Northern California Railfans, Rejoice!

Roughly one month ago I chanced upon fellow train enthusiast Roger Burdick whilst awaiting some trains in Gold Run.

We met, shook hands and exchanged sites.

It turns out that Roger not only lives in my area, but hosts a wonderful website, known as "Altafest.com."

For Roger's website, please go here.

Roger's site hosts the Altafest Webcam as well, which documents (every few seconds) the Union Pacific #1 and #2 tracks over Donner in the town of Alta, California -- hence, of course, the term "Altafest," yes?

What is the purpose of "Altafest"? As written on his site:

What is AltaFest? There are really two of them, one at the tracks, which is open to anyone, and one at the house, which is by RSVP only.

The gathering at the tracks is for the express purpose of making foaming fun, exchanging information, exchanging and taking pictures and video, making new friends and (of course) watching trains go by. There are occasional violations of Rule G. Hard liquor, beer and wine have been known to be consumed during this time period.

To keep informed of this and other Northern California updates, I would refer you to and recommend joining the Yahoo group CalRailFans.

You can join CalRailFans here.

Roger, I hope I've pointed some more people to your site and to the YahooGroup!

It's great to know there are fellow enthusiasts in my area!

-- even though you have a railroad crossing signal in your yard, and I don't.

Excelsior!

MP154

Richard Steinheimer:

August 23rd, 1929, to May 4th, 2011, age 81.

Richard Virgil Dean Steinheimer, the absolute prototypical Dean Emeritus of railroad photographers, passed away two months ago, on May 4th.

I didn't learn of this until the current (July) issue of Trains magazine had reached my elevated Sierra Nevada mailbox.

I felt, simultaneously, shocked and abandoned, just as I felt when one of my musical greats, Warren Zevon, passed away in 2003, along with Ronald Wilson Reagan the next year.

That said, I had come across the path of Richard Steinheimer four times in my sojourns and adventures in photography on the rails.

First, I purchased the wondrous book written by John Signor, entitled "Donner Pass, Southern Pacific's Sierra Crossing."

And I noticed that a number of the photographs were taken by Steve Bush, Dick Dorn and another man named Richard Steinheimer.

That led to an investigation of any number of books published by "Stein" as he was called.

My first encounter occurred when I appeared, in the late 90s, at the Soda Springs crossing along with any number of photo-majors in Winter. We had hiked atop a massive crest of snow and watched an oncoming rotary steam-driven snow plow. Photographs all around. Video too. Richard Steinheimer was there, everyone knew him; he was extremely difficult to miss at 6'6". I purposely didn't film Mr Steinheimer; I suppose I was afraid to be so obvious. In should, instead, have taken photographs like crazy. My audible scanner traffic was captured on at least two videos from this meet, later produced for railfans.

He said hello to me and trekked down to the crossing for more close-ups. He was completely unassuming and courteous.

Later, I was a member of the Sacramento Railroad Museum. Stein told me of the stupid (and I agreed) railroad crossing at Dutch Flat. It was called "dumb-ass crossing." And I couldn't have agreed more.

He was thin and, in his prime, still literally towered over me.

He signed my book "Done Honest And True" in 1999. We spoke about the high granite.

My final encounter with Richard Steinheimer shamed me.

I waited in line like a good prole, but I knew what was coming. I could see it and hear it. It looked as though a younger female was prodding Stein to sign each book. Each time. She treated him like a child. And he responded as such. I shake my head. That I stood so long in that line only to realize that Richard Steinheimer was, in essence, no longer present.

This occurred at the Sacramento Railroad Museum when Stein was promoting the 2004 book "A Passion For Trains." He wrote his name. He was precisely prompted by a female that I suspected was a direct relative. I felt like an abject whore. It was clear that he had little awareness of his surroundings. And I felt horrible for him.

Mr Steinheimer was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2000.

He hadn't realized that he'd already signed my most important book, "Diesels Over Donner" in 1989 with Dick Dorn.

And he had, obviously, forgotten that bright day in 1999, when I last took my father to the Sacramento Railroad Museum when we lightly conversed in the quad adjacent the SRRM; my Dad was nine years older than Mr Steinheimer, solidly built.

We passed by the RR Museum front doors, where Stein sat.

"Hey," he asked, "did you see Donner?"

"I live there," I said. "I hear them every night."

"Where?" he asked.

"Dutch Flat," I replied.

"I love it," he said.

Then he told me about Dumb-Ass Crossing.

He was tall and strong and in control.

And there was no Greater Dean of Railroad Photography.

God bless Richard Steinheimer. Fair skies, sir, high granite, and an unending supply of subject material.

MP154

Homeland Security: Time to KILL passenger train travel?

Because the philosophy of the current administration seems to be: more government interference is simply best, there is a push to remake train travel in the image of air travel.

And I'll state this up front: if America wishes to completely eliminate train travel and, further, clog up the northeast corridor to the point of a national heart attack -- then go ahead.

Institute the strictures on trains such as currently exist for aircraft.

Mr Obama, you bleeding idiot.

This stems from the recent raid of a compound, in Pakistan, where Osama bin Laden was located and subsequently killed. Intelligence take from that raid, executed by US Navy SEAL Team 6, included digital evidence (from various laptops) indicating the next focus of al Qaeda might be on train transportation.

WLS-TV in Chicago indicates:

May 6, 2011 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- Information taken from Osama bin Laden's compound after his death is revealing details of al-Qaida's plans, including a potential plot against U.S. rail lines.

That means tighter security on rail lines everywhere. An alert to law enforcement officials in all 50 states has been sent out.

Mass transit has remained a target. It is the most vulnerable, according to Homeland Security officials and has been the focus of numerous terrorist plots in the U.S.

Could a 2007 sabotage incident targeting Metra be part of a terrorist plot? That's the question authorities are asking after information about a plot targeting trains was found in the paperwork or computer hard drives seized by Navy SEALs during the raid that killed bin Laden.

In 2007, several railroad spikes were removed from the tracks used by Metra's Electric and South Shore lines. Despite a $50,000 reward, the FBI has not found those responsible.

"It is still an active case. Fortunately, we haven't had any other circumstances like this since then, and we will continue to be very vigilant in surveying all of our property," said Judy Pardonnet, Metra spokesperson.

Video here:

The response to the information, from our federal government, in part:

NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) — Sen. Charles Schumer is calling for better rail security now that the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound has turned up plans to attack trains in the U.S.

“Anyone, even a member of al-Qaida could purchase a train ticket and board an Amtrak train without so much as a question asked,” Schumer said. “So that’s why I’m calling for the creation of an Amtrak no ride list. That would take the secure flight program and apply it to Amtrak trains.”

The "secure flight program." Perfect. Let's create que lines for each and every Amtrak stop.

You'd have to arrive, at minimum, an hour early for your ride.

You'd be subject to a background check -- otherwise, how could a "No Ride" list be created?

Which means your name would be in a larger national database.

There would be shoe and accessory removal, pat-downs, magnetometers and, of course, full body scanners.

And if you DIDN'T do that for EVERY stop, then what would be the point?

Frankly, I couldn't care less if proposed edicts like that froze the entire eastern seaboard. I don't live there and I don't have to make a daily train commute so it means nothing to me.

The northeast corridor would be the largest affected. But also, obviously, affected would be other population centers to include various Amtrak/commuter-related lines in my state, California, as well.

But because I don't live in a high-population center -- again -- I couldn't care less if everything freezes like the worst clotted heart attack.

American Government, you want to completely KILL train travel? You go right ahead. Stop commuters. Treat train passengers like air travelers.

Let's just see, America, how damned far you get.

Good luck with that.

MP154

Reverse Running & A Covert Train Meet!

A 'unique" one-in-a-million" video:

Reverse running over Donner Pass on the Number 1 track!



I knew that a double stack train was coming uphill from Colfax, and managed to get ahead of the train near Alta. The train appeared to be slowing with the grade, and this gave me time to access a little-known point that takes some serious climbing through brush, over a water district canal and up a loose tumble of ballast.

Recently, due to track work, UP had been moving eastbound (uphill) trains through the crossovers in Gold Run and onto the #1 (downhill) track. I noticed this double stack was running on its proper #2 (eastbound, uphill) track and anticipated my camera placement accordingly.

As the double stack was rumbling by my Flip HD, I got a rather large surprise. It got passed by Amtrak's California Zephyr #6 on the track furthest from me! This was the first time in almost 20 years that I'd ever seen two trains running in the same direction on both tracks!

Clearly, Amtrak #6 had been routed through the crossovers in Gold Run from the #2 to the #1 track, in order to get by the much slower double stack train.

I missed the numbers on the Amtrak units, but the following four locomotives were affixed to the double stack train:

On point was UP 7417, a GE C45ACCTE (controlled tractive effort) unit with 4,400 hp, AC driven, manufactured in 2009, one of 124 such units purchased by UP.

Directly behind was UP 4459, an EMD SD70M, DC driven, 4,000 hp, manufactured in 2001, one of 420 such units purchased by Union Pacific.

There was a mid-train DPU helper, UP 5566 (look for it at 1:53 in the video), which is a GE C44ACCTE, 4,390 hp, AC traction motors, manufactured in 2004, one of 141 such units purchased by UP.

Pushing from the rear was UP 7690, a GE C45ACCTE distributed power unit (DPU) with 4,400 hp, manufactured in 2007, AC driven, one of 200 such units purchased by Union Pacific.

You have to look quickly in order to see the passing Amtrak units. I caught as much of the Amtrak train as I could between various well cars. Check for the locomotives on the far track at 1:43 in the video.

A covert train meet? It certainly was. And once again I somehow managed to capture such a thing on video. Extremely, extremely rare on Union Pacific's Roseville Subdivision over Donner Pass.

Take care and be safe!

MP154

Not Abandoned

Dearest Readers:

My trainblog is NOT abandoned.

It's just that the requirements for the predominant bulk of my posts mandate HD video uploads and larger photo files.

I can't tell you how many videos I've recorded in the past two months -- in concert with a number of digital still photographs.

But, for the bulk of time, I find myself posting at my cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains, and my dial-up connection there is not what one would consider conducive to timely uploads to either YouTube for my videos or to Blogger for photographs over a handful of megs.

There are some great videos coming. More train meets. The inside of a cab. Snow and rain videos. Some interesting track movements (like reverse-running). A video that, when you see it, you'll cringe. And a video that almost cost me some serious trouble.

And finally, while I thought that by this time I'd be retired (after 35+ years) and able to post more frequently and, further, get into video editing -- no such luck. The economy up and slammed me -- as it likely slammed you as well. Therefore, work still takes up a bulk of my time.

In the meantime, please enjoy the two Amtrak photographs. The above photograph, taken in the summer of 2010, shows Amtrak #6 running eastbound through the concrete sheds still in existence at Soda Springs. Lead Genesis engine #202 is a GE Dash9-P42-B, built in 2001, sporting 4,200 hp and the standard four-cycle engine with B-B trucks.

The photograph below shows, again, Amtrak #6 running uphill on the #2 track just past Secret Town. Lead locomotive is GE Genesis #148, an identical engine to that listed above; Amtrak has 87 of those locomotives numbered in the 121 to 207 range.

For those new to the blog, Amtrak runs two trains daily over Donner Pass on the main #1 (west) and #2 (east) tracks. The westbound train is Amtrak #5, and the eastbound train is Amtrak #6. This passenger train is called the "California Zephyr" and runs between Emeryville, California to Chicago, Illinois.

Train Meet: Dutch Flat

Train meets are rare.

Further, they are rarer when actually captured by photos or video.

Monday, March 14th, I had occasion to document a completely unanticipated meet that was, in truth, quite historic in nature for both directions: eastbound and westbound.

I was driving back to the cabin via the old US Highway 40 (the Lincoln Highway) between Gold Run and Dutch Flat (just north of current I-80) when I chanced to see the green signal for eastbound traffic at milepost 153.6.

I stopped, extricated my Flip HD with image stabilization from its LowePro camera bag, wiped the lens and waited for eastbound traffic. Instead, I was greeted by the oncoming horns of westbound (downhill) Amtrak #6 cruising through lower Dutch Flat.

But there was a major surprise coming, as the video indicates here:



This video is too good to pass up.

My blog, due to its inherent structure, can't physically accommodate the actual original letterbox content through the Flip HD; I have to trim it horizontally, each time, to fit my chosen blog template. On the other hand, you can click on the full link here and watch the video in true HD.

If you choose to do this, please enlarge the video and, further, plug your Denon headphones into the audio output of your confuser. Trust me: you will NOT be disappointed. Turn up the volume.

That written, some details for the purists amongst you:

Amtrak #86 on point, a GE Dash9-P42B DC unit making 4,200 hp, manufactured in 1997. Next, Amtrak # 194, a GE Dash9-P42-B DC unit, 4,200 hp, manufactured in 2001. Third, Amtrak # 41, another Genesis GE Dash9-P42B DC unit with 4,200 hp manufactured in 1997. From there, eight common Amtrak cars pass by.

The final two passenger cars are "private varnish," which means they are privately owned and paid for Amtrak to carry. They are, in order, the Creative Charters cars "Evelyn Henry" and then the "Warren R. Henry," with two persons waving to me on the veranda.

These two final cars are owned by Patrick Henry Creative Promotions and, on their website, indicate that prices for these cars "start at $8,500 per day."

Good luck with that fee.

Sufficiently unique for you, perhaps?

On the other hand, I hadn't even remotely thought of archiving SIX elder EMD GP engines in line as they hauled ass uphill at, minimally, track speed.

In order, these B-B trucked EMD GP38-2 units, of 2,000 hp each, manufactured between 1973 and 1981, were #600, #587, #604, #589, # 566, #590.

They carried solitary UP flanger SPMW 331. Though painted in armour yellow, the numbering is a tribute to the original Southern Pacific Maintenance of Way #331 flanger car.

And a tip of the hat to the flanger's Winter Professionals over Union Pacific's Donner Pass and to Jim "The Bear" Mahon of the late, great Southern Pacific.

God bless The Bear, for whom many SP Snowfighters wished to work!

Finally, check out Donner Pass snowfighting here.

MP154

Amtrak In The Snow

First, my most sincere apologies for not posting more frequently. No, as I have been asked, I am not going away or abandoning the blog. I have found, however, the work continues to get in the way of my hobby (a point I hope to ameliorate within the next year or so), and, in order to upload my videos, the connection has to be beyond what I have at my cabin in the Sierra Nevada mountains -- that is, faster than "dial-up." Yes, I fully realize that even our current president is faster than dial-up, which provides bushels of clues about dial-up itself.

That said, I present a very cold video that, trust me, made my feet even colder.



Above, eastbound Amtrak California Zephyr #5 slugs uphill as it approaches the signal and crossing at Dutch Flat.

As you can see, there is much snow -- and ground fog as well. The temperature is roughly 20-degrees. The area had just seen two very heavy storms which left about 7 to 8 feet at Donner Summit. Locally, we got about 2 to 3 feet in the first dumping and an additional 3 feet subsequently.

When I travel, I usually carry my camera bag replete with Nikon super-zoom P100 and the Flip HD video. I had just finished shopping in Colfax and was driving home when I caught sight of a green signal for the #2 track. Unfortunately, not thinking I'd be encountering much, I'd dressed that day in Keen Newports (see photo), no socks and no coat. Silly me.



I stopped the RAV-4 near the tracks with the Flip HD video. Snow, as I had clearly forgotten, can be deceiving. My first stride plunged me into about one foot of water, hidden by the snow itself, after I'd broken through a crust of ice. The second stride put my sweats into about three feet of snow. The third and continuing strides held me knee-deep or more in snow and the final step landed my other foot into another watery dip.

So there I stood, my feet and calves wet, sweats drenched from the knee down, open shoes, no socks, no coat, waiting a good five minutes for the approaching Amtrak. In 20-degree weather. I know this because my SUV has a temp readout on the dash. It took all that I had plus the Flip's image stabilization to keep my shivering from being patently obvious as the Zephyr approached and passed.

Of course, once finished with the video, I had to slog my way, in the snow and water, back to the SUV. Happy days. I couldn't feel my feet -- no shock there. Only by taking a hot shower did I begin to feel my toes, later.

Details: Amtrak engines #133 on point, and #199 behind (elephant-style) are GE Dash9-P42-B's with 4,200 horsepower four-stroke engines, DC final transmissions, B-B trucks, 2,200 gallon fuel capacity, weight of 268,000 pounds each, built in 2001. Amtrak purchased 87 of these units. Those 8,400 horses are pulling just nine cars -- not much of a challenge that day.

Thanks for sticking by me at MP154, and I'll be doing my best to increase the frequency of posting, more photos, more videos.

Take care and be safe!

MP154