Life and Times of a urban railfan

  Good evening fellow railfans,  you may have been wondering about the title well it is my short title as the long title is guilty of watching trains but not guilty of failing to live up to your standards.  Since the beginning time people have tried to set some form of standard and make people feel inferior or guilty for not living up to it. From the Bible times to the present day society we classify things we do such as clothing, lifestyles and hobbies into what is deemed normal. For many years I have been hurt by rejections due to the fact I like trains. I have been told everything from grow up to something must be wrong with you. Society has always went with the IN-CROWD the cool kids, the ones with the most clout, the best clothes, the latest gadgets or who is the most popular kid/person in the group. For me growing up I never could be put into this class for the most part of my high school life I put work in trying to learn my trade as a carpen...

        For the most part I know you guys who follow me must have thought I dropped off the face of the earth, well I haven't or least I don't think I have. Honesty to tell the truth I have been busy with work, family and dealing with some personal issues that has been plaguing me. In the next few weeks I hope to get back to blogging and bringing you some new material and some new knowledge and encouragement. Since I feel like I kinda owe it to you here is a summary of my summer and beginning of Fall. This past summer was a hot one to say the least but I managed to get some pics anyhow. First trip of the summer I took our family on a trip to Alliance Ohio to a restaurant called Burger Hut. This little side attraction sits next to the Norfolk Southern Cleveland line and is a handy little spot to set and watch trains while eating lunch or dinner, and if you like fish they have all you can eat on Fridays ( I believe this is seasonal but I could be wrong)...

For the most part I enjoy photographing trains, as a railfan it is just my nature. But with photographing railroaders and trains comes a often unknown responsibility. The responsibility of helping someone keep their job. For the most part as railfans we can get worked up over a door being open on a locomotive, but is it worth calling it in or posting a picture of it ? At what cost does one have to pay to make someone happy? When we photograph trains or the men and women who operate them we must be vigilant and careful of what we post and how we go about it.  Sadly the relationships between railfans and railroaders is deteriorating at a rapid pace, why? Glad you asked. Thirty years ago management turned a blind eye to the relationships between railfans and railroaders and life seemed good, but what happened? Well? Railfans began losing common sense and the diligence to be safe and stay out of the way and a few lawsuits later railroads had to begin cracking down on local crews for...

 With summer being in full swing and a lot of us in travel mode we often times can ignore the dangers of summer weather. While perfect sun and lots of trains make for a railfans delight they also can set the stage for a perfect storm of trouble in more than one way or another. With hot weather one of the first things I want to talk about is thunderstorms, they can sneak up on the unsuspecting railfan and can bring about some nasty surprises such as hail, flash flooding, and even tornadoes Here is a couple of screenshots from my computer of what is considered a Bow Echo type of thunderstorm. A pretty nasty storm If you noticed the storm had not reached me yet, but the dark clouds were ominous and within a few minutes I would be surrounded by high winds and rain. Not only high winds and rain but lightning and thunder as well. Another type of thundershower As you can see from the above this thunderstorm brought  lot of rain around 2am that morning. Now you maybe...

          I has been a while since my last post but I have  just been too busy with dealing with life, work, weather,a car accident and other issues that has kept me from writing, hopefully you guys can look past this. Today's blog is about a trip I took to Bellevue Ohio with my buddy Dave.     It began with a 4:15am alarm ringing I was on the road and picking Dave up at 6:00am for the hour and a half drive west. Once we got there we sat a while and watched some trains along with the sun rising up behind us. After a few trains we went to get snacks and what we considered breakfast when we came upon a Train changing crews and getting a inspection for a hot box. NS 218 at Flat Rock Road with a heritage unit in tow After the 218 we hit the road in a effort to capture a Wheeling train in the next town over. We got there in plenty of time, and we were joined by another railfan. Now it was a great location and light but it...

       Good Evening my friends, This week has been about a lot of change for me, good change. I would like to open up and let you know a little more of me, for the most part I used to either ride my bike, the bus, or rely on other railfans to be able to go to trackside. For the most part I was out in the weather 90% of the time whether it be freezing cold or pouring rain, you name it, I was out there in it. Well this week I was able to get my first car and drive to work and trackside, but Saturday morning became the moment I found out what I was really missing by being a groundhog type of individual. I rose up at my usual time of 4:15am got my bag and thermos packed for what I hoped would be a decent morning trackside. As I headed out the door and started my vehicle and allowed the windows to defrost, I sat feeling in a sense guilty as I was doing something I never had the privilege to attempt before. After my windows cleared I backed out on the driveway ...

      I have to admit it has been a while since I last posted here, but lack time and lack of trains has kept me from having any content until now. For the most part the tracks I like to fan have seen a decrease in traffic like most of the railroads things come and go in spurts. Ups and downs are no stranger to the men and women who work the high iron. So what is one to do without trains and suitable weather? I decided to get creative. I recently acquired a fisheye lens, why, and what is a fisheye? Well the reason why is I wanted to do something different and be a little creative , now what is a fisheye? A fisheye is a special effects lens that distorts a picture into a circular scene on my Canon 70D this is a interesting 185 degree field of view. The one I have is a Lensbaby this is a meager and affordable lens that is full manual, meaning this lens has no electronics so you must shoot in full manual mode (something I do anyhow). Q015 with the Fisheye Th...