NS GP40-2 3046

Monday, November 24, 2003

“You know an EMD is broken if it is smoking”. Unknown

On Friday, November 21, 2003, I had a chance to get a quick glimpse of a pair of NS SD80MAC from my office window at work. What a site even though I was maybe half a mile away. From a distance, you could see a trail of evidence being omitted from the lead SD80MAC. At first, I thought that it was a GE leading since I could not hear the engines very clearly. But once it was able to clear all the building obstructing my view, I was very surprised to see a pair of NS SD80MAC’s tugging a long ore train on the Cleveland line. I wonder where the pair is heading to. It is not that often that you see a pair of NS SD80MAC’s in Cleveland. If you have the answer to this question, email me.

I am going to work really hard to update my weblog with at least 2 new post this week. So stayed tuned.

NateF40Amtrak



Tuesday, November 11, 2003

It has been awhile since I have made an entry here. So much is going on and like always, there is not enough time in the day to cram everything in it. I have a couple of things in mind that I would like to do with this website. There first one is to perform a complete overhaul. The new site would be transformed into a very interactive one. I am still thinking about how I am going to go about this. Should I use PHP or go with Microsoft's .Net programming suite? I am going to have to look at both very well and make a decision.

Other than that, I have a few "editorials" that I am going to post if anybody would like to hear my two cents. One is about the colorful constist that railroad's run and I can not remember right now what the other one was. When it comes back to me, I will update my weblog.

Check out my recent photo update at my website: http://www.trainweb.org/clevelandtrains/weeklypics/10-27/10-28.htm



Sunday, October 12, 2003

Email Change

I had to change my email address from rrmail.com to yahoo.com. I can not take all the spam that comes into that account any more. So today will be the last time I am going to check my email there.

My new email address is natef40amtrak@yahoo.com

Friday, October 10, 2003

My Canon Rebel 2000 last stand.

Why I name this post this? I can remember reading articles in various train magazines about locomotives coming to the end of their useful lifes only to be sold off to another railroad in the form of a short line or to meet its maker in the scrap yard heaven. The same thing is about to happen to Rebel camera, except for being sold or scrapped, it will be retained for 'special service'. My camera has served me well over the years, never letting me down when called to duty. From taking pictures of locomotives hauling freight across the globe to my nephew first steps, it has been there for me. Locomotives are only useful until another locomotive is developed that can produce more horsepower while burning less fuel comes along. This might happen every 10-15 years in the rail world. One the camera side, this might happen every 4-5 years. Some kind of new technology advancement makes taking a picture much clearer. In this case, it is a 35mm camera being replaced with a digital SLR camera. Digital cameras cut out the need to have the 35mm film developed which results in a greatly improved turned around time of a couple of hours to have the pictures posted on the web for the world to enjoy.
While the new digital camera offers many advantages over the traditional 35mm film ones, I will retain mine in "special service" for years to come.

Check out the new digital I am planning on replacing my Rebel with.
http://www.canoneos.com/digitalrebel/index.html

Thursday, October 02, 2003

Ever thought about working for a railroad? I think about it all the time. How cool it would be to control a 14,000 ton coal train with three SD70macs ? Very cool. But the truth about working on the railroad is that it is still a hard job. Its hard on you, family, social life and whatever personal events that you might take part in. Over at trainorders.com, someone started a post about BNSF hiring train personal (conductors). Someone posted about how much money he made in his first year at BNSF. Made me think twice about leaving my job as a network administrator to ride the rails. Who knows what the future brings. I might switch over to work for a railroad. Let me just think about that ideal just alittle bit more.....

A really good book to read about working on the railroad is From the Cab: Stories of a Locomotive Engineer by Doug Riddell.

Thats all folks.....For now.
Ever thought about working for a railroad? I think about it all the time. How cool it would be to control a 14,000 ton coal train with three SD70macs ? Very cool. But the truth about working on the railroad is that it is still a hard job. Its hard on you, family, social life and whatever personal events that you might take part in. Over at trainorders.com, someone started a post about BNSF hiring train personal (conductors). Someone posted about how much money he made in his first year at BNSF. Made me think twice about leaving my job as a network administrator to ride the rails. Who knows what the future brings. I might switch over to work for a railroad. Let me just think about that ideal just alittle bit more.....

A really good book to read about working on the railroad is From the Cab: Stories of a Locomotive Engineer by Doug Riddell.

Thats all folks.....For now.

Monday, September 29, 2003

Here are a couple of links to sites that I visit often durning the day: Trainorders.com, http://www.railpictures.net/ and http://www.railroadforums.com/. Enjoy!
My first post.

I love trains. Why I like them so much just blows people away. Check out my website http://www.trainweb.org/clevelandtrains. Let me know what you think about it so far. I have had this website for about 4 years now. It only contains only about 1/10 of the pictures I have taken in the last 4 years.