My Camera Gear And Other Stuff

I figured I should write up an entry about what gear I have and carry around when I'm out photographing trains or other train and railroad related subjects.

My Camera body is a Nikon D80 10.2Mpx. It is a great camera and I've had no problems so far. Since I shoot in RAW only, I do wish the buffer was a bit bigger up to 9 or 10 compared to 6 or 6+1 as I like to call it. There is a small pause between the 6th and 7th shot. The D80 uses SD cards so my main card is a Sandisk Extreme III 8GB that holds near 800+ shots in RAW even though the display initially shows 655. I also have a Sandisk Extreme III 2GB card and Sandisk Ultra II 1GB card.

I own 3 lenses at the moment. My first lens is a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-70mm 3.5-4.5 G ED, which came in a kit with the body. My second lens is a Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm 4.5-5.6 G ED VR II. At the time, this lens was about $525 CAD and is a pretty good investment if you're looking for a fairly decent zoom lens. My most recent purchase is a Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 12-24mm 4 G ED, although I don't expect to take very many train shots with this lens. I bought more for the wide angle feature for photographing landscapes and buildings like grain elevators. Maybe I'll try to catch a prairie train shot with it. This one was just over $1000 at the time of purchase.

I also have the MB-D80 vertical grip with two batteries which gives a combined estimation of 5000 shots before I have to recharge the batteries. I usually average between 3000 and 3500 depending how long I leave the camera on, if I'm using the flash, do alot of playback, or playing around with settings in the menu. Cold is also a factor on charge life and reduces the life of the batteries fast. They do regain some of their charge if you can warm them up. Although the MB-D80 does add weight with the extra battery, it is handy for it's vertical grip functions making it less awkward to shoot and of course the extra power longevity.

One purchase that I'm happy about is my Uniden TrunkTracker III model number BC246T. It is capable of holding 2500 channels on average. It depends on how much information I use in the tag to identify the frequency. It was a bit more than what I wanted to pay, but was worth it in my opnion. Besides it was the only choice I had that was decent.

Other items of interest are a Kenko 67mm circular polarizer, an infrared remote shutter release Nikon ML-L3, a pair of compact binoculars, some cleaning supplies, extra Sandisk SD cards.

All of the above fits neatly into my Crumpler Six Million Dollar Home carry bag.

Two other items that I would not be able to live with out is my tripod and ball head. Apart from their normal positions, the legs can be spread out to almost flat. Although I do have to slide out the neck all the way and switch it to a horizontal position. In a stand up position with the neck fully extended, I can just manage to look through the view finder and can barely read the control display on the top.

The list:

• Nikon D80
• Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 18-70mm 3.5-4.5G ED, 67mm diameter
  
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm 4.5-5.6G ED VR II, 67mm diameter
• Nikon AF-S Nikkor 12-24mm 4G ED, 77mm diameter Aspherical
• Manfrotto 055X Pro tripod
• Manfrotto 488RC2 ball head
  
• Kenko 67mm circular polarizer
• MB-D80 vertical grip
• 2 Nikon EN-EL3e batteries
  
• Sandisk Extreme III 8GB SD card
• Sandisk Extreme III 2GB SD card
• Sandisk Ultra II 1GB SD card
• Nikon ML-L3 infrared remote shutter release
  
• Uniden TrunkTracker III BC246T
• Extra AA batteries for scanner.
  
• compact binoculars
• cleaning supplies
• Crumpler Six Million Dollar Home carry bag
• Canadian Trackside Guide 2007 Edition
• 2 different map books of Alberta
• A black journal spiral bound notebook
• Pens
  

Cheers,

Macleod Sub Auto Rack Storage - Part 2

If you wish to follow along in Google Earth to see my stops and travels, here is the kmz file for download.

September 6th, 2010

Last time I posted about the first block of auto racks in storage on the MacLeod Subdivision. This post will list the first 27 out of the 39 auto racks from the second block further south. I’m only posting about the first 27 cars because when I was out there taking pictures and writing down notes, I was attacked by a very agitated hawk. I wrote about this back on September the 6th about my experience that day.

I started at the south end of the block and worked my way north from Township Road 182 (594th Ave) on foot. There are a few clumps of trees along the way which made difficult to take pictures of some of the auto racks. It had rained the day before and the grass had not had time to entirely dry out in the thicker areas, so by the time I got to where I stopped, I was soaked from the knees down.

Below are my notes in list format of the railroad name, reporting marks and type for the first 18 auto racks. The order of the list depicts the order of the auto racks as they are on the track starting with the first auto rack north of Township Road 182 with UP TTGX 995204 and ending with BNSF TTGX 965095.

RAILROAD	REPORTING MARK	TYPE
UP	TTGX 995204	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 604313	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 991678	Bi-Level
NS	TTGX 996582	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 991757	Bi-Level
CN	CNA 712721	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 991277	Bi-Level
NS	TTGX 980664	Bi-Level
CSX	TTGX 253344	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 255721	Bi-Level
CP RAIL	TTGX 981526	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 516921	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 965046	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 982758	Bi-Level
CONRAIL	TTGX 963142	Bi-Level
CONRAIL	TTGX 970789	Bi-Level
CSX	TTGX 931189	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 159847	Bi-Level
TFM	TTGX 994737	Bi-Level
CONRAIL	TTGX 603753	Bi-Level
FERROMEX	TTGX 158413	Bi-Level
TFM	TTGX 995796	Bi-Level
TFM	TTGX 995651	Bi-Level
CSX	TTGX 152538	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 994965	Bi-Level
BNSF	TTGX 997339	Bi-Level
BNSF	TTGX 965095	Bi-Level

The following photos of the auto racks are ordered similar to the list above in a left to right, up and down direction.

You will notice that in the last photo the doors facing me on either end of the auto rack are opened. It appeared to be the same for the remainder of the auto racks.

Soon after those 27 auto racks, the agitated hawk was starting to get aggressive so I high tailed it out of there to come back later in the fall when nesting season is done and he’s gone for the winter.

Goggle Earth kmz file.

Cheers,

Elevator Music - Azure

If you wish to follow along in Google Earth, here is the kmz file for download.

May 9th, 2010

Back in May while I was out driving around looking for something to photograph.

Back in May I took a drive out in the Southwest area of High River looking for something to photograph and that is when I first saw the auto racks. Since I had yet to investigate anything train related south of town I decided to do so. I never took any pictures of the auto racks that day. At that time the rails south of Township Road 182 (594th Ave) had been removed but the ties remained. In the distance peeking over the crest of a hill I saw recognizable shape, got distracted and went to photograph it instead.

That shape turned out to be the Azure grain elevator. According to the blog Vanishing Sentinels, this elevator was built in 1927 for the Alberta Pacific Grain Company. It was closed in 1962 and is now privately owned.

Here are a few pictures of the Azure grain elevator.

Here are a couple more shots from the base of the elevator in sepia.

Goggle Earth kmz file.

Cheers,

Yellow Near Sparwood

If you wish to follow along in Google Earth, here is the kmz file for download.

June 20th, 2010

Back in June I was in Elko British Columbia for a weekend long bachelor party for one of my friends. I was aware that the Cranbrook Sub was close to where we were going to be, but I had not made any plans to do any serious railfaining as we were all going to be pretty busy having so good fun that the best man had in store for us.

On the second day, we were on the Jaffray golf course and I was taking pictures of everybody, I'm not much of a golfer. I knew there was a rail line in the area but didn't know that it was so close to the golf course. As we were on the fourth or fifth hole, I could see the top part of the first distinctively yellow UP locomotive come out from behind the trees. I don’t recall how many there were or if they were all UP locomotives. I do know there was more than one. The weird thing is I never heard the train coming which is what surprised me the most. Unfortunately I never got a picture of the train as I was busy trying to photograph action shots of some of the other guys swinging their clubs.

On my way back home, just past Sparwood I saw the tail end of a stationary potash train. When I got to the lead end, I saw five yellow Union Pacific SD90 locomotives. I just had to turn around and take some pictures.

The interesting thing that I noticed as I was taking pictures, was that the locomotives were identified on the cabs as SD9043AC which apparently are SD90MAC’s produced with the smaller prime mover as I later found out from a friend. Also on the cab were the words “UNDER WARRANTY”.

After doing a bit of research, I found some info on Wikipedia about these particular SD90’s which is quite interesting. EMD introduced the SD90MAC in 1995 with the 6250hp (4660kW) 16 cylinder H engine which proved to have some technical problems. So EMD shipped the locomotives with the 4300hp (3210kW) 16 cylinder 710G engines and assigned the model SD90/43MAC. Apparently railroads were given the option to upgrade to the 6250hp engines, but rarely done because of reliability issues with the engine. You can read more about the SD90/43MACs and SD90MACs on the Wikipedia page.

UP SD9043AC
EMD Designation	SD90/43MAC
Prime Mover	EMD V16 710G3B
Power Output	4300 hp (3210 kW)

Here are some individual photos of the five SD9043AC locomotives. The Locomotive numbers are 8306 in the lead, 8268, 8260, 8289, 8277. Notice that 8306 is the only one with the trapezoid window shade and the other four have rectangular shades. Also, 8260 was the only locomotive not facing forward.

Here is a shot of all five locomotives hooked up to the potash train.

It is very exciting to see locomotives from other railroads that you would not otherwise see without having to travel, most times, a fair distance from home.

Goggle Earth kmz file.

Cheers,

Open Season on People - Hawk Attack

I was out railfaning this morning on the MacLeod Sub and while I was photographing some autoracks and taking down reporting marks I heard this hawk screaching up in the sky. He would glide towards me at about 50 feet from the ground and turn around. I never thought anything about it cause he was also circling ovehead. I thought maybe there was some critter in the tall grass that he was trying to catch. I went along with my business but was keeping an eye on him.

As I was getting closer to this clump of trees further ahead, it was about 6 auto racks ahead of me, he was getting more agitated and more screechy. I figured that I was probably getting close to a nest or something. He was circling and sort of doing some swooping now. This was starting to get pretty serious. I got to about 2 rail cars away from the clump of trees, and noticed that that he was coming towards me at about 20 feet off the ground, I thought to myself, "Shitballs Batman! This guy is very pissed!" and he dove at me in the blink of an eye. I ducked and put my note book over my head. He came so close that I heard the wind rush by from his swoop. Guess what I did? I took my last picture, wrote down the reporting marks, and got the hell out of Dodge!

He must of figured that I was leaving cause he immediately ceased his attacks and flew into the clump of trees with a couple final screeches and was quiet. I'll have to go back later this fall when nesting season is done. I still have 11 auto racks to photograph.

Let this be a lesson to all you railfans out there or to anyone for that matter, if you hear a noisy hawk, observe what he does. If he seems to be agitated by your presence, don't piss him off, get the hell out of there and come back another day.

Cheers,

Macleod Sub Auto Rack Storage - Part 1

If you wish to follow along in Google Earth, here is the kmz file for download.

September 4th, 2010

CP has pretty well abandoned most all of the MacLeod Sub south of the junction with the Aldersyde Sub near Aldersyde except for about 16 or 17 kilometers of track to service a couple industries and to use as storage for some auto racks south of High River.

Apparently the auto racks were being stored near Cayley, I assume due to the economic crisis a couple years ago. This is according to some info from a friend and to an article last year in the local newspaper The High River Times. The way I read it, they were moved further north on or around July 30th of last year I believe. I’m guessing it was probably because CP wanted to remove a section of rails from Cayley heading north which they did to about up to Township Road 182 (594th Ave).

Back in May I took a drive out in the Southwest area of High River looking for something to photograph and that is when I first saw the auto racks. Since I had yet to investigate anything train related south of town I decided to do so. I never took any pictures of the auto racks that day. At that time the rails south of Township Road 182 (594th Ave) had been removed but the ties remained. In the distance peeking over the crest of a hill I saw recognizable shape, got distracted and went to photograph it instead.

Thursday after work, I drove out to see if the auto racks I spotted back in May were still in storage on the remnants of the MacLeod Sub south of town. I was in luck! They were still there.

Yesterday morning I had plans to first go photograph something I’ve been wanting to photograph for some time in the morning sun East of High River, but unfortunately the morning sun was not cooperating. Instead I drove south out of High River on Range Road 291 (88th Street East), heading towards the stored auto racks.

There are two blocks of auto racks there, the first block consists of 18 cars and the second further south has 39 cars. Yesterday I only took notes and photos of the first block located South of Township Road 184 (562nd Ave) and West of Range Road 291 (88th Street East). Below are two photos of the first 18 cars stored on the MacLeod Subdivision south of High River.

Below are my notes in list format of the railroad name, reporting marks and type for the first 18 auto racks. The order of the list depicts the order of the auto racks as they are on the track starting with the first auto rack immediately south of Township Road 184 with NS TTGX 975698 and ending with UP TTGX 974468.

RAILROAD	REPORTING MARK	TYPE
NS	TTGX 975698	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 981886	Bi-Level
UP	ETTX 908451	Tri-Level
BNSF	ETTX 801284	Tri-Level
UP	ETTX 201504	Tri-Level
SOO	SOO 515802	Tri-Level
CONRAIL	ETTX 908796	Tri-Level
CSX	ETTX 802335	Tri-Level
UP	SP 516572	Tri-Level
SP	SSW 80650	Tri-Level
UP	TTGX 930194	Bi-Level
CSX	TTGX 603491	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 982516	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 979691	Bi-Level
CPR	TTGX 988453	Bi-Level
BN	TTGX 940983	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 973463	Bi-Level
UP	TTGX 974468	Bi-Level

The following photos of the auto racks are ordered similar to the list above in a left to right, up and down direction.

After I finished with the first 18 auto racks I decided to do the other 39 another day and drove a bit further south past Township Road 182. I noticed that since my last wanderings back in May of this year, sometime between then and now, all the rail ties have been removed south of Township Road 182 (594th Ave). Prior to May, only the rails had been removed.

Goggle Earth kmz file.

Cheers,