View allAll Photos Tagged Searchlight
66554 approaches Searchlight Lane Junction whilst hauling a train if barrier wagons from Derby Etches Park to Crewe (the associated stock move was cancelled), 16 May 2016
I spent part of last week on Lake State Railway and got to see some of their neat former Pere Marquette/C&O/CSX line between Saginaw and Wixom, Michigan. The line is operated by CTC and has mostly vintage signals of various types, giving the line great character.
Southbound train 127 from Flint to Wixom, passes the searchlights at Grand Blanc.
Eastbound grain heads past one of the last Cantilever searchlight signals left on the Transcon at West Bering, Missouri.
As the earlier overcast cloud continued to disperse from the West, the sun's radiance was diffused behind a passing cloud - resulting in this 'Searchlight' effect - sending many light beams skyward as well as producing his vivid silhouette.
A southbound Downeaster passes one of the many B&M searchlights still in use on the line, this one just south of Saco, ME.
NS 223 passes the Wabash era searchlights at CP Wentzville with the Erie SD70ACe leading at brisk pace on a chilly winter morning.
The FWWR Cresson Turn passes through a pair of deactivated former ATSF Searchlight signals in Primrose, TX (7/23/23).
After making a set out and a pickup in Trenton, Union Pacific's Cache Valley Local arrives at Cache Junction, Utah the morning of Sept. 7, 1999.
Last night we went for a walk on Gwennap Head, somewhere we normally go at least once a week but haven't been there during August as the narrow access road down to the cove is just too busy with traffic. We got to Porthgwarra only to find that new parking ticket machines have been installed and it would now cost £6 to go for a decent walk on the cliffs. Paying our money we got up onto Gwennap Head about 20 minutes before sunset, by which time the light was fading and the sun was dissappearing into a thick cloudbank to the west. Never mind, I had brought all my camera gear for night photography and the south-western direction of the Milky Way was looking clear. As darkness rapidly closed in, so did the cloud unfortunately and I had to give up after waiting for a couple of hours. I quite liked the post blue-hour colours of this one and I still love being out at night even though most of the time my astrophotography is a complete failure.
A loaded coal drag approaches Bozeman, MT, seen splitting the searchlights on the east side of town.
Q243 pulls out of Walbridge Yard and heads east down the former C&O toward Fostoria.
The signals here at Turnpike are a bit of an oddity. Mounted on a traditional C&O cantilever, the searchlight signals are required because of the proximity of the Ohio Turnpike overpass, which is behind us.
Searchlight signals still guard portions of the UP mainline on the Laramie Sub, at Hermosa, WY, on March 27, 2021.
MRL's night gas sits at the classic signals on the outskirts of Plains, Montana on a beautiful western evening. After making good time out of Missoula, the crew is waiting an EB BNSF train before proceeding west. Big sky is more than just a slogan, and MRL's 10th and 4th subs are some of the most beautiful railroading I've ever had the opportunity to photograph.
UP 5786 brings MGRRV through Williams Loop at the North end of the Feather River Canyon as they split a set of searchlights.
Sony A7R : Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-63 OS
Something you don't really see with the naked eye. The Sony managed to create an exposure that captured detail in a very, very bright area.
UP ZLAME-15 passes the old Southern Pacific signals guarding the east end of Shawmut siding. While these old signals have vanished from much of the Sunset Route, there is still a cluster of them standing between here and Gila Bend to the west. In this desolate part of the Sonoran Desert, one can see signals for several blocks down the right of way in certain places. The westbound signal here is turned slightly away from the tracks to provide extra visibility on the long, sweeping curve immediately east of the siding.
The daily Alyth to Coquitlam manifest train 401 rumbles past the searchlight marking Exshaw West during an evening in June 2022
A local shoves past Winston Wye and under the old Searchlight signals that still stand guard over this short stretch of track. While the sun is almost fully out behind me, storm clouds line the horizon facing east.
A nice morning called for an extra shot beyond St. Paul, so I hustled to Hastings to see the Empire Builder cross the Mississippi and pass the searchlight signals by the depot.
While driving back toward my hotel, I stopped to grab a photo of a pair of searchlights. Although not as sought after as the semaphores on the Raton Sub as they're much more common, they're still sick and my favorite signal type.
If you love searchlights, look no further than the Western Pacific. Like most railroads in the mid-to-late 20th century, it purchased hundreds of searchlights from Union Switch and Signal (US&S). What sets the WP (now UP) network apart from most? Many of the signals it installed back in the 40's and 50's can still be found, working just as well as they did then. The UP Sacramento Subdivision, stretching from Stockton to Oroville, remains a strong holdout for these signals. The Canyon Subdivision, otherwise known as the "Feather River Canyon," also remains a holdout, but to a smaller degree. Between Keddie and the areas around Doyle, you can find searchlights everywhere you look. West of Keddie, however, only two locations remain with searchlights: Paxton and Belden. The location in question is Paxton, specifically the east end of the siding.
UP GMIPGH (Superior, Wisconsin - Goshen, California) with CN 8864 on point is approaching at a mere 5 miles per hour, presumably due to MOW work in the area. CN C44-9WL #2500 is second out, with two ex-SP AC44's following behind. Two units serve as mid-train DPUs: CN 2302 and UP 6577. Something of note is the train makeup. It is combined, grain and manifest. I can only assume the manifest cut was added at North Platte, Nebraska. I assume the cut was overflow from another train, as it wasn't large by any means.
My journey began at school, not long after I was released for the day. I got out around 12:40 PM and headed home to get ready. A good friend of mine was waiting outside, and hopped in my truck once I was ready to head out. Our first location of the day was Keddie, specifically the wye, where the WP's "Highline," now used by BNSF, meets the UP. That image is on my photostream for those interested. After Paxton, we would chase the train further down the canyon to Oroville, where the sun dipped below the horizon.
Keolis Rail Train is seen blasting east on the B&A by the automatic 10 searchlight signals in Newton, MA. These searchlights and all other automatics will be coming down in the near future, as Keolis is in the process of converting the 261 territory east of Framingham into 562 territory.
Searchlights on Saturday finds an eastward empty grainer hauling into the siding to meet a westbound freight.
As Chirstmas Eve rolls around the bend, CP treats railfans to CP 7010 leading CP 234. A late CP 119 is lined on the North track, displaying a clear to medium indication.
With UP's Sunset Route double-tracking project in full swing, little remains of the SP searchlights that were all over the Yuma Sub when it was still a single-track railroad. The most substantial section left is between Thermal and Mortmar, which includes two passing sidings. The highlight of this stretch is the cantilever at the west end of Mecca siding, seen here with eastbound repo autorack train AMLNGR passing underneath.
Sony A7R : Sony FE 24-240mm f/3.5-63 OS
Challenging; the searchlight, painted a drab army green, was set up in an area with minimal ambient light, and was set to rotate slowly. Without a tripod, which really wouldn't have helped very much, I opened the lens wide and shot a few frames at 1/20th second. It says something for the lens's OS that something reasonable was achieved.