Yosemite and More

 A while back I visited the Oregon Coast Scenic Railroad. The steam engine they use is from my home town of McCloud California. #25 was a hometown favorite and headed excursion trains for many years. #25 built in 1925, her boiler plate. You've heard of being born on the wrong side of the tracks? Well I was photographing from the wrong side of the tracks, but still pretty cool.  They flush water and steam from the locomotive before starting out. I had a seat on the open gondola, you paid extra for the fancy interior in one of the parlor cars. The train was rocking and rolling but the scenery was pretty good. The business part of #25, running gear and drive wheels Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph Dave

I went on a little vacation earlier this year to North Eastern Nevada and the Nevada Northern Railroad in Ely Nevada. My timing wasn't very good. The engines were in the Roundhouse, and excursions were only on the weekends. I was allowed to pretty much wander around wherever I wanted and was  actually invited into the roundhouse and maintenance facility. Here's one of the two photos of steam engines I'm going to post. It's #81which had just gone through a rebuild and inspection and ,of course, was going to run the day after I left.  You'll have to go through a bunch of other photos before you get to #93 With the engines in the roundhouse I wandered around the yard. These two towers are iconic at the Railroad. However neither one is used anymore. This backside view shows a little of high country color. No the tower isn't leaning or falling over, the photographer was. The depot warehouse is both colorful and quite large. With 56 buildings on site they can't ke...

I grew up in the small town of McCloud California, which is located on the Southeast side of Mt. Shasta. It was a company owned lumber town and I have many happy memories of living there. One such memory is of the railroad. The McCloud River Railroad. We used to go to sleep to the sounds of the trains getting ready to haul a load 'over the hill' to Mt. Shasta City or east to the Northern Pacific tracks in Burney. If you've followed me at all you know I love trains. This railroad is why. After the closing of the lumber mill the railroad was sold and became the McCloud Railway, a tourist railroad. Unfortunately it didn't make it and the railway was sold to scrappers. A sad sight for this railfan and probably anyone else who lived during it's hayday. Here are a few photos I recently took while on a work 'vacation'. I was thinking of changing them to sepia tone but the rust kinda took care of that for me. This i...

Last weekend I took a quick trip to Jamestown and Railtown 1897, a California State Park. It is the old Sierra Railway. The locomotives, cars and area have been in quite a few movies, one of the most recent was Back to the Future Part 3 It's quite a place if you like photography, old stuff and railroads. If you know me you know that's right up my alley. It is actually a working tourist  railroad that's not all neat and clean. It has acres of locomotives, cars, train parts, just all kinds of good stuff. Including a working turntable and water tower. There are a few places that are restricted, but mostly you can  wander around and enjoy. Here are a few photos from my trip. Some in Sepia tone  for that old timey feel. I liked the contrast in this photo, the light hitting the valves and the wonderful shadows.  I left this one in color because I liked the tones of the rusting gears This gauge which is used for the co...

While on my vacation a couple of weeks ago I visited and took a ride at the Nevada State Railroad Museum. Knowing I like trains and lines, who could resist this shot. Here's the driving wheel on the museum's #25 I grew up to the sound of the Mc Cloud River Railroad, though steam was pretty much gone by my time. They kept two steam engines for excursions, etc. The Nevada State Railroad Museum acquired Mc Cloud's #18 a while back and that is my main reason for visiting the museum. They use it for the 1 1/2 hour trip between Carson City and Virginia City. The locomotive isn't fast, but it is powerful. Just before we set out they put on a little show. I sat on the wrong side of the train and with only three cars there wasn't  a very good angle. Next time I'll know. Go, See, Enjoy! Dave