Here's what I found:Time = 0:14 Northbound containersUP 8413 SD70 ACEUP 4668 EMD SD70MUP 4084 EMD SD70MUP 7660 GE AC45CCTETime = 1:45 Northbound grain hoppersBNSF 3803 GE ET44C4BNSF 4339 GE C44-9WBNSF 4582 GE C44-9W (DPU)BNSF 6138 GE ES44AC (DPU)Time = 3:25 Northbound manifestBNSF 7815 GE ES44DCUP 8191 GE ES44AC-HBNSF 4746 GE C44-9WTime = 5:05 Northbound grain hoppersBNSF 7126 GE ES44C4Citirail 1421 GE ES44ACBNSF 607 GE C44-9WTime = 6:25 Northbound coal hoppersBNSF 5538 GE ES44C4BNSF 7529 GE ES44DCBNSF 6836 GE ES44C4
Railfanning Burlingame 7/6/18 Shores Railfan 2018-07-06 | I haven’t been out recording much lately. Just too much work. So when I had a quiet day during the Independence Day week, I got up early drove north a few miles to Burlingame, CA, on Caltrain’s San Francisco/San Jose commute line. Since it was a Friday, the regular schedule was in effect despite the light ridership numbers. In the space of about two hours, I caught 17 trains headed both north and south with 6 of them stopping at the station.The depot itself was built in 1894 by Southern Pacific to serve primarily those who worked in San Francisco and lived 16 miles south in Burlingame and Hillsborough. Today, the building houses as a museum run by the Burlingame Historical Society. Unfortunately, it’s only open the first Sunday of the month between 1pm and 4pm.When my video camera batter died, I pulled out my Canon DSLR which also records video. You’ll notice that there are much more vibrant colors in the last segment due to the camera’s higher quality sensor.
Around the Bay by Train and Ferry Shores Railfan 2018-03-19 | On a gloomy Sunday in January, 2018, I decided to get out of the house for an adventure. After riding Caltrain from Redwood City to Santa Clara, I boarded a Capitol Corridor train to Jack London Square in Oakland. I wandered the farmer’s market there looking at all kinds of goodies before boarding the San Francisco Bay Ferry to San Francisco. I strolled the Embarcadero, ate lunch at a nice restaurant and then hurriedly walked a mile to the Caltrain station to make the 3:37pm departure for home.Here’s a few interesting facts about the Bay Bridge. When originally opened, the upper deck handled two-way car traffic while the lower deck handled trucks and buses in both directions. The lower deck also carried the Key System light rail traffic until its abandonment in 1960. The tracks also provided access to San Francisco for the Sacramento Northern Railroad and Southern Pacific interurban trains for a few years beginning in 1939.Following the cessation of rail traffic in 1960, the bridge authority and California Department of Transportation began a project to convert the two decks to handle one-way traffic. In 1963 the reconfigured bridge opened to westbound traffic on the upper deck and eastbound traffic on the lower.During the Loma Prieta earthquake in October, 1989, a section of the upper deck collapsed in the cantilevered eastern half of the bridge. The bridge was closed for only a month as crews worked 24 hours a day to restore the vital commuter link into San Francisco. In October, 2013, a new suspension bridge opened to replace the old truss bridge between Oakland the Yerba Buena Island.
Los Angeles to San Jose on Amtrak - 10/30/17 Shores Railfan 2017-11-24 | Following my private rail car adventure to San Diego, I returned home on Amtrak’s Coast Starlight from Los Angeles. On the way I got to see an airliner take off from Burbank and fly over the train, a long stretch of California coastline, a missile being prepared for launch at Vandenberg AFB and a meet with the southbound Starlight at San Luis Obispo. EnjoySan Diego Trip: youtube.com/watch?v=t6ZW8YYBnJo&t=4sPrevious Coast Starlight Meet: youtube.com/watch?v=pFD-f9zSQug
Crossing the Golden Gate - 9/23/17 Shores Railfan 2017-09-25 | Saturday morning 9/23/17, I was headed to Marin County to video the new SMART Rail System in action. To get there, I had to cross a San Francisco icon, the Golden Gate Bridge. Despite what some people think, the bridge is not painted gold (it’s actually international orange) but it does cross the Golden Gate, the entrance to San Francisco Bay.Music by Jason Shaw – Walk in the Park
Busy Morning in Martinez - 8/12/2017 Shores Railfan 2017-08-15 | It’s always a busy morning at the Martinez, CA, Amtrak station. The depot sees several Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin passenger trains daily along with stops by the Coast Starlight and California Zephyr. Combine those with occasional freight traffic and you can see several trains in a very short period of time. On this day I spent a little over three hours starting at 7:30am and shot a total of 8 trains. Enjoy.Locomotives:UP 5819 = C45ACCTEUP 6003 = C45ACCTEUP 6146 = C44ACAmtrak 4, 155, 182, 205, 206 = P42DCAmtrak California 2005, 2008, 2009 = F59PHIAmtrak California 2101, 2105 = Siemens Charger SC-44
Riding Behind SP4449 - June 2017 Shores Railfan 2017-08-10 | At the end of June, 2017, my daughter and I rode the SP 4449 excursion special from Portland to Bend, OR, and return. Here is some footage shot while on board. This was the first time for a new camera so it was a learning experience with some sections being a little out of focus. Also, the shots from inside the coach contained a lot of background noise so I covered that with a sound track from Jason Show aptly named "River Meditation."
Meet at Monolith 5/18/2017 Shores Railfan 2017-06-01 | Heading to Tehachapi, CA, on the first day of a road trip with my brother, we passed a slow moving intermodal train climbing toward the summit. Exiting the freeway east of town, we took the old highway toward Monolith in hopes of getting some video of it. We parked and exited the car just in time to capture the now fast moving train as it passed the cement plant. Just as the last few cars passed, a similar westbound sped past on its way to Bakersfield.
Railfanning Hercules - 4/2/2017 Shores Railfan 2017-04-16 | Hercules, CA, history dates back to 1879 when California Powder Works build a plant to manufacture dynamite sold under the name of Hercules Powder. The plant remained in operation, producing various explosives and fertilizers, until 1976 when it closed. Today, the city is a bedroom community for Oakland, San Francisco and other Bay Area cities. Union Pacific’s Martinez Subdivision, often referred to as the Cal-P Line, passes through Hercules along San Pablo Bay and provides trackage for Amtrak, Capitol Corridor and San Joaquin line trains.
Niles Canyon Railway Steam - 3/19/2017 Shores Railfan 2017-04-01 | The Niles Canyon Railway in the SF Bay Area held its first steam day of 2017 on March 19. Pulling the excursions was the Quincy Railroad Company No. 2, a 2-6-2T locomotive that spent most of its career hauling lumber from mills in Quincy, CA, to its connection with the Western Pacific six miles away.
Railfanning Roseville and Rocklin Shores Railfan 2017-03-16 | The first weekend in March I traveled to the Sacramento area to visit relatives. I dropped by the huge Union Pacific yards in Roseville and caught a couple hours of action as cars were shuffled about and a long freight with mid-train helpers headed for Donner Summit. The next day I visited the Amtrak depot in Rocklin and caught an eastbound manifest with DPU helpers on the tail end.
Redwood City Caltrain Action 12/12/16 Shores Railfan 2017-01-01 | I was in downtown Redwood City on business recently and had my video camera with me. I decided to take a few extra minutes after completing my transactions and get some shots of Caltrain in action. The Redwood City station is a busy place in the mornings since it’s a transfer point. People get off the limited stop trains and switch to ones that that take them to their destination.
Rail Fanning the BJWRR - 12/18/16 Shores Railfan 2016-12-19 | On December 18, 2016, I ventured to Oak Meadow Park in Los Gatos, CA, to check out the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad, something very different from my normal mainline rail fanning. Arriving about 45 minutes before the 11am opening time, I had a chance to record the crew getting ready for the day’s excursions. Number 5, their 18 inch gauge 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive, was the scheduled power for the day. Unfortunately, the check run uncovered a problem that prevented them from using it. Fortunately, they broke out their diesel replica, which looks a bit like a GP40, and were able to offer rides for the public. Check out the BJWRR here: http://bjwrr.org
Chasing UP 1989 - September, 2007 Shores Railfan 2016-09-25 | As I was pulling out of Klamath Falls, OR, on US 97 early one morning in September, 2007, I spotted a UP TOFC train in the distance heading toward California. Hoping to get some stills with my digital SLR, I started to accelerate my Mustang in hopes of catching it before it got out of site. A quick glance in my rear view mirror told me to cool it as I spotted an Oregon Highway Patrol vehicle about a quarter mile behind me. I carefully reached the speed limit of 55 and continued to slowly gain on my target. After following me for about two miles, the patrol car turned off on a side road leaving me free to catch up to the train.I pulled off the road right at the California/Oregon border and jumped out to get some shots. To my surprise the third unit in the consist was one of the new UP heritage units, this one painted to honor the Denver and Rio Grande Western which was acquired by UP in 1989, thus the number on the locomotive.I managed to get shots of the train at Grass Lake, Mott Siding just south of Mt. Shasta and at the Amtrak station in Dunsmuir where it stopped for a crew change. Due to the limited track speed for trains traveling the Sacramento River Canyon, I was able to also get shots at the sweeping curve at Lamoine and on the trestle across Lake Shasta at Lakehead.
A Day Out with Max - Portland 7/28/16 Shores Railfan 2016-09-10 | While visiting family in Portland, Oregon, I had a day to myself to explore. Being a fan of light rail, I checked out the new Tillicum Crossing Bridge across the Willamette River just south of downtown. The bridge opened to traffic in September, 2015, and carries pedestrians, Tri-Met busses and MAX light rail tracks only – no vehicles allowed. All told, there are 12 bridges across the river in Portland, 10 of which are for vehicles. One, the Steel Bridge, carries vehicles, light rail, passenger and freight trains. The Willamette River Drawbridge, used by both UP and BNSF, is the only rail-only crossing and connects Portland with Vancouver, Washington.On this day, I walked across Tillicum Crossing a couple of times and then road the Portland Streetcar across the span, north through downtown Portland, east across the Broadway Bridge and then south back to my starting point.
Oregon Coast Scenic Railway - Trackside 7/25/16 Shores Railfan 2016-09-05 | Following my cab ride on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway, I grabbed a few track-side shots before heading to Portland to visit family and friends. Follow this link for the cab ride footage youtube.com/watch?v=YtdqS5TK748
Oregon Coast Scenic Railway Cab Ride - 7/25/16 Shores Railfan 2016-09-04 | On Monday, 7/25/16, I rode in the cab of the McCloud River RR #25 now operating on the Oregon Coast Scenic Railway in Garibaldi, Oregon. On the outbound trip the locomotive pulls the train 10 miles to Rockaway Beach where there is about a 30 minute layover. Since there is no run around track there, the locomotive pushes the train back to Garibaldi on the return trip. Track speed on this section is only 10 MPH so you won’t hear the engine laboring very hard as it travels the route.Thanks to the crew for the wonderful experience. Unfortunately, I lost my notes with everyone’s name and cannot name them individually.In the beginning of the video, there’s a question concerning this almost famous locomotive. See if you can answer it before the end of the video where the answer appears on the credits.
Caltrain at California Avenue - 5/2/16 Shores Railfan 2016-06-29 | On May 2, 2016, I spent an hour and twenty minutes at the California Avenue Caltrain station in Palo Alto catching footage of the morning commute action - fourteen trains in all.
