Greetings Railfans! This channel is mostly railfan video recorded in standard definition on 8mm videotape with a hand held camera. The PLAYLISTS section has videos sorted by railroad. Thanks for watching!
These videos may be useful to anyone interested in 1990's model railroading or folks who simply enjoy watching "vintage" railfan videos.
DMU is the AAR railroad reporting mark for the Des Moines Union Railway. It's also the name of my freelanced model railroad.
The channel picture is the Earth, seen from the Moon on August 21, 2017 during the total solar eclipse. You can't see me in the picture because I'm standing in the shadow. 😎
The dancing date stamp on the videos is caused by video stabilization in the editing software. (iMovie)
A decently large number of this type of wigwag actually survived on CNW and ex-CNW branchlines in Wisconsin into the late '90s and few even into the 2010s, but they were probably pretty unusual on the mainline by the time of this video. The last pair were at Saemann Ave. in Sheboygan, WI and were removed from service in early December, 2020. Your meet actually reminds me of one I caught on the BNSF near Prairie du Chien, WI at the end of July 2014 (I'll be uploading that video for the 10th anniversary in a few days). Only this time it was westbound intermodal and eastbound autoracks. The autorack train even had an old UP GE second out (in this case a C40-8, which by then was as unusual as a C30-7 like 2451 was in 1992).
Yes! I caught Amtrak 801 (the trailing unit) going by Argentine Yard at about 5:40 into this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-t9SGEZgNh9A.html
I noticed the westbound empty coal train had hoppers with rotary couplers facing both directions and then had coal gons on the end. Usually don't see that. That train is not made up for loading because if sent to a power plant with a rotary dumper, those hoppers could only be bottom unloaded through the gates, since there were fixed couplers connected. Then there were the gons on the rear that required a rotary dumper - that string all appeared to be lined correctly. That train probably got re-sorted at the South Morrill NE yard, or the cars were being sent to the inspection facility south of Bill WY. Thanks!
Thank you for uploading these, crazy how much has changed since these videos were taken. I've spent lots of time at Santa Fe Junction in the last 5-6 years wondering what those searchlight signals have seen, and now I have an idea.
Holly smokes…51 trains in a single day!!! Camden still looks much the same today is it did nearly 30 years ago…minus the telegraph poles and the wigwam. Great perspective on how things have and haven’t changed over the decades. Thanks for sharing👍💯
Thanks for posting. Always good to see the CNW green and yellow. Retired CNW locomotive guy 36 years….great time…. great people!! Hired in ‘74 Milwaukee… ‘86 Council Bluffs ….’92 Proviso…’03 back to Butler shop in Milwaukee and 2010 “pulled the pin” miss it all very much at times👍😎
Enjoy your videos of railroads in the 90s in the Midwest. Takes me back to my younger days and HS years as this to me was when watching trains was an experience.
That was a cool video. I remember seeing CNW trains running the cowboy line past Chadron Nebraska when I was a kid in the 80s. Most of that track is long ripped up except for a small section around Chadron for the Little short line and round house. Its a pretty cool place.
Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern Intermodal 48' van. I had no idea they invested in such equipment. Shortlines can be very surprising. And fun to model. UP inherited SP's grunge look. Except with SP it was kind of endearing.
Conrail in KC is cool. Run through agreement with Santa Fe seems likely. Have you noticed that even though it's dead of winter the railroads kept their locomotives relatively clean? BN and Santa Fe especially valued their corporate image. One look at UP today and you have to ask, why are your locomotives so f'n grungy? Can't afford degreaser? It's really disappointing being an old railfan today.
For all the railroads running in and out of Chicago, it's nowhere near as tightly packed as KC, which makes KC unique as an urban railfan hotspot. And Santa Fe Jct. is the king of them all. It's like a 3D chess board. Everywhere you look; up, down, left, right, front, back, there's a potential rail line hosting a train. Very cool, pre-mega merger video. And yeah, what's up with all the Wisconsin Central rolling stock? Too cool. lol
I have a pic of Gate Way Western 3020 going behind my house . I will put it on my main page so you can see it. Many great videos you have. Those were great times, and a great spot to film . Days of future past !!! Thank you so much for posting.
Seeing that SOO lead loco brings back memories of when I lived in excelsior springs mo during that time of this video being made. It’s probably the same one that ran though there .
Using google maps to try to figure out exactly where I was, it appears I was looking northwest from county road S23 where it connects with highway 5. The satellite view shows a grade crossing now. Thanks for watching!
Interesting they added a "normal" crossing bell in addition to the wigwag's built-in gong...out west IIRC it seems they mostly just used the gong by itself. Most Midwest roads (such as C&NW/Milwaukee Road) used WRRS wigwags which did not have built-in gongs, but Soo Line also used these Magnetic Signal Company ones. Man, would kill to see power like this over the last ~17 or so years since I took up railfanning.
