Hi everyone, here's the photos for this week r_i_straw with BNSF 6473 RailMix on the Huckleberry RR badlandnp with the Miles City, MT depot BoxcabE50 with BN 684 BNSF FAN with NS 6217 HemiAdda2d with an elevator Mike VE2TRV with QGRY 6920 Hardcoaler with a meet COverton with a small trestle BuddyBurton with a CR&IC pair Akirasho with NS 2508 and YoHo with a UP-CP set
Nice shots everyone! I like that Legoman is able to gather up and include numerous images that I somehow miss. Being a structure fan, I like badlandnp's picture of the Miles City, MT depot. Which railroad owned it?
Nice photos everyone would love to railfan my hometown ( Binghamton NY area ) but can't find info on what trains run and when, what I do know is that any trains would be NS - Norfolk Southern and there's a small yard here any advice on how to find info.
I usually learn by doing, although this can be hit or miss. You might try to find a railfan board or your railroad's historical society website. BTW, lots of good stuff this week. Love Hemi's elevator shot and COverton's trestle- very modelable, would fit on almost any layout. There's also Boxcab's F unit. I'd say this week's picks are a well rounded education.
Depending on your local railroads, you can find what symbols run through your town. "Train Symbols" https://sites.google.com/site/trainsymbols/ If you have a radio scanner, tune into your local railroads' channels. Listen for symbols, numbers. https://www.radioreference.com/apps/db/?coid=1 That site is broken down by state, railroad, and subdivision. Google and the great group here can help you sort out what subdivisions apply to your area. Watch and note the general styles of trains, their power, time of day. Look for unit trains like grain, oil, potash, coal, frac sand, coil steel, etc. Intermodal stacks, trailers on flat cars, mixed freight, autoracks. Certain trains are distinguishable by train makeup. For example on CP, train 199 is an Intermodal, 1x1 power, and a block of autoracks leads steamship doublestacks. It goes Chicago to Vancouver and generally passes my town in the afternoon. On BNSF, the Blue Island-Portland V train is 7-10k ft of solid autoracks, 2x0 or 1x1 power, late afternoon passing my town. The Chicago to Seattle Z is domestic doublestacks and trailers with UPS traffic. It is well powered 4x2 and wastes no time getting underway in early afternoon.
Today I thank you all for your fine photos and wish all of you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Try to make the most of these holidays under the conditions we are living today.
Actually there are at least two such Z trains. One is the Z-CHCPTL (Chicago- Portland); the other is Z-CHCSSE (Chicago- Seattle or South Seattle). "SSE" designates two places actually separated by a few miles. A bit odd.... Anyhow, the CHCPTL, at least, used to have a large amount of JB Hunt aboard.
Merry Christmas to you as well Fitz and to everyone! Great pics everyone. I do like Hardcoaler's meet shot. Always cool to see meets happen.
True, I just don't know how to determine if a given Z is Seattle or Portland just from its consist. I didn't know JB Hunt was a strong indicator of a Portland train--the matched white containers are why I call them "Cracker Stackers"...
Check here on my web site. You might be able to see something helpful? https://train-orders.com/RFN/BNSF/BNSF.html