@BNSF1458 that's not how you say a thank you you have to go like... OMG THANK U SO MUCH JJEJEJEUEJSJDURHD U GET 50 HERITAGE UNITE TO UR LOCOATHSIN GO CATHH IT NOW AAAAAAAA
Hey 1458, if you can, search up the Battle River Railway. The crew LOVES railfans, as they invite you in the cab, wave, and give horn shows. They also run only SD40-2 variations. Thanks!
One thing I learned while railfanning is that you have to be flexible. You can’t catch everything, but you can catch anything. I used to be so upset whenever I missed something rare or interesting, but I realized that being upset and thinking it’s the end of the world isn’t the answer. In addition to this, you just have to realize if you miss something rare or interesting, there will always be more chances in the future. Another thing is that you need to stay out of drama. People in this community nowadays think they are perfectionists and know everything and start drama if one person says something wrong. Same goes with posting photos on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Railfanning is CLEARLY not a hobby to determine who is the better railfan just because they have better gear than you, it’s about enjoying the sights and sounds of the train whether it’s just a boring pair of CSX GEVO’s or an colorful lashup of fallen flag locomotives.
Well said, problem with nowadays is all the rare stuff that I (or most railfans) miss will never come back and I’ll never get another chance to see it. For me it’s more about realizing there will be more chances in the future for other, maybe less rare, stuff and that now that I missed it something there’s nothing else to do, being mad about missing it won’t change the outcome.
I've been a railfanner before I started a channel, but I've never really met other railfans then. When I met a new railfan in March 2023, I started my channel. Ever since, I've met new railfans and I've gotten lots of support on my channel. It feels good and well appreciated!
I ran across your vids looking for something else, but I watched a few and enjoyed them. I’ve worked on the railroad for 14 years with several different companies and been a rail fan since I was a kid in the 1980’s. You make a lot of valid - and humorous - points. I enjoy seeing rail fans when I’m working. Many of the guys I work with complain about them. I’ve yet to get a good answer when I say there are very few jobs, other than being a professional athlete, where people want to take pictures of you working.
Another great vid GK! You definitely nailed it on the mark about to don’t rely on scanners. I made a trip to Louisiana back in September and it recorded a defect detector for 100 axles but nothing even came! And I accidentally left my scanner there lol, so I gonna get another soon. And yeah it’s definitely an excuse to get out of the house, I’m looking to go out more often when I get a car. Happy railfanning GK
I’ve left mine outside of Pittsburg, PA waiting for street running trains that run about 3 times a week, and no i didn’t go back for it because I’m not driving 3+ hours back
your second channel’s description is retarded railroad skits. I hope an GE doesn’t make GEVOs say retard to the engineer. Try to guess where I got that from
How do I become a dedicated fan? You are my favorite railfanner on RUclips I am also a railfanner, but most of the time I can’t get out often because of school but you’re always what makes me want to go out to the tracks.
A lot different from Europe. Here in Germany we just go to a line and even on very less frequented single tracked side lines there is a train at least like every hour. On mainlines there are trains like every 3 minutes and a wide variety of them from local commuter, to high speed all the way to cargo.
As a railroader myself, a couple things I want to mention: 1: Even if you do know someone who works for the railroad, there's an extremely high chance they aren't allowed to share any information about train schedules. It's considered a huge security risk. 2: The line about EMDs becoming rare always makes me giggle. Not because it isn't true, (at least on class Is) but because the railroad I work for literally doesn't have anything other than EMDs in their fleet, so for me, seeing an actual wide-body come into the shop is a fun experience.
1. It’s a lot more common than you think, I heard about someone getting fired for it and shared that with some people I know who give it to people who use the information poorly (aka doing illegal stuff and bragging about it online) yet they still send it. It seems like the people who aren’t supposed to have the information are the ones who send it to other people the most, which is odd…
@@CoenOinkeyTrains I would believe that. I'm sure it happens more often than anyone would expect, but the railroads are strict about it for a reason. That having been said, plenty of trains run regularly enough that an attentive person can figure out when they run and where they go with a bit of legwork.
@@CDROM-lq9iz Pretty hard to do on my line, since like 80% of the trains are identical as needed coals that run anytime of day and go to numerous places, but I bet elsewhere that’s absolute true.
@@CoenOinkeyTrains I'm sure I'm partial because I work at the "home" yard for the railroad I work for and see the same trains leave around the same time every day.
As a british trainspotter (what us brits call railfans) We have an app which tells us when and where a train will pass. What type of train. What stations it will pass and how late or early it is. The number of the loco and other things. So i can’t imagine the frustration of not knowing when a train is.
I can totally relate to the part about all the interesting power vanishing as soon as you get a camera. I got my drivers license just in time to miss the massive NS EMD purge around 2020… good times
I’m extremely lucky to live within an hour near several NJ Transit & Metro North lines, along with several freight railroads, but I can understand how rural railfans or railfans with only freight around them can have a much tougher time looking for trains or more variety. I’d love to railfan more in rural areas but the unpredictability of trains running kinda keeps me away
Dude I can so relate to the first reason that was said. I think it's been twice now I was at the tracks for an hour or a bit more with nothing until literally the last minutes before I leave! Which is usually not normal in my area. And my area is a sort of busy line with a good amount of trains each day. And I agree with the unpredictableness of trains
I started out railfanning in my hometown catching local freights with GP40-2s and GP38-2s so the first time I caught a GEVO, I flipped out. sadly, that'll never happen again. though since seeing a train is a rare opportunity, I'm not usually disappointed even if it's a boring lashup.
0:20 that’s true, I used to be really close to the Northeast corridor and saw trains every weekend but know I live in South Carolina and the nearest track is like 1h 24m and the closest station is 1h 21m only opperating 4 Amtraks a day two being super late in the night and a csx only passes every couple 1 or 2 hours
Loved this vid bro! #10 is very relatable. I live RIGHT NEXT to a UP line but it only sees 1-2 trains a day. Sounds convenient but it’s actually very hard to catch those trains due to work and other silly reasons..luckily I live about an hour and a half away from the BNSF Transcon so I just go there😂..
For #3, I can relate to. When I got my camera in 2022, my parents have been driving me to getting good photography and videography. I thought since trains run on scenic routes too, it would prove that I'm good at photography and videography.
I know what you mean by it's hard to catch a train. I am currently in college but thankfully there is a CPKC line that cuts through the edge of campus. I can sit out there for hours to no avail but soon as I go to class, there will be like 4.
The good power section is sooooo.... sooooo true. I started going out with a camera in 2010, and not trying to brag but the amount of video uploads I made over 10+ years have gotten so small. Let's see prior to me moving to TX: NS High Hoods, Conrail Blue, Leased Units, spartan cab SD60s, spartan cab SD70s, SD80Macs, spartan cab Dash 8s, spartan cab Dash 9s, YN2 paint, you get the picture. Now where I live, the best thing I can see is heritage, BNSF H1, H2, and bonnets. And don't get me started on classic relics going away such as searchlight signals, mechanical bells, Leslie horns, etc.
I'm not joking but the main freight line for the UP into Chicago has a very long 4 hour dead time near noon. You may see a boring one locomotive lead GEVO pulling a low priority intermodal if lucky.
1:37 LINLIN a year or two ago had good power like this, now it’s mostly just GEVOs, ACes and occasional C44-9Ws. There is sometimes 4-Axle power for Omaha’s Yard Jobs and Locals, mostly Y-OMA101 (requires 4-Axle Units) & L-HLA608.
Hands down best railfanning spot: 3 lines intersect at a diamond 50-60 trains a day Amtrak traffic in the morning Actively used line A lot of special and interesting Locomotives come threw A lot of forien power Owned by Norfolk Southern
One thing that i learned about railfanning is the history between railroads & subdivisions. For example, I found out that the CSX Abbeville Sub was originally owned by the Seaboard System till the 80s, until CSX bought it from them in the early 90s.
I encourage you to do all the research you can about the railroad(s), location, history, rail traffic, history and people. The photographs and videos you generate today become the historical record tomorrow. Today's younger railfans are so fortunate to have easy access to all the information about the last 200 years of
If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that that you shouldn’t be too excited about new traction too soon as when you get bored of the older stuff, it disappears and then you get bored of the new stuff very quickly and then get excited about the old stuff that then only runs on Sundays and then almost never.
Awesome stuff! Love your videos. I started rail fanning in the late 1980's. My dad worked on the DRGW and I got to see lots of very cool stuff. Thank you for sharing your awesome videos.
Trains are awesome. I'm a dude. And as a dude, I'm required to like large, powerful machines. Not only are these locomotives a full 16 feet tall and and 75 feet long, the horsepower isn't even the impressive performance number, it's the TORQUE. I'm talking about 60,000 foot pound from the enormous twin turbo diesel, and 200,000 pounds-force of tractive effort. My friend it is SCARCE TO BE BELIEVED.
It’s definitely a way to get out of the house for me, I ride my bike to the railroad crossing close to me and chill there either by myself or with my railfan friend. Great times!
my hometown hosts a yard from the local G&W branch and the Union Pacific I-5 corridor. I don't have a scanner so I just use the UP signal code to determine if any are approaching. said yard used to operate a 71 year old SD7
I've been railfanning since i was 3 years old back in 2013 and i only got serious in 2020 and i got the Lucky State because Most Locomotives are Geeps (M-EVECUS) And SD75Ms and A Whole bunch of stuff. Even Amtrak's Talgos went up here which is my Favorite we also get a As Needed CN Ethanol and sometimes there's a lot of unique Power on it such as Ex-CITX and 100th Anniversary Units which i've caught. I think i got a Lucky State in Terms of Power Variety idk why
I’m not much of a rail fan myself though I find the subject interesting. It’s very similar to my boat watching hobby. I like taking pictures of Great Lakes freighters.
I am a Railfan from switzerland and its interesting just how diffrent swiss freight trains are from american ones. As an exemple currently the main locomotive for heavy trains is the Re 6/6. An electric locomotive built in 1972 with over 11'000 hp. It is capeable to pull a 750m train on flat and if it needs to go uphill, they most likley put a second Re 6/6 infront so then you have a Re 12/12 with over 22'000 hp
here in germany there comes a train mostly every 30-60min on single track railways but on a few double track railways there comes a train every few minutes (also at nighttime)
You can see a major difference between Western and Eastern Railroads, as on the Eastern Railroads you can catch standard cabs on long trains, very rare out west (Edit: Yes they are putting wide cabs in but in the 2010s seeing a standard cab on a long train was a bit less rarer out east than west)
Your capping bro CSX and NS got rid of their standard cabs They do it once a while but you're not going to see it an SD40-2 or GP40-2 as a leader on a road train If you do then that's extremely rare I have myself but now it's super rare since NS got rid of their standard cabs GEs and EMDs
@@NS1221Productions CSX has 40s lead once in a while out of Selkirk I would say like once a week in one of the three directions they can go but even that is getting less likely.
@@NS1221Productions It’s still a lot more than BNSF/UP, hearing about a GP leader on a CSX manifest is relatively common compared to BNSF. I’ve seen nearly 2000 BNSF road trains in the last 2-3 years and not one had any sort of unit like that leading, even C44-9W leaders are getting rare. Only reason they are on trains is because they’re DIT and being moved to home shop for repairs, I would say about one SD40-2 comes on my home line every week and always for shop work in Denver or being returned back south.
Awesome video and topic! Although I may have to disagree with #5. More times than not I get a horn show and a wave whenever I am at the creek catching BNSF trains.
im late to this, but if your ever down near Houston, Texas; Klein Oak HS has a track that has trains run by it at least 3x per hour, usually more.. most was 1 train every seven mins.
Nice video! I would say from my experience since the actual mainline is 15 miles from my house and I have to use the freeway to get there, I only ever go every now and then when I'm not busy but I would say I see at least 1 train 2/3's of every time I go. Sometimes I'll see 3 or more if I'm lucky. The most I've ever seen was 8 in 4 hours when BNSF was rerouted to use the UP mainline when the bridge collapsed in Montana. From my understanding of train symbols and such there's gotta be at least 25-35 trains that use the UP Huntington Subdivision in a 24 hour period, the majority of which are manifests. However there are times I sit for 2 hours and see nothing, or go home seeing nothing. It's always a hit or miss. You either see 3 trains in 45 minutes, or 0 in 3 hours. If I may ask how many trains move through your line each day?
BNSF is retiring the SD60s because they can’t get parts. GEVOs are far more common on the Hinckley now because none of the older power has DP capability, so they’re essentially useless on road trains.
Any estimate on how much longer the 60s probably have before they disappear altogether on BNSF? And is it just the standard 60Ms or the 60M-3s as well?
@@BNSF145860s are 60s. They aren’t sufficiently different enough that part issues aren’t affecting the modified motors. I’d expect they’ll probably be gone by the end of the decade. The MACs are on their way out too, unless BNSF changes their stance on rebuilding old engines.
To say railroading is unpredictable is a gross understatement! I haul crews for BNSF, even I don't know when they run trains, and it's only gotten worse with PSR! When I am out on the road, I do try to keep a lookout for any interesting road power so I can let my railfan buddies in the area know, but its gotten infinitely harder since BNSF has started deadheading crews on trains instead of vans in the past 6 or 7 months. Plus you might see something cool, alert your friends, and then the Railroad decides to tie the train down out in the middle of nowhere, and it ends up being a no-show! So yeah, very accurate list!
I want to start railfanning, I do live near a rail line (Santa Paula branch line), but it's no longer connected to the main line and a bridge is out, so the tracks are just empty
I went to a place along the CN track. I wanted for 3:30 hours. as we were leaving, (we need to cross the tracks to get to the road). As we were leaving, I saw a train in the distance. So we hurried back into the lot and I filmed it
There is an active branch line behind my house so that helps but the main line to film can be hard at times at least thurmond is best place to go because there are 2 rail trails near by so when there are no trains you have. Plane B
Im not a railfan, but i live just 200 meters away from a station with ultra high traffic, and a train arrives AT MOST every 10 minutes, i have no idea how i am still not a railfan
I live near two lines, the CN Waukesha subdivision and the Wsor branch. (Cp) technically yet the branch is wsor trackage. CN main is fun when the depot is open otherwise im out there in then freezing cold or heart pending on the time of year.
ATCS is a program on the computer. Scanners are a special type of radio capable of hearing railroad and other frequencies you can't tune into on the normal radio
The first thing I learned is that you actually have to wait for trains. First time I went railfanning I left like 5 minutes after I got there cause there was nothing. I regret it cause now retired power was common
Good motive power disappearing is sadly something that is a newer problem as when I was a kid in the late 2000s and early 2010s I saw so much sp, rio grande, Santa Fe, bn power in my area and then it was all repainted now it is all going away sadly. Rail fanning sadly as time progresses it gets worse. I don’t like thinking of it that way but it is compare railroading in 1944 to 1984 to 2024 each time it was noticeable worse less traffic, less railroads, less variety of equipment. It’s a shame but it should be seen as enjoy what we can see before it is gone.
Me & 3 friends of mine go to Altoona twice a year. We do run into other fans. I don't get upset when I miss a rare piece or Loco. We are going in Sept, we make a base there then travel as far as Johnstown to railfan. We have certain places we stop at. There are for sure slow times on your trip. Even slow days, but we do have an itinerary. We are there for 3 days. Can you please remove the Loco on the screen, it doesn't add but it does block what's on the screen.
bro the good power disappearing thing is completely true, i mean csx bought pan am so their ocs dissappeared, and now all their stuff is owned by B&E (g&w). Also csx and ns trains used to have a TON of crazy foreign power, which cant even lead anymore because of mbta's stupid ACSES system. Literally only sd60es can lead, and it sucks. Any heritage i see will be a trail fail, besides some special operations.
I'm going to say this, Union Pacific has more variety in terms of locomotives and UP is my favorite class 1 but BNSH is there to and if a see A BNSF train I don't care if it has a gevo cause I don't really see BNSF that much, and why do people hate Gevo's there normal locomotives to me just a mass produced one, I kinda like Gevos there pretty cool so yea great vid and keep up the good work
11: Big train = Big honk
Thank you so much!
@BNSF1458 that's not how you say a thank you you have to go like...
OMG THANK U SO MUCH JJEJEJEUEJSJDURHD U GET 50 HERITAGE UNITE TO UR LOCOATHSIN GO CATHH IT NOW AAAAAAAA
Hey 1458, if you can, search up the Battle River Railway. The crew LOVES railfans, as they invite you in the cab, wave, and give horn shows. They also run only SD40-2 variations. Thanks!
Noted
I just looked them up thats sweet
@@Rock-ty3ie Yep, they are cool. Funky paint scheme though!
WHERE ARE THEY AT????????
@@BNSF4706 Forestburg, Alberta
YO THE SLIPPING FOAMER RETURNED!!!!
💀 (please notice me)
@@BNSF8500yt it was then found that he was never noticed
@@BNSF8500ytnoticed
One thing I learned while railfanning is that you have to be flexible. You can’t catch everything, but you can catch anything. I used to be so upset whenever I missed something rare or interesting, but I realized that being upset and thinking it’s the end of the world isn’t the answer. In addition to this, you just have to realize if you miss something rare or interesting, there will always be more chances in the future. Another thing is that you need to stay out of drama. People in this community nowadays think they are perfectionists and know everything and start drama if one person says something wrong. Same goes with posting photos on platforms like Instagram and Facebook. Railfanning is CLEARLY not a hobby to determine who is the better railfan just because they have better gear than you, it’s about enjoying the sights and sounds of the train whether it’s just a boring pair of CSX GEVO’s or an colorful lashup of fallen flag locomotives.
Well said, problem with nowadays is all the rare stuff that I (or most railfans) miss will never come back and I’ll never get another chance to see it. For me it’s more about realizing there will be more chances in the future for other, maybe less rare, stuff and that now that I missed it something there’s nothing else to do, being mad about missing it won’t change the outcome.
I've been a railfanner before I started a channel, but I've never really met other railfans then. When I met a new railfan in March 2023, I started my channel. Ever since, I've met new railfans and I've gotten lots of support on my channel. It feels good and well appreciated!
As a railfanner of 2 years, I can say this is all EXTREMELY True. Nice Video as Always Man!
@@MDRRProductions Indeed. I feel like I caught my first Amtrak yesterday. Of course that was back in January of 2021.
I ran across your vids looking for something else, but I watched a few and enjoyed them. I’ve worked on the railroad for 14 years with several different companies and been a rail fan since I was a kid in the 1980’s. You make a lot of valid - and humorous - points. I enjoy seeing rail fans when I’m working. Many of the guys I work with complain about them. I’ve yet to get a good answer when I say there are very few jobs, other than being a professional athlete, where people want to take pictures of you working.
Another great vid GK! You definitely nailed it on the mark about to don’t rely on scanners. I made a trip to Louisiana back in September and it recorded a defect detector for 100 axles but nothing even came! And I accidentally left my scanner there lol, so I gonna get another soon. And yeah it’s definitely an excuse to get out of the house, I’m looking to go out more often when I get a car. Happy railfanning GK
I've left my scanner in different places twice now 😂I was actually able to retrieve it both times though
I’ve left mine outside of Pittsburg, PA waiting for street running trains that run about 3 times a week, and no i didn’t go back for it because I’m not driving 3+ hours back
Sup
Makes me happy that I still have my pair of heritage livery MAC's working with an old BN caboose and the ancient high hood SD9 working a local yard.
The first thing I learned was you always miss heritage units
I ALWAYS MISS THEM ESPECIALLY ON CSX!
IVE MISSED
1973 Chessie System
1853 NYC
1850 L&N
1869 C&O
I've somehow only missed one. Anything else I've missed has been after dark so I don't really count it as a miss, just a big L
@@BNSF1458 you have a good subdivision, I rarely get anything on CSX
@@BNSF1458on the Lordsburg sub they always send them after dark
your second channel’s description is retarded railroad skits. I hope an GE doesn’t make GEVOs say retard to the engineer. Try to guess where I got that from
How do I become a dedicated fan? You are my favorite railfanner on RUclips I am also a railfanner, but most of the time I can’t get out often because of school but you’re always what makes me want to go out to the tracks.
I have two scanners they’re both bearcat SR30C’s one of them is my brothers, but mine I made a whole kit for😅
Thank you so much! The "join" button next to subscribe is how you can become a dedicated fan
A lot different from Europe. Here in Germany we just go to a line and even on very less frequented single tracked side lines there is a train at least like every hour. On mainlines there are trains like every 3 minutes and a wide variety of them from local commuter, to high speed all the way to cargo.
Loved those short mashed up clips with the horn blasts. Very creative editing, made me smile
As a railroader myself, a couple things I want to mention:
1: Even if you do know someone who works for the railroad, there's an extremely high chance they aren't allowed to share any information about train schedules. It's considered a huge security risk.
2: The line about EMDs becoming rare always makes me giggle. Not because it isn't true, (at least on class Is) but because the railroad I work for literally doesn't have anything other than EMDs in their fleet, so for me, seeing an actual wide-body come into the shop is a fun experience.
1. It’s a lot more common than you think, I heard about someone getting fired for it and shared that with some people I know who give it to people who use the information poorly (aka doing illegal stuff and bragging about it online) yet they still send it. It seems like the people who aren’t supposed to have the information are the ones who send it to other people the most, which is odd…
@@CoenOinkeyTrains I would believe that. I'm sure it happens more often than anyone would expect, but the railroads are strict about it for a reason.
That having been said, plenty of trains run regularly enough that an attentive person can figure out when they run and where they go with a bit of legwork.
@@CDROM-lq9iz Pretty hard to do on my line, since like 80% of the trains are identical as needed coals that run anytime of day and go to numerous places, but I bet elsewhere that’s absolute true.
@@CoenOinkeyTrains I'm sure I'm partial because I work at the "home" yard for the railroad I work for and see the same trains leave around the same time every day.
@@CDROM-lq9iz Ah makes sense, that’s cool, thanks for sharing.
As a british trainspotter (what us brits call railfans) We have an app which tells us when and where a train will pass. What type of train. What stations it will pass and how late or early it is. The number of the loco and other things. So i can’t imagine the frustration of not knowing when a train is.
Love these types of videos, George, keep cranking them out buddy! OMK
I can totally relate to the part about all the interesting power vanishing as soon as you get a camera. I got my drivers license just in time to miss the massive NS EMD purge around 2020… good times
Yeah when I got serious about recording trains the CSX Tier 4 ACes went back to the leaser.
I have a pretty good scanner set up at my house now so I can give you a heads up on NB’s AMAP.
1:36 listen to all those k3LAs 🔥🔥
I’m extremely lucky to live within an hour near several NJ Transit & Metro North lines, along with several freight railroads, but I can understand how rural railfans or railfans with only freight around them can have a much tougher time looking for trains or more variety. I’d love to railfan more in rural areas but the unpredictability of trains running kinda keeps me away
Dude I can so relate to the first reason that was said. I think it's been twice now I was at the tracks for an hour or a bit more with nothing until literally the last minutes before I leave! Which is usually not normal in my area. And my area is a sort of busy line with a good amount of trains each day. And I agree with the unpredictableness of trains
1:36 Loving these SD’s
2:09 Loving the GE’s
I’m a GEVO fan
I started out railfanning in my hometown catching local freights with GP40-2s and GP38-2s so the first time I caught a GEVO, I flipped out. sadly, that'll never happen again. though since seeing a train is a rare opportunity, I'm not usually disappointed even if it's a boring lashup.
Sounds like the Michigan line minus the mention of Amtrak.
0:20 that’s true, I used to be really close to the Northeast corridor and saw trains every weekend but know I live in South Carolina and the nearest track is like 1h 24m and the closest station is 1h 21m only opperating 4 Amtraks a day two being super late in the night and a csx only passes every couple 1 or 2 hours
LMFAO WHAT HAPPENED AT 0:04
foamer slips on ice
Loved this vid bro! #10 is very relatable. I live RIGHT NEXT to a UP line but it only sees 1-2 trains a day. Sounds convenient but it’s actually very hard to catch those trains due to work and other silly reasons..luckily I live about an hour and a half away from the BNSF Transcon so I just go there😂..
For #3, I can relate to. When I got my camera in 2022, my parents have been driving me to getting good photography and videography. I thought since trains run on scenic routes too, it would prove that I'm good at photography and videography.
hello viv
@@TracksideSamTwoOfficial hello sam
I know what you mean by it's hard to catch a train. I am currently in college but thankfully there is a CPKC line that cuts through the edge of campus. I can sit out there for hours to no avail but soon as I go to class, there will be like 4.
The good power section is sooooo.... sooooo true. I started going out with a camera in 2010, and not trying to brag but the amount of video uploads I made over 10+ years have gotten so small. Let's see prior to me moving to TX: NS High Hoods, Conrail Blue, Leased Units, spartan cab SD60s, spartan cab SD70s, SD80Macs, spartan cab Dash 8s, spartan cab Dash 9s, YN2 paint, you get the picture. Now where I live, the best thing I can see is heritage, BNSF H1, H2, and bonnets. And don't get me started on classic relics going away such as searchlight signals, mechanical bells, Leslie horns, etc.
I'm not joking but the main freight line for the UP into Chicago has a very long 4 hour dead time near noon. You may see a boring one locomotive lead GEVO pulling a low priority intermodal if lucky.
1:37 LINLIN a year or two ago had good power like this, now it’s mostly just GEVOs, ACes and occasional C44-9Ws. There is sometimes 4-Axle power for Omaha’s Yard Jobs and Locals, mostly Y-OMA101 (requires 4-Axle Units) & L-HLA608.
Hands down best railfanning spot:
3 lines intersect at a diamond
50-60 trains a day
Amtrak traffic in the morning
Actively used line
A lot of special and interesting Locomotives come threw
A lot of forien power
Owned by Norfolk Southern
One thing that i learned about railfanning is the history between railroads & subdivisions. For example, I found out that the CSX Abbeville Sub was originally owned by the Seaboard System till the 80s, until CSX bought it from them in the early 90s.
I encourage you to do all the research you can about the railroad(s), location, history, rail traffic, history and people. The photographs and videos you generate today become the historical record tomorrow. Today's younger railfans are so fortunate to have easy access to all the information about the last 200 years of
If there is one thing I’ve learned, it’s that that you shouldn’t be too excited about new traction too soon as when you get bored of the older stuff, it disappears and then you get bored of the new stuff very quickly and then get excited about the old stuff that then only runs on Sundays and then almost never.
Awesome video lots of great catches and shares enjoyed this one 🚂😎
I was going swimming and of course I hear an EMD horn…
*GEVO with a K5LLA*
Awesome stuff! Love your videos. I started rail fanning in the late 1980's. My dad worked on the DRGW and I got to see lots of very cool stuff. Thank you for sharing your awesome videos.
Glad I stayed up till 2 am for this 🫠
these are the best train vids thanks!
Trains are awesome. I'm a dude. And as a dude, I'm required to like large, powerful machines. Not only are these locomotives a full 16 feet tall and and 75 feet long, the horsepower isn't even the impressive performance number, it's the TORQUE. I'm talking about 60,000 foot pound from the enormous twin turbo diesel, and 200,000 pounds-force of tractive effort. My friend it is SCARCE TO BE BELIEVED.
Facts
It’s definitely a way to get out of the house for me, I ride my bike to the railroad crossing close to me and chill there either by myself or with my railfan friend. Great times!
my hometown hosts a yard from the local G&W branch and the Union Pacific I-5 corridor. I don't have a scanner so I just use the UP signal code to determine if any are approaching. said yard used to operate a 71 year old SD7
7:30... There Ferromex sure gets around, I've heard of that specific unit 500,000 times around here
i havent seen a train in 5.5 months and ive been a buff for 10 years now... i started getting serious around 5years ago.
At 4 I can railfan inside AND outside cause my main railfan spot is my bedroom but for outside it’s in the sidewalk
I feel like this whole video could be shortened to one line:
Railfanning is impossible and annoying and just getting worse.
4:33 It’s now trapped in Hobson Yard in Lincoln, NE, I hope it’ll make it out and I can catch it at some point.
Heard it was in NE. Storage?
@@BNSF1458 Hump Job usually
Was paired with 1958 for a bit as well
Wow 1458 just can't stay away from the hump yards I guess.
I've been railfanning since i was 3 years old back in 2013 and i only got serious in 2020 and i got the Lucky State because Most Locomotives are Geeps (M-EVECUS) And SD75Ms and A Whole bunch of stuff. Even Amtrak's Talgos went up here which is my Favorite we also get a As Needed CN Ethanol and sometimes there's a lot of unique Power on it such as Ex-CITX and 100th Anniversary Units which i've caught. I think i got a Lucky State in Terms of Power Variety idk why
Theres no one to watch on my Subdivision but there is radio but i dont have it so its all up to guessing unless i can try with Coaster lol
1:38 Cablight SD60M? Lucky, I haven't seen a cablight even trailing in months
Great video! I loved that TikTok joke! That joke made me laugh so hard! lol 😂
Cool to see you are into HO Scale also! Model trains are my favorite hobby.
Nice video, I enjoyed the mash-up, and the commentary. Subbed.
"Catching train is hard" , I am happy that I Live in Poland so in three hours I can catch at least Long-distance or local passanger trains :)
0:32 the tracks near my house used to have a train go by every 10~ mins, it may be a UP line, but BNSF runs it too!
I’m not much of a rail fan myself though I find the subject interesting. It’s very similar to my boat watching hobby. I like taking pictures of Great Lakes freighters.
The first one is so true. Not long ago I was trying to get a Amtrak dash 8. But it pass the second I got there. I had the walk of shame going home.
I am a Railfan from switzerland and its interesting just how diffrent swiss freight trains are from american ones. As an exemple currently the main locomotive for heavy trains is the Re 6/6. An electric locomotive built in 1972 with over 11'000 hp. It is capeable to pull a 750m train on flat and if it needs to go uphill, they most likley put a second Re 6/6 infront so then you have a Re 12/12 with over 22'000 hp
here in germany there comes a train mostly every 30-60min on single track railways but on a few double track railways there comes a train every few minutes (also at nighttime)
You can see a major difference between Western and Eastern Railroads, as on the Eastern Railroads you can catch standard cabs on long trains, very rare out west
(Edit: Yes they are putting wide cabs in but in the 2010s seeing a standard cab on a long train was a bit less rarer out east than west)
Your capping bro
CSX and NS got rid of their standard cabs
They do it once a while but you're not going to see it an SD40-2 or GP40-2 as a leader on a road train
If you do then that's extremely rare
I have myself but now it's super rare since NS got rid of their standard cabs GEs and EMDs
@@NS1221Productions Well its more likely then out west
@@NS1221Productions CSX has 40s lead once in a while out of Selkirk I would say like once a week in one of the three directions they can go but even that is getting less likely.
@@NS1221Productions It’s still a lot more than BNSF/UP, hearing about a GP leader on a CSX manifest is relatively common compared to BNSF. I’ve seen nearly 2000 BNSF road trains in the last 2-3 years and not one had any sort of unit like that leading, even C44-9W leaders are getting rare. Only reason they are on trains is because they’re DIT and being moved to home shop for repairs, I would say about one SD40-2 comes on my home line every week and always for shop work in Denver or being returned back south.
I saw an SD50-3 leading A road train #8540. like A few days before Christmas 2023.@@NS1221Productions
Awesome video and topic! Although I may have to disagree with #5. More times than not I get a horn show and a wave whenever I am at the creek catching BNSF trains.
Just came back from railfanning at Santa Fe springs and I saw 4 train in 1 hour and I saw 5 the next hour
im late to this, but if your ever down near Houston, Texas; Klein Oak HS has a track that has trains run by it at least 3x per hour, usually more.. most was 1 train every seven mins.
This hobby is my outlet
Nice video! I would say from my experience since the actual mainline is 15 miles from my house and I have to use the freeway to get there, I only ever go every now and then when I'm not busy but I would say I see at least 1 train 2/3's of every time I go. Sometimes I'll see 3 or more if I'm lucky. The most I've ever seen was 8 in 4 hours when BNSF was rerouted to use the UP mainline when the bridge collapsed in Montana. From my understanding of train symbols and such there's gotta be at least 25-35 trains that use the UP Huntington Subdivision in a 24 hour period, the majority of which are manifests. However there are times I sit for 2 hours and see nothing, or go home seeing nothing. It's always a hit or miss. You either see 3 trains in 45 minutes, or 0 in 3 hours. If I may ask how many trains move through your line each day?
You know having like two locomotives back to back can be pretty useful for like a runarounds as you have a cab at both end and doubling up the power
2:08 This also applies on the NS Chicago Line but C6Ms instead of gevos
C6Ms>GEVOs
Better horns
@@BNSF1458 K5LA>K5HL??
@@CoenOinkeyTrains Any day
@@BNSF1458 I especially like it when the C6M’s have P5s I’ve also seen a NS Dash 9 with a K5LLA which is odd because you usually hear K5LLAs on ACes
I've seen a few C6Ms with P5s. So cool
BNSF is retiring the SD60s because they can’t get parts. GEVOs are far more common on the Hinckley now because none of the older power has DP capability, so they’re essentially useless on road trains.
Any estimate on how much longer the 60s probably have before they disappear altogether on BNSF?
And is it just the standard 60Ms or the 60M-3s as well?
@@BNSF145860s are 60s. They aren’t sufficiently different enough that part issues aren’t affecting the modified motors.
I’d expect they’ll probably be gone by the end of the decade. The MACs are on their way out too, unless BNSF changes their stance on rebuilding old engines.
It’s great getting fresh air watching trains. Except when the locomotive runs by you and you catch a whiff of those emissions lol.
0:03 oof, that must of hurt
Love the video it’s very true
To say railroading is unpredictable is a gross understatement! I haul crews for BNSF, even I don't know when they run trains, and it's only gotten worse with PSR! When I am out on the road, I do try to keep a lookout for any interesting road power so I can let my railfan buddies in the area know, but its gotten infinitely harder since BNSF has started deadheading crews on trains instead of vans in the past 6 or 7 months. Plus you might see something cool, alert your friends, and then the Railroad decides to tie the train down out in the middle of nowhere, and it ends up being a no-show! So yeah, very accurate list!
Railfanning Amtrak is a lot easier as Amtrak has a tracker and it's always consistent on when it's gonna pass
I want to start railfanning, I do live near a rail line (Santa Paula branch line), but it's no longer connected to the main line and a bridge is out, so the tracks are just empty
I went to a place along the CN track. I wanted for 3:30 hours. as we were leaving, (we need to cross the tracks to get to the road). As we were leaving, I saw a train in the distance. So we hurried back into the lot and I filmed it
There is an active branch line behind my house so that helps but the main line to film can be hard at times at least thurmond is best place to go because there are 2 rail trails near by so when there are no trains you have. Plane B
trains are indeed awesome
Im not a railfan, but i live just 200 meters away from a station with ultra high traffic, and a train arrives AT MOST every 10 minutes, i have no idea how i am still not a railfan
Nice! Most of these things are very true on my line 💀 great vid!
5:30 breathing fresh air till that one old ahh train pulls up with the broken gas tank💀💀
😂
I live near two lines, the CN Waukesha subdivision and the Wsor branch. (Cp) technically yet the branch is wsor trackage.
CN main is fun when the depot is open otherwise im out there in then freezing cold or heart pending on the time of year.
Bro 0:57 I also have that scanner
bc125at is fire
Where do you get ATCS and scanners?
ATCS is a program on the computer. Scanners are a special type of radio capable of hearing railroad and other frequencies you can't tune into on the normal radio
@@BNSF1458 Thank you, man. Also love the videos!
The first thing I learned is that you actually have to wait for trains.
First time I went railfanning I left like 5 minutes after I got there cause there was nothing. I regret it cause now retired power was common
Good motive power disappearing is sadly something that is a newer problem as when I was a kid in the late 2000s and early 2010s I saw so much sp, rio grande, Santa Fe, bn power in my area and then it was all repainted now it is all going away sadly. Rail fanning sadly as time progresses it gets worse. I don’t like thinking of it that way but it is compare railroading in 1944 to 1984 to 2024 each time it was noticeable worse less traffic, less railroads, less variety of equipment. It’s a shame but it should be seen as enjoy what we can see before it is gone.
There’s more traffic now than 1944, PSR is reducing that but not much more than already has been.
@@CoenOinkeyTrains how is there more traffic now there is a noticeable less amount of trains these days.
I don't really hear train horns where i live because the city i live in is a no horn zone
Me of seeing a train 0.56 chance of seeing a train
Last time I seen one 4 dang weeks ago it was KCS you seen trains more than me
It's easy for me to see trains because I live like 30 feet from the tracks
where i live im lucky, i have trains going past every 15-30 mins 7 days a week.
For good power all I really need is
Whiteface Dash 9
Grey Ghost
Warbonnet
Most sortlines use sd40-2s (at least as far as I know).
Me & 3 friends of mine go to Altoona twice a year. We do run into other fans. I don't get upset when I miss a rare piece or Loco. We are going in Sept, we make a base there then travel as far as Johnstown to railfan. We have certain places we stop at. There are for sure slow times on your trip. Even slow days, but we do have an itinerary. We are there for 3 days. Can you please remove the Loco on the screen, it doesn't add but it does block what's on the screen.
I go to a Amtrak on the nec so it’s easier to see trains on the nec
bro the good power disappearing thing is completely true, i mean csx bought pan am so their ocs dissappeared, and now all their stuff is owned by B&E (g&w). Also csx and ns trains used to have a TON of crazy foreign power, which cant even lead anymore because of mbta's stupid ACSES system. Literally only sd60es can lead, and it sucks. Any heritage i see will be a trail fail, besides some special operations.
These are all true but at least the older power could be reactivated when traffic levels rise
for West Virginia this is a lot of forgin power I think WV?
My railfanning spot has trains every 30 minutes
420,000 pound thing got me dieing
I'm going to say this, Union Pacific has more variety in terms of locomotives and UP is my favorite class 1 but BNSH is there to and if a see A BNSF train I don't care if it has a gevo cause I don't really see BNSF that much, and why do people hate Gevo's there normal locomotives to me just a mass produced one, I kinda like Gevos there pretty cool so yea great vid and keep up the good work
Mainly because GEVOs are like 75% of the units on UP/BNSF and just getting more common, I think they’re cool but most people don’t.
5:17 a real tiktok add played here
What are your thoughts on Canadian pacific and Kansas City southern merging?
Neutral per his Q&A.
I can describe my thoughts with one emoji
🤡