NW 611 home trip

Greetings Rail Fans,

The last weekend in May 2015, NW 611 made it's trip home to Roanoke VA. The family made the trip too and here are some photos.

 



We drove up from Atlanta Friday afternoon.  And my son wanting to run by the museum after we checked in the hotel, even before supper  ( but that shows the excitement of my son).

 

And to our surprise, there she was sitting on the track getting ready for her home trip to Roanoke.

It was like a free / private photo session.  And a crowd of people gather with us too.

Here, I was able to get 611 with the historic sign of the Spencer shops from long ago.

She puffed some steam as she slowly went down the track to her setup position for the next day trip.

Young Caleb was excited and I was too.  Our model HO train came alive to us.

Well, Mom did too, something for the whole family.  We brought Caleb's first HO model 611 for his Christmas present in 2006.  He literally worn it out and quit working, now it's on display in our living mantel.

Here 611 is coming under the bridge in Bedford VA,

Here we are a couple of miles down the track as she is just leaving the yard.  I glad you cannot here the Helicopter.  Which   you probably can on my video as I had a video camera on a tripod.  I wanted train sounds not, well you know. . . .

#Rail fanning at Spencer NC

The family and I went by the Transportation Museum in Spencer NC last February 2015.  It was a very cold day with snow on the ground, which made some great pictures .  They happen to have a local steam engine active and giving rides to passengers.

The steam and smoke along with the snow, as I said,  made some great train pictures.

Here the little streamer was backing out with his passengers for ride into their yard.

Here's a great shot of the snow and red brick building.  One of our Train clubs saw this picture and said it looks like a picture from the 1950s, but it was made in 2015.

This shot had a  modern van in the background, but I love the smoke from the train here.

Another shot in the depot as the little steamer prepares to load up and head out.

Just another good day of rail fanning with the boy on a cold snowy day in Spencer NC.

Rail Fanning in Buford GA.

Another day of Rail fanning in Buford GA.  You never know what's coming down the line. In this case in Buford Ga. at Walters, where trains travel north bound out of Atlanta or south bound coming from Greenville SC and / or other destinations north of there.  But it was a rainy cloudy day, yet we saw some train actions.

 

 

 

Notice the new railroad signal light as the old lights were taken down after many years in place. This train was headed north bound out of Atlanta.

 

 

 

 

Then to our surprise, a heritage unit was southbound, Central of Georgia, we had to stay catch this one.

 

 

 

The Lad and I weathered the rain and got a visit from the local preacher from where we were standing. The red brick Baptist church is located across the street next to the railroad tracks. We thought the people coming in where rail fans but they were church goers, Jesus' fans,

A great day at TVRM

Another Great day at TVRM !!

Caleb and I had another great day at Tennessee Valley railroad Museum. As it was a very cool dry day with lots of sunshine, a photographer's dream day. The day was bright, brilliant and beautiful.

We saw Southern Mikado 4501 making her first runoff the day. Many are still excited about seeing a steam in our age, 2015.

Seeing her backup on the wye as she gets ready to reload for her next run to East Chattanooga.

Just when you thought you saw everything, we saw a  big high rail pushing rail cars down the trail.

A very pretty day full of sun shine and fun. With train, trains and trains.

Here you see Dad and lad. As we share this hobby together.  He's a good kid.

And of course, I've into the selfie thing here with a great shot of Southern 4501. All theses pictures was taken on my Iphone 4, sometime I am amazed with the quality of capture.

 

Just another great day of Rail fanning  !!

 

A family hobby.

 

The Atlanta Street Car

One Saturday, we went for a ride in our car to down town and we took some pictures of the Atlanta Street Cars.  One beautiful day with plenty of sunshine, a photographer's dream day.

We saw the street car first crossing Peachtree street and we got in behind the it.  You our car view from my cell phone.

 

It made several stops picking up people along the way. Something you don't see everyday.

On the street car loop was the Ferris- wheel.  Many where in line for that ride too.

Just a pretty sight, as I caught it on the cell phone camera from the car. I had plenty of time as traffic was very busy and slow.

We were able to catch a shot as it turn eastward to go back to the depot. It went right by the Ferris wheel.

Excuse this picture, it's a little washed out, must have been at a bad angle or lighting.

Well that's a little better but with extras too.

Well, some great camera shots and great family time together, from the Atlanta Street Car loop.

Have a great day !!

North Carolina Transportation Museum

Spencer NC Transportation  Museum

The family and I went up last summer and visited. We saw many "F" and "E" units active and moving around. A couple of them took a spin on the turn table.

Here we see the Amtrak taking a spin, definitely a blast from he past railroad days as we see the other trains in the back ground.

And a rare picture of the older diesel trains from the past as they are all lined up.

 

 

And J Class 611 was there too, "Fire Up 611" eventually the grand old train will be active and moving on it's own power.

Here we have the NS twins 4270 and 4271 in a rare shot together, I caught on my cell phone.

We even got a night shot, please excuse the blurriness, night shot take special camera and lens but I think you can see the trains.

All in all, just a great day with family and friends as some of our model train club members can up too.

Interestingly, Spencer was a city made of railroad workers in the day there were so many, especially during the age of steam, it suppose to be the mid-way point between Atlanta and Washington DC. And it is here the maintenance shops for the trains.

 

The Austell Spilt

Rail Fanning with Caleb and Dan :-)

The Austell Spilt (in Austell, GA) is a very hot spot for Rail fanning. The trains coming east bound are usually coming from Birmingham, also  it's good place the catch the Crescent (if & when they are on time, ha ha)

The South bound trains are usually from Chattanooga, a lot of NS action coming down and going up.

West bound trains are coming from Atlanta possibly from Inman yard, heading to either west Birmingham or north to Chattanooga.

My son and I enjoy it, but he gets bored fairly quickly and He could stay there for many hours. Interesting, someone has said a good measurement of the economy is if you see many double decker containers, and I believe that to be so.

Happy Rail fanning and happy model railroading. !!