Tracking West
Getting Held Up Again
If there was one thing I was not expecting today, it was a text regarding a train I had no clue about. Even better, it was only a couple hours away from passing me.
This morning, I was sitting around at home when I got a text from a friend asking "You going for the CSX leader on PASFRS?" I was a bit confused at first, nobody had mentioned or posted anything that I knew of, and little did I know at the time it was already heading down the Feather River Canyon. After checking a camera on BNSF's Gateway Subdivision, sure enough just after 04:00 it passed through Clear Creek, CA. On top of that, the trailing motor was an H1, so since I had nothing better to do I decided I was going to shoot it somewhere. First, I had to grab something from an auto shop, which took way longer than expected. By the time I left, I knew that my original plan, which was to start at James, was probably gonna be pushed back to Oroville. This was confirmed after I found out the train had left Keddie just after 08:00, it was after 12 by this point.
Knowing that the train had to be close to Oroville, I pulled up to the yard for my first spot and could see a train coming down the mountainside at around Kramm. Thinking that was the CSX, I rushed to find the angle I was wanted. My shot was not the angle I was looking for, but thankfully this would be INPOA, and the train I was looking for was following right behind them. After catching the CSX minutes later, I made my way to Marysville.
When the train got to Marysville, it would sit at the north end of the siding until being lined off the main. The crew was very cool, and while the train was stopped myself and another friend of mine, who I met up with at this spot, were talking to the engineer. Turns out, the guy was another railfan, and the three of us started talking for awhile as the dispatcher held the southbound for two northbound trains. Eventually, both passed and the crew was ready to head out, then the dispatcher told them they had one more, which was still decently far out. After well over an hour of sitting, finally all three had passed so the CSX could leave. I already knew where I wanted my third and final shot to be by this point. While I had shot the south end of the siding at Pleasant Grove many times, I had never shot nor seen any recent photos of the north end. I knew how to get there, but turns out it was going to be more difficult than I thought.
The easy way to get there was to turn off just before the crossing for Catlett Road, which takes you down a dirt track for a awhile before you end up at a crossing near the north signals. However, it has rained a lot recently, and I mean A LOT, which made the road muddy and full of puddles. The entire way down, my car was yearning for the ditches, and the conditions made it hard to control the car, but eventually after a slow journey I made it. My friend would end up following right behind me, and he got out to check if he could see anything. Meanwhile, I was changing lenses, but it didn't take long before I could hear my friend yelling that the train was very close. I rushed to finish up, and sure enough the train was getting close to Catlett Road, which from that crossing to the signals took the train less than twenty seconds. I raced down to get closer to the searchlights, set up, and it didn't take long before the train had reached us. Afterwards, we started heading back to our cars, but realized the train was stopping again, which turned out to be another northbound. This gave us the opportunity for a fourth shot, so we hopped back in our cars and I found a much easier but longer way to get back to the paved roads. After shooting it one last time, we called it a day and headed our separate ways, which for me meant dinner.
Getting Held Up Again
If there was one thing I was not expecting today, it was a text regarding a train I had no clue about. Even better, it was only a couple hours away from passing me.
This morning, I was sitting around at home when I got a text from a friend asking "You going for the CSX leader on PASFRS?" I was a bit confused at first, nobody had mentioned or posted anything that I knew of, and little did I know at the time it was already heading down the Feather River Canyon. After checking a camera on BNSF's Gateway Subdivision, sure enough just after 04:00 it passed through Clear Creek, CA. On top of that, the trailing motor was an H1, so since I had nothing better to do I decided I was going to shoot it somewhere. First, I had to grab something from an auto shop, which took way longer than expected. By the time I left, I knew that my original plan, which was to start at James, was probably gonna be pushed back to Oroville. This was confirmed after I found out the train had left Keddie just after 08:00, it was after 12 by this point.
Knowing that the train had to be close to Oroville, I pulled up to the yard for my first spot and could see a train coming down the mountainside at around Kramm. Thinking that was the CSX, I rushed to find the angle I was wanted. My shot was not the angle I was looking for, but thankfully this would be INPOA, and the train I was looking for was following right behind them. After catching the CSX minutes later, I made my way to Marysville.
When the train got to Marysville, it would sit at the north end of the siding until being lined off the main. The crew was very cool, and while the train was stopped myself and another friend of mine, who I met up with at this spot, were talking to the engineer. Turns out, the guy was another railfan, and the three of us started talking for awhile as the dispatcher held the southbound for two northbound trains. Eventually, both passed and the crew was ready to head out, then the dispatcher told them they had one more, which was still decently far out. After well over an hour of sitting, finally all three had passed so the CSX could leave. I already knew where I wanted my third and final shot to be by this point. While I had shot the south end of the siding at Pleasant Grove many times, I had never shot nor seen any recent photos of the north end. I knew how to get there, but turns out it was going to be more difficult than I thought.
The easy way to get there was to turn off just before the crossing for Catlett Road, which takes you down a dirt track for a awhile before you end up at a crossing near the north signals. However, it has rained a lot recently, and I mean A LOT, which made the road muddy and full of puddles. The entire way down, my car was yearning for the ditches, and the conditions made it hard to control the car, but eventually after a slow journey I made it. My friend would end up following right behind me, and he got out to check if he could see anything. Meanwhile, I was changing lenses, but it didn't take long before I could hear my friend yelling that the train was very close. I rushed to finish up, and sure enough the train was getting close to Catlett Road, which from that crossing to the signals took the train less than twenty seconds. I raced down to get closer to the searchlights, set up, and it didn't take long before the train had reached us. Afterwards, we started heading back to our cars, but realized the train was stopping again, which turned out to be another northbound. This gave us the opportunity for a fourth shot, so we hopped back in our cars and I found a much easier but longer way to get back to the paved roads. After shooting it one last time, we called it a day and headed our separate ways, which for me meant dinner.