Whilst in Gold Run today, I happened upon a "train meet" between UP 7834, a brand new Union Pacific General Electric ES44AC (the newest fuel-efficient and "greenest" locomotive from GE, an AC-powered unit with 4,400 horsepower) and Amtrak's #5 (westbound) California Zephyr, powered by GE P42DC (4,250 horsepower, DC-driven, manufactured in October of 2001) #206 on point.
From where I stood, just after #5 passed by westbound on the #1 track, UP 7834 hauled by and acknowledged my presence with a nice horn series -- thanks. Here's a video of UP 7834.
The new GE ES44AC sported pristine armour-yellow UP paint (that won't last long running through the tunnels over Donner Pass) and was followed by UP # 6439, a GE AC4400CW (AC-driven, 4,400 horsepower).
Capturing a train meet on film or video is a rare event indeed, completely subject to the whim of the variables involved.
While it was 99 degrees in Sacramento, it was 80 degrees in Gold Run.
MP 154
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6 comments:
Wow!
Didn't realize you shared a love for the rails. While I only model the rails, the thing I love most is the operations.
Would that I had the room to model the Roseville sub, but I would have to concentrate on the old steam locos...
Good for people to know.
People think I enjoy model railroads -- not particularly. I enjoy the REAL thing. There's a spot not far from the house where I put you at eye-level with the engineer, four feet away from a 15,000 to 20,000 HP consist of locomotives rumbling by at 25 - 30 mph. Trust me, once you've had your lungs shaken by POWER like that, you'll be HOOKED.
MP154
Believe me, I am hooked on the real thing. I grew up in Colorado, in a red brick school house that had been converted to a home, and the SP crossing was less than half a block away. I would get up every time I heard a locomotive coming and stand on the upstairs outer balcony or the mid-stair landing (if it was too cold outside) in my pajamas and watch the big steam of the early sixties pulling car after car past the house. If I was lucky enough to be outside when one came by, I would drop whatever I was doing and run to the crossing to watch. Of course, Mom would then scold me for leaving the yard without letting her know where I was going...
Cary, once I get my sidebar blogroll set up by Bushwack (I'm an HTML idiot!), I'm going to be posting at least once a week, with lots of my photos. There's tons of traffic running by my cabin in the Sierras under all weather conditions.
MP154
Looking forward to it.
All I see nowadays is the BSF freights rolling slowly through the switchblocks at the Bethany Home and McDowell yards.
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