Capitol Limited

Turkey - 11

2012-01-07T15:43:00.000-05:00

Hi, This will be my final Turkey post. Our second day in Cappadocia began with an optional (at extra cost) dawn hot air balloon ride. It was fantastic. The pilots were very skilled and could bring the balloons down into the steep valleys so that in many places the baskets were only a foot or 2 off the ground. In the photo below we are looking down on one of the balloons that is rising from a close up look at the rock formations.

We also got down low and got a close up view of some of the dwellings carved into the rock.

As the sun rose both our balloon occupants and the colors warmed up.

Ballooning in this area is very popular.

This photo perhaps gives a better idea of just how close the quarters are in which the balloon pilots maneuver.

After our balloon ride and a quick breakfast it was off to a "factory" where Turkish rugs are hand woven. We were told this is a cooperative and was developed to remove the middleman and assure that the weavers received the maximum compensation.

Although this looks like a painting it is actually carpet.

These rugs can cost thousands of dollars. Some of the rugs being sold were more than a hundred years old. The older the rug the more expensive it tended to be given equivalent sizes.

After lunch we stopped at another area where there were many hoodoos with conical tops. These formations occur when the cap rock is much harder than the supporting column.

Later in the afternoon we visited an elementary school supported by the Grand Circle Foundation, established by our tour operator, Grand Circle Travel. The children read poetry and sang. Some enjoyed posing for photos.

Our last stop was the studio of a French expat who was an artist with pottery. He demonstrated by making a teapot.

The potter employed a number of associates who decorated pottery.

Here the potter holds up one of his plates. While there were items that sold for only $20 to $30 the more expensive items, such as this, were up in the hundreds.

The next day we left Cappadocia and drove to Ankara, our departure city. On the way we stopped at an area that has been occupied for more than 3,400 years. It is believed this area was a memorial chapel and that the carvings date to the 13th Century BC.

We then moved across the valley to a ruin of a city that had been the Hittite capital from about 1700 BC to about 1200 BC when both the city and the Hittite kingdom were destroyed.

The lions gate in the wall surrounding the city is shown below. The statue on the left is a reconstruction whereas the one on the right is original.

Our final day was spent in rain and mist in Ankara, Turkey's capital. We began our morning at the Anatolian Museum where many of the artifacts go back to 8000 BC.

This particular statue of a mother breast feeding a baby dates to 3000 to 1950 BC.

Cast in Bronze, this a ceremonial standard of the Hittites, the ruins of whose capital we visited the previous day.

Mestafa Kemal Ataturk led the founding of the Turkish republic and is a national hero, much in the vein of George Washington. Unlike Washington, however, his coffin is above ground in this structure.

This is Ataturk's coffin.

There were many classes of school children visiting the day we were there, and I suspect this is true every day. Each class poses for photos in front of the tomb.

Thus ended our trip to Turkey. The afternoon was at leisure and we returned home the next day. We thoroughly enjoyed Turkey and its people. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 12-28-2011

2012-01-02T14:31:00.000-05:00

Hi, Friend Doug Koontz and I elected to head up to the Brandywine Valley in Delaware and Southeastern Pennsylvania last Wednesday to try and find the 2 GP-38s the East Penn Railroad had leased a few months ago. After driving up from St. Dennis, Maryland we stopped at the railroad's office at Kennett Square, PA where we were told that the crew had left about 20 minutes earlier and they had work to do at Pocopson, PA. They would then go on to Embreeville and Modena, PA before turning around and heading for the CSX interchange at Elsmere Yard outside of Wilmington, DE. We did note that only one of the GP-38s was present leading us to hope the other was on the train.

We immediately headed for Pocopson where we found a long string of cars on a siding but no sign of the train. Doug went into a hardware store located along the tracks to ask if anyone had seen the train. He was told that they thought the train had headed south about 20 minutes earlier. Therefore, we turned around and headed south. When we checked the tracks south of Chadds Ford, where the former PRR east west line from Kennett Square joins the north south line (former Reading) from Modena to Elsmere, it was obvious the train had not passed. After some further checking of the track at the junction of the 2 lines we headed back north.

Finally, after checking as best we could we found the train, consisting of 2 units and a flat car, at Embreeville, PA. We had a few minutes to snap photos and talk to the crew before the train headed north. What we learned was the crew had driven to Embreeville to pick up the train.

We were able to catch the train once more before it headed into the yard about a mile north of Modena where interchange with the Brandywine Valley RR was accomplished. Branywine Valley is the plant railroad for the Arcelor Mital steel mill (formerly Lukens Steel) in Coatesville, PA.

After about a 30 minute wait the train headed south with a former New York Susquehanna & Western GP-18 leading. On the southern outskirts of Modena it crossed a small creek. Its interesting that this locomotive is almost 50 years old and has just begun to serve its second owner.

We caught the train a number of times along the country roads as it headed south,

including here at Northbrook, pA.

The crew stopped at Pocopson, PA to switch, first passing the former Reading Station

and then some cabooses on display.

Just south of Pocopson the tracks pass a horse farm.

As we could not find additional locations we felt were worth photographing we decided to wait at Elsmere Yard for the train. However, before the East Penn entered the yard a CSX local arrived with a GP30 slug freshly repainted into the latest scheme on the point.

Finally, as the sun was disappearing from view the East Penn train entered the yard.

We really enjoyed the day and I hope you enjoy the photos.

Turkey - 10

2011-12-31T13:30:00.001-05:00

Hi, In this post I'll start with a couple of images taken at Rumi's tomb and then move on to Cappadocia.

We stopped at the tomb during our trip from Antalya to Cappadocia. Rumi was a theologian and mystic who lived in the 13th century. He became an adherent of the Sufi sect of Islam and after he died his son and followers founded the Order of the Whirling Dervishes. Photography of the burial area is not permitted, however, there is a Mosque on the tomb grounds and

photography of the outside of the burial area is allowed.

We began our tour of Cappadocia the next morning with a stop at an overlook. It was interesting to see how homes had been built into the rocks. Scattered among the hoodoos (conical rock formations) were standard homes, businesses and Mosques. I don't know haw many hoodoos there are but I am sure they number at least in the hundreds.

This is a close up view of the mountain on the left side of the photo above. The windows and doors of homes carved into the rock can be seen more clearly.

Some of the formations looked like faces.

A church had been carved into the rock under this dome. When the rock failed and part of it split away the interior of the church was exposed to view.

The interiors of the rocks are honeycombed with tunnels and rooms. This reminded me of the Viet Cong tunnels in Viet Nam.

Circular stones were rolled across doorways and tunnel passages, and used as doors.

This rug seller was located in a small market.

Here is a different view of the mountain in the first Cappadocia photo.

In the next post I will conclude our visit to Cappadocia, including an early morning hot air balloon ride and a visit to a local school supported by the tour company. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 9

2011-12-27T07:20:00.002-05:00

Hi, We spent 3 nights in Antalya, a city of just over a million people. It has a large natural harbor but sees almost no commercial shipping. Below is the view looking across the harbor from our hotel window.

The city is on the Mediterranean and gets a great deal of sunlight. Hence, almost every building has solar hot water panels and water tanks on the roof. Satellite TV also is very popular.

The morning of our first day we visited a museum which had a collection of sarcophagi. They all had very intricate carving and were placed in room with shiny marble floors.

The carvings were so detailed that there is space behind parts of the figures.

This is the sarcophagus for a husband and wife. Tradition was not to carve a face on the figure until the person dies. In this case the wife predeceased her husband and so he had her face carved. However, apparently when the husband died there was no one who cared so his part of the figure remained faceless.

I thought this woman's face on a statue was really beautiful.

I have enjoyed Art Wolf's "Travels to the Edge" on public TV. One of the things he does frequently is photograph patterns. I found these shadows on a sphere interesting.

This is the fluted minaret. It is part of what was a multi domed mosque and is now a museum.

This clock tower is located at the edge of the old town and dates to the Roman era.

It was fairly common to find artisans working outside their shops in old town.

Here is another view of the harbor. The sailboat is used for harbor tours.

In the afternoon of our first day we went for a cooking demonstration and tasting of Turkish food. The chef, who owns the restaurant, was more than 80 years old. He has just prepared Halva and is dishing out samples.

For the Turks weddings are very important events. One section of a main street is devoted to wedding gowns.

On our second day Ruthe and I took a more leisurely stroll around the old town. Here is a display in the window of a rental car agency.

We came across a shop in old town that specialized in Meerschaum pipes. Thirty years ago, when I smoked a pipe regularly, I would have purchased one.

The use of manual labor still is prevalent.

Pleasure craft and a few small fishing boats are berthed in the inner harbor.

Parts of the old city wall still exist and overlook the inner harbor.

These woman are stringing beads on thread.

We came upon a group of boys marching in celebration of the day the Republic of Turkey was founded.

Hadrians Gate was constructed in honor of that Roman Emperor.

A parade of VW Beatles draped in Turkish flags were celebrating Republic day.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 8

2011-12-25T16:24:00.001-05:00

Hi, This post covers only our visit to Aphrodisias, once a Greek and then Roman city. The Greeks established it to honor their goddess of love, Aphrodite. There is a small museum on site which was our first stop. We found the sculptures in the museums we visited amazing for their detail.

Here is the main gate to the city.

I thought this fluted column was interesting and tried to capture the pattern.

I believe this is the remains of the baths.

Time and earthquakes have left some interesting stonework. This is a precarious balancing act.

Market street was very long. This view looks along the street,

while this view looks down on it.

The stadium would have seated almost 30,000 spectators. It is the largest stadium in the Mediterranean area and the best preserved anywhere.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. Thank you for looking.

Railfanning 12-20-20211

2011-12-24T14:22:00.003-05:00

Hi, Friend Doug Koontz and I decided to get together last Tuesday in spite of the weather forecast as it had been a long time since we had seen each other. Because the weather was supposed to be cloudy, and it was, we elected to check out Baltimore. There were some places I had visited the week before that Doug had not been to since around 1980 and he wanted to see how things had changed.

Our first stop was Boston Street in the Penn Mary area where we came across the Canton RR geep and switcher I had photographed there a week earlier with Dale Jacobson.

The Canton Units backed their train away from the grade crossing, so we headed for Sparrows Point. A Patapsco & Back Rivers switcher, in the Bethlehem Steel Co. railroads corporate paint scheme, was switching Grays Yard. This photo was taken as it left the yard for the mill.

We drove to the Wharf Road over pass, and then

to Sparrows Point Road.

The switcher dropped its cars in the yard next to Sparrows Point Road and went out of site into the mill so we returned to Boston Street in Penn Mary. There were 2 NS locals working the Penn Mary area. Here one of them is pulling forward as a Canton RR switcher pulls loads of scrap toward their yard.

The local then backed down to another area to continue switching.

Almost immediately a second local appeared,

while the Canton continued pulling its scrap loads.

The Canton dropped its loads at South Newkirk Street and

got on a string of empties

which it pushed back to the scrap yard. These photos were taken in the area of O'Donnell Street.

Having seen a photo he liked taken of a train under the Mount Royal Station train shed, Doug had been studying the area using Mapquest. He wanted to take a look on the ground so we headed there. CSX was very quiet but the trolley line provided many opportunities.

Finally, a freight came out of the Howard Street Tunnel and headed into the south end of the train shed.

At about this point we ran out of light so we headed for home. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 7

2011-12-17T22:30:00.000-05:00

Hi, The first group of photos were taken at Pamukkale, a very large series of carbonate terraces and hills formed from flowing hot springs. After stopping at the bottom of the formation we then drove to the top and had some time to explore and photograph the formations from above.

The Romans established a city here with baths to take advantage of the hot springs called Hierapolis. The ruins that remain are sparse.

After we left Pamukkale we visited a town famous for its linen weaving. We visited a location where the weaving was done and then were free to look around the shops in town, including the one where this gentleman was working.

The following Saturday was the celebration of the formation of the Turkish Republic and bands from various local schools were out practicing for the local parade.

As we walked by one of the schools children in the school yard came over to have their photo taken.

At night there was a belly dancer in the lounge of our hotel.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 6

2011-12-17T05:51:00.001-05:00

Hi, Our next stop was Ephesus. The site was first settled in 6000 BC. The area has a complex history and has been ruled, amongst others, by the Greeks, Persians and Romans. It was once a major port, however, silting of the harbor over time resulted in its decline. I have only a few comments so enjoy the photos.

Cats are every where in Turkey and in great numbers.

There are mosaic tiles in excellent condition.

The Romans built modern looking toilet facilities. No privacy.

The major structure at the site is called The Library of Celsus. The facade was reconstructed of all original parts.

It was an interesting site and very crowded. Next we visited a huge hot springs area and an old church ruin. I'll cover those in the next blog post.

Railfanning 12-13-2011

2011-12-14T17:52:00.001-05:00

Hi, I had the opportunity to revisit some old familiar places in Baltimore with friend Dale Jacobson and his wife on Tuesday. After checking out a couple of places in Halethorpe, and on the south side of Baltimore we arrived at Baily's Wye just in time to catch Q409.

Q217 was right behind Q409 so we went to Bush Street where the Baltimore skyline looms in the background.

The radio was active indicating that both Q035, a holiday rush period train shown below, and Q031 were on the way.

Between Q035 and Q031 a local came out of Riverside Yard and headed south to Mt. Winans yard to switch.

Shortly after the yard job passed Q031 went south.

Q370 was waiting and continued its trip north as soon as Q031 cleared the single track. The tracks to the left of the train in the photo above terminate in Camden Station.

Right behind Q370 was Q034. We went back to Bush street to photograph it.

Next we checked out Penn Mary yard and the surrounding area. We spotted a Canton RR switcher working their yard and a Canton GP and switcher sitting on a cut of cars. Since nothing looked promising we moved on to Sparrows Point. Our first stop was at Grays Yard where we found a switcher in what we assume is the new R. G. Steel paint scheme.

After getting our fill of the switcher at Grays Yard we headed down to the steel mill proper and found another switcher working a long string of flat cars loaded with coiled steel sheet.

Our final stop was back at Penn Mary where we found the Canton GP and switcher with headlights and ditch lights on. After about 20 minutes the train came up to Boston Street.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 12/1 and 12/10/2011

2011-12-12T11:45:00.002-05:00

Hi, Friend Rudy Volin and I spent 2 beautiful days railfanning on 12/1 and 12/10. A late start on 12/1 got us to Point of Rocks, MD a little before noon. There was a large tie gang spread out along Track 1.

About 12:15 PM a late running Capital Limited with friend Brian Paulus at the throttle came through.

Work train D023 followed the Capital about 45 minutes later on Track 1. It went only a block or two east of the station and then went to work picking up old ties.

D023 was followed by D025 which went up the Old Main Line a short distance before stopping to pick up ties.

Once D025 had cleared the interlocking east of Point of Rocks on the Old Main Line light helper set B801 came west.

Finally, by the last light of day the Frederick Local headed out the Old Main Line.

Saturday, 12/10 dawned with some clouds. We decided to head to Brunswick, MD as there was a shot there we had seen on 12/1 and not shot before. We followed the tracks as best we could but missed an eastbound near Gaithersburg, MD. We wound up in Point of Rocks where we got our first train, U848. Ten seconds earlier this shot was in shadow. Occasionally things work out!

Moving on to Brunswick we found a signal suspension in progress as signal crews worked to cut over control of the area from East Brunswick (the eastern end of the yard) to Weaverton, MD from WB tower to the Jacksonville, FL dispatcher. During the morning normally eastbound Tracks 2 and 4 were out of service allowing this shot of eastbound coal train U813 on normally westbound track 1. This was the location we had come to shoot although we did not expect to get an eastbound here.

We then drove over to the 4 runner where a work train was parked. This train would leave in early afternoon when the eastbound tracks opened.

Amtrak's Capital Limited followed the U813 abut 45 minutes later.

Since it sounded like it would be quiet for awhile on CSX we decided to head over to Shenandoah Junction, WV. With the sun at its Zenith NS #227 went north and we just watched. However, #16T was following #227 and in the meantime we heard U884 coming east so we went to the overpass just west of Bardane, WV.

We got back to Shenandoah Junction just as #16T approached the north end of the siding.

We then returned to Brunswick to catch Q249 heading west at the trackside houses we wanted to photograph.

The next train up was supposed to be Q217, however, it ran through a red signal at East Brunswick and the dispatcher held it just west of that signal. There was nothing else westbound that was close so we called it an early day and headed for home. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 5

2011-12-07T17:02:00.001-05:00

Hi, This post will cover our last day in Izmir. We had a city tour in the morning and then the afternoon at leisure. Our city tour began in the Clock Tower Square Ruthe and I visited the day before. Our guide explained that the statue in the next 2 photos is of a journalist credited with being the spark that began the fight to form the Turkish Republic.

In 1918 the Ottoman Empire, as a result of being on the losing side at the end of WW I, was broken up and Turkey was occupied by the Allies. In 1919 the man immortalized by the statue went up to an Allied soldier and shot him to death. He was immediately taken into captivity, tried and executed. The ensuing fighting led to the establishment of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

This is a detail of one of the window areas of the Mosque in the square.

Children enjoyed watching and feeding the pigeons.

We then took our bus to the opposite side of the harbor and a ferry back to our starting point. Here our ferry is arriving prior to our boarding.

This is a more modern ferry with the container port in the background.

After lunch Ruthe was tired and headed back to the hotel. I took a long walk to the railroad station during which I took these photos.

These friends are enjoying tea outside a small cafe.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. In the next post its on to Ephesus and beyond.

Turkey - 4

2011-12-05T09:23:00.001-05:00

Hi, On our way to Ismir we stopped at a small village to have lunch in the homes of some of the local residents. To do this we were split up into groups of 6. When we arrived in the village groups of men were lounging in the square.

The next 2 photos show typical furnishings in the house I visited. At our guide's suggestion we split up and my wife Ruthe went to a different home.

After lunch our hosts posed for photos.

Sunday in Izmir is a day to relax and there seems to be no better place than the promenade along the harbor. The yellow building is the old customs house.

A large container ship rode at anchor awaiting its turn at a pier.

Many small outdoor restaurants were along the water.

A close up of the walk made an interesting pattern.

Many couples enjoyed the beautiful day.

This gentleman would take their picture and then produce a print for them on the spot, and

this woman did a good business selling her flowers.

The young boy is selling Simit, a delicious roll formed in a circle and sometimes covered with sesame seeds.

A abstract sculpture along the promenade was great for the older boys to climb.

A square off the promenade had a clock tower and a very small Mosque.

Many families were in this area and that brought out lots of vendors. This one has bird seed for the pigeons and ballons for sale while he stirs the ubiquitous glass of tea.

This young boy and his father were selling balloons.

Cotton candy tempted adults and children alike.

A march was scheduled for that afternoon to protest a Kurdish attack in southern Turkey in whcih 26 soldiers were killed.

Next we explored the market area. The old market part of this area is closed on Sunday but the rest of the area is bustling. I have included three photographs I liked.

I hope you enjoyed the photographs.

Turkey - 3

2011-11-28T07:05:00.001-05:00

Hi, On the third full day of our visit to Turkey we joined our tour group and left Istanbul. On our way out of town we stopped at the Spice Market. Adjoining the Spice market was a seed market, and

a pet market. Animals sold in the pet market included dogs, chipmunks, and all kinds of birds.

One shop even sold Turkeys.

From Istanbul we drove to Gallipoli, the site of a WW I battle that was a disaster for the Allies. The objective was to take Istanbul and thereby knock the Ottoman Empire out of the war. After trying a naval attack up the Dardanelles, which failed, the Allies settled on a landing with ANZAC (Australian and New Zealand) and French colonial troops followed by an overland march to Istanbul. We made the drive in a few hours the ANZAC troops were held on the beachhead from August 25, 1915 until December 20, 1915, when the last Allied troops left.

The photograph below shows a view from the landing area. The Turks occupied the high ground. Casualties were high on both sides with the Allies loosing about 45,000 men and the Turks almost 87,000 men.

The area is now a national park with some individual graves and some mass graves in the area.

These are remarks of Kemal Ataturk

After our visit to Gallipoli we took ferry like the one below to the Asian side of the Dardanelles and drove a short distance to our hotel.

Before dinner Ruthe and I went for a walk. During the walk we split up and I spotted some kids getting ready to play soccer. After I took this photo I was spotted so I walked over and the kids indicated they wanted a group photo.

While their English was limited they were able to convey they hoped their photo would be put on Facebook, which it will be when I link this blog to my Facebook page.

This our view of the hotel view from our bedroom window.

The next day we visited Troy where we learned that the story of Hellen of Troy and the Trojan Horse is just that. The battle that was fought here was over access to an important harbor and trade routes. Ironically, over time the harbor has silted up and become a huge field with the Dardanelles being about 5 miles away.

Blood sacrifice was a part of ancient religions. These 3 structures were used to catch the blood.

From Troy we drove to our next overnight stop, Izmir, where we would spend the next 3 nights. I hope you have enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 2

2011-11-26T13:49:00.001-05:00

Hi, For our second day in Istanbul Ruthe booked what I consider a very unique tour; Istanbul Eats. We met for our walk outside the Spice Market in the Old Town and our group of six set off to sample typical Turkish fare. A large flock of pigeons congregates here and vendors sell food you can give the birds.

In addition to spices, sold mainly inside, there are a variety of food shops outside.

Our first stop was at an Olive shop where we sampled the merchandise. Then our guide bought some olives.

Next we stopped at a cheese shop where our guide Angelis explained the various types being sold. He then bought some cheese.

Fresh fish also was for sale.

At the start of our walk Angelis had purchased Simit, shown on the left in the photo below. These cost 1 Turkish Lira, about 85 cents. We also stopped to buy some beef sausage. Then we went to a storage area in the back of the Spice Market where we sat around an old desk covered with newspaper and breakfasted on the olives, cheeses, Simit, and beef sausage Angelis had purchased. We had our choice of Turkish Coffee, which was gritty and had the consistency of loose pudding, or tea.

Our next stop was a shop specializing in Baklava. Angelis went behind the counter and picked various pieces of the pastry for us to sample while explaining how the pastry was made and what went into each type.

Around the corner was a little hole in the wall with something on spits rotating horizontally over a fire. The something turned out to be sweetbreads bundled in lamb's intestines. While it sounds gross, when chopped up and served in a baguette it really is quite good.

After a short walk we came to a restaurant that had been a soup kitchen where we were served a bowl of lentil soup and more bread.

As we walked we encountered the natives of the Old Town.

We also saw the various shops. Generally, all the shops of a given type are clustered together. This one sells pots and pans.

I think these are kitchen utensils.

More food awaited us at a Pita shop. This is the Turkish equivalent of Pizza. After the dough is rolled out and tossed around it is filled with cheese and some or all of beef sausage, and various vegetables.

Once the fillings are in place the edges are bent over, and

the Pitas are place in a wood fired brick oven.

The result, shown, here was delicious.

Another group of shops sold scales.

More sweets were next on the agenda. This candy shop specialized in Turkish Delight. It also sold a wide variety of other candies, which we sampled.

Turkey's republic was established on October 29, 1923 so the 29th is a major holiday. In anticipation of the holiday we saw many vendors selling Turkish flags.

Turks must really love cats as we saw them everywhere we went.

Our next stop was a former caravansary where we were served hallava and tea.

A Turkish magazine ran a story about Angelis and the tour. One of the photos in the story was taken at the caravansary so I asked Angelis to pose with the article in the spot where the photo was taken.

More food! This time its lamb with alternating layers of tomatoes, onions and bell peppers. It's shaved off the spindle and

served on a crisp roll. We each had 1/2 a sandwich along with fresh squeezed Pomegranate juice. You can have some orange juice squeezed in to sweeten the drink a little bit. I should have done that.

Our next to last stop was a shop selling a fermented millet drink. It is more like tapioca pudding. Roasted chick peas are added to the beverage. It doesn't sound like it, but the drink really is quite good and the gentleman providing the service puts on quite a show.

The decor is elegant too.

Our final stop was a Kurdish restaurant for a full lunch. When desert came I could manage one fork full and I was done. After lunch Angelis gave us ride in his Taxi to Taksim Square near our hotel. From there we took the historic tram and then walked to the Galata Tower. These were hanging outside an adjacent building.

Finally, here are 2 views of the Bosphorus from atop the tower.

Yes, that's smog, a real problem in many Turkish cities.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Turkey - 1

2011-11-19T11:31:00.001-05:00

Hi, From October 18 through November 3 my wife and I visited Turkey. I am going to try to break these posts into shorter segments than usual, although I suspect I won't always be successful.

Our trip began in Istanbul. As we had seen the major attractions during our first visit a year and a half ago we elected to spend the first 2 full days on our own and join the group only for the welcome dinner on the first night and then when the tour left Istanbul on October 21.

For our first day we decided to see the Jewish Museum and then take a boat ride on the Bosphorus. A cab from our hotel got stuck in traffic and, as we thought we were close to our destination, we decided to walk. However, although very close, the museum was not easy to find, even though we had an address and a google map. We were fortunate in that the local Turks were very friendly and tried to help. When we encountered someone who could not speak English he would find someone who could.

While wandering the streets we encountered this gentlemen with his cart. On the cart was a copier and his business was bringing his copy machine to people's doors. He is in the process of making a copy.

Even with a great deal of help it seemed no one knew the location of the museum until we got within a few blocks. At this point we were told we would find the museum if we walked down 2 blocks and turned left. It would be at the end of the street, and it was. The statue is outside the museum which at one time was a Synagogue. Inside the museum there were interesting displays concerning Jewish History in Istanbul. However, photography was not permitted inside the museum.

As we exited the museum I noticed this parabolic mirror and thought the reflection looked interesting.

We the walked from the museum down to the Golden Horn which we crossed. This view looks back across the Golden Horn toward the new part of Istanbul.

The bridge is a favorite spot for fishermen.

After lunch we took an excursion boat along the Bosphorus. A mosque located along the Bosphorus contrasts with a high rise office building.

One of Istanbul's universities is located along the Bosphorus.

The walls of an old fortress come down to the water's edge.

The shore's of the Bosphorus and the Dardenelles are favorite places for the wealthy to build homes.

A military academy is on the Asian side of the Bosphorus.

Two suspension bridges cross the Bosphorus.

Crossing the major streets is accomplished with tunnels. These tunnels provide prime locations for selling all kinds of merchandise.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. The next post will have something I think is truly novel; so please stay tuned. Bob

Trains and Trams in Turkey

2011-11-13T05:37:00.001-05:00

Hi, My wife, Ruthe, and I visited Turkey from October 18 through November 3. Our tour began in Istanbul and ended in Ankara, the capital. During our trip I had three opportunities to photograph rail activity.

The first opportunity was in Istanbul. This is a huge city with a population of 17 million. To say it is crowded would be an understatement and, as you might guess, the traffic is horrendous. They have excellent public transportation, including several tram routes, one of which we used to get around as we spent the first 2 days of our visit on our own. At its north or east end this line connects with a funicular.

The funicular runs underground from the tram up to Taksim Square station, which was only a short walk from our hotel. The cars look very much like modern tram bodies.

A historic trolley runs about a mile from Taksim Square down a pedestrian mall through an upscale shopping area. The mall was filled with people.

Although it is a pedestrian mall, some vehicles could gain access.

Although I could reach the railroad station by tram easily, time constraints prevented me from doing so.

My next opportunity was in the city of Izmir with a population of 3.3 million. There were no trams to photograph but the railroad station was accessible and I had a beautiful afternoon to walk over to it. A small tank engine is on display at the station entrance.

Inside on display was an 0-8-0 switcher.

A water column still stands between 2 of the station tracks.

Commuter train activity was very frequent.

Two different classes of equipment are in use.

Three switchers were working the section of the station reserved for long distance trains. According to the builder's plate they were constructed by Asea Brown Bovari. The locomotives are the same style as Alco C-415s.

At 4:15 PM a long distance train arrived.

The road locomotives had Alsthom builders plates.

The final city I had an opportunity to photograph rail action in was Antalya. This is the smallest city I photographed in with a population of slightly over 1 million. It has no rail service and 2 tram lines that don't really connect although they pass each other at the corner shown below. One tram line is a modern light rail operation. A number of the cars are wrapped with advertisements. Ruthe and I rode this line from downtown to its suburban terminus just for fun.

The interior of the cars is unobstructed from end to end.

On the other line historic trams consisting of a powered car and a trailer are used. I rode this line from end to end. Part of its route skirts the old town area and runs along a park overlooking the harbor.

I did not try to railfan in Ankara as we had only one day there and it rained most of the day. I'll post a selection of other photos from the places we visited soon. Meanwhile, I hope you enjoy these.

KCS trip - 8

2011-10-12T11:15:00.002-04:00

Hi, The last full day of our trip was spent exploring and photographing in Kansas City. In addition, we spent a couple of hours in the morning on September 28 revisiting a couple of spots before my scheduled departure.

Our first stop was the viaduct at 63rd Street. The bridge is much longer than the photos indicate, as about half of it is obscured by trees. Still, it is a nice spot and we decided it was best in the morning. Our first movement was northbound light engines.

Next an empty coal train went north. The DPU is shown below.

When we were done at 63rd street we explored the Sheffield flyover but could not find a good location. The railroads in the area are fenced and there is a great deal of fenced private property, so we moved on to KCS's Knoche Yard. Here again the property is fenced. We followed the yard on the north side and when we reached a grade crossing on the west side of the yard a KCS switcher was working and a CP power set was moving.

In the west bottoms we found a few of the old factory and warehouse buildings still standing. Some were still in use and some were being renovated. Also, there were a number of vacant lots where buildings once stood. Here a westbound UP manifest comes into the west bottoms.

The manifest was closely followed by a pair of MP15ACs and a GP38.

After lunch we attempted to explore the Santa Fe Junction/BN Crossing Junction area. However, the road to the point overlooking Santa Fe Junction is now closed as the new flyover (upper most bridge in the photo below) goes through the area. This did not seem to be a big loss, however, as the flyover probably blocked a view of the tower at Santa Fe Junction and there did not appear to be any traffic running at ground level on the Transcon or off the lower level of the Kaw River Bridge. The UP coal train is coming off the upper level of the Kaw River Bridge.

The BNSF train is on the flyover.

Dale wanted a photo with the Western Auto building so that was our next objective. The location is the road bridge just east of Kansas City Union Station.

We then moved to the road bridge just west of the station.

We then returned to the BN Junction area.

These BNSF locomotives are former GP30s that were rebuilt by BN about 20 years ago to SP39 specifications.

Amtrak runs 2 round trips each day between St.Louis and Kansas City. The trains are turned on the wye at BN Junction for their return trip to St. Louis.

The train below, empty coal hoppers, is coming off the former Frisco route to Memphis, TN.

Our last stop of the day was the Mill Street Yard of the Kansas City Terminal in Kansas City, KS.

On our final morning we determined that we had time to hit only 2 locations before I had to be at the airport at 11:00 AM. Dale's choice was to return to 63rd Street where we shot this northbound manifest.

I elected to finish up in the west bottoms where an overpass under construction provide a safe elevated shooting platform in both directions. These coal empties are west bound.

The coal empties stopped here for a red signal in the distance. While the train held here a BNSF light engine move came east.

Finally, the first coal train continued west followed shortly by another coal train on the normally eastbound track The track on the far right is connection to track coming from BN Junction.

This train had a DPU, allowing for shots looking west.

I hope you have enjoyed the photos from the trip. Dale and I had a great time. Thanks for looking.

KCS trip - 7

2011-10-10T15:54:00.001-04:00

Hi, This was the last full day on the KCS. The plan was to head north shooting what we could find, and then spend a day plus a couple of hours the next morning exploring Kansas City. We headed for the yard in Pittsburg and spotted a southbound moving so we decided to give chase.

Fortunately, the south bound was held at Asbury, MO for a meet with 2 northbounds. Since there were 2 retro Belles on the point we decided to follow the train south.

The railroad basically runs along side the road from Asbury to Webb City, MO. South of Waco it crosses the Spring River.

We had scoped out this shot at Tipton Ford, MO the day before.

We then set up at Goodman, MO for QSHKC,

Before heading to Anderson for one last shot of the southbound.

The southbound had a retro Belle DPU.

We encountered QSHKC later in the day at Hume, MO. It had dropped its 3rd and 4th units in Pittsburg.

Fortunately it had to stop in Amsterdam, MO for a track crew to clear up. This allowed us to catch up.

Leaving town ahead of the train allowed us to get a shot between Amsterdam and Merwin, MO.

Our last shot of the day was at Drexel, MO. It was getting close to Kansas City's congestion and therefore we thought it would be too hard to get another shot.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring Kansas City. This proved worthwhile as much has changed in the 20 years since I last visited and many of the places I was able to go then are now fenced.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

KCS trip - 6

2011-10-07T13:13:00.000-04:00

Hi, We began the day by driving about 30 miles back south to Stilwell, OK. Even though the day had dawned cloudy we wanted a photo of a train passing the station. It is worth noting that there is a nice motel just south of town. If we had stayed there we could have avoided a 60 mile roundtrip.

We weren't in Stilwell long when we heard a northbound approaching on the radio. However, it seemed to be taking a long time to get to us. Dale thought he was laying back south of town so as not to block grade crossings while waiting in the siding here for a meet. This proved to be the case as we found the train sitting just south of the last grade crossing. This was the first of numerous opportunities to photograph this train.

When the southbound got close the northbound empty coal train came into town.

As soon as the southbound passed the north end switch the northbound got moving and a shot of the southbound UP coal train and the north bound's DPU was set up.

The southbound cleared soon enough to shoot the north bound passing the depot.

We now headed north. As we approached Decatur, AR we heard a southbound approaching. We set up on the north end of town and got a grain train.

We gave chase and got shots south of town of the head end and

DPU, and at

CP North Gentry.

The southbound grain train met the northbound coal empties here.

As we continued north the weather began to clear. We got another southbound grain train at Anderson, MO.

Moving on north we explored Tipton Ford until the empty coal train showed up.

We then went to Oskaloosa, MO where we had seen a pond shot that I wanted. First up was the north bound coal train. The DPUs are shown here.

About and hour later a loaded coal train came south.

After this train we called it a day and headed to our motel in PIttsburg, KS

KCS Trip - 5

2011-10-06T11:02:00.001-04:00

H, Both Dale and I felt this was our best day. We were heading north today and would spend the night at the Quality Inn in Siloam Springs again.

However, first we would go to Heavener to see what was going on. On the way we made our second stop at Howe in the sun. This time it was early enough that No. 4061 had sun on the nose.

We continued on to Forest Hill where this northbound empty coal train was sitting. Since there was no crew aboard we decided to check out the fuel pad and the south end of the yard.

At the south end of Heavener Yard we found a coal train and the prior day's HKCSH.

Neither train could move until the HSHKC, which was sitting on single track just south of town could come in. It was recrewed with a yard crew before entering the yard. Once the HSHKC was in the yard the coal train left.

We attempted to chase the coal train but, due to indecision on our part, it beat us to Page and we were unwilling to chase it up the mountain. The HKCSH, with its to retro Belles was more interesting. Our first shot was at Petros, OK.

We then headed for CP South Page, OK. The dispatcher had set up a meet here and this light power set was brought in behind a train ahead.

We photographed the HKCSH here and then

again at Howard, AR. The station sign was erected by the property owner and is not on railroad property.

A few miles upgrade from Howard there is another open spot and the foreground was covered with yellow flowers (Buttercups?).

We then proceeded to the top of the grade at Rich Mountain, AR. No meet here today.

The train went into emergency just downgrade from Rich Mountain so we waited for a few minutes at Eagleton,AR until it got moving again. The conductor was riding the rear car and the plan was for the train to back up the grade and pick him up. However, we took him to the next grade crossing down the grade and he boarded the engines there.

It was time to head north. However, first we headed to Spiro, OK and drove in to the south end of the Arkansas River Bridge. There were a number of southbound trains in the picture and this manifest was first across the bridge.

Having gotten our bridge shot at the south end we decided to make the long trip around to the north end in the hopes of catching the HSHKC which we believed would be departing Heavener soon. Just as we were driving away from the bridge we heard a south bound coal train call the signal on the north side of the river so we set up to shoot him on the south approach to the bridge.

We then went to the north end of the bridge at Redland, OK where we got this south bound grain train, and

the HSHKC. Note that the gray KCS locomotive was added in Heavener.

It was a great day for Dale and me and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

KCS trip - 4

2011-10-05T17:39:00.004-04:00

Hi, It was quite foggy when we left the motel in Poteau, OK this morning. We planned to concentrate on the Arkansas - Oklahoma Railroad on this day. Unfortunately, the only activity would be at McAlester, OK about 80 miles west. Given the weather at the time we decided to go for it.

When we arrived at McAlester the weather had cleared and we learned that the crew was working at Big V Feeds, on the northeast side of town. Shortly they received permission from the UP dispatcher to enter the UP's north south main over which they would then run down to their own route. The train, pulled by a B23-7 came down the UP and crossed the AOK's former Rock Island Choctaw route.

It pulled past the switch in the left background and pushed its train around the connecting track in the southwest quadrant of the wye.

After photographing the train we headed back east with a stop at the company's head quarters in Wilburton. The only power well positioned was a pair of former BNSF B40-8Ws, still in BNSF paint. We took this photo of a pair of super 7s next to a former Mid South Paducah rebuild and continued east.

After a brief stop in Howe for some roster shots, this time sun lit, of the B23-7 parked there, we continued on to Heavener, OK.

We arrived in Heavener about 11:30 AM where a coal train was getting ready to head south. We would chase this train over Rich Mountain.

Our first stop was at Howard, AR. Mr. Mindfall came out to talk to us. Following retirement from a Navy career he had worked for BNSF out west until a heart condition forced him to retire.

The grade really slows heavy trains so even though it is not a particularly long climb it is easy to keep up. The next large open spot was a few miles upgrade. He is a railfan and a great source of information.

A north bound manifest was in the siding at the top of the hill at Rich Mountain, AR.

We therefore elected to shoot the coal train at CP North Rich Mountain. The train is actually traveling east.

Here is the DPU at the same location..

We then backtracked to Heavener in time photograph a second coal train at Petros, OK.

The train had 2 DPUs.

Returning to Heavener we proceed a mile or 2 north to Forest Hill where we caught a grain train crossing over as it proceeded down to the fueling pad and yard.

We ended the day at Howe where we caught HKCSH. The track ending at the Barrier is the far eastern end of the Arkansas - Oklahoma Railroad. The B23-7 is directly behind me.

As the HKCSH pulled down the connection between the AOK and KCS is in the foreground.

It was a great day. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

KCS trip - 3

2011-10-04T07:14:00.000-04:00

Hi, It rained all night and continued into the early morning. It would remain gray all day; the only gray day of the trip. We headed south. Our first stop was in Stillwell, OK where I photographed this Herzog work equipment on a spur track. There is a very pretty depot here now used as a museum which we would come back to shoot later in the week.

We decided to use this day primarily for exploration, given the weather, so we used some back roads to follow the tracks. In Marble City, OK we found this Southeast Kansas geep working the U. S. Lime Company plant. The Southeast Kansas Railroad is affiliated with the South Kansas and Oklahoma; both owned by WATCO.

Also on the property was this former Texas Northwestern Railway switcher.

Dale wanted to visit the Ft. Smith, Arkansas Trolley Museum and I convinced him it was better to do it on a rainy day so we could save any sunny days for the KCS. Sitting outside the trolley barn was this trim ex-Frisco Mike. The museum had looked into restoring the locomotive to operable condition but found it too expensive for them to handle.

Inside the trolley barn the restoration of former Hot Springs Street Railway No. 50, built by St. Louis Car Company in 1904, was nearing completion.

We road No. 224, a Birney built by American for Ft. Smith Light and Traction in 1926.

The trolley barn is part way along the line. One end is at the Ft. Smith National Cemetery.

The car is very rough riding and the wooden seats don't help. However, I got to operate the car for part of the run so sitting was not a problem.

The other end of the line was at a park built at least partially on an area that had been destroyed by a tornado a few years ago.

Later in the day we explored around Spiro, OK. While doing so we heard an empty coal train leaving a power plant at Blazer, a few miles to our south, so we headed south of town for this shot.

After the coal train cleared we went to the north end of the siding in Spiro to watch the head end power on a grain train swap one of its retro Belles for the gray DPU which was not operating properly.

At Howe, from the overpass in the background, we spotted this Arkansas and Oklahoma B23-7. Howe is the far eastern end of operations by this railroad on the former Rock Island Choctaw Route and its interchange with KCS. The signal once guarded the KCS crossing and is now inoperable. We would take 2 more opportunities to shoot this locomotive in sun.

Double track begins at Howe, CP North Howe on the railroad, and continues into the yard at Heavener, OK. CP South Howe, at Forest Hill, controls a pair of crossovers. Trains frequently are held here awaiting a place either at the fuel pad at the north end of the yard or space in the yard. We found a southbound grain train waiting on this afternoon.

In Heavener a two unit power set was moving to get on its train.

This ended our day so we headed back north to Poteau, OK. We would spend 2 nights at the Holiday Inn Express here. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

KCS trip - 2

2011-10-03T11:54:00.002-04:00

Hi, On our second day we headed south out of Pittsburg. As we crossed the track just south of the yard we saw a train moving south. Fortunately, we were able to catch up, and actually get ahead of it at Webb City, MO, just north of Joplin. We were pleased to have a train to chase south with a retro Belle on the point.

By the way, the tornado destruction in Joplin is still quite evident and is awesome.

We just beat the train to Neosho where we shot the head end, and

the DPU. Neosho is the foot of the southbound grade for the climb over McElhaney Hill. At one time Neosho was a helper base for this climb.

At McElhaney siding, near the top of the hill an unmanned grain train was sitting on a spur leading to a feed mill. We hoped it would head south later in the day, but it did not..

We did, however, get a photo of our train passing the sitting one. At this point we let the moving train go as we were on the side of the track away from our car and we assumed there would be plenty of trains to shoot. This turned out to be a bad assumption as it was the last southbound of the day. Also, this early in the trip we were unaware of how slow the track was south of here. We could have easily caught this train.

Here is the DPU at the same location.

We continued south to Sulfur Springs, Arkansas where Dale learned from a track crew there would be a northbound in about 20 minutes. We ran back north to Anderson, MO to get this shot of the depot there with an empty coal train. We waited almost about 45 minutes for the train to cover the 15 miles from Sulfur Springs. Note that KCS units were not common on coal trains.

Here is the DPU.

Continuing south into Arkansas we heard a north bound calling signals as we approached Gentry so we turned around and set up at CP North Gentry.

From Gentry we passed through Siloam Springs, AR, stopped to get a room and continued on west and south into Oklahoma. At Watts, about 8 miles south of Siloam Springs, we encountered a work train in the clear. Dale talked to the engine crew and found out a north bound was close. We head back north and shot this light power move of 6 locomotives crossing the Illinois River.

At this point the railroad dried up so Dale suggested we head over to Springdale, AR to see if anything was happening on the Arkansas and Missouri. As all was quiet all we got were a couple of static shots.

We headed back to Siloam Springs and called it a day. I hope you are enjoying the photos.

KCS Trip - 1

2011-10-02T17:34:00.005-04:00

Hi, I spent 8 great days with friend Dale Diacont photographing mainly the Kansas City Southern between Kansas City, MO and Rich Mountain, AR. Dale drove from his home in Virginia to Kansas City and made a perfect pickup at the Kansas City airport. My wait time was only about 5 minutes after landing about 20 minutes early at about 9:40 AM

We immediately headed south, and, after exiting the Kansas City metropolitan area began to follow the tracks on back roads. We quickly picked up this northbound on the scanner and photographed it at Cleveland, MO.

We continued south to Drexel, MO where we heard a northbound and southbound would meet. First up was this northbound merchandise. KCS runs two types of merchandise trains each way each day between Kansas City and Shreveport, LA. One type carries an H before its origin and destination codes. This train picks up and drops off at yards along its route, including Pittsburg, KS, Heavener, OK, and Texarkana, AR. Trains having symbols beginning with Q run straight through between terminals stopping just to change crews. We never heard the symbol for this train.

Shortly after the merchandise train rolled north the coal train came south running with a single unit leading and a single unit as DPU (1 by 1).

The DPU was an SD70 MAC still painted in its as delivered Grinstein Green paint.

Next we photographed a south bound coal train with a really ugly former SP C4400AC trailing so a photo is not included. Next, we caught north bound coal empties at Caton, MO.

After Caton we photographed a north bound empty UP coal train, however, the location was not recorded and so the photo is omitted. The day ended at Oskaloosa, MO with a northbound empty grain train.

While the weather was beautiful all day trains were sparse as the railroad was doing a great deal of track work. We spent the night at the Extra Inn in Pittsburg, KS; a very reasonable $55 per night for 2 people 2 beds and very comfortable. They even had breakfast.Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 9-10-2011

2011-09-14T16:55:00.001-04:00

Hi, September 10 was Railroad Illustrated's Day in North America, the one date during the year when railfans are encouraged to spend all or part of the day photographing trains and then to submit 3 images to the magazine. Friend Rudy Volin and I decided to begin our day at Harpers Ferry, WV. I thought the Potomac River might be high enough there to provide some interesting photos. It was high but not high enough. The first train was westbound Q217.

Not too long after S400 went east.

After Q401 went west we decided to head for Shenandoah Junction, WV.

Railfans typically gather near the site of the former B&O station in Shenandoah Junction and we ran into friends Dave Davies, Alex Mayes and Teresa Renner, as well as a couple of other fans, while we were there. First up was NS #37Q at the north end of the passing siding that ends in Shenandoah Junction.

Then CSX sent 2 east bounds, U836 and

Q415,

followed almost immediately by Q261.

When we arrived at the Junction we learned that a Straits Brothers carnival train was expected. It showed up at 1:10 PM. We heard it coming so we moved into position to photograph it at a spot where the train would be more visible. While we waited Amtrak's Capitol Limited went east about 2:30 late. I would see it come through Rockville at 6:15 PM more that 6 1/2 hours late having got stuck behind disabled Q415 near Dickerson, MD and then having its crew outlaw in Gaithersburg, MD.

The carnival train, NS #048, was followed by #228.

At this point Rudy and I decided to head for Brunswick, MD thinking we could photograph a train passing WB tower there. However, we heard Q373 leaving Brunswick so we decided to stop at Harpers Ferry to intercept it.

It was a good thing we did as nothing ran west until 6:30 PM. Also, crews have placed a huge platform directly in front of the stairway of WB so there was no shot there. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia - 5

2011-09-05T12:37:00.016-04:00

Hi, Our next stop was Petrozavodsk where I got to take some railroad pictures in the morning (see prior post if interested) and we attended a folk show in the afternoon. The show consisted of musical presentations and dancing.

The next morning as we sailed we encountered some typical wooden homes along the shore.

The sun was shining from the rear of the boat and this created some interesting patterns in the wake.

We also met some interesting ships, including this ship carrying stone, and

this large tanker.

Our last port prior to arriving in St. Petersburg was Svir Stroi where we went to a home for cakes and tea. The size of Russian homes is given by the number of total rooms, not counting bathrooms and the kitchen. This home is a 2 room apartment in a subdivided house. The occupants are a couple in their late forties or early fifties. He works in the local hydroelectric power plant as an engineer. She was an accountant/bookkeeper at the power plant and still works their part time. This is their kitchen.

This is one of their 2 counted rooms. There is convertible sofa in the room. Here is where we were served cakes and tea.

This is the second counted room, also with a convertible sofa. Note that their are no rooms used solely for sleeping.

On our way back to the ship we passed through an area with numerous crafts for sale. Ruthe bought a shawl and we purchased barrettes made of birch for our daughters.

The ship is waiting to lock around the hydroelectric dam.

This is the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral inside the Peter and Paul Fortress in St. Petersburg.

It is very ornate inside.

In addition it is the resting place of many of the Russian Tzars and some other nobles. This is the final post on Russia. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia - 4

2011-09-04T12:57:00.000-04:00

Hi, Our first port after leaving Moscow was Uglich on the Volga River. This is the view from our ship as we approached the dock. The red church dates from about 1690 and was built to mark the spot where the youngest son, Prince Dmitri, of Ivan the Terrible died.

The main square is very large and retains many old buildings. Fortunately, drivers are very courteous and stop for pedestrians as otherwise it would be very dangerous to cross this square.

The town had a Kremlin or fortress at one time and a number of churches were located within its walls.

During our walking tour a young boy and girl in period costume appeared outside one of the churches within the Kremlin grounds.

This is the best view of our ship I could obtain. Fifty ships were built to this plan in the mid-1970s and almost all are still in service on Russian rivers. Our ship was completely remodeled in 2006.

The next day, while our ship was underway bridge tours were offered. There are three stations with identical controls; one in the center of the bridge and one at each end. These controls are on the starboard or right side of the bridge. The controls at the ends of the bridge are used when docking or in tight places, e.g., when passing through a lock.

Our next stop was in Goritsy. where we took a tour of the monastery that dates back to 1397.

Also, there were some interesting buildings in this very small town.

En route to Kizhi Island we passed a dock where a ship was being loaded with logs.

It seemed that there were far fewer ships on the Russian rivers as compared to the river/canal system in Belgium and Holland. The ships, however, appeared quite a bit larger. This appeared to be a bulk carrier.

This is an older style riverboat.

Kizhi Island hosts a museum collection of old wooden buildings and churches.

In one of the buildings artisans were working.

Hydrofoils operate along the waterways providing local transportation between towns.

This is a typical farm house. During the winter livestock was kept upstairs in the back of the house. A ramp on the other side of the building gave the animals access.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia - 3

2011-09-02T15:54:00.000-04:00

Hi, This is the final post for Moscow. This was the day for our visit to the Kremlin. However, our first stop was across the Moscow river from the Kremlin for some photos.

Inside the Kremlin there are a number of areas that are off limits to visitors as this is still the seat of government.

This is the entrance to one of the government buildings.

This huge canon is called the Tzar's Canon. The canon ball is so large it could not be fired.

There were numerous churches within the Kremlin.

The next day I took a Jewish Herritage optional tour. Our first stop was at the Holocaust Memorial and Memorial Synagogue. They are located in a large park dedicated to all those Russians who perished during World War II.

As part of the memorial there were slabs representing grave stones in the languages of each of the ethnic groups living within the USSR during WW II.

The memorial synagogue functions as a museum at present as no congregation has opted to use it. That's too bad as it is a beautiful, though small and simple facility.

From the memorial park we went to the main synagogue in Moscow. This is the Mezuzah at the entry way. It contains a small portion of the Torah.

These are some interior views of the sanctuary.

Our ship sailed for St. Petersburg after our return to the ship. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia - 2

2011-09-01T10:34:00.000-04:00

Hi, We began our second day in Moscow with a visit to a local cemetery where many of Russia's elite are buried. However, what struck me was how elaborate and unusual the gravestones were. This one marks the resting place of Boris Yeltsin.

I don't remember who most of these people were.

This gentleman was a very famous and beloved clown.

Moscow University was built in the Stalin style. The University is located at the top of the Sparrow Hills.

Another of the ubiquitous Russian Orthodox Churches also was at the top of the hills.

This view looks north from the Sparrow Hills over Moscow.

During the afternoon we had an opportunity to meet and question, through an interpreter, three Russian veterans of WWII. The lady was a spy, the gentleman in the middle served in the Air Force, and the gentleman on the right was a POW who was liberated by the U. S. Army and joined the unit that liberated him. When that unit turned south he left it and continued east until he was able to link up with Russian forces.

That evening we went to the circus. In the lobby, before we entered the arena, there were opportunities to be photographed with some of the show animals, including an Orangutan, and

a Tiger.

It was a really good show. All of the photos were taken with available light.

The next morning I photographed this small tanker used to refuel river boats.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia -1

2011-08-31T10:18:00.012-04:00

Hi, Ruthe and I returned last week from a river cruise in Russia that took us from Moscow to St. Petersburg. We arrived in Moscow on Friday, 8/12 after an overnight flight from Dulles Airport near Washington, DC. Friends Jim and Ila Beck also took the cruise. Activities began on Saturday.

I purchased a new camera for the trip, a Sony DSC HX100V as I was tired of carrying my heavy digital single lens reflex camera. The Sony weighs a little over a pound. It proved easy to operate after a short learning period and I am pleased with it. I took all of the photos using one of the "point and shoot" modes on the camera.

On Saturday morning, after breakfast, I photographed this tour boat,

and this smaller river boat from our ship.

An overview, city tour was provided on Saturday. One of the most interesting stops was at St. Basils Cathedral.

From this point there also were views of the Kremlin wall.

We then walked to Red Square where we saw the main gate to the Kremlin. Unfortunately, the square was being set up with stands for a military tattoo to be held after we left.

We were now given about an hour to wander around and do what we wished. The inside of St. Basils could be visited but Ruthe, Jim and I elected first to look at the inside of the GUM Store. This is the Russian idea of a department store. We would call this a mall. Either way, it is very upscale.

We then left the area to find the war memorial where we would view the changing of the guard which occurs on the hour. On our way we passed this church. We would see numerous churches, large and small, like this during our trip.

We passed through the main gate of Red Square

on our way to the War Memorial.

The guard has now changed. In deference to the warm day the new guards do not have uniform jackets. The soldier marching without a jacket is probably the corporal of the guard as he came in with the new guards and left with the old ones. Note how the rifle is balanced in the left hand when the right leg comes up in the goose step.

The double eagle is the crest for Russia.

On our way back to rejoin the group we passed a spot designated as the center of the world, according to our guide. People come here and toss coins over their shoulders for good luck. Here a bride and groom are performing the ritual.

We used the Metro to get from Red Square to Old Arbat Street where we had lunch on our own.

This is the center of the platform at Red Square. The tracks are on the other sides of the walls.

This is part of the street level area near Old Arbat Street.

Old Arbat Street featured numerous shops and restaurants, as well as performers and street vendors.

This young man was very passionate about something but it was all in Russian.

Official buildings constructed during the Stalin era were very ornate.

Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Russia photos

2011-08-28T13:20:00.005-04:00

Hi, My wife Ruthe and I were joined by friends Jim and Ila Beck for a river boat cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg in Russia. One of the ports we stopped at during that cruise was Petrozavodsk. Since the weather was pretty poor and the city tour did not seem to be very interesting Jim and I elected to take a walk instead. We wound up at the railroad station just in time to photograph this train arriving.

The station shown behind the cars is mostly empty. There is a waiting room and a place to buy some food. Tickets are sold in the modern annex behind the pine trees at the left of the photo. There is another waiting room along with schedule info here. The cars 2 tracks over are on the rear of another train which would leave shortly.

The train spent about 1/2 hour unloading and loading passengers. It was very long, 15-20 cars, and the platform was very crowded.

While the train was at the platform a pair of what we believe were freight locomotives passed through the station.

After the passenger train left we walked to the end of the platform where this Diesel Mechanical Unit railcar sat.

Hope you enjoyed the photos. Bob

Railfanning 7-14-2011

2011-07-15T17:40:00.011-04:00

Hi, I visited the Reading and Northern with friends Jim Kleeman and Rodney Peterson on Thursday. We had a very successful day in beautiful weather. Jim did a tremendous job of preparation bringing detailed maps and a lineup he got from a conductor he met on a previous visit.

We caught our first train, QAMC (Tomaqua to Mount Carmel turn) at about 10:40 AM just south of Ashland, PA.

We then caught it again in Gordon, where it stopped to switch a coal loader,

and an industry.

When the train continued on to Mount Carmel we broke off and went looking for a coal train, QAJE, that had 4 six axle units.

We spent about an hour looking for the loader before just settling for a grade crossing just south of Jeddo. It turns out the loader was located west of Jeddo.

It was an easy chase because the train ran at mostly 10 MPH, and never more than 25 MPH. Our next location was on the eastern outskirts of Hazelton on Norfolk Southern trackage.

We easily beat the train to the south side of Hazelton where we met a local railfan who told us there was a nice location at Lofty.

However, before we headed for Lofty we were able to get a shot at McAdoo.

The track at Lofty is former Lehigh Valley.

We broke off at Lofty and headed for Tamaqua because the Reading Turn was called for 4:00 PM. However, we heard on the radio that the QAMC (the first train we photographed) was recrewed a few miles west of Tamaqua and left Tamaqua as the reading turn without stopping. QARG is shown here passing through downtown Tamaqua,

Hecla, and

Millers Crossing Road.

At this point we could not find another location and it was almost 6:00 PM with a long drive ahead of us so we called it a day. I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 6-25 to 6-27, 2011, Part 2

2011-07-04T16:20:00.016-04:00

Hi, This is the second and final post for this long weekend. We pick up at Alderson, WV with N672, eastbound coal loads.

About an hour later westbound coal empties show up. Amtrak's Cardinal is already 10 minutes late.

About 10 minutes later the dispatcher crossed G980 over from track 2 to track 1 and sent it east.

Finally, the westbound Cardinal arrives, almost 4o minutes late. This ended our day's activities.

Monday, June 27 dawned perfectly clear in Beckley, WV, where we spent the night. Our first target was the R.J. Corman operation that operates the former CSX branch out of Thurmond. WV. We headed to Pax, WV where there was an active coal loader to begin the hunt. An empty coal train was arriving as we got to Pax. We could not see its power, but assumed it was CSX so we went looking for R.J. Corman's locomotives; to no avail. We followed the line all the way to Thurmond, passing the railroads office on the way, but did no engines. Moreover, there was extensive track work underway that must have started immediately after the empty train had cleared. This did not bode well for the loads leaving the mine any time soon.

When we arrived at Thurmond, WV Dale was able to find out an empty and a loaded coal train would meet in front of the depot. N670, the westbound empties, arrived first.

A few minutes later T677 went east.

Then N670 resumed its westbound journey.

As there was nothing else close to us we headed east, had lunch, and stopped at Ronceverte, WV again. We were rewarded with T227, a Newport News, VA bound coal train with 150 loads. It pulled up in front of the coaling tower to pickup a helper.

We elected to pick up an angle at White Sulfur Springs, WV we wanted,

and then moved a few hundred feet west for the helper.

Beating the train to Moss Run, VA was easy.

At this point we needed to head for Dale's house as he was going to work that evening. However, on the way we encountered westbound coal empties on the Buckingham Branch RR which we were able to photograph at North Mountain,

and at Craigsville, VA.

After this shot we headed for Dale's and dinner. I then began the long drive home. It was a really enjoyable weekend and I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 6-25 to 27, 2011 - Part 1

2011-07-02T06:52:00.017-04:00

Hi, I met friend Dale Diacont on Saturday, 6/25, for a 3 day guided tour of the former C&O between Clifton Forge, VA and Thurmond, WV. We headed west from his home in Waynesboro, VA at about 10:30 and as we got into Clifton Forge we noted Q139 leaving the yard. This train, and its companion Q130, have been rerouted off its former RF&P/B&O route due to National Gateway work. The trains use the James River line between Richmond, VA and Clifton Forge.

Our shot of the train was at Moss Run, VA, west of Covington.

Because we heard a train of coal empties following Q139 we retraced our route back east to Callahan, VA. Just as we arrived we followed a van to the tracks with a recrew for a grain train sitting at the signals waiting to go east. However, first E640 ran west.

Shortly thereafter G750 headed for Clifton Forge.

Dale suggested we try our luck at Fort Spring, WV tunnels. We caught T102 there with westbound coal empties.

Then we photographed westbound empties and this eastbound loaded coal train at Ronceverte, WV.
The next morning we returned to Ronceverte. The first train up was another westbound empty, E323.

About 1/2 hour later T135 arrived and stopped to pick up a helper. This was a tidewater bound train with 150 cars.

We got ahead of it and shot it again at North Caldwell, WV,

and then again at Tuckahoe, WV, just west of the west portal of Alleghany Tunnel.

It was now almost time for the eastbound Cardinal and we thought White Sulfur Springs was the appropriate place to photograph it.

About 10 minutes after the departure of the Cardinal Q303 came west, and
Q130 roared by eastbound.

Radio transmissions became confusing at this point so we left White Sulfur Springs thereby missing Q302, which scooted up the mountain on Track 1. However, we were able to return to White Sulfur Springs in time for me to catch T132 on track 2. There was an empty train coming up the mountain on Track 1 and it would wait at Tuckahoe. We expected Q302 to cross over from 1 to 2 at Tuckahoe and continue on down the mountain. However, for some reason the dispatcher held Q302 and allowed T132 to catch up at Tuckahoe to precede Q302 down the east slope, thereby further delaying the westbound empties. Strange.

After lunch we headed for Alderson, WV as Dale badly wanted to photograph the westbound Cardinal here. The Cardinal ran late. However, while we waited CSX ran E502.

We chased the train and easily beat it to Talcott, WV.

This seems like a good place to stop for awhile. Hopefully I'll get to the second, and final, installment this weekend. Hope you enjoy.

Railfanning 6-18-2011

2011-06-30T15:02:00.010-04:00

Hi, I visited the Lebanon, PA area on June 18 with friends Rudy Volin and Jeremy Beck. As it had been just over 2 years since we had last been there, we were curious to learn how work was progressing on the 9th and 10th street overpasses. Not much has been accomplished. One large building along with, possibly, a few smaller ones, has been demolished. There is some construction material stockpiled on site and two small pieces of construction equipment.

After about a 2 1/2 hour wait NS finally ran a westbound, #21E.

Within about 10 minutes a westbound manifest showed up,

followed closely by this westbound auto rack train. Note that there are few train symbols as for the most part the crews did not identify their trains.

At this point we relocated to the 16th Street grade crossing just east of Wall Interlocking. First train up here, after a 1 1/2 hour wait, was a westbound local with two engines on each end.

About 15 minutes later an eastbound auto rack train went through,

followed about 20 minutes later by #250K.

The local power ran east about 20 minutes later.

Followed in about 15 minutes by a westbound manifest. Since it was just after 3:00 we decided to explore east.

We got as far as Richland, PA where we photographed this westbound manifest and then returned to Lebanon.

We set up for a westbound coming past the depot but NS ran only 2 eastbounds.

Then it was time to head for home. Hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 6-13-2011

2011-06-28T14:47:00.011-04:00

Hi, Friend Paul Woodring was visiting the area from Ohio during the week of June 13 and we arranged to go out and photograph along the Metropolitan Subdivision that Monday. Our first stop was at Germantown, MD. Even though this area has become very built up over the years there are still some nice photo angles. In the first picture a MARC train is deadheading into Washington, DC.

A few minutes later Q226 came through on Track 2.

Our next stop was Barnesville, MD. The first train was D765, the train that carries garbage from the transfer station in Rockville, MD to a steam generating incinerator in Dickerson, MD. The steam is sold to a Mirant Energy power plant across the fence. The residue from the incinerator is shipped to a landfill, I think in Ohio.

After an empty coal train passed we relocated to Point of Rocks, MD. where we waited about an hour until Q278 came east.

A few minutes later R648 resumed its westbound trek.

We then move on to Brunswick, MD. CSX stages coal trains here for delivery to the Mirant Energy power plant in Dickerson as well as for their plants in Chalk Point and Morgantown, MD. This coal train has been staged on the normally westbound tracks and is heading east.

Shortly thereafter Q398 came east past another staged coal train and a cut of gravel hoppers.

Finally, E642 stopped to change crews before continuing west past WB tower. Rumors have been circulating that the tower would close shortly and its operations taken over by the dispatcher in Baltimore. However, the operator told us that they had just learned the tower would continue to in service for at least another 3 years.

Our final stop of the day was at Lander Road just west of Point of Rocks where we photographed Q217.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Washington DC Photos

2011-06-22T11:20:00.006-04:00

Hi, Our guide in Viet Nam, and now friend, Tran was visiting last week and Wednesday and Thursday was spent showing him the sights in Washington, DC. I took a point and shoot along on Wednesday. I gave myself the assignment of pretending to be a tourist and shoot as if I were just visiting. Here are some of the results with comments only where I feel necessary.

The next 3 photos are the relatively new WWII memorial.

For me the Viet Nam Memorial is the saddest place in the US, and possibly the world.

I feel people making rubbings of names on the wall symbolizes what it is all about.

I had never visited the Korean War Memorial. The realism of the soldiers who seem to be on patrol was stark.

There was a wall across a path next to the memorial that had images of service people. It also was very smooth, and therefore reflective. I attempted to get the reflection of the statue in the foreground on the wall in the photo below.

Here again reflections of the statues and the images on the wall.

The following 5 images are from the Franklin D. Roosevelt memorial.

One part of the memorial is given over to water flowing over rocks. I have no idea why this was included but I was intrigued by the textures and play of light.

Finally, my political commentary. There has been much said and written by strict constructionists of our Constitution about how we need to interpret it as our founders wrote it. However, here in the Jefferson Memorial is a quote from one our founders that I think disputes the claims of the strict constructionist.

Hope you enjoyed the photos. Bob

Railfanning - F unit weekend, Part - 2

2011-06-10T11:31:00.020-04:00

Hi, Sunday, June 5, was the reason Jim and I went to Scranton, PA. A short trip was operated that morning by the Anthracite Railroad Historical Society behind a pair of F3s just repainted from a tangerine and blue Central RR of New Jersey paint scheme into a Delaware Lackawanna & Western freight paint scheme. Number 664 is owned by the ARHS while number 663 is owned by the Tri-State Chaper of the NRHS. During the early afternoon the ARHS's RS-3, freshly painted in CNJ green, operated on the Steamtown shuttle.

There were may opportunities to photograph the F3s at a number of different locations. The train was stopped for awhile at each photo stop so still photographers could get multiple angles and photo runs were made at some of them for the videographers.

The first photo is at Tower 6 as our train heads for the Steamtown loading platform.

We had a brief amount of time at the loading platform.

After boarding our train we headed east about a 1/4 mile. We then unloaded at our first photo stop, a tower just east of the former Lackawanna station, now a Radisson Hotel.

From there we headed to the east portal of Nay Aug tunnel.

Winton siding, between Elmhurst and Dunmore, PA was as far as the train went. A signal bridge just west of the siding provided a photo prop for the train headed both east and west. The photo below shows the train headed east.

After the locomotives ran around the train a photo run was made headed east.

Finally the train posed under the signal bridge. The highway in the background is I-380.

On our way back to Steamtown we once again stopped at the tower west of Lackawanna station.

Our train spent awhile at the Steamtown platform allowing a variety of shots,

including this one of both our train and the Steamtown shuttle.

While the shuttle was waiting for its second run of the day the F3s were put away. The Reading FP7s rest in the background.

As the weather was not very good we only photographed 2 runs of the shuttle. It is shown here at its loading area,

from the foot bridge from Steamtown into the mall, and

at Tower 60.

Finally, a shot of the Reading FP7s and the DL&W F3s side by side.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. I had a great time with Jim on the trip.

Railfanning - F unit weekend, Part 1

2011-06-08T21:33:00.013-04:00

Hi, Friend Jim Kleeman and I had an F unit weekend from June 3 to June 5, 2011. Our railfanning began at Port Royal PA where we set up to photograph an eastbound NS Office Car Special. However, our first train was an eastbound manifest.

The OCS was a few minutes behind the manifest.

We gave chase and were able to photograph the train at Cove,

at Marysville,

and again on the Rockville Bridge.

While crews changed in Harrisburg we went to the south end of the former Reading bridge across the Susquehanna River.

At this point we let the train go and headed north. Checking out the Reading and Northern seemed like a good idea. Unfortunately, we could not seem to locate a train until about 4:00 PM. We could hear 3 trains but could not find them until the train shown below left Tamaqua and headed for Port Clinton. We had sought information at Port Clinton earlier but the receptionist refused to bother the dispatcher.

We were able to beat the train to New Ringgold but could not get into position for another shot, thus ending our day.

Saturday dawned cloudy and did not improve until the very end of the day. Our first stop was at Tower 6o in Scranton to try and get some information from the Delaware Lackawanna dispatcher. Unlike previous visits there was a traffic cone across the stairwell and a 2 x 4 wedged between the railings. So we headed for the shop to see if we could obtain some info there. While there we photographed the power sitting out and learned there would be only one job working that day. It would work only locally and had a unit in dip red paint with no markings.

We had learned from another fan the previous day that there would be a CP train heading north with ICE/DME power so we decided to look for it. We eventually found an intermodal train with an ICE/DME leader and a Soo SD60 in candy apple red trailing making a pickup at the north end of Taylor Yard. So we headed out to Nicholson, PA to get a shot on Tunkhannock Viaduct.

Well, we waited about 3 hours before giving up. We had talked to some locals who had been walking the track and they never saw a train. After lunch in Nicholson we headed back to Scranton where we encountered a manifest heading north. We turned around and raced back to the viaduct, beating the train by about 5 minutes.

We then chased the train getting shots along US 11,

south of New Milford, and

north of New Milford.

Shortly after we took the photo above the train went into a siding and the crew was relieved. As we were very close to Binghamton at this point we decided to look around there. A couple of former TP&W GP20s were in the Susquehanna yard along with 2 of their 3 SD70s and some other units.

At the south end of CP's Conklin Yard an incoming train was yarding its cars while an outbound with an ICE/DME SD40 sat awaiting departure.

The second and final installment will cover the first runs of the F3s owned by the Anthracite Railroad Historical Society and the Tri State Chapter of the NRHS that have just been repainted into the Delaware Lackawanna and Western freight scheme and the ARHS RS-3 in CNJ.

I hope you enjoyed the photos. Thanks for looking.

Railfanning 5-12 & 13 -11

2011-05-18T10:57:00.015-04:00

Hi, Friend Dale Diacont spent a day and a half railfanning last week in the DC area. We began Thursday afternoon at Point of Rocks, MD on CSX's Metropolitan Sub about 2:30 PM. Shortly after our arrival Q217 came off the Old Main Line Sub and headed west.

After Q217 passed we relocated back to the station. Just east of the station a CSX Track Test car was parked.

Next up was empty coal hoppers on train E726, again coming off the Old Main Line Sub.

Almost an hour later E721 passed the station, again westbound off the Old Main Line Sub.

Just after E721 cleared loaded coal train U825 went east on the Old Main Line Sub with an SD70MAC and an SD70Ace pushing.

Before the commuter rush began B211 returned to Brunswick with containers of incinerator ash from the Dickerson recycling plant. I believe the ash is going to a landfill in Ohio.

The first MARC train of the day was #871.

Shortly after #891 took the east leg of the wye toward Frederick, MD.

A GP39 was trailing.

We then moved to Brunswick where a number of eastbound coal trains were staged. This one is sitting on one of the normally westbound tracks.

Interspersed with the westbound commuter trains was Q249,

followed closely by #875.

After the passengers detrained from #875 it backed into the coach yard.

Our last train was #879.

The next day we were joined by friend Dale Jacobson. Our first stop was at Harmans, MD. On a sunny day this would be an afternoon shot. Both trains are headed for Baltimore.

After a couple of trains at Harmans we headed to Annapolis Junction. As we arrived we heard Q702 approaching.

Q702 was closely followed by Q226. After these 2 trains cleared Q249 departed Jessup Yard (below).

After lunch we explored around Penn Mary Yard and the Sparrows Point steel mill. However, nothing was happening so we returned to Harmans. This Amtrak regional will arrive in Washington in about 1/2 hour.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Railfanning 4-29-11

2011-05-01T16:26:00.004-04:00

Hi, Friend Dale Jacobson and I headed up to Hagerstown, MD on Friday as the weather forecast called for partly cloudy. Unfortunately the forecast was wrong. So we decided not to bother with the Winchester and Western and instead see what else we could find. As it looked like the clouds were rapidly moving east (it was beautiful when we left Rockville) it seemed best to just stay along NS north of Hagerstown.

Our first stop was Marion, PA. However, Dale has a real interest in exploring and a knack for it too. There was a signal about a mile south and Dale wanted to see if we could find it. So we headed south to see where the road next to the track would take us. It took us to Kauffman, PA and from there another road we found ran along the east side of the track to this open area, and the signal hidden behind train #228.

After hanging around for awhile we returned to Marion where we heard #37Q on the radio so we waited to get this photo.

Next we headed further north to Chambersburg. There we found Chambersburg Cold Storage #8411, a former B&O SW1 Dale tells me.

Then we headed back to the NS line where we had seen local #H34. From the crew we learned they had outlawed here the day before. We got a couple of angles on the sitting train before #227 showed up.

After #227 cleared the dispatcher gave #H34 permission to come on to the main and head north. However, he would only get to the first siding north of our encounter where he would head in behind a very short #227 (note #228 also was very short) to meet #203.

By the way, does anyone know the purpose of this car?

Number H34 had a GP40 and a GP38 on the other end.

After photographing #H34 we returned to Marion for #203.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.