Cabdriver Railfan

cabdriver

Member
Well, we went out to see what we could see and found a very large group of UPs hooked up to a very long, obviously very heavy, load of hoppers full of gravel. Since we are modeling a gravel area, and are using UPs, we couldn't have been happier with our find. Here are some pics.
 

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cabdriver

Member
Here's a pic of SP nose to nose with one of the UPs. I also have a close up of the SP.
 

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cabdriver

Member
Here are a couple of pics of what they are hauling. I particularly like the pic on the bridge over the ditch.
 

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  • Hoppers on Bridge.jpg
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  • SP Gravel.jpg
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cabdriver

Member
Hey all. I've decided to open up a new thread that shows some pictures of our railfanning activities. We'll try to keep these pictures somewhat relevant to our layout that we are building -- you can find it in another thread. We live near a fairly lively UP line and yard -- never know what you can see.

Hope you all enjoy as much as we did.
 

cabdriver

Member
I just have to post one more picture. :) For those of you following our layout progression in the HO board, we are modifying the Worlds Greatest Hobby layout for our own liking. ;) Central to that layout, however, is a gravel company. Not only did we come across the UPs pulling the large gravel train, but we came across a gravel company, complete with conveyer belts similar to the Cornerstone model we have on our layout. We're going to be going over the photos to see if we want to modify our layout based on this real life site.

Here is the real life site. You can find our model gravel company in our other thread http://www.the-gauge.com/showpost.php?p=136585&postcount=11
 

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J&A_RR

New Member
:thumb: :thumb: great stuff... ya'll are down near S.A. right? that train looks alot like the ones that pass through here in round rock. who knows, that train may have been on the way up through here!

john
 

cabdriver

Member
No doubt about it. Probably left early morning from SA headed to Houston. I just hadn't seen one with so much gravel -- hopper after hopper fully laden with gravel.
 

cabdriver

Member
Thanks. LiveSteamer. We were able to get up pretty close -- It still amazes me when I stand near five diesels and feel the whole ground shake from their power. Haven't seen that heavy a consist in a long time.
 

Chessie6459

Gauge Oldtimer
cabdriver said:
Thanks. LiveSteamer. We were able to get up pretty close -- It still amazes me when I stand near five diesels and feel the whole ground shake from their power. Haven't seen that heavy a consist in a long time.

Your Welcome. I can relate to that. There is a Overlook Bridge about 5 miles from my home and it is right over Norfolk Southerns Pittsburgh Division here is Pennsylvania. You can sure feel the whole Bridge shake when the diesels pass under you. Of course they are working up a grade and are in Run 8 cause of the steep grade they have to climb in order to reach the top. The most power i seen on a train here was 6, 4 up front and 2 helpers at the rear of the train. The only train that goes up and down the grades that don't need helpers are the Container Trains ( 18 wheeler trailers ). Other than that it is a great feeling, feeling all that power right under you.
 

cabdriver

Member
Yeah, that's why I was so amazed to see so many engines -- they were all fired up -- only thing I could think of was the weight of their load -- not too much grade here in east Texas.
 

Chessie6459

Gauge Oldtimer
I know what you mean. I think it all depends on what they are hauling since some trains have 2 locomotives and others have more than 2 to pull the trains. I have a friend that lives down there in texas, not sure where at, and i have seen photo's from that he took and where he was at it was pretty flat. Not to many hills down there in Texas like up here. LOL :D :D
 

J&A_RR

New Member
hey cabdriver.. I saw the southern pacific engine 8268 this morning.. I saw the numbers on the side and then checked here online and sure enough same engine. It was headed toward houston and it was lead engine with a couple for UP's pulling a mixed freight.
 

cabdriver

Member
J&A, that is so cool. :thumb: :thumb: I'm going to see if I can spot it again later on today -- don't know how long it takes to make the trip.
 

cabdriver

Member
Spitfire,
Yep, I'm hooked! :) :p :cool: I've realized that seeing the real thing helps me model, and modeling makes me appreciate the real thing !! :D -- There are many yards near us and the UP, Southern, and BNSF are all over the place. Every time I'm near the rail and hear the rumble or the horn, I raise up my ears to hear and I feel the impetus to drive to the rail to see what is going on. I'm usually satisfied to see a couple of locomotives moving an incredible load down the track -- it still amazes me how much these engines pull -- still makes you feel like our smalller towns are interconnected via the rail -- the good-ole-USA is smalller than we think ! :thumb:
 

cabdriver

Member
Saw some really fun activity down at the yard today. :wave: A very large grouping of UP engines were hooked up to a relatively small number of cars and were moving up and down the rail switching the cars onto various tracks. I've never seen this type of operation before -- the engine group would move forward, then a guy would jump off the back of the train and throw the switch, then the engine group would back up, literally unhook and throw off the back four cars, which would go careening down the track un-attended, and they would slowly stop in EXACTLY the right place, just on their own rolling power pushed off previously by the locos. :eek: :thumb: Forward they would go again, then manually throw the switch, and 6 hopper cars would roll down the rail to a resting place. :D These guys worked the rail for about a half hour until all of the cars were gone, then the 5 engines went down the rail to rest. WOW. Many of you must have seen this many times, but this was a first for me!. Really showed me how operations in a yard work -- I never would have thought they would just "throw" those cars off down the rail like that. :eek: :eek:
 

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who_dat73

Member
more pics

hey cab I am collecting and modeling up so any good pics you have would be great for weather and just for fun if you have more and want to mail them mtand@iw.net
thanks
who
:thumb: UP we can hande it
 

who_dat73

Member
HMM Looks familer

HMM that SP loco looks familer to me to next time it is in town I will have to look for the number and I live in MN hmm you think I could have made the trip????
 
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