Southbound under heavy throttle

[Tom W]

It took me 7 miles to get out in front of this train so that I could get a shot at it. I spotted it pulling away from a siding about 7 miles north of where I took this image. He was just starting out, but he had the throttle open wide and was accelerating briskly. Fortunately, I had the throttle open pretty wide as well, and had the advantage of a freeway to get me into town a little quicker than he could make it. I had just parked and gotten out of the car when the crossing gates started coming down, so I ran into position and caught him about 150 feet from the crossing, still pushing the throttle pretty hard.

The speed limit in this curved section of track is 35 and he was doing all of that. He had been going much quicker on the straight track just north of this section.

http://www.pbase.com/photosbytom/image/43129777.jpg

[Belmondo]

Beautiful work, Tom.

If I ever had the chance to shoot something other than UP engines, I think I'd go into cardiac arrest. I love the BNSF paint scheme.

[Skip Souza]

Nice. I like the exhaust heat distortion. Obviously working hard. Thanks.

[stoneylonesome]

Well worth the 7 mile race. Nice shot.

[JSolie]

Nice shot! I like the Heritage (or is it Heritage II) paint schemes on BNSF. Their new logo isn't as nice, IMHO (www.bnsf.com (http://www.bnsf.com))

Belmondo, you mean you don't like all the yellow UP locomotives? Some even have flags ;)

-- John

[GAJulie]

The speed limit in this curved section of track is 35 and he was doing all of that. He had been going much quicker on the straight track just north of this section.


Great shot.
Learn something new every day. I never know trains had speed limits other than what speed they are limited to by physics, whic I didnt think was too high for these kinds of trains! I get stuck by a train frequently near my house, and you can also hear it from my house over a mile away from the tracks . I think they're not so great (transport trains in general); I wish it was a passenger train so I could ride it sometime.
You train also looks cleaner that the ones around here!
Julie

[Tom W]

Thanks, everybody.

Julie, the speed limit is usually railroad-mandated. I've never seen a radar trap along the tracks, though I've heard of such things in particularly militant cities. The railroad sets the speed limits here for safety due to the sharp "S" turns in this part of the line. And that's under a green signal - with a yellow signal, they have to slow down to 15 (I think) mph. Red, of course, means stop, but not necessarily at the location of the tower. They have some interesting railroad signal schemes, and it seems that many railroads do it just a bit differently than each other.

BTW, not all the trains around here are so clean. This Conrail engine could use a little wash.

http://www.pbase.com/photosbytom/image/43129778.jpg

[Michaelmjc]

Great shots, those train drivers must think your an odd guy chasin them down eh ;)