I have started a post over at Trainorders reguarding some questions I have about the famous F40 locomotive line.

Here is a link to the post. Within this post, there are some links to pictures.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1061891

NateF40Amtrak

Hello and Happy Holidays to all!

Another year is about to come to a close and there are improvements on the way to the website. Clevelandtrains is in its 4th or 5th year of operations. The first four years was spent over at trainweb.org. While the site was hosted there, about 18,000 folks was able to pay homage there. Now since I been on my own hosting the site, about 2,500 folks passed through to Clevelandtrains.net. So maybe next year, I can attract about 25,000 folks to the site alone. That is a huge goal, but I know it can be reached.

One idea that I shared sometime back was about the web cam. I will work very hard to try to make that happen. There are plenty of lines around and in Cleveland that draws plenty of action. So stay tuned.

2006 will be a big for fanning in Ohio thanks to the Ohio Central and NHRS. I hear that this is going to be a week long event. Private passenger cars from all over will meet up on the OC. Plenty of steam and diesel locomotives will be on hand. So look for a lot of coverage on this great event shaping up from me on the site to come.

The site is now running on a new server running the latest in web hosting software. I am not sure what will become of the old one use. Both are configured and are ready to go at a moments notice. I am completely ready to handle growth. Also, I am currently thinking about hosting websites. Look for more information to come on that soon.

That is all for now.

NateF40Amtrak Out!!

Well, there three sides to every story, your side, my side and the truth. Here is a link to David Gunn's verison of the story about his firing.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,1035922

Lead, follow or get pushed out of the way.

That is what happened today to David Gunn, the CEO of Amtrak. He was relieved of his duties. The board felt he was not taking the company in the right direction. You can read and decide for yourself at :
http://www.amtrak.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Amtrak/am2Copy/News_Release_Page&c=am2Copy&cid=1093554026306&ssid=180
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/09/AR2005110900643.html

David Gunn was pushed out of the way.

Well, if you are wondering why Clevelandtrains.net is running alittle slower, it is due to a server upgrade. I am currently upgrading the webserver from to Windows 2000 Server to Windows 2003 server. My server that is being rebuilt is a Compaq Dl360 G2 running dual P3 1400 chips with 1284 of ram with Windows 2k3 server. I had to transfer files over to a HP DC7100 workstation runing a P4 3.0 hyper threading with 512 of ram server. This temp server is not all that great of a performer. I think it is due to everything being on a single hard drive. It is a newer SATA drive, 40 gigs.

So hopefully, I will have the whole site back over at on my true server Monday or Tuesday. Once the site is back there, the performace should improve greatly. If you are thinking about making a workstation a heavy duty server, forgetaboutit.

I am thinking about adding some features to the site. More to come on that soon.

NateF40Amtrak

Well, I posted over at Railroadforums and Trainorders.
Here are links to both post.

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1022565
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9873

I had not clue that it was snowing up there in MRL country. It will only be a matter of time before the snow starts here in Cleveland, Ohio. We only have two season, construction and winter. Go figure.

October has been a slow month tracking them MRL 70aces. I have found a few pictures of them in service.

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=122481
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=121858
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=121860

I will start a post over at Trainorders and Railroadforums to find some information out about how these guys are holding up.

Well, this post is not about MRL new EMD units, but of NS new units. I will have a better chance of getting photos of these guys since there are two NS mainlines that run through Cleveland.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=121329

I am still searching for photos of the new MRL units in server. Rumor has it that some are in main line service. Not sure if they are being uses as helpers or lead engines. I will keep this updated as soon as I find information.

Recently here in Cleveland, Ohio, I have noticed a few new things on the Cleveland Norfolk Southern line. Somewhere there is a power plant that burns coal from the Powder River Basin region and it recieves coal from BNSF. These trains usually just run with 2 big units from BNSF and one from NS. The one from NS is required due to the cab signals on the line. This is great, I finally get to see some color in the sea of black locomotives. Well there is only one problem, the grades. From the Cuyhoga river to about Bedford ohio, the Cleveland line climbs up hill. There are twisty curves and a few of S-curves on this line that will bring any train to a grinding halt. Well, that is happened on one of these coal trains from BNSF. The charge was lead by a SD40 in CR blue and two BNSF C44-9W's locomotives. This was not enough power to keep things moving at the posted 25 mph nor 3 mph. After dropping from about 9 mph to a slow walking pace to a full stop, the heavy coal cars just sat there. I am not sure how they got this train moving at speed again.

NS runs other coals trains to points east on the same line. They usually put 3 big units on the head end and 2 units on the rear. Those helpers on the rear vary from gp38's to SD70's. Maybe NS should places those helps on the rear of these BNSF coal trains to help them make up from the grades.

Here is a link of the train mentioned aboved. http://clevelandtrains.net/emd710/temp/ns3.jpg

NateF40Amtrak Out.

There is no new news really to report on the MRL Sd70's. There is a rumor out there that four of them are together working as a helper set. As soon as I find photos of them, I will post a link up here.

I am very much interested in the whole opereations of railroading, not just goes on at track side or in the yard. By trade, I am a network administrator. Weekly, I recieve a ton of magizines that pretain to the IT world. Here is a link to a article that talks about KCS computer problems and how they wasted alot of money. IT guys will like this one.
http://www.infoworld.com/article/05/09/14/38OPrecord_1.html

Over at Railroadforums.com, there is a photo contest that takes place every month. The photo topics very every month. Sometimes they deal with people, rail cars, logos, locomotives, whatever you think of.

For the month of August, the topic was your personal best. It could be a picture that is related to railroading in some way, shape or form. I usually dont enter these contest, but for some reason I put some of my best work foward. I posted NS5814 at http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8862

Please vote for me!

Thanks

NateF40Amtrak

More before pictures of them new MRL EMD's before recieving a coat of MRL blue.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=78037#post78037

Well, it looks like them old workhorses on the MRL will fall soon. Two new SD70ace's are pulling a MRL freight. More will soon follow. Once together, they will team up against the old stallions and put them out to pasture.

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=77730

The purpose of my blog was to share my thoughts about things and happening in the railroading world. Recenlty, my thoughts on this changed direction alittle. Over at Trainorders.com, someone started a post about Amtrak running trains to help those affected by Katrina. All they could think of was saving a Amtrak coach from being damaged by people riding the train. You can read the post and my views at http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?4,991656

The MLR new 70mac in full dress.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8714
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=117565

Once again, please help those in need.
Thanks

NateF40Amtrak

Well, the new EMD is pumping out locomotives pretty quick to MRL. Here is another link to 5 new ones from the factory in primer waiting to be moved west.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8644

A personal plea. Please help those who are in great need due to Katrina's warth.
www.redcross.org

Thanks
NateF40Amtrak

If you thought Trainfest 2004 was huge, just wait until 2006. While surfing, I found some information about NRHS having it national convention here in Ohio on the Ohio Central Rail Road. Now how cool is that? Can you just image all the passenger cars coming from both coast to Ohio for the big event? Train rides for all, everywhere! People are already wondering what steam engines will be running in time for the event, what special diesels will pull domes, so on. I will keep all posted as soon as I know more.

Here are some pictures of the Ohio Central Trainfest 2004 and locomotives.
http://clevelandtrains.net/emd710/trainfest/trainfest.htm
http://clevelandtrains.net/emd710/oc/ocindex.htm
http://www.clevelandtrains.net/ngallery/albums/9.aspx

I will share more thoughts soon on this subject.

NateF40Amtrak

More pics of MLR's new locomotives - in Seattle. Soon to be in MRL colors. http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=73596#post73596

Another update about MRL's new locomoitves making there way over to CEECO for painting. Soon, them SD45's will fall to the new guys on the block.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=73292#post73292

More links to the MRL. Railfans are paying homage at a fast rate. A few more prospectives to enjoy.
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8126
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7956
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8025
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=8156

NateF40Amtrak
Clevelandtrains

A couple of weekends ago, I set out on a quest to find the Ohio Central Railroad in action. Well, I did not find any action, but a lot of stored locomotives and cars. http://www.clevelandtrains.net/ngallery/albums/9.aspx

I was excited to come across this finding. Among the beast at rest was two ex Amtrak F40's. I have more pictures of them than anything else that was there. A couple of steam locomotives sat in the weeds hoping for the OC to give them some much TLC. Maybe for the next Trainfest, these steam locomotives will be up and running. One locomotive, an old Milwaukee Road 82C was resting (or should I say rusting) away. I did a Google Search to see what I could find out about this unit. Built in 11/1951, frame number 15212, worked for the road until 5/1980. From there I only found that it went to Mad River and NKP Historical Society which is located in Bellevue Ohio. I wonder what the OC have planned for this unit if anything other than parts then scrap. Here are two links to sites that have stories about the Milwauke road.

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=929&page=1&pp=10
http://www.wwvrailway.com/milwauke.htm

Enjoy.
NateF40Amtrak

PS - Share your thoughts with me at natef40amtrak@yahoo.com

Finally, the long wait is over. For the past week, the forums boards at Railroadforums and Trainorders have been full of topics pretaining to the new heritage locomotives from Union Pacific Railroad. There are threads with pictures of the units. Here is a link to UP's site with their offical pictures. http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/railroad/2005/0730_heritage.shtml

Enjoy the pictures.

NateF40Amtrak

I am clueless why I am fascinated with the MLR. It must be the thought of heavy mountain railroading at its finest. My last several post links to photo essays on the MLR. Why should this one be any different. Here is a link to a post on their new SD70mace soon to come. http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7706

I wonder if any other regional road will buy new locomotives instead of used ones?

NateF40Amtrak

After reading about the Port of Tillamook Bay railroad in Trains, it makes me wonder why railroads decide to run 50 year old units still. Don't get me wrong, I love older units, but from a business prospective, it must cost a ton to keep these guys running. BNSF still has a fleet of older units running around America. Here is a link to a SD9 running on CSX - http://www.clevelandtrains.net/ngallery/albums/7.aspx

NateF40Amtrak

Another post on the MRL, but from a different prospective from the inside looking out. Enjoy

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7519

Here is a link to a couple of guys that had some time on there hands to visit the MRL. The MRL currently have the second largest fleet of SD45's that contain a true V20 engine rated at a full 3600hp. Soon, these beast will be replaced by new SD70ACe's. Their time is very limted in active service, soon only to hold the rails in storage.

http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7274

NateF40Amtrak

Webcam for ClevelandTrains? Maybe.......

But please by all accounts, do not hold your breath. Right now, my idea is only in the idea stages. What I have in mind is a cam somewhere in Cleveland, next to a main line right away.
I have all the equipement and software. The problem is that I do not have access to a broadband connection that is next or really close to the right of way. All I am asking for the use of someones DSL or cable modem to FTP the movies back to my main server. In exchange, I will proudly say that the cam is hosted by Joe Blow at Company XYZ or a banner or ad on the page next to the webcam. I know that people are looking at cams. Just go to trainorders.com and see how many people look at the cams, over 40,000 downloads a month.

So if there is anyone or business out there that would like to talk, please email me. Lets work something out for a win-win situation.

I am open to all ideals, comments and suggetions.

NateF40Amtrak
natef40amtrak@yahoo.com

New website is now underway. For the last 5 years or so, www.trainweb.org has been a great host over the years. Trainweb team, thanks. I will still use Trainweb to host part of Clevelandtrains.

So now the birth of www.clevelandtrains.net

The start of a new website. Or shoudl I say, a new website in the making.

Waiting for Uncle Pete....

The waiting game. The game we all hate to play. We want to know right now, right this moment. Please tell me. I would like to know.

About a month or a month and a half ago, I applied for a position at UP. They are hiring for managers. I am still not sure what I was thinking, but I think a change would be good. Currently I am in a position at work where layoffs are about to take place. I don’t think that I will be a victim this first round, but if the axe drops again I will be history. That is a chance I wish not to take. So I decided to get my dream rolling. Walking away from my current job to one at UP might not be so much better.

UP vs. my current job

UP is a mess right now. My current job is a ship wreck. UP is spending money. My job has no money to spend. UP is hiring. My job is firing. UP buys new equipment. We just keep old crap running. UP pays well. My job barely pays.

So there. That is why I wish to work for UP. Hell, anyone for this case.

NateF40Amtrak

I have finally updated my website within the Photos of the week section. I have no clue why I call it Photos of the week when I only update it about every 2 months. I am working on some software that will allow me to upload photos and post them within a matter of seconds.

http://68.254.2.75/emd710/weekly/1-22.htm

Enjoy the update and the rest of the site.

NateF40Amtrak

Today Motive Power, Tomorrow Classics

As I read articles in train magazines and threads on discussion list about today motive power, I can only think that we should enjoy it while they are still here. They will not be in Class one service much longer. Shortlines and Regional roads will always run the power that once ran on the big boy lines, but it will only get harder to find them. You will have to drive a thousand miles to the middle of no where. Once there, you will wait for hours and maybe days for a train that might only a couple of times a week.

I truly miss seeing F40’s in everyday service on Amtrak. Over the years now, I have got used to the newer GE’s. The GE is a different beast. It has taken some time to get used to seeing them pull passenger trains. Make no mistake or start any rumors, they are here to stay for the long haul. That is why I am taking plenty of pictures of them now. Soon, they will be history like the F40’s too.

So fill up them flash cards on your digital camera! Snap them pictures while you can. Don’t let these moments get away from you.

N ateF40Amtrak