Railfanning 3-15-2014

Hi, We arrived back at Orange at 9:30 AM.  Our reason for returning was to get one more photo of the cantilever signal bridge, this time with a southbound NS freight.

The first train was the Amtrak regional #156; the weekend Lynchburg to Washington train (above and below).

Amtrak met NS #35Q in the siding north of town giving us the shot we had come for.

After lunch things were quiet until just after 2:00 when we photographed #214,

#12R,

and #955.  These cars had been in Richmond during the general assembly session.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning 3-14-2014

Hi, I spent last Friday photographing with friends Stan Short and Dale Diacont mostly in Orange, VA.  After a day of railfanning and dinner Stan and I headed to his home for an evening of slide viewing. We began our day at Orange.

Our first train of the day, at 10:15 was a work train with this SD70MAC on the point (above and below).

The train pulled clear of the cross over north of the station and the locomotive cut off  to run around the work train.  We found the engine at a grade crossing north of Orange.

After lunch we photographed Amtrak's westbound Cardinal.  The train is leaving NS trackage and entering the Buckingham Branch RR as it passes under the signal bridge.  The Buckingham Branch track is on lease from CSX and was the C&O connection from their Piedmont mainline at Gordonsville to the Southern; and then via trackage rights to Washington, DC.  According to Dale this signal bridge will come down when NS installs PTC on this route.

After the Cardinal cleared we headed to Gordonsville to see if we could find the Buckingham Branch train we knew was working in the area.  However, about half way between Orange and Gordonsville we passed the Cardinal poking along at about 30 MPH so we hurried to set up for a second shot of the train on the west leg of the wye at Gordonsville (above and below).

After the Cardinal cleared the gentleman in the photo above (porch, 2nd floor) confirmed what we had heard on the radio, i.e., the Buckingham Branch train went west ahead of the Cardinal; so we returned to Orange.

Things were quiet until about 3:20 PM when #214 showed up with an SD75 on the point.

About 45 minutes later a train we think was #12R passed through town.

Number 12R met #211 north of town and we caught it passing the old station which now is a visitor center (above and below).

The eastbound Cardinal was running about an hour late when it passed through Orange at 4:30 PM (above and below).

Our last train of the day was #228 at about 4:50 PM.

Thanks for looking.

Boats on the Irrawaddy River

Hi, I always have been intrigued with river traffic and our cruise on the Irrawaddy River in Burma was, therefore, extremely interesting for me. I have presented below images showing typical boats I was able to photograph.

I believe these three boats carry local passengers and freight.

This boat is used for day trip river cruises out of Mandalay.

This boat appeared to carry short haul passengers and freight.

The two boats in the foreground are lashed together with logs.  Only the one with the pilot house is powered.

This is a very fancy looking boat for overnight river cruises (above and below).

We saw many "long tail" boats in both Bangkok and Burma.  The engine is mounted on a shaft near the stern of the boat and power from the engine is transmitted through the shaft to a propeller at the end under the water.  The boat is steered by moving the shaft from side to side.  Small boats like the one above also are used to transport people and freight, as well as for fishing.

Here's another long tailed boat; this one carrying passengers.

These are all day trip boats out of Mandalay.

Boats like this haul general freight on the river.  Some short haul passengers also may be carried.

These boats are docked in Mandalay.

Barges with tug boats also make an appearance.  This barge is loaded with Teak logs.

Here are 2 views of the boat we traveled on (above and below).  It has a capacity of 34 passengers and 29 crew.

This is a larger river cruise boat (above and below).

I have included the photo above and the 3 below to provide some idea of the differences in design between our boats and those in other places in the world.

Thanks for looking.