Throughout the day on Wednesday and Thursday, we've noticed certain questions appearing regularly. We hope that posting answers will help some of our viewers enjoy the live streaming video even more.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Q: When will Big Boy No. 4014 be restored to operating condition?
A: Union Pacific needs to return the Big Boy to Cheyenne, Wyo., where the locomotive will receive a complete overhaul. Although the railroad’s heritage operations department has a good idea of what work lies ahead of them, they won’t know the full scope until they disassemble the locomotive in 2014 and 2015. When all is said and done, the locomotive will take years to rebuild. Enthusiasts hope it will be ready for the 150^th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad's Golden Spike ceremony in 2019.

Q: While watching the living streaming camera I saw railroad workers underneath the Big Boy several times with wood beams and what looked like grease guns. What’s going on?
A: Wood beams, call them “two-by-fours,” are used to help re-align portions of track or moving pieces of the locomotive as it moves, and to help guide it. Wood is preferred because it will not damage the locomotive and it helps the crews keep their hands and arms safely out of harms’ way. The “grease guns” contain friction modifiers that help reduce the binding and tightness that the Big Boy creates as it moves on the temporary track. The friction modifiers are the same kind used by railroads throughout the world in mainline operation.

Q: I heard Jim Wrinn call the temporary railroad, panel track or “snap” track. What’s that?
A: A panel track is a section of track that is pre-assembled to be easily laid and taken up with minimal work. It is similar to toy train tracks that ‘snap’ together and can later be taken apart and put away for storage. Union Pacific has 20 40-foot sections of used track that it is using to make this 5,000-foot move.

Q: I’m at work, or sleeping, or way around the other side of the world. Will you please re-broadcast this move?
A: We’re doing the best we can to make sure moving Big Boy No. 4014 is available to all train enthusiasts wherever they live and whatever their schedule. Right now, Trains’ live streaming camera can either record video or stream it to Trains Nation. Editor Jim Wrinn is recording this historic event with a second high-definition video camera and footage from that camera will be available as soon as Jim can pull himself away from the gentle breezes and warm temperatures of sunny Southern California!

Q: Live streaming video isn’t working for me? What happened?
A: Thank you for your patience. Sharing the move of Big Boy No. 4014 live with the world is Trains’ first venture into live streaming video. Like many new experiences, there is excitement, adventure, and learning, all rolled together. We know there are connection issues with viewers who use Apple mobile products, such as iPhone and iPads. Viewers with older PCs are also reporting difficulties connecting to live streaming video. We are working with our information services department to find solutions and ways to make this and future experiences as enjoyable as possible.

Q: What is the route of the Big Boy to Wyoming? When will it happen?
A: Union Pacific will publish schedules of when Big Boy No. 4014 will be available to the public and when it will move. We expect this to happen before January, but it depends on whether the Big Boy can pass all safety inspections first. The route will the locomotive will take will also be published. Rely on Trains to update you with the information as soon as it becomes available. 

The crowd watches as the Big Boy is prepared for more movement on panel tracks. Jim Wrinn photo

POMONA, Calif.- The emotions that Union Pacific’s newly repatriated Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014 stirs, even without it being restored and in steam, is powerful indeed.

On Thursday, as the UP steam crew pulled the engine out of the Rail Giants museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds, more than 200 people appeared. Many had heard about the move from our social media and News Wire posts, and many were eager to see this historic event.

A college student drove up from San Diego to see the spectacle. A local man, Evan Ferrari, said he’d seen the engine in the museum as a child and was in disbelief that it was leaving, but most happy that it will be restored to operation. Doug Kearney from Marino Valley brought his Lionel O-gauge model of No. 4014 and posed it on the siderods and pilot for pictures.

Doug Kearney positions his O-gauge Big Boy 4014 on the running gear. Jim Wrinn photo

At Trains, our steaming Web cam of the move (on again this morning until around noon at www.TrainsMag.com/webcam) drew thousands of viewers from across the nation and as far away as U.S. Army bases in Afghanistan.

There is something powerful about a steam locomotive, indeed. Those of us who know this and love them enough to spend as much time as we can riding, photographing, and sometimes even working on and running them have received a unique gift. In a day and age when modern technology allows us to live broadcast the move of one of these magnificent machines, these historic machines are wonderful reminders of the genius of mankind. To restore this one is to salute the craftsman at Alco who built them, the UP employees who ran and maintained them, and the people smart enough to save eight of them before the scrappers torch got them all. 

The beauty shot of the 4014 in the sun for the first time in more than 24 years. Jim Wrinn photo

On the early afternoon of Veteran’s Day, Nov. 11, 2013, Leviathan’s whistle blows for the Kirchner Road crossing on the north side of New Freedom, Pa., as the York follows closely behind. Photo by Brian Plant.

NEW FREEDOM, Pa. — The once-familiar sound of steam whistles again echo down the valley between Hanover Junction and New Freedom, Pa., on the rails of the former Northern Central Railway. The Northern Central connected Baltimore, Md., with Sunbury, Pa., with construction completed in 1858. Three years later the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired a controlling interest in the Northern Central. The year 2013 marks the 150^th anniversary of the Confederate invasion of Pennsylvania’s York County and the ensuing Battle of Gettysburg in July 1863. The rails of the Northern Central and the connecting Hanover Branch Railroad played an important part in the aftermath of the 1863 Battle of Gettysburg, as injured soldiers were transported to hospitals in Baltimore, Harrisburg, and York. Hanover Junction’s shining historical moment was President Abraham Lincoln’s changing of trains on his way to delivering the Gettysburg Address on Nov. 19, 1863, 150 years ago today.

Leviathan passes through farmland just north of the Granary Road crossing between Glen Rock and Hanover Junction. Photo by Brian Plant. 

After a long stop at Hanover Junction on Veteran’s Day, the York now pulls the passenger train south into Glen Rock with the Leviathan racing close behind trying to keep pace. In reality a slow shutter speed gives the illusion of speed, as track conditions and at-grade crossings require speeds under 20 mph. Photo by Brian Plant.

Two years later President Lincoln’s Funeral Train plied the very same rails on its journey to Springfield, Ill. Over time the Northern Central played a declining role for parent Pennsylvania Railroad. The formation of Penn Central in February 1968 did not severe the Northern Central as a through route, but rather it was the devastating effects of Hurricane Agnes in June 1972.

The exquisite attention to detail can be seen on the No. 17 York. Photo by Brian Plant.

The Leviathan prepares for the run to Hanover Junction on the morning of Nov. 13, 2013 at New Freedom, Pa. Photo by Brian Plant.

Let’s fast-forward to the year 2013, when a brand-new Kloke Locomotive Works 4-4-0 “American” steam locomotive began to traverse the rails of the Northern Central, now an important part of the York County Heritage Rail Trail. The William H. Simpson No. 17 York is the centerpiece of the non-profit Steam into History, Inc., whose mission is to promote tourism by operating a period steam train which chronicles the role York County held in the history of the Civil War.

Photographer James Pfeiffer, who specializes in Ambrotypes and Ferrotypes, shares one of the recreated Matthew Brady photos to a volunteer at Hanover Junction. Photo by Brian Plant.

An homage to Matthew Brady’s photo of Lincoln’s train at Hanover Junction was staged on the afternoon of Nov. 13, but the sharp curvature and short length of the former Hanover Junction Railroad trackage kept the York and train on the Northern Central rails. Photo by Brian Plant.

An exciting series of events took place the week of Nov. 10^th as the Central Pacific No. 63 Leviathan, another Kloke Locomotive Works 4-4-0, visited. Events included the staging of the Great Locomotive Chase, a reenactment of the driving of the Golden Spike at Promontory Point, Utah to complete the transcontinental railroad and recreating the famous Matthew Brady photo of Lincoln’s train at Hanover Junction. One can now truly steam into history in York County.

The proud history of railroading in Glen Rock is exemplified in this image of the York returning from Hanover Junction late in the afternoon on Nov. 13, 2013. Photo by Brian Plant.

The low angle of the late autumn sun catches the plume put out by the York as seen from below on Pleasant Valley Road. A fitting name for sure. Photo by Brian Plant. 

It’s one thing to look down the list of commodities and carloads on the Association of American Railroads reports of weekly rail traffic; it’s something else to know what goes where and why. Let’s take the recent Week 42 report apart.

First, the Standard Transportation Commodity Code, STCC for short, assigns a seven-digit number to every conceivable commodity that might be moved across any segment of railroad. The first two digits represent the broad commodity group: 01 for unprocessed farm products, 10 for metallic ores, 11 for coal, and so on.

The next three digits represent subgroups — for STCC group 01, 132 is corn, 137 is wheat, 144 is soybeans, down through 19x for miscellaneous field crops. The last two digits designate specific commodities within the subgroup. Under 01 139, Grain (NOC - not otherwise categorized) we have 10, buckwheat; 15, spelt; 25, millet; and several others. 

The AAR reports U.S., Canadian, Mexican, and total North American rail traffic separately; our purposes are best served with the North American total numbers because so many of the Mexican and Canadian carloads either originate or terminate in the U.S. Turning to the week 42 report, the first line is carloads and is the total of all non-intermodal rail shipments in, well, carloads. Under carloads, we have all the commodity groups, and here is where knowing the STCC basics is essential.

The Chemical Group is STCC 28 and includes industrial chemicals, chlorine, plastic pellets, fertilizers (phosphate rock is STCC 14, non-metallic minerals) and ethanol. Most   Class I roads include petroleum products, STCC 29, and crude oil, STCC 131, in chemicals, too, so one has to be careful making the jump from AAR carloads to Class I railroad commodity reports.

Coal, STCC 11, is what it says: anthracite (mainly northeastern Pennsylvania), bituminous (“Appalachian” from western Pennsylvania south through West Virginia, Virginia, parts of Kentucky and Tennessee and some Alabama, plus Colorado and Utah) and lignite (Powder River Basin). NS and CSX are the principal bituminous carriers; BNSF and UP are the sole Powder River Basin occupants.

Grain, as in the example above, is what comes out of the field. Farm and food products go into the STCC 20 group and include everything made from field crops or animals: corn sweeteners, soybean oil, flour, orange juice (think CSX Train OJ-1 for Tropicana), canned or frozen anything, dog food and beer. Forest products are anything to do with wood or plywood (STCC 24) or paper (STCC 26).

Metallic ores include iron ore out of the Missabe Range, copper ore off the Copper Basin Railroad, and aluminum ore off the former Alcoa roads, now part of the Genesee & Wyoming Company. Into this group go metallic raw materials products, such as _-beams, copper plate or coiled steel, and iron-based metal scrap used in electric arc furnaces. Non-metallic minerals include crushed construction stone, industrial sand for glass-making, road salt, rip-rap, gravel, and frac sand. Also here one finds cement, wallboard, and decorative stone for garden projects.

Motor vehicles and parts, STCC 371 and 41118, are exactly that, except that parts moving as intermodal shipments are not captured. The number here represents whatever moves in or on classic freight cars. The “other” category includes municipal solid waste, construction debris, and anything else missed in the Standard Transportation Commodity Code groupings.

And finally, there’s intermodal. The number captures every container, trailer, or other equipment with a reporting mark ending in “U.” What’s in them doesn’t matter; it could be anything from lumber for export to auto parts for the Indiana Honda plant to made-in-China furniture destined to a Wal-Mart. It’s also the fastest-growing commodity group for the railroad industry. 

Now turn to the AAR’s week 42 report and read, “Total U.S. rail traffic for the week was 553,943 combined carloads and intermodal units, up 2.1 percent compared with the same week last year. Eight of the 10 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2012, including petroleum and petroleum products with 13,644 carloads, up 15.5 percent; and grain, with 22,360 carloads, up 9.6 percent. Commodities showing a decrease compared with the same week last year included coal with 108,469 carloads, down 6.0 percent. 

Armed with the STCC explanation above, look at the tables accompanying the report (remember: we’re now looking at U.S. traffic only). You’ll see the very numbers in the press release, but you’ll also know that chemicals include ethanol and fertilizer, and that petroleum products include both crude oil in unit trains and LPG in carload service to local stations, with the former skewing the numbers. 

Forest products may be up, but from reading the papers you know newsprint is down and housing starts are showing some signs of life. Non-metallic minerals— look to the year-to-date column — are getting momentum from frac sand; the same is true for the metals group for its steel piping going to the drill sites. And coal is no surprise, thanks to the Environmental Protection Agency’s aggressive stance toward aging steam plants and the low price of natural gas.

So, that’s the weekly AAR Rail Traffic Reports, the stats behind why unit trains of tank cars out of North Dakota are up but center-beams of dimensional lumber out of the Pacific Northwest are less prevalent. Autos are up thanks to pent-up demand for more fuel-efficient cars; ethanol is down because of the more fuel-efficient cars and less driving.

Next you’ll want to look at the commodity reports for the individual railroads, putting them in the context of the weekly AAR reports. Be sure to watch this space for some clues on what to watch for.

[caption image="http://cs.trains.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/2262.EastTroy.jpg" position="left" targeturl="http://cs.trains.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/2262.EastTroy.jpg"]My daughter looks out the window of one East Troy Electric Railroad vintage car while another one passes by. Photo by Angela Pusztai-Pasternak [/caption]

During this month of thankfulness, I can't help but think about what railroad I'm thankful for. As I rode into work this morning, I had plenty of time to think about it. At 5 mph on the highway, my mind wandered. 

My first thought? I'm thankful for the Canadian Pacific. The railroad runs right through my small town of Oconomowoc, Wis., carrying oil, grain, auto parts, and other goods. We see about 20 freights a day. Amtrak's Empire Builder makes its way through town on these tracks, too. Each day, I'm reminded as I commute to work, and parallel the CP rails for part of my journey, that it is because of the railroad that I work for a magazine that reports on the present, reflects on the past, and speculates the future.

As I was stuck on the highway, however, I also thought about how I was thankful for the high-speed-rail funds Wisconsin almost had. Are you sensing sarcasm? Perhaps. Nonetheless, our government was willing to provide funds once, it could happen again, and maybe the state will be ready for the connectivity in the future.

I am also thankful for the East Troy Electric Railroad, a 7-mile tourist railroad in East Troy, Wis., which provides a pleasant ride from its namesake town to Mukwonago, Wis., where you find The Elegant Farmer, a farmer's market with a pumpkin farm, apple orchard, and more. What I love about East Troy Electric is that it offers an uncomplicated opportunity for families to take children on a pretty little jaunt through the country on historic cars. Families will also enjoy its railroad museum and gift shop.

Finally, I'm also thankful for public rail transportation. I have fond memories of rides on the "L" in Chicago, my first train ride —maybe a story for a future blog post— as well as Chicago Metra trains, Amtrak's Hiawatha, San Francisco's BART and Muni, and Boston's MBTA. All of these train rides enabled me to have an unencumbered experience in some of the nation’s greatest cities. 

Ernest Hemingway wrote, "It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end." The railroad spearheaded my ability to use my skills as an editor. For that, I am also thankful.

So, tell me. What railroad are you thankful for? Is it the one you work for? Is it the one that brings you safely to work each day? Or, is it the railroad of your childhood? Please comment below and have a peaceful Thanksgiving.

The leaves have fallen, cold temperatures are the norm, and white-stuff is beginning to fly: yes, Winter has arrived! We saw all of these conditions in Virginia within the last month and snow is actually falling as I write this.

As I look out my window, I see a beautiful layer of white covering everything. Even though it's not much, it still is enough snow to yield beautiful photographic results. A little snow can make an image really pop. Road conditions can be a huge deterrent at times, but play it safe and take advantage of opportunities for snow shots.

I'm sure you all know well the dreaded 11 a.m.-3 p.m. range during the summer months; that’s the time when the sun is high and mutes/diffuses color and contrast. This time of year, you no longer have that problem. You can work with light all day, and shoot nice pictures without worrying about high sun.

I love winter lighting, some of the strongest light you can get year-round. I have found backlighting can especially be awesome during the winter. You also can't beat an image with mere beautiful, warm lighting illuminating your subject and scene. Even though the trees are bare, and everything is dead, this is a great trade-off for better light.

I have also found that winter sunsets can especially be spectacular. The best part is you don't have to wait until real late to get them either. Some of the best sunsets I've witnessed have been in the winter months.

Several of my all-time favorite photographs have been taken on the most miserable of days weather-wise: cold, rainy, snowy, and driving wind. I know it can be hard to find the motivation to get out on such days, but the results can be especially striking and rewarding. I can certainly attest to that, and I'm sure several of you can too. If you place yourself in the right spot and all the elements come together perfectly, a picture with a unique “wow”-factor can be produced.

Let's dig into a few of my favorite winter photographs:

Beautiful, even late afternoon lighting illuminates this pastoral view of No. 16T rolling through the countryside east of Rural Retreat, Va., along the tracks of the former Norfolk & Western Radford Division. This train is headed up by older locomotives, and will be stopping just ahead to await maintenance of way gang to give up a track authority. The train will then get a clear to proceed east toward a meeting with train 29W at Wytheville, and then it's off to Roanoke, Va.

The sun has just set along the former Southern Railway main line from Asheville, N.C., to Knoxville, Tenn., as heavy westbound train No. 165 rumbles across a lake valley at Leadvale, Tenn. An ex-Conrail SD60I is on the point. The train traversed mountain grades, and twisted along the French Broad River on its journey from NS's Linwood Yard, but the train has now surpassed the worst of grades and prepares to hit the Bristol to Knoxville main line located just ahead in Morristown, Tenn., at CP New Line.

One little splash of sunlight provides to offset this Canadian visitor against a dark background, as it leads a relatively light eastbound ethanol train across NS's Pocahontas Division in the quaint town of Northfork, W.Va. The train is now hitting grueling 1.4-percent Elkhorn Grade, but not to worry, with three locomotives on the head-end and two ES44AC's shoving on the rear, this move will have no issue tackling the grade.  Originating in the Midwest, this train is likely en-route to Northern Virginia operating as No. 64D.

Snow is falling, bitter cold temperatures hover around 15-degress, and a bone-chilling wind has set in to usher in train No. 38Q entering the siding at Wytheville, Va., preparing to await three opposing westbounds. Two General Electric ES44ACs and a Dash-9 standard-cab power the heavy train, but wet snow and ice-slick rails make for a slow trip to Roanoke. The color position lights denote that we are no doubt along the former Norfolk & Western, as the intriguing old relics guard the west end of the passing siding.

After a morning snowfall covered everything with a gorgeous layer of white, No. 233 parades through the railroad location called Pinhook, just west of Bluefield, Va. A pair of western visitors from the BNSF Railway does the honors on the point. The heavy intermodal train has just swapped crews, and is en route to Portsmouth, Ohio, and eventually Chicago. The train will pass through multiple enlarged tunnels on its journey, thanks to the completion of NS's Heartland Corridor Project in September 2010.

After filling out to a whopping 170 loads at Clark's Gap, this heavy coal train operating as No. 810, soars across Black Lick Trestle in Kegley, W.Va., under a dramatic sky, while traversing the scenic ex-Virginian Railway. Weighing in the neighborhood of 24,000-25,000 tons, this monster train is being moved up the 0.6-percent grade by three head-end locomotives, and three ES44ACs wide-open in notch-8 on the rear. It amazes me how these trestles have withstood the years and are still in service for more than a century.

As always, thanks for viewing and hope you enjoy this winter tale.

This post will end up with a hard-to-answer question. Eventually, I plan to write a string of posts about railroading in the 21st century, and what kinds of roles people fascinated by railroading might play in its dynamic and unpredictable future. Getting from here to there may be a bit of a wild ride. I hope you will hear me out. 

It may take a while to convince you, and the railroad industry, that Sunday's tragic Metro North derailment in the Bronx, along with the ghastly derailment and fire in Quebec; the recent tank car leakage in Willard, Ohio; Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam Program; and the continuing harassment of railroad photographers are all part of a fundamental realignment of the railroad industry and the public — or at least, that segment of the public that has some personal interest in railroading. There are a lot of dots to connect. But I see at least the outline of a picture.

I believe that positive good can come from reopening the kind of high-level conversation between railroading and railroad interest communities that hasn't existed for at least three decades. The railroad industry again seems willing to grasp that it exists in the messy, fraught, risky "real world" of public opinion, public engagement, uncontrolled incident, and public perception. 

It isn't always fair, but it is always harsh, and real. So far, the industry's attempts at a “rebranding” effort have been unimaginative. Repeating the fact that a gallon of fuel can move a ton of freight 400 miles by rail is a bit lame, even to public radio audiences. It is like asserting that a gallon of water weighs 8.3 gallons. And what is point? My strong sense is that soot-belching, honest, muscular steam locomotives (the politically correct be damned) are vastly more effective at capturing the imagination of the American public — and reformatting “The Railroad” as an authentic American presence and marketing platform.

The competing narratives are railroad incidents that involve derailments, explosions, releases of toxic chemicals, and the loss of life. These are always to be deeply regretted. I never suggest that they are anything less than catastrophes for the people involved, and a reminder that we exist in an astonishingly complex world of speed, technology, and risk. 

Today's railroading is safe, carefully managed, tightly regulated regarding operating practices and technology, and a bedrock system that the nation depends upon in ways it no longer fully comprehends. 

But relatively few people understand that. Risks we regard as perfectly routine, handling incredibly powerful substances, harnessing lethal electricity, tearing about freely at 70 mph in glorified tin cans, and traveling six miles above the earth at 600 mph, would have frozen even progressive Americans of a mere century ago in mortal terror. 

And that is part of the problem. It isn't simply that the public may be forming a negative view of railroading (freight, transit, and Amtrak, to the public, all are the same). It is that the public no longer has any functional context by which to assess the railroading they see in the news cycle. On the Thanksgiving weekend of the Metro North derailment, more than 300 people lost their lives in car crashes, most due to alcohol, distracted driving, or other preventable causes. But we regard those deaths as a simply cost of universal mobility by automobile. The train wreck was a sensational tragedy.

The immediate risk to railroading of the Metro North wreck is that Congress (that astute, wise deliberative body that represents all Americans, and places the best long-term interests of the country above any personal or partisan concern) will find it convenient to lean harder on Positive Train Control as the solution to a problem they have not taken the time or effort to really understand. 

In this case, as in the Chatsworth head-on collision in California in 2008, PTC may have averted the wreck. But politicians have no time to understand how railroads actually work, or the fact that PTC may be appropriate for Metro North, but not, at the moment, for much of the American railroad network. In today's utterly dysfunctional Washington climate, the risk is that a prominent accident such as the Metro North derailment will become a useful diversion, rather than an object lesson.  

Contemporary railroading is beginning to acquire something of an image problem. It may not be fair, and it may hinge on events taken out of context. But in the sensationalistic, shallow, partisan media world we live in, perceptions matter more than reasoned consideration and balanced judgment.

“Railroad Interest” folks might be able to help. They range from contemporary railroad photographers and digital simulators to historians, modelers, heritage railroad operators, and traditional railfans working for Class I carriers. We may only comprise a million or two individuals. But we represent a deeply engrained American tradition embracing railroading as part of out culture.

We comprise a substantial, widely dispersed, vocal, informed grassroots community potentially able to have a voice in a national conversation. Is railroading safe, efficient, and an important solution to problems ranging from urban mobility to energy independence? Absolutely.

Is the industry in danger of more knee-jerk regulation, demonization, and unreasonable meddling on the part of elected officials responding to their own logic and imperatives? Absolutely.

Could the big railroads think a little more clearly and creatively about how they are perceived, and be a little more reasonable, smart, and broad-minded? Perhaps. but they are, after all, big corporations.

Has the railroad industry understood that it has a million-or-so passionate advocates from all walks of life who are predisposed (for whatever reason) to express support in a variety of ways? Not since about 1980.

Are the Railroad Interest communities prepared to coordinate their efforts and think broadly and creatively about how to approach the railroad industry with the foundation for a new relationship? Is there a real opportunity to create a new understanding for cooperation between the railroad industry and the railroad interest communities?

Certainly. It seems like a good idea. But it would cost too much, be too difficult, no one wants to spend the time, the risk is too high, etc. etc. And who wants to be the first one to go? 

I've been poking at this idea for a decade or so, and the general response has been about the same as that to flatulence in church. Folks just sort of look the other way, and hope they are not the ones who have to deal with it.

At the moment, I don't know what our support of the railroad industry might look like, how it might be deployed, or what it might immediately accomplish. Should the National Railway Historical Society take the lead? Could it be a coalition? Could the railroad interest communities even agree to create a delegation to meet with the Association of American Railroads, Federal Railroad Administration, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, and other industry leaders? We don't have a great deal of experience with cooperation or joint efforts.

Here are the immediate questions: What could railroad heritage and general enthusiasm for railways do to help the industry? And what could the industry do to foster interest and cooperation, and help create a new generation of committed supporters? 

How can we reengage with the railroad industry? I have a sense of what a “grand bargain” might look like, and of how the Big Wheel might be turning. The next few posts will explore those ideas. I welcome serious suggestions and comments. 

A Radio Story in Search of a Point

Wednesday, Dec. 4, 5:25 PM EST

I’ve just finished listening to a feature story on National Public Radio's afternoon news program “All Things Considered.” It was about the boom in new oil traffic on America's railroads.

I enjoy and support public radio. It is an oasis in the desert that passes for contemporary broadcasting. But I found the story “Pipeline on Wheels: Trains are Winning Big Off U.S. Oil” deeply troubling. It offers an example of how we — as an informed community of railroad supporters — can be heard in useful ways.

Please listen to the radio segment before you figure out that I am royally mad. Try to listen with an open mind.

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/04/248816818/pipeline-on-wheels-trains-are-winning-big-off-u-s-oil 

I wondered how soon the radio feature would mention the Lac Megantic disaster. That has become shorthand for a horrible railroad accident, in the same way as the Ashtabula Bridge Disaster. In 1876, a badly designed bridge on Vanderbilt's Lake Shore & Michigan Southern Railroad collapsed under a passenger train, crushing and incinerating at least 92 people. “Ashtabula” signified callous and irresponsible railroad management for a half a century afterward. “Lac Megantic” is an equally loaded term today. 

We are hard wired to understand the world — both forward and backward in time — in terms of stories, impressions, and snippets. We use them as shorthand to shape opinions and negotiate our increasingly complex lives. Think of  “honest politician” or “Used car salesman.”

“Pearl Harbor,” “9/11,” and “Sandy Hook Elementary” are keywords signifying complex (but often, subconscious) understandings and emotions. “Lac Megantic” and “Chatsworth” are now cultural shorthand for prominent railroad disasters. We can probably add “Spuyten Duyvil” to the list.

NPR's “Pipeline on Wheels” was a cleverly edited radio piece. It began in North Dakota, and then moved to the Tehachapi Loop as an example of “the scale and reach of the oil boom in the middle of the country.” That was a fine set up, and conveyed railroading’s ability to transport oil over long distances, and to refineries not served by existing pipelines.

For its first few minutes, the NPR story seemed neutral and accurate. It mentioned the oil boom in North Dakota, the leap in railroad crude oil traffic, and the shortage of tank cars to handle the business. The reporter spoke with railroad professionals who offered thoughtful comments. Railroads seemed to be agile in their ability to move oil. Pipelines take time to locate and build.

The reporter then cited Bakersfield, Calif., as an example of trains bringing oil to an existing refinery. It had pipeline connections to Los Angeles and the Bay Area, suggesting an efficient use of existing infrastructure. The NPR reporter was doing a good job of connecting a few dots.

Most reasonable people would understand the transportation of oil by rail as an effective response to our goal of energy independence, and the rapid shifts in our baseline energy sources and uses. Oil by rail is an excellent example of how our technologies and economy are supposed to work. Safety and risk management are deeply engrained in those calculations — as are the costs and risks of oil transportation by pipeline and truck.

But the reporter didn't go there. In the final third of the piece, the segment resorted to cheap shots.

The scene shifted back to the Tehachapi route, with mention of its twists, turns, and descent of 4,000 feet to the valley floor. A no-doubt sincere “environmentalist” had the final words, wondering “Are they going to start pushing this crude coming in before they get everything as safe as it needs to be?

“Are they going to wait for a big accident before they change how they do things on that rail line?” In today's media environment, those are loaded and toxic words.

So let me ask my own rhetorical questions:

Did I miss something? Are an “environmentalist” and a general-subject NPR reporter qualified to make those kinds of assertions in a national broadcast? 

Do Union Pacific and BNSF Railway need to change “how they do things on that rail line” for reasons we should know? Aren't they already pretty good at running safe and efficient railroads? 

Isn't the Tehachapi route one of the most closely scrutinized and rigorously maintained main lines in the entire world?

Is it legitimate to hint that Lac Megantic equals Tehachapi Loop, sooner or later? Just whom does NPR think they are to make that association? That is equivalent to suggesting that a major U.S. air carrier will crash a plane based on the flight practices of a third-world bush airline. It could happen — but the odds are rather long.

I look at this from several perspectives, once my Irish half calms down.

First, it is an example of “lazy reporting.” Someone had an interesting idea, but NPR didn't invest the resources to make it a coherent or well-researched piece. It may have seemed convenient to conclude with a vague sense of peril — “oil by rail ... grind around corner after corner ... descend almost 4,000 feet to the valley floor ... killed more than 40 people....”

It is a classic “bait and switch.” The segment begins by addressing one aspect of a complex subject, and then spins off to a different ending. Railroads “love” the oil boom. “But the growth doesn't come without resistance,” the piece warns. “A few sparks, and you can have a major disaster,” it concludes. What starts as a radio segment reporting on the boom in oil transported by rail ends with the hint of another Lac Megantic disaster.

There is a context for this kind of reporting, which NPR ignored. We accept risks from dangerous commodities and complex technologies. The Deepwater Horizon well failure, the explosion of a fertilizer plant at West, Texas, or the 2010 natural gas line blast outside San Francisco that killed 8 people and destroyed 38 homes are examples. Oil moving by pipeline also entails risk, and there have been multiple serious pipeline incidents in the last few years.

NPR’s “Pipeline on Wheels” is a crude and intellectually dishonest piece. I am certain NPR did not intend that. I have faith that if approached in a collegial fashion, its reporter, producer, and editors would understand why listeners might take exception to its expressed and implied conclusions.

So, what? 

This is not the time to simply unload on NPR. Please listen to the piece as ordinary, non-railroad folks might understand it. But also keep a few thoughts in mind:

Is it coherent and consistent? Is it fair? Does it make a reasoned conclusion?

Does the segment end up where its beginning suggests it might? Or does it seem to veer to a different ending?

Does there seem to be an ulterior motive or hidden agenda?

Does it leave a “reasonable man” with the mental image of oil cars careening 4,000 feet down the curving track to the valley floor, where a spark might create another Lac Megantic-like catastrophe?

Is there a shred of evidence presented to support the possibility that operations on Tehachapi are not safe and under the full control of railroads, which have operated in that territory for 140 years?

Why would anyone imagine that oil transported over Tehachapi presents an undue risk? Are we missing something?

In a short segment like this, should NPR have kept the discussion focused on the central point: that oil traffic on American and Canadian railroads is greatly increasing?

Once you have formed an opinion, please craft a calm, reasoned, common-sense response to National Public Radio and your local NPR affiliate. Do not be angry, hostile, partisan, or snarky. Disappointment and puzzlement are powerful responses.

Thirty or forty cordial, carefully-reasoned responses from us — the railroad interest community —would get NPR's attention, and invite them to pay more heed to the reality of railroading. This is the kind of situation in which we can be helpful. 

No shouting. No overt hostility. No agenda, except for common sense and fairness regarding a railroad industry doing exactly what we expect it to do. The railroad industry can't respond to the NPR piece without seeming overtly corporate, overbearing, or self-interested. 

Please share your notes to NPR in the Train of Thought comments section below. 

And again, before you respond, please listen for yourselves--with a critical, honest, realistic open mind.

http://www.npr.org/2013/12/04/248816818/pipeline-on-wheels-trains-are-winning-big-off-u-s-oil

Norfolk Southern's four executive cab units roll through Harrisburg, Pa., in August 2012. The units have seen substantial internal upgrades since their debut in 2007. Jim Wrinn photo

ALTOONA, Pa. — We’ve all come to admire Norfolk Southern's set of four tuxedoed cab units' two As and two Bs that create that "perfect" ABBA set of streamlined Electro-Motive Division engines that were the norm in the 1940s and 1950s. Lovingly restored with great attention to exterior details' they look right at home in the Southern Railway-inspired paint scheme hauling NS’s business car train. But if you go inside one, you'll find an amazing contrast to the classic look on the outside: The guts are as modern as can be.

The engines got many upgrades when they were rebuilt in late 2006 and early 2007, but NS has continued to bring them along, year-by-year, into an even more modern state. They are probably on par with any other set of executive office car train units that have been overhauled in recent years, says Allen Rider, manager of locomotive engineering for NS. “Once we got them out running, one of the first big projects about a year later was to add ECP (electronically-controlled pneumatic) brakes” in place of the standard 26L brake system,” he said in a phone interview.  For those who don’t know, ECP brakes enable the use of graduated release braking, a feature long gone from the remaining passenger cars of most freight railroads. This allows for smoother braking efforts and is an enhancement for train handling.

Thus, the engines got New York Air Brake’s microprocessor-based CCB II brake system and its LEADER train-handling computer to assist the engineer (LEADER, by the way, stands for Locomotive Engineer Assist / Display & Event Recorder). The units are also ready for the installation of Positive Train Control gear when the time comes. All this new equipment required plenty of engineering, especially for the A-units which have relatively small cabs compared to modern locomotives. The craftsmen at Altoona once again displayed their knack for innovation by fitting six bushels of equipment in a five-bushel basket.

Last winter, after the inspection train returned home to Altoona, Pa., the famous crews at Juniata Shops focused on the B-units. They recabled and rewired them, replaced the D12B DC generators with more reliable AR10 traction alternators, eliminating brushes and transition. Completely new electrical cabinets with TMV Control Systems Inc.’s TECU microprocessor control system replaced the somewhat upgraded B-units. “Those locomotives were rewired some time in the very distant past by Chicago & North Western,” Rider says. “Nothing much was changed other than the wiring. They retained their original Funit control systems. NS made a few upgrades in 2006 like adding Quantum transition panels and upgrading some of the pneumatic switchgear. Beyond that, the locos were pretty much out of their 1950s box.”

The A-units are next with 4271 entering the shop on Nov. 7. The other A-unit, 4270 will be upgraded during the 2014-2015 winter season. Morrison-Knudsen rebuilt and rewired these locomotives in 1981, and their control systems were upgraded to basically that of a GP38. They got electromagnetic switchgear, higher quality Exane wiring, but kept load regulator excitation and did not receive Dash-2 modules.  So, after 32 years of service, it’s time for another upgrade.  They will receive the same treatment as the B-units.

So what’s next? Only time will tell, but through all of the changes, one thing has remained constant: engine horsepower. While still set at 1,800 hp. per unit, the locomotives have actually gained tractive effort with the new control system.  For these units, on the outside, it’s strictly a 1950s appearance, but on the inside it’s all 21st century railroading.

Crude oil empties roll west through Western Springs, Ill., on BNSF Railway tracks in September 2013. Jim Wrinn photo

All Class I railroads post weekly car-counts on their websites. The categories are straight from the Association of American Railroads’s classification list and so are pretty much self-explanatory. The exception is “Petroleum Products.” This category shows all crude-oil carloads plus all petroleum products from liquefied petroleum gas to asphalt.

Let’s look more closely at BNSF Railway, just to explore what can be learned. The weekly car-count for Sept. 29 shows 121,000 loads of “petroleum products.” To sort out what is within the quarterly commodity statistics tables, I access usraildesktop.com.  

The numbers are based on historical waybill samples and can help sort trends by the  Standard Transportation Commodity Code or STCC. While the quarterly commodity statistics tables won’t match the BNSF quarterly numbers because the days don’t match, the numbers are close enough to get a sense of relative weights. Comparing the commodity codes for the second quarter of 2013 I found the variance between what BNSF reported and the quarterly statistics to be less than 1 percent.

In second quarter 2013, crude oil cars were 65 percent of total petroleum products. I then applied these percentages to the 121,000 petroleum products loads and compared the resulting break with the actual third quarter break from the quarterly tables. Thus I can say with a fair degree of confidence that crude-oil loads were up 68 percent year-over-year and other petroleum products were off 11 percent in the same period.

From this you may conclude that while crude-by-rail is big business, it represents at BNSF, for example less than 80,000 cars out of a system total of 2.6 million cars —  roughly 3 percent — in the quarter. The pattern holds true industry-wide.

A Canadian Pacific train of empty tank cars heads west for reloading. The train is passing Hammond, Ind., on Norfolk Southern’s Chicago Line, over which CP has trackage rights. Photo by Paul Burgess

The effects from the summer’s deadly oil train derailment at Lac-Mégantic, Quebec, continue to ripple across the railroad industry, and crude oil shippers may be the next ones to feel the heat.
 
On July 6, 2013, an unmanned and unattended Montreal, Maine, & Atlantic freight train carrying crude oil derailed after a brake failure and subsequent uncontrolled descent down a grade outside the small Canadian town. The derailment caused several tank cars to explode and ignited a catastrophic fire in the town center; an estimated forty-seven residents were killed.
 
Since then, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, and the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration have imposed a variety of actions on the railroad industry. The most recent actions were published in the November 20, 2013, issue of the Federal Register, in which the FRA and pipeline administration issued a follow up safety advisory to their actions of last summer.
 
The new advisory points out the continuing emphasis on correctly classifying hazardous materials; specifically, it calls on both the petroleum and rail industry to verify that the correct Packing Group (I, II, or III) is assigned to the various grades of crude oils that are being loaded into tank cars and carried on freight trains across both the United States and Canada.
 
Packing Groups are a sub-classification of hazardous materials, in addition to the general hazard class to which they belong. (For instance, petroleum liquids are assigned to Hazard Class 3, Flammable or Combustible Liquids. A material like sodium hydroxide would be assigned to Hazard Class 8, Corrosives, Dynamite to Hazard Class 1, Explosives, and so on. Nine hazard classes exist, covering a wide range of materials.)
 
Packing Groups also make reference to the degree of risk involved in transporting the specific material, with Packing Group I representing the highest level of risk, and Packing Group III the lowest. In the case of flammable liquids, the flash point of the material, which is the lowest temperature at which the material vaporizes in sufficient quantity to form a flammable mixture with air near the surface of the liquid, is the determiner of the Packing Group. Materials that have low flash points (and thus greater vaporization rates) are assigned a higher risk than those with higher flash points.
 
Although the Lac-Mégantic incident is still under investigation, speculation has been rife that the contents of the oil train may have been mistakenly classified as the less volatile Packing Group III, when instead upon investigation the cargo allegedly exhibited the flash point characteristics of the more volatile Packing Group II. The consequences of this type of misclassification, and its possible impact on the severity of the accident, remain unclear.
 
Nevertheless, the FRA and pipeline administration announced the launch of “Operation Classification,” which is described in the advisory as “a compliance investigation initiative involving unannounced inspections and testing by PHMSA and FRA to verify the material classification and packing group assignments selected and certified by offerors of petroleum crude oil.”
 
The advisory also delineates the available classifications and packing group assignments for both Petroleum Crude Oil, (UN 1267, a number observers would see on the tank car’s hazardous material placard) and Petroleum Sour Crude Oil (UN 3494).
 
Interestingly however, the domestic classification NA 1270, which also refers to Petroleum Oil and falls under the same bulk packing instructions as UN 1267 and UN 3494, is left unaddressed.
 
UN and NA numbers are identification numbers assigned by the Hazardous Materials Regulations that the U.S. Department of Transportation enforces as a way of directly identifying specific chemical materials in addition to their names. (To learn more, search for the Hazardous Materials Tables of the US 49 CFR 172.101.)
 
At the time of this writing, no specific information exists as to where, when, or how often these unannounced inspections will occur. The most logical place for such inspections would be at the outbound terminals for crude loading, since that is where classification must take place. (Classification is required before the material can be transported commercially.) However, whether or not FRA will also spot check materials during transit remains unclear. Conducting such a check would realistically have to involve opening the tanks en route to their consignee to draw samples, which would represent a significant departure from normal practice. A somewhat more likely scenario would involve an additional check of the material at its destination, to verify it is what the shipper attested to.
 
The advisory additionally directs railroad operating companies to review their now in-place “Safety & Securement” plans for trains carrying hazardous materials that are left unattended on mainline tracks or outside of rail yards. The directive creating those plans was initially issued in FRA Emergency Order 28 of August 7, 2013, and those plans are a separate entity from the safety and security plans that were already required by the Hazardous Materials Regulations.
 
In this new advisory, the two agencies direct carriers to “re-evaluate the risks of leaving the equipment subject to the new plan(s) unattended and to review and revise the plans as/if necessary to also take into account the underlying risk assessments required by the HMR.”
 
While the current regulations leave room for continuing the practice of tying down trains with hazardous materials outside of yard limits, albeit with significant new limitations, some railroads are considering or have already banned the practice in their operations and those of their interchange partners (BNSF being one example of taking preemptive action in this regard).
 
The new November 20 advisory shows that the regulatory agencies involved in the investigation of the Lac-Mégantic derailment and associated enforcement actions will continue to take action they deem appropriate to address in a timely fashion any safety issues they uncover, and that both crude oil shippers and railroads will be held accountable to carry out significant new regulatory requirements.

Paul Burgess of Homewood, Ill., is a regulatory specialist and former railroader whose expertise is in the transport of hazardous materials.

Above: Map and statistics from KiwiRail Annual Report 2013

Before my wife and I traveled to New Zealand for the first time in 2012, I had studied the online timetables of KiwiRail Scenic Journeys, the passenger arm of the country's national railway, and I had identified other rail operations that I wanted to see or ride while in the country. But I never found an up-to-date guide to New Zealand's railways – freight, passenger, and tourist – that would tell me (or any other overseas rail enthusiast) how the various pieces fit together.

My article "Making It Work" in the February 2014 issue of Trains, is part of an effort to fill that gap. In it, you'll learn some basic facts about New Zealand's geography, the development of its rail system, and where you're most likely to see freight trains in this island nation. You'll also see some excellent photos of KiwiRail trains taken by New Zealand photographers.

However, for the North American railfan thinking about making the 12-hour-plus flight to see this beautiful country, there's still more to know. New Zealand’s rail system is surprisingly varied. In addition to mainline freight operations on a 2,481-mile network with both diesel and electric motive power, as described in the article, it has tourist-oriented scenic passenger trains, commuter rail service in two metropolitan areas, and two major operators of steam-powered excursions plus a number of smaller heritage railways. The report below will give you a few pertinent facts about each of these services, plus a list of Internet resources for learning more.

Intercity and Commuter Service

Depending on the time of year, the visiting railfan could easily spend two weeks or more riding trains in New Zealand. Here are some of the opportunities that await.

KiwiRail scenic trains and ferry services

KiwiRail Scenic Journeys operates three tourist-oriented trains, one on the North Island and two on the South Island. Re-equipped over the past two years with coaches (carriages to a Kiwi) constructed at the company’s Hillside Shops in Dunedin, the trains offer a service that, while not exactly premium, is certainly on a par with many of the scenery-oriented trains of Europe.

The new cars have panoramic windows, comfortable seats, and automatic doors. Light meals and beverages are available in a café car on each train. On a nice day, passengers flock to the open-air viewing platform on the generator car, which will be at one end of the train or the other (the platform can easily accommodate 20 people or more). The train crews exude the friendliness for which Kiwis are known.

To connect the North and South islands, KiwiRail operates frequent ferry service across Cook Strait.

KiwiRail’s tourist-oriented passenger services are:

• Northern Explorer (Auckland-Wellington). Operates year-round, three days per week in each direction, departing each terminal just before 8:00 A.M. and arriving at the final destination roughly 11 hours later. Scenic high points include the brief segment of coastal running next to the Tasman Sea north of Wellington, the views of three active volcanos approaching National Park station from the south, and the Raurimu Spiral just north of National Park. Railfan tip: keep an eye out for freight trains powered by Class EF electrics on the 256-mile electrified segment between Palmerston North and Te Rapa (north of the Hamilton passenger station).

• Interislander ferry (Wellington-Picton). The 58-mile crossing between Wellington and Picton takes three hours. There are generally five Interislander crossings in each direction daily, using KiwiRail's fleet of three vessels. The ferry run through Tory Channel and Queen Charlotte Sound at the north end of the South Island can be one of the most scenic parts of a tourist’s visit to New Zealand. Passengers and motorists also have the option of a competitive service known as Bluebridge, which operates two ferries on the same route.

KiwiRail's Aratere, one of three InterIslander ferries, sails through Queen Charlotte Sound, shortly after departing Picton on its three-hour run to Wellington. In November 2013, Aratere lost a propeller, putting it out of service for an indefinite period. KiwiRail said that it would lease a substitute vessel until the Aratere could return to service. (Note: click on any photo to see a higher-resolution image.)

• Coastal Pacific (Picton-Christchurch). If you arrive at Auckland International Airport, as most international passengers do, and then take the Northern Explorer to Wellington and the Interislander ferry to Picton, your next rail journey (during the summer months from late September through early May) will be aboard this train, which leaves Picton seven days a week at 1:00 P.M. and arrives at Christchurch’s Addington station just before 6:30 P.M. The northbound trip leaves Christchurch at 7:00 A.M., arriving Picton just after noon, to connect with an Interislander sailing to Wellington. This is a scenic trip from start to finish, but the high point is mile after mile of seaside operation north and south of Kaikoura. On the side opposite the ocean you’ll see the beautiful Seaward Kaikoura mountain range. Best option: make a reservation to stay a night or two in Kaikoura, and spend some time train-watching (all trains stop here to change engineers) and the rest soaking in the scenery on the gorgeous Kaikoura Peninsula Walkway.

KiwiRail's seasonal Coastal Pacific, en route from Picton to Christchurch on the South Island, departs Kaikoura, the midpoint of its run.

• TranzAlpine (Christchurch-Greymouth). This is the best known of the three scenic trains, and remains a tourist favorite despite the damage to many popular hotels in center city Christchurch from the severe earthquake of February 2011. It makes the round trip to Greymouth each day, departing Christchurch just after 8:00 AM and returning at about 6:00 P.M., with an hour scheduled at Greymouth where you can get a quick lunch. Or, you can get a light meal in the café car, and walk around town during the layover, making sure to get a photo of the restored signal box near the station. The scenery is topnotch, especially east of the summit at Arthur’s Pass, where you’ll see snowcapped mountains from one side and deep river gorges from the other. On the westward trip the Otira bankers (a three-unit helper set whose main task is to assist eastbound coal trains) will couple to the head end of your train for braking on the 3-percent descending grade through the long Otira tunnel.

Commuter rail services

Both Auckland and Wellington have commuter rail services, most of which offer off-peak schedules that give a visitor the opportunity to make a trip out to a suburban location and return without a major investment of time.

• Auckland: Service is provided from the underground platforms of the Britomart station in the central business district. It’s operated by Transdev (formerly Veolia) under a contract with Auckland Transport, using the MAXX brand name, on two principal lines: Western, to Waitakere, and Southern, to Pukekohe. A third route, the Eastern line, runs separately out of Britomart, serving five stations, and then joins the Southern line at Westfield, continuing on to Pukekohe. In addition, there is one two-station spur line (the Onehunga line) and one single-station spur (to Manukau). The Eastern line may be the most scenic of these, operating via a causeway over Hobson Bay and the Orakei Basin between Britomart and Meadowbank, with nice views. Auckland services have long operated with locomotive-hauled and diesel multiple unit equipment, but these lines are currently being electrified between Swanson in the west and Papakura in the south. New 25kV AC EMUs from Spanish manufacturer CAF have begun to arrive in Auckland for the commencement of service on the Onehunga line, to be followed by the other routes over the next two years. The Waitakere station on the Western line and the Pukekohe station on the Southern line will remain diesel-served for the foreseeable future.

• Wellington: The Greater Wellington Regional Council offers service operated under contract by KiwiRail, under the Tranz Metro brand, on five routes totaling 96 miles, of which 59 miles is electrified using a 1500V DC system. The Wellington Railway Station is at the north end of the downtown business district, a short walk from the New Zealand Parliament buildings. Electrified routes include the 6.5-mile Johnsonville line, the 30-mile Kapiti line to Paraparaumu (the southern segment of the North Island Main trunk), the 20-mile Hutt Valley line (the lower portion of the line that continues through the Rimutaka Tunnel toward Masterton and Woodville), and the 1.9-mile Melling branch, which connects with the Hutt Valley line. Diesel-powered Tranz Metro trains use the Hutt Valley line as the first leg of the trip to Masterton. Two types of EMUs are currently in service on the Wellington electrified routes: 25 Class EM/ET cars built by Hungarian manufacturer Ganz-Mavag in the early 1980s; and 48 Class FP/FT units built by South Korea-based Hyundai Rotem/Mitsui beginning in 2008. Eventually the Class FP/FT units will completely supersede the Class EM/ET cars. KiwiRail also operates a commuter train, the Capital Connection, that departs Palmerston North for Wellington each weekday morning, returning in the evening. Equipment consists of a KiwiRail diesel and specially painted, refurbished British Rail Mark 2 carriages. The Wellington Station platforms and a connecting overhead pedestrian bridge offer good vantage points for viewing the action here.

Wellington EMUs, old and new. On the left, an early-1980s Ganz-Mavag car; on the right, a 2012 Hyundai Rotem/Mitsui "Matangi" car.

While in Wellington, be sure to set aside time for a ride on the Wellington Cable Car, whose 2,000-foot, five-station route runs uphill from Lambton Quay, a 10-minute walk from the city's railway station.

Excursion and Tourist Rail Services

• Taieri Gorge Railway: This operation is based at the well-maintained 1906 Dunedin Railway Station, an architectural gem a few minutes’ walk from the city center. Regrettably, since the discontinuance of the Christchurch-Invercargill Southerner in 2002, there is no intercity rail service to the station. But the Taieri Gorge operates a robust schedule, especially during the summer season. Twice a day, trains depart for Pukerangi, on the former Central Otago Railway route, a four-hour round trip, 35 miles each way. The first seven miles are on the KiwiRail main line south of Dunedin, and the next 28 are on the Central Otago route, most of it following the course of the Taieri River. The very scenic trip features 12 bridges (including the southern hemisphere’s largest wrought iron structure) and ten tunnels. Twice a week, trains operate beyond Pukerangi to Middlemarch, a six-hour round trip from Dunedin, 42 miles in each direction. On an irregular schedule, averaging six times monthly during the summer, trains run north out of Dunedin 40 miles to Palmerston, a four-hour round trip, much of it within view of the Pacific and other bodies of water. All trains are powered by Dj Class diesels built by Mitsubishi in the late 1960s, with a B-B-B wheel configuration.

A Mitsubishi-built Class Dj unit leads the Taieri Gorge Railway's twice-daily train from Dunedin to Pukerangi over Deep Stream.

• Mainline Steam Heritage Trust: This organization was founded by Wellington businessman and locomotive collector Ian Welch in 1988 and has expanded since then to include a roster of more than a dozen locomotives, of which four are currently certified for mainline operation, including one Class Ka  4-8-4 and two Class Ja  4-8-2’s, plus more than 20 carriages. Equipment storage and maintenance facilities are located near Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch. Mainline Steam operates several one- and two-day excursions each year on both North and South Islands, and in some years it runs a three-week New Zealand Steam Tour that covers most of the country’s major rail routes.

• Steam Incorporated: Based in a former New Zealand Railways shop at Paekakariki, about an hour north of Wellington, this group owns a number of steam and diesel locomotives. At this time, Class Ja 4-8-2 1271, constructed in 1956, and Australian-built Class Da 1431 (a 1957 A1A-A1A version of EMD’s G12 export model), are in service. It also has 12 carriages for use on excursions, most of which operate in the southern half of the North Island.

Class Ab 663, a 4-6-2 delivered in 1917 by New Zealand Railways' Addington Shops near Christchurch, leads one leg of Mainline Steam's 2012 New Zealand Steam Tour. Here, it crests the 1-in-53, or 1.9-percent, Papatawa Bank between Palmerston North and Napier (Kiwis refer to a grade as a "bank"), passing a stand of cabbage trees, common in many parts of New Zealand.

New Zealand Railways 4-8-2 Ja 1275 was constructed by North British Locomotive Company of Glasgow in 1951, part of an order for 16 locomotives that represented New Zealand's final purchase of steam power. The engine remained in revenue service until 1968. Here, it leads Mainline Steam's 2012 New Zealand Steam Tour at Horopito, on the North Island Main Trunk between Waiouru and Taumarunui .

Heritage Railways

New Zealand is home to more than two dozen railway preservation groups, almost all of them dependent on volunteers. Several of them feature regular train operations. Fifteen minutes of Internet research will turn up the names and web sites of the most active groups; a good place to start is the web site of the Federation of Rail Organsiations of New Zealand (see below). A few of the more notable operators:
    • Glenbrook Vintage Railway, located between Pukekohe and Waiuku (about an hour south of Auckland), and operated in conjunction with the Railway Enthusiasts Society, has its own equipment and five miles of track, and also operates excursions on KiwiRail lines around Auckland.
    • Silver Stream Railway, in the Hutt Valley near Wellington, has a substantial collection of preserved steam locomotives as well as several diesels. Currently, four steam and three diesel locomotives are in service, as is a 1930 diesel railcar.
    • Ferrymead Railway, operated by the Canterbury Railway Society, Inc., is located near Christchurch, at the site of New Zealand’s first railway. It has a large collection of equipment including steam, diesel and electric locomotives, and a variety of passenger carriages and freight wagons.

Silver Stream Railway, in the Hutt Valley near Wellington, operates this 2-6-2, constructed as a shunting (switching) locomotive. Kiwi practice is to include the locomotive class as part of the engine number, so this Class C engine is known as C 847. This engine was constructed at Hillside Shops in Dunedin in 1930 and remained in revenue service until 1969.

Rail Trails

If all of the above isn’t enough, then look into the options for hiking and biking abandoned and mothballed rail lines. New Zealand is a country where both locals and visitors spend vast amounts of time outdoors, enjoying the pure air and green landscapes. The Otago Central Rail Trail on the South Island, which extends more than 90 miles beyond the end of the Taieri Gorge rail route, from Middlemarch to Clyde, is one example. There are even a couple of private operations on the North Island (one near Rotorua in the east, the other between Taumarunui and Stratford in the west) that offer trips over inactive rail lines on flanged-wheel, golf-cart-sized powered vehicles!

Internet resources

There's plenty of information available about all of the above on the Internet. Following are links (current as of December 2013) to the web sites of the services listed above.

• KiwiRail Tranz Scenic passenger trains (Northern Explorer, Coastal Pacific, TranzAlpine)

• Interislander ferry service

• Auckland commuter rail service

• Wellington commuter rail service

• Wellington Cable Car

• Capital Connecton (Palmerston North - Wellington)

• Taieri Gorge Railway

• Mainline Steam Heritage Trust

• Steam Incorporated

• Federation of Rail Organisations of New Zealand, Inc. (Representing the Heritage and Tourist Rail Industry of New Zealand)

• Glenbrook Vintage Railway

• Silver Stream Railway

• Ferrymead Railway

• RailTrails of New Zealand

• Otago Central Rail Trail

• Rotorua Railcruising

• Forgotten World Adventures Rail Tours

In addition, there are two major railway publications in New Zealand:

• The New Zealand Railway Observer (publication of the New Zealand Railway and Locomotive Society; a well-written and nicely illustrated mix of historical articles and contemporary coverage)

• New Zealand Railfan (emphasizing news and opinion about contemporary rail activities, plus occasional historical pieces, all accompanied by high-quality photos)

Finally, for those who want to know what else there is to do in New Zealand besides riding, watching and photographing trains, I'll put in a plug for a report about the seven-week visit that my wife Marcia and I made there in late 2012. You can find it on our personal travel blog at tomandmarcia.blogspot.com.

Ever had a particular locomotive follow you around? Or have you ever made a trip and photograph unit, then see it in your home turf weeks later? I have, and that is Norfolk Southern's Central of New Jersey heritage unit, SD70ACe No. 1071.
Starting with a trip to Pennsylvania in late October, I photographed the unit in four different states and on four separate former railroad lines: Monongahela, Pennsylvania, Southern, and Norfolk & Western.

The CNJ is one of my favorite heritage units, so having the opportunity to photograph it several times was cool. It is fascinating how a particular locomotive moves around; one day it could be leading a hot pig train across Pennsylvania, and a week later it could be on the point of a West Virginia-bound coal train.

A year ago in October, I had photographed the CNJ unit the least of Norfolk Southern’s 20 heritage-paint scheme locomotives, but once 2013 ended, I now have a good portfolio of this tangerine and blue work of art.

It all started like this.

On a beautiful autumn morning with leaves nearing their peak, a friend and I traveled north on Interstate 77 toward Pittsburgh, Pa., taking in the gorgeous mountain scenery. Our destination was the former Monongahela Railroad, where we’d heard the CNJ unit might be found leading empty hoppers to Baily Mine.

A few hours later, we sat outside Norfolk Southern's Shire Oaks Yard awaiting a crew to board the CNJ unit and take it south toward West Brownsville, Pa. Around 3 p.m. the train heads out and our chase begins. After bagging several pictures, we finally arrive at West Brownsville where another crew will arrive shortly to take the train the rest of the way to the mine. We set up at the end of street running in the quaint town, and await our train to pass through the beautifully lit scene.

An hour passes before the train finally begins to move, but it was a close call with the sun. We only had minutes to spare before our golden light disappeared, but everything worked to our advantage and we got this photo.

Later that evening, we learned that the train might return to Shire Oaks after being loaded the next morning. So we decided to wake up early and try our luck with it again. We get trackside before daybreak and find our train is on its way. We quickly set up to the South of West Brownsville, and await our train.

Just after the first rays of morning light began to illuminate our location, here comes N22 to pass through yet another beautifully lit, golden scene. The chase was now on to Shire Oaks!

After reaching Shire Oaks and learning that a crew wasn't on duty to take the train into Pittsburgh and east to Altoona, we began hoping for another chase the next day.

We decide to shoot other action for the rest of the day, and then find out if the CNJ unit had a crew called. At 6 p.m. we learn a crew has yet to be called for the CNJ unit, so we decide to wake up the next morning around Altoona to see where the train is.

We wake early the next day and get trackside just before dawn along the West Slope. About 20 minutes before sunrise, we hear the sound of EMD's assaulting the grade at Cresson. The approaching eastbound soon passes, and to our surprise, here comes train No. 590 with the CNJ unit on the point! We quickly head to Altoona for our first shot, and begin a chase east to Harrisburg.

My favorite shot of the chase is above, and pictures No. 590 racing eastbound in gorgeous morning light, through the quaint town of Port Royal, Pa. The train is about halfway across its trek from Altoona to Harrisburg at this point, and is wasting no time getting the heavy coal drag across the road.

Just three weeks after chasing the CNJ three consecutive days in Pennsylvania, luck has it after chasing Southern 2-8-0 No. 630 from Knoxville to Asheville, I learn that the CNJ is leading a westbound empty rock train across the former Southern Railway secondary main line. My traveling companion and I head east and shoot it on the famed loops between Ridgecrest and Old Fort, N.C.

After photographing train No. 69V traversing the loops, we head to the top of the climb at Ridgecrest for the image above. The locomotive was sure clean that day, and really stood out against the dull/brown trees.

For the next the month or so, the CNJ unit escaped my area and disappeared. However, just before Christmas, I learned that it was leading eastbound loaded train No. 776 across Ohio and is en-route to my region. The next day it is set to roll across the famed Norfolk & Western Pokey division.

I immediately leave home with a good buddy and drive west to intercept it. We are almost in the town of Iaeger, W.Va., as we hear "NS 776 east, clear signal Iaeger main one, out!" We quickly turn around, and head to Roderfield for our first shot and a chase back toBluefield across the old N&W mainline.

The shot above pictures the train grinding around a tight curve at Switchback, W.Va., with locomotives in notch-8, permeating the air with the sound of a heavy laden coal train assaulting 1.4-percent Elkhorn Grade. The move is about 6 miles from the crest and crawling along at roughly 10-mph: mountain railroading at its finest!

Upon reaching Roanoke, 776 tied down for the holiday and didn't run to its destination at the Hyco power plant near South Boston, Va., until Dec. 26th. Given Hyco has a loop track, the chance of 1071 leading westbound empties the next morning seemed like a likely bet.

The morning of the 27th brings another great CNJ chase, as I got word that train No. 763 is in Roanoke with 1071 on the point. Intercepting the train of empty hoppers at Salem, Va., we chase west across the Christiansburg District.

The picture below shows train No. 763 emerging from the famed twin tunnels at Montgomery, Va., with warm winter lighting illuminating the scene. The train is currently battling Christiansburg mountain, but with two well-performing ACes in charge, the move isn't wasting any time with the relatively light train of hoppers.

Thank you for reading, and hope you enjoyed the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them. My wishes for a Happy New Year, and as always, feel free to leave your feed back below.

I'm neither a professional photographer nor an amateur photographer, but I know a well composed shot when I see one. My art background coupled with more than a decade of sifting through your train photos, I've come to know great photography. I recently acquired a "good" camera. My definition of good is it's not just a point and shoot. And, like many other people, I tend to use the camera built into my phone to take many shots of … my kids. Between my new camera, my phone's camera, and having an 18-month-old rambunctious little boy, I've been taking a lot of photos. What I find myself doing more and more is taking photos in rapid succession, which digital photography makes easy and cost effective. I think to myself: One of these won't be blurry, my boy will be looking at the camera, it won't be too bright, it won't be too dark, he'll be relatively centered, and maybe he'll be smiling? Well, you can't have it all, or at least I can't.

But as I sift through the photos on my computer or phone, I find some really cool sequences. I took about 80 photos of the kids at Christmas to put together a decent photo card. I ended up using two nice ones, but the outtakes are what I really enjoy. The ones where my son is pulling my daughter's hair and they're both laughing, and the ones where they're looking at each other and you can see the love between them. Here are a few of the sequential outtakes.

So where am I going with this? Trains' 2013 Photo Contest theme is "Sequence." Sequential photography can be interpreted in any number of ways. Your two- to three-photo sequence could be something that happened yesterday, or it could show the difference of decades. And with more than 150 years of railroading in the United States, you have a lot to choose from. So start looking back and also look forward. I'd love to see your photos.

Please send us two to three photos that show a sequence of events. You may interpret this theme to your heart’s content, but please send us one sequence, comprised of no more than three photos. Please do not alter your images. However, you may make minor color corrections, burning, dodging, and minor levels adjustments. When your sequence is ready, upload it to www.contribute.kalmbach.com no later than May 31, 2014.

After choosing the winners, we will request those photographers submit a short paragraph describing how the sequence was captured, why this sequence stands out from the rest, and your camera details. Winners will be announced in the October 2014 issue.

For more details, go to http://trn.trains.com/en/Interactive/Web%20Exclusives/2013/05/Trains%20Sequence%20Photo%20Contest.aspx

Thanks for reading. Click, click, click!

An eastbound Union Pacific stack train climbs California's Beaumont Hill from Loma Linda to Beaumont, Calif., on Tuesday. It was followed closely by a merchandise train on the former Southern Pacific Sunset Route. Jim Wrinn photo

PALM DESERT, Calif. – While much of the nation has suffered mightily through dangerously bitter cold that would test anyone’s patience, 1,100 people have been in this southern California desert town for the annual meeting of the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association. The four-day meeting takes place in south Florida or southern California on alternating years, and this year the timing couldn’t have been better to get out of the deep freeze or worse – for those stuck in it and whose travel plans were thwarted. We’ve been here to share copies of Trains with participants and also to soak up knowledge of what’s going on in the railroad industry that we all care so deeply about. OK, during breaks we also went outside to soak up some SoCal sunshine, but that’s secondary to our common cause. Let’s listen in.

For one thing, everybody is concerned about the future of hauling of crude oil by rail. The topic isn’t on the seminar list, but in the hallways and in the trade show, you can hear talk about how that after three accidents in the last half of 2013, including one on BNSF Railway on Dec. 31 in North Dakota, everyone is worried that one more accident could trigger a slew of additional government regulations on handling this lucrative new traffic source. One idea heard often: Reduced speed of trains when passing crude oil or traveling through population centers. Yes, it slows down traffic and cuts into the ever beloved velocity, but maybe it’s a better alternative?

The industry continues to age. Yes, the people running the railroads of today are getting older and the pace of hiring younger employees can’t keep up. “Everybody I deal with is in his 50s or 60s,” said one vendor. “They won’t be around long before they retire.” Student chapters of the American Railway Engineering & Maintenance Association at colleges and universities across the continent are encouraging more newbies, but railroading really needs a high profile as a profitable, energetic, and cool business to be in.

The contractors meeting is typically the venue where Class I, major shortline holding companies, and the top commuter agencies in the country come to describe what they’ve done in the way of major infrastructure projects in the last year and what they plan to do in the year ahead. Almost everyone is laying double track, adding sidings and yards, and preparing for more traffic to come. Nobody is holding back.

One of the most interesting presentations at the association’s meeting was from a representative of the controversial California high speed rail program. The agency that is building a 220-mph line between Los Angeles and San Francisco even acknowledges this controversy and has begun comparing itself to the Golden Gate Bridge, which apparently upon construction was described as an upside down mouse trap and itself the subject of 2,000 lawsuits (nobody has come up with the number of lawsuits filed against California high speed rail that I know of).

CSX wins the award for the best named scrap metal drive called “No spike left behind.”

Interestingly, while this meeting takes place at the J.W. Marriot hotel and spa, it is just a little over a mile to Union Pacific’s former Southern Pacific Sunset Route between Los Angeles and New Orleans. On Tuesday, while participants were discussing maintenance of way projects, a UP rail, tie, and surfacing gang was in nearby Indio, Calif., doing what others were talking about. The UP is putting serious effort into this route, and it shows. Traffic is there too: On I-10 that parallels the route, you’ll see dozens of stack, merchandise, and auto trains.

After Tuesday’s presentations, yours truly got in a rental car and drove ad rep Mike Yuhas to the Ontario, Calif., airport for a flight home. Then, on the way back to the meeting, I went to inspect UP’s Beaumount Hill, a twisting, turning, steep eastbound grade out of the Los Angeles basin and into the desert. Once upon a time, this was Southern Pacific’s big grade on the Sunset Route. Today, the parade of stack trains seems to be endless, and they really work hard to get over this grade, over track, bridges, and an infrastructure that are second to none.

A westbound baretable departs Summit, Calif., dawn Saturday. Jim Wrinn photo

CAJON PASS, Calif. – I startle awake in my hotel room around 5 a.m. to a glowing green light on my smart phone lying next to the TV remote. I dismiss it as a late greeting from a pal or a message from my girlfriend that I can look at later. But something nags me to glance anyway. And there it is: My flight home to Milwaukee Saturday has been cancelled. I go immediately to wide awake and dial the customer service number at U.S. Airways. They can accommodate me tomorrow, but I press them for today: I’ve been on the road a week now, and I am ready to go home.

The agent comes up with an alternative, but it will cost me: My plan to spend most of this January day watching trains at Cajon Pass in the warm southern California sunshine and catch a late flight home is dashed. Instead of flying out at 4:40 p.m., now I have to be at the airport for a 12:30 p.m. flight. I still have to go through famous Cajon, subject of our February issue cover story that is available now, anyway. So I might as well get what I can of the place. Over cereal and yogurt in the hotel lobby, I run a quick calculation. If I get to Cajon at dawn, around 6:30 a.m., I can have 3, maybe 3 and a half hours of time at this sacred mountain pass, where BNSF Railway and Union Pacific share mainline track into the Los Angeles basin.

[caption image="/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/1057.DSC_5F00_9097.JPG" position="left" targeturl="http://cs.trains.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/1057.DSC_5F00_9097.JPG"]An eastbound stack train pops into the rising sun near the summit of California's Cajon Pass. Jim Wrinn photo[/caption]My rental SUV loaded, I drive through the dark on I-15, and there, as I descend to the exit that will take me to Summit, I see the headlight of an eastbound, dancing on the canyon hillsides. It is the approximation of my childhood memory of turning off the living room lights and watching the Lionel train illuminate the scene. A few minutes later, twisting highway 138 leads me to Summit, where two manned pushers have cut off and are retuning down the hill. A pink glow begins to form in the east, and suddenly, I begin to see landscape. A westbound baretable train follows the helpers down the mountain, and I begin to make out bluffs and hillsides as stark and barren as the darkside of the moon in my mind.

[caption image="/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/1031.DSC_5F00_9172.JPG" position="right" targeturl="http://cs.trains.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/1031.DSC_5F00_9172.JPG"]A stack train descends Cajon Pass, one of several trains viewed Saturday. Jim Wrinn photo[/caption]Though I am here, I am frustrated at the short visit. I was supposed to visit this spot a week prior with advertising colleague Mike Yuhas, but a flight delay of a day thwarted that idea. On Friday, I spent a few hours on the hill with the author of our Cajon Pass story, David Lustig, before he had to return to the Los Angeles area. Cajon keeps calling my name, but it seems to always be hanging up on me just as soon as I answer. My three hours this morning will have to make do.

Taking David’s advice, I get off the main road and find a dirt road that looks like it leads to the tracks. What good is a rented SUV if you don’t take it somewhere to, as Brad Paisley says, “get a little mud on the tires”? The road is rough, but not so difficult that I fail to reach a convenient hillside perch overlooking the mainlines that are stacked one of top of each other like the layers of a cake. Signs implore visitors not to use the area for target practice, but shell casings and crushed beer cans prove that not everybody is paying attention or cares. Soon, a train arrives, and I determine that he will pop into the first rays of light as he works through a cut. It is the harbinger of good luck as a series of uphill and downhill trains parade in front of my location. I yearn to see one take the lowest track, bathed in gorgeous sunshine and snaking gently in front of me, but only one does, and it is a downhill train coming out of the sun.

[caption image="/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/3252.DSC_5F00_9270.JPG" position="left" targeturl="http://cs.trains.com/cfs-file.ashx/__key/communityserver-blogs-components-weblogfiles/00-00-00-07-48/3252.DSC_5F00_9270.JPG"]Final kiss goodbye for this trip: A westbound stack train descends Cajon. Jim Wrinn photo[/caption]With amazing rapidness, my 3 and a half hours evaporates. During a lull, I finish packing my suitcase. The meet of a downhill BNSF stack train and an uphill UP hopper train in front of me convince me that the day is just getting heated up, but it is time for me to go. I elect to follow the stack train to Cajon Boulevard, where another easy shot (fall out of the SUV and you’re there) will be my goodbye kiss to Cajon. I arrive long before the train, set up my shot, and photograph not only the stack train, but an uphill UP manifest as well. And then it is really time to go. I stow the cameras in the backpack and hit I-15 again, jealously eyeing the stack train, its bright orange units glowing deliciously in the winter sun.

As I cross the tracks one last time, I take a long look at the mainline, and suddenly realize I should have kept my eyes on the road: Two BNSF stack trains are paralleling each other up the grade. Surely, if I had just had another hour on the hill, they would have reached me in a glorious race, engines in notch 8, thundering upward and onward. I shake off the tempting spectacle and remind myself that I cannot be late for my flight. A full day at Cajon will have to wait until another day.

The single biggest, most important question we get at Trains when working with Live Streaming Video is, "What does 'content unavailable' mean?"

In short, it means the streaming video camera is not connected to our company's main computers and there is no video to show.

But there are many reasons for this.

The first reason is that, for safety reasons, we've turned the camera "off" to get out of the way of big, potentially dangerous equipment. Another reason why content would be unavailable is because of weather, or interference from nearby buildings or high-tension power lines that prevent the camera from sending a good signal. Sometimes we also have to move to a new location and that requires us to turn off the equipment, drive in the car, and re-assemble the gear elsewhere.

We've also pushed our limits on the road.

In rural Wisconsin, where cell phone reception is weak, we have to stay in one spot for a cell phone tower to lock on to our transmitter, or else the video camera cannot transmit. By contrast, in downtown Milwaukee, the reception is great, even perfect for transmitting high definition video through the Internet. The last time Jim Wrinn visited Big Boy No. 4014 in Pomona, Calif., reception was also good, but there also weren't hundreds of railfans nearby looking to send their own images and make phone calls off the same cell towers nearby. That will be at least one unknown factor for the January live-streaming event.

And though we hate to admit it, probably the most common reason why Trains viewers would see "Content Unavailable" is because of a loose wire. Both the camera and transmitter require their own power sources in addition to being connected with each other. All told, there are seven different physical connections between wires and cables that must be tightly in place, or else, live streaming video does not happen.

That said, we're doing our best to make sure live streaming video is up as much as possible and that what you see when the video is up is worth watching.

We hope you enjoy!

I'm working to make News Wire better this winter: more stories, more videos, more photos, more exclusives. But to make News Wire serve its readers the best it can, I want to hear from you, the News Wire readers. We've got some big ideas, but we want to make sure they are what the readers want.

What would you like to see more of on News Wire? What would you like to see less of? Should the stories be longer, or shorter? Do we need more each day? Are we covering your neighborhood as well as we could? Do you prefer videos or maps as an addition to News Wire?

Send me an email to newswire@trainsmag.com with your thoughts and together we can make News Wire even better in 2014!

Weather predictions of light blowing snow and moderate temperatures led me to head out for winter night photography on the evening of Jan. 15, 2014. The light snow would provide a bright fresh covering without the dangers of a big storm. Care would still be needed as the forecast also predicted high winds and drifting.

My destination was the Wisconsin & Southern hub at Janesville, Wis. The still active former Milwaukee Road roundhouse and yards are adjacent to downtown and have good public street access for photography. From Janesville, Wisconsin & Southern lines emanate in all directions: West to Monroe, north to Madison, east to Milwaukee and Horicon, and southeast to Fox Lake, Ill., and Chicago via trackage rights.

As I arrived at Janesville the power for train T-003 was ready to leave the roundhouse tracks.

T-003 is the Wisconsin & Southern road freight connecting Janesville with the eastern hub at Horicon. Tonight’s power was SD40-2s Nos. 4051, 4010, 4007, and a yellow Geep .

The snow was swirling as the power moved from the roundhouse. Retreating to a street overlooking the roundhouse, I caught T-003 power shoving west past the roundhouse to the yards.

After building its train in the yard, T-003 left Janesville eastward passing the roundhouse and engine servicing facility. Conveniently, the tracks cross a major intersection providing easy access.

Serendipity. I planned on maybe one quick location in town, but the train held back to line switches to cross the Union Pacific line from Janesville to Evansville which it crosses on parallel tracks.

The trainman dropped a fusee to help protect the crossing as he prepared to line switches. A quick drive into a defunct fast food parking lot yielded my favorite image of the evening.

After crossing the Union Pacific, the line climbs above street level crossing two streets before crossing the Rock River bridge. Though it is hard to see, there are two bridges here as the Union Pacific line has branched off slightly to the north.

Mini Polar Vortex: The line east from Janesville crosses the Rock River and turns north to Milton Junction where trains can head north to Madison or east to Milwaukee and Horicon. The train stopped short of Milton Junction where to cut off five cars to take into Milton and spot for a customer. As I waited I noticed the train lights illuminating the swirling snow blowing across open fields. The snow also absorbed some of the headlight glare.

The crew left the train at Milton to spot cars and returned with the cars they picked up. As I watched from parallel Highway “Y”, I realized I can actually shoot this scene. Sitting in the car I used the door frame as a brace to use a slow shutter speed as the crewman returned to the cab.

Off to the Races: TheT-003 left Milton with a direct route to Whitewater. My parallel highway is direct but was snow packed and windblown. I headed east behind several cars traveling with an abundance of caution. By the time I made my way to the former Milwaukee Road station in Whitewater I could see the headlight of T-003 approaching. The opposite side was well lit but tight. With little time to second guess I opted for the dark open side.

Time to quit: It was only 10:30 p.m. and the night was still young but the T-003 moved through Whitewater at track speed and I had already experienced the slow going of secondary roads. Facing an uncertain chase I decided to call it a night and head home.

A splash of fresh color has swept across Norfolk Southern in recent weeks, as foreign power has invaded Virginia and West Virginia. Everything from old and new, and BNSF to Canadian power, is roaming rails of the former Norfolk & Western and Virginian.

Going trackside is nothing short of a guessing game; one never knows what might show up. Not only has foreign power made things interesting, but older NS power on mainline trains has made railfanning in the last month intriguing.

I've been amazed at the consists: new Canadian National GEVOs, solid BNSF consists, mixed BNSF and UP, etc. I can never remember a time when so much variety in motive power was as common as it is right now.

It is also really cool to get something like a new CN GEVO passing an N&W color position light signal, or a famous landmark, clearly denoting the locomotive is far from home-turf. These are pictures one will look back on with a smile and be thankful for capturing them.

Let's look at a few pictures:

After pausing for to await a track in Bluefield Yard, train No. 762 has just received clearance into town, as it wraps around a sweeping curve at Pinhook, Va., led by CP No. 8797 and BNSF No. 7816. The train of Hyco-bound coal will stop long enough for a quick crew change, before proceeding to Roanoke via the Christiansburg District.

The sun is beginning to set as it basks this scene at Big Four, W.Va., with beautiful light, as train No. 765 emerges from the first of two tunnels, with UP No. 5367 and BNSF No. 7030 in charge. The train is on a complete downhill descent to Williamson, as the train rolls toward the Ohio River Valley, where it will be loaded and return east with another heavy train of black diamonds.

With a heavy double-stack train in town, No. 217 tackles the steepest section of the climb to Christiansburg, while negotiating the S-curve at Shawsville, Va., led by newer CP No. 8900. This hot UPS train is destined for Chicago, Ill., and will travel tracks of the old N&W all the way to Columbus, passing through Bluefield and Portsmouth.

A trio of BNSF locomotives, Nos. 4845, 9868, and 7373, lead No. 15T across the New River at Radford, Va., as they lug their train of manifest toward Bristol across the Pulaski District. This line is known for scenery, as it passes through beautiful farmland and well-known towns, such as Rural Retreat and Seven Mile Ford made famous by O Winston Link, before reaching Bristol.

Possibly my favorite catch of January was these two brand new Canadian National GEVOs, Nos. 2850 and 2852, leading train No. 272 across West Virginia. They are pictured above passing the signals at Dean, just east of Prichard, W.Va., as they charge across the Kenova District en-route to Williamson and Bluefield.

In the very last light of the day, train No. 272 has received a fresh crew and departs the yard at Bluefield, W.Va., with darkness quickly falling in the hollows. Even in this low-light scene, the new CN units really stand out with their new paint glistening.

A close second to the CNs, was this 15T powered by CP Nos. 5946 and 9716. The train is pictured splitting the CPLs at Glade Spring, Va., as the move nears Bristol and the completion of its run across the Pulaski District. In my years of railfanning Virginia, I don't ever recall seeing a CP SD40-2 leading a train. This consist was a total surprise and a definite treat, as one never knows if another chance to shoot a consist like this going past an N&W CPL will occur.

As always, thanks for viewing and hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave your comments in the section below.