Train Watching

[Barbeque John]

I grew up in St Paul, Mn, and a rite of passage was to ride the passenger train to Minneapolis. I was six or seven, and was with my mom and grandparents. At 22, I moved to Seattle on the Western Star, from St. Paul. Had a suitcase, a guitar, and a bag of salami sandwiches my mom made. Had been working in a radio station in Clarion, Iowa, and Seattle was the promised land, in 1965.

 

[Gardo]

Somehow, when you grow up around commuter rails and subways, I don't think you get the same sense of romance. I did take this
photo of a train though, quite a few years back...

View attachment 1080395

Yeah, somehow urban transit just isn’t the same.

 

[BigDaddyLH]

No; the US is more of a "car country". I prefer the comfort of my car to public transportation. So do most people. Public transportation is more of a European thing.

We cherish our independence and cars give us great freedom to come and go as we please.

So there I was, in Japan, riding the Hello Kitty shinkansen ...



--- I was so distracted I didn't feel it as my cherished independence and freedom was sucked away from me!!!

 

[Stringbanger]

A track used to run down behind my grandfather's barn, and we always did the penny on the tracks thing when we were kids ... still have some of those flattened souvenirs of our visits around here somewhere.

Yep, pennies on the tracks guy here too. From age 12 to 19, there was an Amtrak line from Lancaster to Harrisburg, PA that was roughly 100 yards from my bedroom window.

When me and my buddy got tired of riding our stingray bikes, we would walk those railroad tracks, just for something to do.

Once, we accosted a dead, pregnant possum, which had obviously been hit by a train. All of the babies were dead of course.
We found a stick, and we began digging the young out of the mama’s womb. We counted 22! We couldn’t believe it!

Nowadays, I live about two blocks from a freight line. I remember going out to the back porch with my acoustic trying to figure out what key the train whistles were in. I have found that they are mostly in E, with an occasional F#!

 

[Old Plank]

I remember going out to the back porch with my acoustic trying to figure out what key the train whistles were in. I have found that they are mostly in E, with an occasional F#!

I'm thinking that many of the great train songs are in E or Em, for that good down and dirty train rumble ... Train Train - Blackfoot; and similarly-riffed, Southern Pacific - Neil Young/Crazy Horse; etc.

 

[Gardo]

I would love to see a link to the live stream of the horseshoe curve. If you don’t mind posting.

I follow a couple of YouTube channels about trains. Jawtooth and Delay in Block Productions both have excellent content. Give them a follow.

It looks like the camera is functioning again
Well at least it was scanning the area for a while but still not in full function

World Famous Horseshoe Curve - Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA | Virtual Railfan LIVE

Actual start date: 6/20/17This is a live stream of the famous Horseshoe Curve in Altoona, Pennsylvania, USA, for people who enjoy watching trains. You are we...

www.youtube.com

 

[ellielo]

I grew up in the Altoona area and at one time it was THE railroad city. A year ago I needed a ride back to pick up a car , but that’s another story. I couldn’t find anyone heading that way so I took the train. I really enjoyed the ride. Then last fall we were driving home from western Pa.and I decided to take my wife to the Hoseshoe Curve, I’d been there many times but it was all new to her. She loved it and especially enjoyed counting the cars of each train. I think the longest was about 200 cars. Since then I find myself constantly clicking over to the YouTube livestream of the curve just to see if there happens to be a train,I find it very relaxing to listen to the rails sing as the trains round the curve. I don’t count cars, just enjoy the scenery View attachment 1079643

What an amazing shot! I am a big fan of trains myself and my biggest dream ever is to go to Switzerland and take the famous one with the glass floor. For now I still stuck with the amtrak customer serviceably by link, but it is actually not as bad as many people might think.

 

[Gardo]

What an amazing shot!

Yes it is but I can’t take credit for it . We were strictly ground level. I downloaded this one just to show the full scene