Great Rivers of Europe - 11

Hi, We are finally getting close to the end. Our next two stops provided little in the way of photographic opportunities.

First up was Passau, our final stop in Germany.

There are some steep cliffs along the river which provide some interesting settings for houses.

Here is an interesting manhole cover Ruthe spotted.

Some of the buildings had interesting doorways which caught Ruthe's attention.

St. Stephens Cathedral is the seat of the Catholic Bishop of Passau and the main church in the diocese.  The statue is of King Maximilian Joseph the first of Bavaria.  Ruthe took the photo.

As we left the city we passed this fortification across the Danube from the main part of the City.

Passau lies at the confluence of the Danube, Inn and Ilz rivers.  In the scene above the Ilz is flowing into the Danube.  

Our first stop in Austria was Melk.  It is best known as the site of a massive baroque Benedictine monastery named Melk Abbey.  As we had seen a number of buildings in the baroque style we skipped the optional trip to the Abbey.

Instead I took a walk into town while Ruthe stayed on the boat.  I did not find much to photograph, however, I did like this colorful scene.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning Altoona - Everett Freight

Hi, On Monday, November 9, Stan Short and I elected to photograph the Everett Railroad freight train. We had been told by a crew member on Saturday, when we photographed the Everett's steam excursion, that they normally left Holidaysburg between 9:00 and 9:30 AM. However, due to the large number of cars to needing switching the train actually departed at about 10:10 AM.

As the locomotives moved back and forth arranging the train we were able to capture the action from a variety of angles.  Here are two of my favorites (above and below).

After we got tired of watching the crew switch we relocated to the spot we had chosen for our first photograph on the line.  The location is just north of Reservoir, PA where a power line crosses the road (above and two below).

At Brooks Mill the trailing locomotive in the power consist was placed on the rear of the train.

The first switching stop was the paper mill at Roaring Spring (above and below).

While the train switched the paper mill we went ahead to choose our next location (above and below).  Depending on the light, Roaring Spring is rich with photo opportunities.

East of Roaring Spring the line climbs a stiff grade behind Smith Transfer.

The train stopped to switch a feed mill west of Martinsburg, PA (above and three below).  When the train finished switching and left we were surprised that somewhere between Smith Transfer and here the unit on the rear of the train and some of the cars had cut off.

Our final location was on the outskirts of Martinsburg.  There is a wye just to the east of here where the train turned.  Also, this is the place where the line to Curryville branches off.

We elected to leave the train after it finished turning in Martinsburg as Stan was presenting a program to the Baltimore Chapter of the NRHS that evening and we wanted to allow plenty of time to get there in case there were traffic issues along the way.  Also, the weather had become cloudy.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning Altoona - NS

Hi, Before we quit for the evening after the steam trips we checked out the former PRR, then PC, then CR, then NS car shop in Hollidaysburg. This shop is now under private ownership and appears to be very busy.

It seems the car shop has a contract with NS to fabricate new cabs for the Juniata Shops locomotive rebuild programs.

The next morning, after checking out Gallitzen, Cresson and Lily and finding the sun angles were not very good, we returned to Altoona.  We headed to the "brickyard" as we thought a heritage unit might pass through the area during the day and therefore we wanted to stay near the tracks.  Our first train was a westbound empty oil train.

Next up was a westbound manifest.

A couple of trains came downgrade with helpers still attached (above and below).

After leaving Altoona we checked out a few more locations before getting some sandwiches to eat next to the tracks at Fostoria where we caught two trains (above and two below).  This is a much better location in the morning when the sun is on the other side of the tracks.

We thought Union Furnace would be wide open, however, by about 3:00 PM the shadows had begun to encroach on the track (above and below).

The light was going fast when we arrived at Tyrone.  However, an eastbound did show up while before shadows ruined the photo.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning Altoona - Everett Steam

Hi, Friend Stan Short and I spent three days last weekend railfanning in the Altoona, PA area. We drove up  early Saturday morning arriving with enough time to scout out locations to photograph the steam excursions on the Everett Railroad scheduled to depart Hollidaysburg, PA at 11:00 AM, 1:00 PM and 3:00 PM that day.  The trips were about five miles one way to Brooks Mill where the locomotive ran around the train and returned to Hollidaysburg pulling the passenger cars tender first.

We elected to be conservative for the first trip and set up at the location we liked best - Monastery Road, about a mile north of the end of the run.

On the second run we took our first shot at this bridge about 3/4 mile east of the depot.

We easily beat the train to the point where the line to Roaring Spring, on the right in the photo, and the line to Claysburg (the line with the train on it) split.  This is just a couple of blocks north of the turn back point.

In Holidaysburg the locomotive again cut off and ran around the train.

Our next to last shot of the train was of it departing the station from the PA Route 36 overpass.

We then returned to Monastery road for our final photo.

Thanks for looking.

Railfanning the Northeast Corridor, 11-6-2015

Hi, I went out on the Northeast Corridor on Friday with a new friend - Ira Silverman.

Our first stop was the passenger station at Newark, Delaware (above and eight below). 

While at Newark we were surprised when a SEPTA train of conventional equipment with an AEM-7 for power arrived

and then, after a short wait, headed back north.

Our next stop was in Northeast, MD (above and below).  Photographing trains at this spot really should be done earlier in the morning.

At Ira's suggestion we poked around the area of Principio Furnace where we found these bridges for an overhead view (above and three below).

The GP38 has come off the mainline at the interlocking in the background.  This is some kind of maintenance base.

We relocated to Perryville, MD where we filmed this freight and

a work train in quick succession.

Finally, we moved across the Susquehanna River to Havre de Grace where we found a park Ira knew about (above and two below).

Thanks for looking.