Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
.......Yep 
....I'll S7 anything mate 
7mm US model dabblings
- Thread starter Jordan
- Start date
.......Yep ....I'll S7 anything mate 
Focalplane
Western Thunderer
I have been rather busy the last few days but have not forgotten about the Union Pacific SP Heritage loco:
Union Pacific heritage fleet - Wikipedia
It's an interesting combination of Black Widow and Daylight. And I was shocked to see that the acquisition of Southern Pacific Lines was as long ago as 1996, tempus fugit and all that.
Paul
Union Pacific heritage fleet - Wikipedia
It's an interesting combination of Black Widow and Daylight. And I was shocked to see that the acquisition of Southern Pacific Lines was as long ago as 1996, tempus fugit and all that.
Paul
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Lucky for you , I've finished my tour of duty so no more boring pictures to upload.The thing about those US rigs is that a lot of the "chrome 'n' bling" on them actually comes as factory standard.
I'm getting a bit bored of these endless multi-lash-up, mile-long freights on billiard-table rails... any chance of some third-hand Short Line power wheezing & creaking along some Jordan-type track...??
Tin hat on, sprinting to gates across school playground...
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Many thanks for taking the time to post the shots you took mate, your supposed to be on your break mate, but we all appreciated them.
A part of the railway world most of us wont get to see.
Col.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Slowly working through the back log of photos, up to day four now, on average 300-400 photos a day. Some are duplicate angles, I always shoot at least two or three right off to ensure at least one is in focus, good as the Canon Eos sensor is it can sometimes get spooked by the high intensity beam headlights or smooth bland surfaces, especially covered hoppers.
Anyway, a couple for Col and Jordan.
Nice wrecker in the motel parking lot, I think a young couple were moving and their rental van just made it off the I-4 and this turned up to assist, it was about twice as long and four times as heavy as the rental van. I did see one bigger but didn't manage to grab a shot.
Spotted this in the back of the diner on round the back of Yemo military yards, massive complex where they store military hardware, it's quite open but there are strict no stopping signs along the heavily fortified fence. Many divisions deploy here for war games and it's not unusual to see BNSF military trans from out east traveling on Transcon2, most end up here. The base is so big they have their own locos to shunt the stock, spotted three of them all tied down in the distance, think they were SD40-2 but didn't dare even pause to grab a tele shot.
Anyway, this was on public property so fair game.
The trailer is impressive enough on it's own with it's load spreading bogies, but the cargo was even more interesting. It's obviously a REME (US equivalent) vehicle and looking at the counter balance and crane I suspect it's a bridge layer.
Nothing untoward about that, until you look closely. I've not checked yet, but I'm fairly sure the chassis is a bath tub M48 Patton and these were deployed to Vietnam. If so it's in pretty good nick and clearly still an operational unit. I would of thought that todays US forces would of used more modern units, but then if you've good solid workhorses from the past, why junk them.
Moving on, and back to railroads, there's been some chat on centre beam flats, not only do they come in different colours, but there are different designs. Now I know Rob was looking with interest at these so these are some (3 of ....a lot) of the wagon shots I took.
The most common type is the virtually free centre section, just a small wall at each end to support the end plate and posts along the middle.
Another variant has a large centre wall section at each end.
Note on the above and below that the end wall is cambered at the top edges to clear the loading gauge. Another type has a full length wall with lightening holes cut in.
A loaded one for Adrian.
I think there may be other types as well but I haven't processed them.
For me, I prefer end beam flats, these tend to have the more interesting loads, again there are several different types of construction.
A steel floored with wooden ended protection version. You can get wooden floored ones as well.
Steel floor and steel ends.
Wood floor and reinforced steel ends.
Steel floor modified and partial steel/wood ends.
Finally, an interesting flat car load. You'd need a long rule to make sure that doesn't exceed the loading gauge!
I did see some of these brand new at West Colton so managed a few detail shots....I think from overhead of the deck cleat fixings. These are normally associated with wheeled cargo.
I did catch a QTTX (ultra heavy load) later when out with Rob and a DODX (military specialised) at West Colton, but no aviation specialised ones sadly.
Anyway, a couple for Col and Jordan.
Nice wrecker in the motel parking lot, I think a young couple were moving and their rental van just made it off the I-4 and this turned up to assist, it was about twice as long and four times as heavy as the rental van. I did see one bigger but didn't manage to grab a shot.
Spotted this in the back of the diner on round the back of Yemo military yards, massive complex where they store military hardware, it's quite open but there are strict no stopping signs along the heavily fortified fence. Many divisions deploy here for war games and it's not unusual to see BNSF military trans from out east traveling on Transcon2, most end up here. The base is so big they have their own locos to shunt the stock, spotted three of them all tied down in the distance, think they were SD40-2 but didn't dare even pause to grab a tele shot.
Anyway, this was on public property so fair game.
The trailer is impressive enough on it's own with it's load spreading bogies, but the cargo was even more interesting. It's obviously a REME (US equivalent) vehicle and looking at the counter balance and crane I suspect it's a bridge layer.
Nothing untoward about that, until you look closely. I've not checked yet, but I'm fairly sure the chassis is a bath tub M48 Patton and these were deployed to Vietnam. If so it's in pretty good nick and clearly still an operational unit. I would of thought that todays US forces would of used more modern units, but then if you've good solid workhorses from the past, why junk them.
Moving on, and back to railroads, there's been some chat on centre beam flats, not only do they come in different colours, but there are different designs. Now I know Rob was looking with interest at these so these are some (3 of ....a lot) of the wagon shots I took.
The most common type is the virtually free centre section, just a small wall at each end to support the end plate and posts along the middle.
Another variant has a large centre wall section at each end.
Note on the above and below that the end wall is cambered at the top edges to clear the loading gauge. Another type has a full length wall with lightening holes cut in.
A loaded one for Adrian.
I think there may be other types as well but I haven't processed them.
For me, I prefer end beam flats, these tend to have the more interesting loads, again there are several different types of construction.
A steel floored with wooden ended protection version. You can get wooden floored ones as well.
Steel floor and steel ends.
Wood floor and reinforced steel ends.
Steel floor modified and partial steel/wood ends.
Finally, an interesting flat car load. You'd need a long rule to make sure that doesn't exceed the loading gauge!
I did see some of these brand new at West Colton so managed a few detail shots....I think from overhead of the deck cleat fixings. These are normally associated with wheeled cargo.
I did catch a QTTX (ultra heavy load) later when out with Rob and a DODX (military specialised) at West Colton, but no aviation specialised ones sadly.
Focalplane
Western Thunderer
Mick, you show pictures of wagons and I look at the cuttings. (Sad retired geologist!) Welcome back to this side of the pond, as Simon says, a great portfolio you have shared with us. Thank you!
Paul
Paul
mickoo
Western Thunderer
Cheers, I'm trying very hard not to bore everyone to death
and limit the uploads.It's only been a week and I'm already regretting not doing more, staying out later for an extra hour or getting up earlier for an extra hour. I've managed to recover some of the poorer weather shots once back home on the big PC, so that they are not colour cast etc; basically should of taken more.
Problem is, it's not until you do get back and tot up the hours you realise how much you did do, just under 6000 photos in 18 days, 1400 miles and roughly 120-40 hours track side. Sometimes really busy, other times several hours to while away, plenty of time to think about things and I did spend a lot of time thinking about some aspects that have been niggling me for some time.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
I have lots of cutting photos, I like cuttings, they add a nice aspect to the image.
The geography of the area from Cajon to Flagstaff and even further east to Winslow is fascinating, about the only thing you don't get to see is floods.
I really wanted to get some photos of trains around Lavic and the black glass like Lava fields that cover that area, but access is hard, no way a rental can get in there, or even a serious hard core off road vehicle, you either have to trek the several miles or trespass and use BNSF access ROW road. When I came back from Cadiz, Essex, Ash Hill way it was throwing it down around Lavic so I kept on the freeway, in reality I should of gone back there on another day.
mickoo
Western Thunderer
To close out, a few low angle and roll by details for Rob and centre beam fans.
One thing I hadn't noticed until I processed these was the tapered floor wedges and tapered centre pillars, makes perfect sense, but not something I'd picked up on before and might not be uniform across all variants.
One thing I hadn't noticed until I processed these was the tapered floor wedges and tapered centre pillars, makes perfect sense, but not something I'd picked up on before and might not be uniform across all variants.
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Cheers, I'm trying very hard not to bore everyone to death
Never, mate!
Story of my working life
........but then if I'd had I might not be here now 
Col.
Jordan
Mid-Western Thunderer
Not with photos of cars, mate - the Usual Suspect websites for reference to freight cars have plenty of 'roster shots', but not much in the way of detail close ups.Cheers, I'm trying very hard not to bore everyone to death
The oval 'window' Centerbeam Flats are nicknamed "Opera Windows" as far as I know, and are an older design than the other types. To give our UK-outline members an idea of size, they are about as long as a Mk3 Coach, and rather taller.
Re the flat car carrying the wooden cable drums - that load looks to be Out Of Gauge already, judging by the height compared to the Hi-Cube boxcar behind it..??
mickoo
Western Thunderer
So not much interest in anything like these then 
The flat car with the wooden drums is significantly longer than a Mk III coach, it looks like a Greenbrier GSH90 which has a listed deck length of 89'-4".
Sometimes they are listed as 89'ers or 90'ers, depends I suppose on the coupler length or deck length or what ever length they chose on the day, either way, impressively long.
The flat car with the wooden drums is significantly longer than a Mk III coach, it looks like a Greenbrier GSH90 which has a listed deck length of 89'-4".
Sometimes they are listed as 89'ers or 90'ers, depends I suppose on the coupler length or deck length or what ever length they chose on the day, either way, impressively long.
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michael080
Western Thunderer
Funny thing is that they were about 4-5 feet lower if they would sit on the flat portion.
Who knows?
Michael
Peter Cross
Western Thunderer
It's only the centre one without flats, may be more to do with not rolling when on the ground.
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Some badly worn tyres as well
Col.
Col.
Brian McKenzie
Western Thunderer
Super detail photos, Mick. Exquisite lighting.
Would the load of cable drums exceed the bulk of the three-level car carriers? The rounded edge of the drums is locked down inside what looks like custom made steel pockets - which could offer more security than if sat on their flat edges - and take less deck space allowing for a load of five drums.
Were you pleased to get back to the home cooking after your US sojourn?
Would the load of cable drums exceed the bulk of the three-level car carriers? The rounded edge of the drums is locked down inside what looks like custom made steel pockets - which could offer more security than if sat on their flat edges - and take less deck space allowing for a load of five drums.
Were you pleased to get back to the home cooking after your US sojourn?