In Cedar Rapids, there is a wide range of train spotting opportunities. In Downtown CR we have a coal fired power plant, a Cargill grain and corn syrup facility, and an enormous Quaker Oats Cereal plant. On the South side of CR there is an enormous ADM processing facility. Candian National is here is town through its Illinois Central subsidiary. Plus UP has a double main line that goes through town. We have a local Shortline called the CRANDIC (Cedar Rapids AND Iowa City Railroad) and a variety of other shortlines here and there in Eastern Iowa. So for a budding Railfan, I like what I see. My son and I go out on Saturday mornings to the downtown CR train yards to watch as they begin their morning switching operations. It is quite fun. So I have taken several pictures of the action and posted them at BryGy's Photopoint.com Albums. I will update the site as I get more time. Enjoy. ------------------ Smile! It makes people wonder what you are up to. Bry's Photopoint.com Album
I've been to Cedar Rapids a few times, but I've only seen the CRANDIC on tape. How often do they run through the Amanna Colinies and have you seen the new connection with the Iowa Interstate? Hopefully I can get out there from the Quad Cities when it gets to be nice out. I also like to pace the UP between Wheatland and Stanwood. Nothing like trying to keep up with the UP at 65-70mph. Eric
<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by milwfreak: I've been to Cedar Rapids a few times, but I've only seen the CRANDIC on tape. How often do they run through the Amanna Colinies and have you seen the new connection with the Iowa Interstate? Hopefully I can get out there from the Quad Cities when it gets to be nice out. I also like to pace the UP between Wheatland and Stanwood. Nothing like trying to keep up with the UP at 65-70mph. Eric <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> I haven't actually followed the CRANDIC outside of Cedar Rapids. And I haven't been down to Iowa City to see the interchange between Iowa Interstate and the CRANDIC. But I am planning to this coming summer. Most of my Railfanning has been to go to the UP and CN yards in the downtown area to watch the switching action. But since I got a digital camera for Christmas, I will be taking more and more outings with my son. As far as the Amana Colonies go, Iknow they go out there, but I don't know how often. I have looked at their Website CRANDIC.com, but unfortunately they do not indicate time tables or current traffic loads. But I am looking forward to watching all the rail action around here a lot more over the summer (we are in the process of trying to find a house and move right now). I used to live in Iowa City and my cousin did an internship with Iowa Interstate to do update their paper based track maps and put them into CAD based map system. But unfortunately he never had access to the engines. By the way, I have another 10 pictures or so that I will be getting scanned and uploaded to the website by this weekend, so check back later. ------------------ Smile! It makes people wonder what you are up to. Bry's Photopoint.com Album
Good to some activity from the home ground! Hopefully I will be able to find some time to enjoy such things... that is... hopefully before retirement! (until then perhaps you can keep me up on the local happenings!) ------------------ From... The Rocket Long Live "The Rock" !!!
Good to see other local fans also. We just need someone from Clinton and maybe Dubuque, and we'll have all of east-central Iowa covered! Hey Rocket, get a chance to see Milwaukee Road 261 when it came through Muscatine last June? I followed it from the QCA up to Dubuque. It was my first time seeing steam on a mainline. Needless to say, I was pretty darn excited. Well you guys can give me a heads up if you hear anything. Until then, stay safe. Eric
I SURE DID !!! What an amazing piece of iron. I waited for what seemed forever. Instead of coming in early in the evening... it was about 1:30 the following morning. There is nothing like the sound of an incoming steam engine. You could hear her for miles as she approched. When she got on the flat coming across the island south of Muscatine the steam whistle echoed for miles and miles, up and down the river. I also got some pretty good shots of her the next morning before work, and before she pulled out to continue on North. No matter how long the wait... getting a chance to see a live steam train is ALWAYS worth it! ------------------ From... The Rocket Long Live "The Rock" !!! www.Rock-Island.org [This message has been edited by The Rocket (edited 14 January 2001).]
I have to agree that it is always worth it! I also saw 1522 down in Galesburg the Saturday before, but it had BN 1 & 2 (their F units I believe) on the other end. I spent most of the day at the train show at the C.C., blowing money that I probablly shouldn't have spent. I shot 261 on video, so I can always pop the tape in the VCR if I need to see some steam. I didn't do that great a job shoting it, but then again, I was spending more time actually looking at the 261 then through the viewfinder! Eric
http://www.trainboard.com/Forum37/HTML/000016.html I think these are your pictures. ------------------ Ship It On The FRISCO! | IAMOKA.com
