The railway line running along lake Erie seems busy. I convinced my girlfriend for a short break along the tracks, and immediately saw headlights in the distance. A few seconds later a long doublestack container train rumbled over the 7-track railway crossing. In the background a Nestlé Purina plant, with the old Ralston Purina logo. Continue reading Animal feed
A short stop on the way back to Toronto was almost unsuccessfull, until all of a sudden 2 trains came from opposite directions. Lucky enough, the westbound was empty and as such not hiding the eastbound. Continue reading Sudden action
After a night at a hotel in Strasburg, I got up early to catch a morning train to New York. It was all silent: no sound of cars, only of hoofs of the Amish’ horses. Very relaxing in the warm morning light. Continue reading Galloping to New York
For our final shots, we crossed the Truckee River and climbed up a slope on the other side of the valley. The slope was close to a golf terrain: we found balls all over the place. So, hoping not to be hit by a lost golf ball, we set up our gear, hoping to see one more train before heading back home. We were lucky: … Continue reading Lost golf balls
The last full day of the trip. Before heading back towards San Francisco, we wanted to give the Donner Pass railway another try. The day before, we didn’t get to make a photo of a freight train, hopefully we would be able to make up for it. We had seen some possible photo locations close to were we had been waiting the day before, east … Continue reading Last chance
On Donner Pass, the afternoon is a perfect time for taking a nap. Very few freight trains seem to be using this route, part of Union Pacific’s transcontinental Overland Route: we saw only one eastbound grain train. Fortunately, the California Zephyr heading to San Francisco was running on time. Right behind the locomotives, a dome car is part of the train. Unfortunately, I have no … Continue reading Time for a nap
On the trip’s second to last day, before heading back to San Francisco, we visited the railway line over Donner Pass. It’s a very scenic route, but you need to be there early, I think, to see some traffic. Freight trains didn’t come by, but fortunately the line sees a daily passenger train. The California Zephyr has left Truckee and is now on its way … Continue reading School bus
Further waiting for trains on different spots only resulted in a higher number on the odometer. That’s one of this hobby’s greatest frustrations. When the sun was setting, we took a pause from driving and decided to try our luck at Battle Mountain. We were fortunate to get this freight in some beautiful light, followed by the eastbound California Zephyr. And that’s the opposite feeling … Continue reading The excitement of lights in the distance
A view on Palisade Canyon. On the right of the Humboldt river the eastbound train from the previous shot can still be seen, while a westbound, loaded, coal train is approaching Palisade ghost town. Continue reading The canyon
An eastbound coal train runs through Palisade Canyon, worn out by the Humboldt river seen next to the train. Some remnants of the ghost town of Palisade can be seen. Apparently, crime rate in this town was very low, but whenever a train passed, inhabitants would stage gunfights and robberies, to boost tourism. Around the year 1870, that was. Continue reading Hold-up
Railscapes 