Favorite Rail Images from 2008

With 2008 drawing to a close, I put together a slide show of some of my favorite images from my adventures along the rails during the year. The show is around 15 minute long and is chronological in order through the year. You might have to down load an updated version of the free presenter software in order to view the show. The software is windows based. I hope you enjoy the show.








I want to wish everyone the best for 2009.

Ken

December Snow in Cajon

During the week of December 15, 2008, two winter storms passed through southern California binging snow levels down low and causing the closures of the main passes in and out of the Los Angeles basin. Cajon Pass is one of those passes. On December 18th, my wife and I made a trip up to Cajon to see what we could find in the way of train traffic and opportunities for photography in the snow. Samantha was in school, so it was some time for us. The traffic was not too bad until we got about a mile past Kenwood Ave. on I-15. The traffic slowed to a crawl. Apparently the off ramp for SR 138 was back up due to the heavy volume of skiers headed for Wrightwood. According to the radio traffic reports and the information signs on the freeway, chains were required for all vehicles on SR 138, and we didn't have any. We were able to get off the freeway at Cleghorn Rd. where we found a westbound BNSF train sitting at Cajon Jct. We stopped there and joined up with the other half dozen or so rail fans, who were getting their pictures of the stationary train. It sat there for a while, and the crew watched two eastbound trains pass by on track 1 before they were gived permission to continue down the pass on track 2. This image shows BNSF 4051 after it got permission to head down the pass.


We saw several trains in the couple hours we spent in the area, but we decided to head back to Upland to pick up our daughter from school. We had a good time together.


On Saturday, December 20th, we made a family trip back up to Cajon. This time were were abel to head up SR 138 and up on some of the dirt roads leading to the tracks. We spent some time in the snow near the tracks at Dell, along Power Line Rd. Samantha had fun throwing snow balls at mom and making snow angels and snow penguins. There were a lot of people in the area. Many of them were rail fans, and ohters were out to play in the snow. We were amazed at how much snow was still on the ground after two days of sunshine. It helped that the temperatures were lower than normal. In this image, a Union Pacific manifest makes its way down the Mojave Sub.


After a while, we moved up to the pull over area at Summit along SR 138. It was a parking lot up there. I don't remember the last time I saw so many rail fans in one spot except for a steam train. We spent about an hour at this location and caught a few trains. One train was an ethanol train that made its way down track 2. In this image you can see the DPUs of the ethanol train as it disappears around the curve.






We had a great time up in the pass. It was fun to get up in the snow, which is not that common for us. More images from these two trips to the pass can be seen in the slide show or at my webshots album.



December Snow in Cajon Pass

Sunday Morning @ Calafia Beach

Sunday, September 21, 2008

After dropping my wife off at her hospital site for her current phase in her nursing program, my daughter and I made our way down to Calafia Beach in San Clemente to find a spot to catch the special run of the American Association of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) convention train on its way down to San Diego. The AAPRCO train was being led by ATSF 3751, a former Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe steam locomotive. This woud be the second run of this restored locomotive to San Diego this year. Before this year, this wonderful old steam engine had not run on these tracks for more than fifty years, when it was a regular pulling trains to and from San Diego. ATSF 3751 was restored and is maintained by the San Bernardino Railroad and Historical Society. It was very overcast and gray when we arrived at the beach. Not the best conditions for photography, but you take what is given to you and make it work. We parked and made our way along the bluffs to claim our spot for the capturing images of the train. We were there pleny early, so we ejoyed watching the surfers in action.


Bodysurfers were active too.














Passing Surfliners provided a chance to practice for the arrival of the AAPRCO train. Northbound train 565 passes by our location.














Not too long after 9:00, we saw the signal light up with a red light indicating the train was approaching our location. A distant headlight appeared and more photographers were racing to get a spot to capture their images. The train came more into view and began to blow its whistle for the pedestrian crossing as people stopped to watch. Many of these people were completely unaware of this special train.





The train passes the signal and was upon our location faster that expected with 24 private railroad cars in tow.














An Amtrak employee was enjoying the view as he watched from the window of the last Amtrak P42.














We went back to the car after the train had passed by and put away the tripod and chairs. We had plenty of time remaining on the parking meter, so we made our way down to the beach to have a little play time. The sea birds were not bothered by our presence and posed for some images.














Samantha had her sand bucket and shovel and proceeded to fill the bucket with wet sand. After filling up the bucket, she brought it up to me and left it there. She went back to play in the water as it came in.














We were closer to the surf action, so I captured a few more images of the surfers as they made the best of the conditions that were given to them.














One last image as we made our way back to the car. The sun came out making for a nice scene.














All in all, it was a nice morning away from our home and some memories to boot.

Thanks for stopping by.

Ken

Some Free Time in Cajon Pass

Well, it's been a while since I last posted. I had a busy summer at both of my colleges and did not really have much to share. I am now on a three week break before the fall semester starts at both of my colleges. I made a few trips up to Cajon Pass this week, and I'm sure I'll be back before the break is over. I thought I'd share a few images from my wanderings around the the pass.

Monday morning (8/4/08), I went up to the pass and spent a few hours watching the trains and capturing images. I arrived in the pass around 6:30 a.m. It was pretty gray and overcast at first. The first train I was able to capture was a Union Pacific (UP) mixed freight train heading down the Palmdale Cutoff. I set up for the train near Mormon Rocks and came up with these two images. UP 5384 leading the train across the dry wash as it makes its way south.















As I was scrambling down the embankment, I saw the DPUs (Distributed Power Units) at the end of the train and came up with this grab shot.















After getting back to my car, I made my way up State Highway 138 to see what was happening at Summit. A BNSF manifest started down the pass. I captured a few images of it and saw another train come around the curve above Summit. It was Amtrak's Southwest Chief (train #3). It started to overtake the manifest. Here is an image of it as it rounds the curve above Silverwood.















I got in my car and made my way down to Cleghorn Rd. to set up for a shot of this train as it came down the track from Sullivan's Curve.















After the Southwest Chief cleared, I waited for the BNSF manifest to appear on track 3. Just as the train came into view, a BNSF truck made a dash across the tracks in order to avoid waiting for the train.















BNSF 7712 passed by my location.















It was back to Summit to see what was coming next. Another train started down track 2, so I made my way back to Cleghorn Rd. to capture this image of this colorful set of locomotives led by BNSF 4712.














After capturing images of BNSF 4712, I decided to take a drive along the UP tracks to Sullivan's Curve after a quick stop at one of the fast food establishments in the area. I wanted to catch something coming around the curve with the new track laid in place. An eastbound BNSF baretabel came up and around the curve. Shortly afterward, a southbound UP train came into view and allowed me to capture this image.















I really liked the sky at the time and the way the clouds were sprawled out over the rock formation. Now if I only had a train in the image.















Another train was making its way up the tracks, so I decided to take a drive and explore for a different photo location. I drove along the Palmdale Cutoff where it is high above the BNSF mains at Martinez east of Summit. I used my 200mm lens to capture this image of BNSF 7550 working its way through the S-curves.















I started back toward the street. As I made my way down the road known as Powerline Road, I saw another train heading upBNSF track 3. I made my way to Summit and had just enough time to get into position for shots the train as it rounded the curve above Silverwood. The train was slowing down when I heard a horn in the opposite direction. BNSF 512 was leading a manifest, and a container train was heading down the same track and crossing over to track 2. the result was this image of the head ends of both trains meeting.





















I turned around as BNSF 512 creeped up as the train in front of it cleared.





















I made may way down to Cleghorn Rd. and set up for images of BNSF 5345 coming down from Sullivan's Curve. I decided to use the wide angle for this train.















It was time to head home to be able to go to my daughter's swimming lessons and support her as she learns to swim.


I made a second trip up to Cajon late Wednesday afternoon. I saw a few trains making their way down the tracks as I drove up I-15. As it turned out, I would only end up capturing one train. BNSF 7672 crosses over the dry wash as it approaches Highway 138.















I also made a trip this afternoon (Thursday, 8/7/08) with my daughter accompanying me, I was able to get a couple images worth sharing. This first image has BNSF 4301 leading a container train down track 1.















It got slow as I drove around looking for vantage points. Finally, there was some action. I had missed a train heading up track 1, but I guessed that the next train would also be coming up from San Bernardio, so I went back over to Sullivan's Curve to wait. I could hear the sound of a train working up the tracks and was in position to capture this image of UP 8469 leading a manifest around Sullivan's Curve on track 1.















It was getting late, so we made our way home to have dinner.

I hope you enjoyed the images and commentary. Thank you for stopping by and viewing my blog.

Ken

Family outing to the zoo

With the Spring semester ending on June 13th, I have a week off before the summer sessions begin for me at both of my colleges. On Monday of this week, our family spent the day at the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens. It was a hot day, and most of the animals weren't very active. However, it was fun walking around and getting to see many of the various creatures the zoo had to offer. The highlight for me was watching the four Sumatran tigers, a mother and three cubs, as the roamed about in there enclosure. The cubs were about the same size as the mother and very active.


In this image, one of the cubs is attacking mom.















This image shows a couple of the cubs play fighting.















This third image, shows a cub playing with a log.
















More images can be seen from my webshots album in the sideshow below or hit the link under the show to go to the album. (The motions in the show are random and not set by me.)



Day @ the Los Angeles Zoo

Early Morning Call from Afar

After having enjoyed a nice relaxing Mother's Day as a family, we settled in to bed for the night. At 1:50 Monday morning, May 12, we were awaken from our sleep by the ringing of our phone. "Who in the heck was calling at this time," I thought to myself as my wife answered the phone. Then then I heard the conversation being conducted in Chinese and knew it was Cindy, my sister-in-law. It wasn't the first time that she had called at this time in the morning, so I didn't think anything of it; after all, it's not always easy to remember the time differences, which would have been late afternoon or early evening of May 12th in my in-laws' city--Chengdu, Sichuan in the People's Republic of China. After my wife got off the phone, I asked if everything was all right. She said that there had been an earthquake and that Cindy was calling from her parents' land line because there was no cell phone service available. Everyone was fine except for being shaken, so I thought. We went back to sleep not thinking much more of the earthquake. After all, I know what it is like to experience an earthquake having lived in Southern California most of my life.

I was stunned when I first heard the news report of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake centered 57 k northwest of Chengdu with thousands of people killed, tens of thousands injured, and even more missing or unaccounted for. My wife tried to call her family again but couldn't get through this time. However, I was thankful to know my in-laws were among the living and not injured because of the early morning call. Then I began to think of all the people I know in the province of Sichuan and in the city of Chengdu.

Chengdu:

I would have to say that Chengdu is my favorite city in China, not just because it is the place where my bride is from. No, I first visited Chengdu in the summer of 1993. It was a stop over spot when my teaching team from the English Language Institute China (ELIC) was on its way to Lhasa, Tibet for our summer teaching assignment. It was on the return trip from Lhasa to Beijing when I had my first chance to roam around the city of Chengdu for an afternoon. Something about the city grabbed a hold of me, and I knew I wanted to come back to see and experience more of the wonderful place.

I applied to spend the summer of 1994 with ELIC, my third summer, and requested an assignment to Chengdu. I was sent as a member of one of two teams of teachers assigned to teach at the Sichuan College of Education. After couple of days teaching,I began to spend a lot of out-of-class time with many of my students taking trips to various parks and sites around the city. The place is full of history, and China has a long history. It was while I was teaching that summer when I met the very petite Chinese woman who was temporarily working for the Foreign Affairs Department at the Sichuan College of Education. We spent time talking in the lobby of the place where the school housed the two teaching teams. After leaving Chengdu, I exchanged letters with several of my students and the young woman from the Foreign Affairs Department. The relationship, if you can call it that, changed from pen pals to something different. We married in Chengdu in 1997 after I had finished teaching for a year and a half in another city and province.

So, back to Monday's earthquake, the news and images from this terrible disaster has been on my mind all week. I wonder about my former students. Are they alright, or are some of them victims? Most of my students were English teachers in high schools or junior high schools through out the province of Sichuan. I wonder, "Were any of the teachers killed in high school the colasped killing over 900 people my former students? " I wonder, "How are my in-laws doing?" I know that they are having to deal with sortages of food and clean water, but they are alive and not injured. I am very thankful for this.

Here are some links to videos from the earthquake area:

Asia Brief

Chengdu airport A place I've flown in and out of several times

Search for Survivors

News link

Keep these people in your thoughts and prayers.

Ken

Two more wide angle views

On the way home from my morning class at Mt SAC, I happened across a train making a long shove on the Los Angeles Sub. to the Alhambra Sub. in Pomona.

This first image is of one of the trainmen guarding the shove as he acts as the engineer's eyes. He was talking on the radio as the train approached my position.















The head end of the train passes by my vantage point.














I can't decide which of the images from these wide angle views I like best. I'm sure more are to come this month.

Ken

Wide Angle View

At another website that I visit, there is a photo assignment to capture an image using 21mm focal length or less. The prompted me to get out and try to capture some images with my 17mm to 40mm lens. Here are a few of my favorites so far.

A lone hopper sits in an industrial spur in Pomona.













A set of tank cars parked in the spur at a candle factory in Pomona.













A couple of views of the cabooses and private cars inside their cage at the Fullerton Amtrak Station.

Fullerton March 15, 2008

I went down to the Fullerton Amtrak Station to hang out with some of my friends on Saturday, March 15th. It was cold and windy when Samantha and I first arrived. The group of friends wasn't as big as I had expected, but that didn't matter. The train action was better than the night before and offered a few photographic opportunities the results of which I plan to share in this post.


This first image has BNSF 5224 heading east and backlit with light shafts streaming down from the clouds.














BNSF 5432 heads into the setting sun as a couple photographers on the passenger platform capture images of the train going away.















After BNSF 5432 cleared the station, SACX 868 pulled into the station for its scheduled stop.















A westbound trailer train passes through the station on track 2 as the Southwest Chief, bound for Chicago, approaches on track 1














Passengers line up to board the Chief.














One of the crew shoots the breeze with a couple people on the platform.















All in all, we had a good evening hanging out with friends and watching the activity around the station.

Day at the Getty Center

Saturday, March 8th, my daughter's school had a get-away-day sponsored by the Getty Center.
We boarded one of the charter buses at the school and enjoyed the ride to West Los Angeles. We arrived around 10:30 and got in line for the tram up to the Center. Samantha looks out the window of our car as one of her classmates looks back toward us.

We spent more time outside the galleries. There were many photographic opportunities around the Center. We grabbed a few images before making our way up to the main lobby.

Samantha checks out the flower pot and the water flowing down to the lower fountain pool.

I tried to take a long exposure of on of the fountains in the main courtyard.

We stopped by the Family Room where Samantha had some fun decorating a mask and tracing some oranges.

We made a brief walk through the lower level of the West Pavilion and looked at some the paintings and sculptures on display.


















We eventually made our way to the garden area where Samantha enjoyed the sculpture of the "Walking Flower."















Speaking of flowers, the garden area provide a lot of chances to capture images of the many different flowers that were growing there.













We stopped and had our lunch under the shade of the umbrellas made of rebar with bougainvillea growing up through the structure.













We made our way back to the bus and made our way home. It was a nice day with Samantha.