9 / 25 Rail -- Psst? Wanna see my "privates?"

[Sinifar]

Well last Sunday in the month, not too bad out, bright and sunny day turned really wet and stormy later on, then cleared up again. The private cars were out in force again on both 8 and 7 so we will see them later on ... just ending the month on a big train sheet ---

Not sure what happened here, normally the Canon does a good job ... now ??



That's better! The first two running the rest being towed to Fondy ...



504, the local job waiting for the diamond ...



8 eastbound, with a couple of privates on the end, I had set the camera to shoot continuous, so this isn't exactly my choices ...



No this isn't the "privates" you think - that last shot yesterday over at Carrol -- I had shot the northbound, 4 motors and 676 axles, and then this goof steps between parked cars in my direction, I guess not noticing me across the tracks, pulled down his shorts, "full out" and let it go ... ON my part, I fired off a frame -- not for publication ..









Right over the Dupy Diamond!



299, this is the unit which got stuck last week, this week, no problem



504 job - yup that is a full load of Balkin oil -- "Oil can" in our terms ...



Now the sky darkened, and the wind came up big time -- storm was about to break as I shot this 245 and piled back into the car ..



POURING like MAD - i shot this thru the windshield -- got a few "wiper" shots as well ..



Still raining, but I jumped out to shoot 7 --



Another private on the back of 7



199 Racks and stacks ...



509 job, empty oil can ...



Q 244



AND that was it - getting on 5:30 and I had to head home for dinner -- nothing else on the train sheet for at least 2 hours ...

IN case you were wondering, I post on 3 boards, and shoot almost every weekend -- this isn't a one time thing, there must be over 2000 photos of mine on the net going back 10 years .. so .. you like? I can keep on posting ... let me know ..OKAY?

Sinifar

[Squelchtone]

It may be good to get you your own rail thread going that you can add to, so we dont create a bunch of rail threads inside the Locksmith Lounge. I love trains, but I'm sure some locksmiths here or down the road will wonder why Locksmith Lounge is full of rail photos. I say keep em comin, but lets put them in 1 ongoing thread that folks can scroll through and enjoy.

Thanks
Squelchtone

[Sinifar]

Love to,but -- you would end up with one post a mile loong over several months ... kind of like the "DX mailbag' post did. The lounge is for other activities, so I am posting it out there. IF you wish, I can stop -- no problem, no hard feelings. Just most love trains, but never go out and rail fan or shoot trains... So -- since I am a member of several rail clubs, I can share ... How about the rest of the guys and gals???

Sinifar

[billdeserthills]

I love me a choo choo, here in Arizona I don't often get to see many--

reminds me the last time I was up in Flagstaff--I was driving late at night on my way back home and it was getting late, so I stopped at a hotel. They rang me up for a room and I was
just about to hand the clerk my cash, when a train whistle blew--I yanked the cash back and asked the clerk if "I was gonna be listening to that ungodly loud noise all night long?" The
clerk said "Oh no, I'll just put you in a quiet room" OK, I though that sounded good, but just to make sure I paid with my credit card, just so there would be no funny business. All night long that whistle blew--In fact every 50 minutes I was awakened& by the time daylight came around I was even more tired than I had started out. I called us bank and explained that I would not be paying for that room, as I had received little to zero sleep-- They decided to pay the hotel anyhow, and it was my pleasure to allow the us bank clerk to listen as my shredder ate their card and of course I refused to pay--I hope they had a satisfying time cr@pping on my unneeded credit rating

[cledry]

Today I hate trains. A train has been stuck on the tracks blocking traffic for the entire 8 hour work day here in Orlando, not only that but they kindly made it long enough that it blocked several of the north and south corridors to all the industrial areas south of the city.

[Silverado]

There are railroad tracks about 120 feet from the back side of my house, and there's an access road pretty much right there. It's not a public road and it's very VERY rarely used but they blast that whistle through town no matter what time it is. You get used to it after a while but it is very annoying when I'm sitting on the porch trying to have a conversation.

[MatrixBlackRock]

So -- since I am a member of several rail clubs, I can share ... How about the rest of the guys and gals???

Sinifar

Some days on the rails are good, some not so good.

A good day.

Once a CSX GP40-2 that was purchased by FEC as unit 445 and painted in the 100th Anniversary livery, sitting on the siding in the Lauderdale yard waiting another assignment north bound.



And a bad day.

Lead locomotive 445 on the ground in Pompano Beach after the 4th locomotive 407 *"picked" a switch just before Copans Road with it's rear truck, yanking the consist off the main line and onto a siding at track speed (39) MPH.

Needless to say, with two of the engines on the main and the rest off the main the proverbial poop hit the fan.

While there was lot of damage and spilled fuel the crew only received minor injuries, a testament to the strength of these beasts.













* Yes locks are not the only things that can be picked.

Wayne

[MatrixBlackRock]

Edit 445 was not the lead but was third back in the power.

Wayne

[MatrixBlackRock]

CSX's newest "junior engineer" at the controls of an EMD SD40-2 8436.



Southbound CSX rock-train was waiting on a Tri-Rail at the Amtrak station, the engineer noticed my son eyeing the locomotive and invited him aboard for a quick tour, a photo and a good long blast of the horn. Needless to say, wishing to keep their jobs, the crew remained out of sight and out of the shot.

Wayne

[MatrixBlackRock]

Hey dummy, what does it say on the side of that rock-car?



Nothing like driving it off the lot, only to total it out a few blocks down the road.



And another guy who figured the "train will stop for me."





Wayne

[Sinifar]

Fantastic shots! Long lens or got into to close up? The Dupy gang sometimes gets photos like that but they are a long way off using a big tele to get into the action ... you don't want to get into the action too deeply - you could get cited for something ... just my experience ...

Sinifar

[MatrixBlackRock]

Fantastic shots! Long lens or got into to close up? The Dupy gang sometimes gets photos like that but they are a long way off using a big tele to get into the action ... you don't want to get into the action too deeply - you could get cited for something ... just my experience ...

Sinifar

I use a combination of angles in the rail and telephoto lenses for dead in front of the locomotive "at speed" shots, this gives the effect of appearing the photographer was standing trackside, when in fact I way off to the side, many times standing on public property.

Having been photographing the FEC for about 30 years now and given the FEC is a small Class II railroad, over the years I have come to know a number of their employees one of them being the former FEC Railway Chief of Police who I ran into at an Operation Lifesaver event in Miami.

It was there he recognized me from a few incidents he had worked previously and in his words, "I was always on the scene," and politely he asked me what was my interest in the FEC?

After a brief conversation he came to the conclusion, I was not a reporter, nor a typical rail-fan, I dressed for the job with steel toed work boots, long pants (jeans) and carried a Motorola MT-1000 handheld to monitor their radio system, we exchanged business cards and parted on a positive note.

My break came a few months later when I received a call asking if I would be interested in attending a dedication of a FEC locomotive as a guest of the railroad, the catch was, while I was there the FECPD wanted me to do some PR shots for their companies newsletter, of course I agreed.

At the event, I was introduced to a Sergeant of the PD we discussed the shots he would like to have and I was advised to mail them to him with an invoice, a few weeks later after the rolls (remember 35mm) where processed and burnt to Kodak PCD's I sent a copy of the CD to the Sergeant, with an invoice based on the going rates at the time, I ran a line through the total due and marked to the left "thank you for the invitation to the event and the privilege of promoting safety on the rails," "no charge for the photographs."

What was used where very un-impressive shots, basically a trackside shot and a local pol's (with the sun to the back of the locomotive) on the locomotive shot, but they loved them.





After that something happened, not sure what, but I could be trackside somewhere and the PD guys knew me by sight and either waved or just ignored me.

Wayne

[MatrixBlackRock]

Another thing that I believed worked in my favor was I didn't go for gore, but to promote safety.

One day, while I was working up north in Deerfield, I hear some chatter on my police monitor about a few teenagers playing chicken with traffic, what the complaints where calling in was the kids would ride their bikes into the road and see how fast they could get someone to stop, then ride off laughing.

I ignored it, stupidity goes way up on summer vacation, shortly after though I hear on my FEC radio, "train XXX, emergency, emergency, emergency, we just hit a person at milepost XXX," now I am paying attention and on the way to location of the "chicken" call.

One of these teenagers decided to see just how fast a train could stop and steer around him, he lost.

The first shot is a Palm Beach TV12 reporter, literally begging a FEC police officer to let his cameraman have ROW access, so he can get a shot down the rails with what's left of the body (350 feet from the impact) to the side of the shot, you might notice the city PD officer glaring at me maybe thing "WTF are you doing over there, when you where just over here?"



The second shot is my "kids don't eff, with trains, because the big wheels always win over the little wheels."

[Robotnik]

. That bike wheel's a sobering shot.

[Silverado]

Many members of my family worked for railroads for decades. I was always taught safety and caution around tracks, not to fool around on tracks or get near moving trains...I always thought it was just common sense and everyone was on the same page knowing that trains are not a joke. When I see that this is not the case at all it feels odd to me and I have a hard time understanding why anyone would engage in such reckless behavior when it comes to trains.
It's sad, don't get me wrong, but it is certainly worthy of a Darwin award if you ask me.