"A Little Help From My Friends"

A picture of something not seen too often. Usually the Coast Starlight is headed by two Amtrak GE P42DC locomotives. Apparently one had some trouble. Union Pacific loaned Amtrak an EMD SD70M to possibly complete the trip to LA or to get to the next location that had available Amtrak motive power. They obviously would not want the Starlight to be stranded on their mainline interrupting their flow of freight traffic.

The Gimp 2 Photo Editor

I really have fun using the various "filters" that are provided with the program. The Gimp 2 isn't always easy to use and there are processes that are way over my amateur head, but I still have fun with the things I have figured out how to use. You need to see the image above in it's largest size to appreciate the effect.



This is another filter in the Gimp 2. It's called "Emboss". Here's the photo's Flickr page.

UP7777 at Sunrise

UP7777 at Sunrise
Originally uploaded by sharkzfan

A favorite shot of the same motive power that's in the picture below.

Union Pacific C45ACCTE number 7777

Union Pacific C45ACCTE number 7777 and Scotch-Brite!
Originally uploaded by sharkzfan

This is one of my latest favorites. I took this outside the NUMMI plant in Fremont just before dawn.

Here's another Scotch-Brite image. This is a "patched" Southern Pacific SD40 which has been renumbered to UP2712. Some say that the Union Pacific and the BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) railroads have swallowed up all the competition and become monopolies. You can also find this picture on my Flickr page


I have this this image posted on my Flickr page. I've title the picture "phosphorous" because of the intensity of the sunrise coming through the overcast. Even though there is some "burn" that seeps into the other areas of the picture, I think the overall effect is very interesting

Here's a link to the page on my Flickr account

Scotch-Brite Wedgie

Scotch-Brite Wedgie
Originally uploaded by sharkzfan

The "wedgie" that I refer to is the 1/3 angle shot such as this one. It's definitely the most common composition angle with railfans. I really love this reflector tape photography. I enjoy it so much I've created a Flickr Group called "Railroad Scotch-Brite"

http://flickr.com/groups/railroad_scotchbrite/

She's not just for TV anymore!

She's not just for TV anymore!
Originally uploaded by sd45hogger

Oprah has most of the money in the western hemisphere and some of the east's yet she can still find it in her portfolio to diversify into Canadian Pacific gondola cars. Amazing!

Actually, if you were fooled, it's really a great graffiti job. The gondola really should say "CP Rail" on the side but has been altered to say OPRaH.

It kind of takes something out of the humor when you have to explain it but I thought if I didn't, most folks would be saying to themselves "uhh, what?"

Found on sd45hogger's Flickr page

CalTrain, Union Pacific and Amtrak

This was taken from the top of the CalTrain parking structure in Sunnyvale, CA. at 6:55 am Thursday October 4, 2007. It is about one half second exposure. Unfortunately I don't have a digital SLR to get super informative with. This is a shot looking east at the Sunnyvale Ave. crossing at Hendy Ave. In the background are buildings belonging to Westinghouse. Westinghouse currently uses the plant to manufacture steam generators, marine propulsion systems, and missile launching systems for the Department of Defense. Westinghouse purchased the original site property in 1947. Previous owners of the plant had used the property to manufacture ball mills, mine cars and hydraulic equipment in the early 1900's, and defense products such as torpedo tubes and mounts after 1940. Westinghouse also expanded the site by purchasing adjoining property in the mid-1950's from companies that manufactured heavy machinery and cable


This was an interesting picture to take. I was trying to get the time exposure but with my "basic" digital point and shoot it's difficult to get fancy. This was about a three second exposure on a southbound out of Sunnyvale at 6:45 am Thursday October 4, 2007. I actually set my camera on rail for this shot. I found a piece of scrap metal and set the camera on it to stabilize it since the rails are not a flat surface. Because of the length of the exposure, the sky appears as if it's nearly daylight. It was actually quite dark at this time and it was difficult to tell the actual frame of the picture since the display didn't register any image other than the dots of street lights and the headlights of the train.

Union Pacific number 4400 heading up a southbound load of Toyota's that just came off the assembly line at the New United Motors Manufacturing Incorporated (NUMMI) plant in Fremont, CA. Passing through the Santa Clara, CA. station bound for southern California. It's a rather bland, run-of-the-mill shot but I can give a little background on the motive power. UP 4400 is one of two hundred and thirty one SD40T-2's originally owned by Southern Pacific. These units were in service for SP from 1996 to 2001. The second locomotive UP 9229 is one of two hundred and fifty six C40-8's in service since 1987.

This is a shot of the Amtrak Capitol Corridor passing the abandoned Agnew Station in Santa Clara, CA. on Saturday September 29, 2007 at 3:04 pm on it's way to San Jose. It's being pulled by P42 DC number 164. This site has other shots of # 164. There's pictures of it from Washington state to Washington D.C. It's been around the block a time or two.