Power you've seen around town

Stickframe · 11 August 2025 05:38

Hello rail enthusiasts. It seems these updates are struggling a bit because of some real work deadlines and bad timing - as I’ve been faithfully out riding when possible but not too much but some to report:

My favorite Dash 8 pair, rolling in Point Potrero, and then, down the shoreline, not power, but interesting WWII era trackside details:

These are very close to the Rosie the Riveter National Historical Park, or I guess I should say, in the Park and close to the museum. I’ve ridden by these numerous times, but never took a pic! I always assumed they were about the same and not all that interesting, but as you can see, they are not that similar in form or structure and fairly elaborate. Also pretty useful to see as I’ve taken some direction from them for use in a diorama I’m pretending to work on that’s moving at a glacial pace!

And then saw this motive power

Right, so this fellow rode past on I don’t know what kind of vehicle. I can report that the motion did not look at all smooth or efficient, as the arms go back and forth and the foot pads go up and down - ha! a human 4x4!!! . I also don’t know if his glare is because he noticed me taking the picture, or if it’s as uncomfortable/awkward to drive as it appears

And, something of an everyday scene that’s also somewhat unique:

The engines are sequential - units 9915 and 9914 maybe this is fairly common, but I’ve never seen it happen, so I enjoyed seeing the pair

OK, on we go. I recently bought a new bike, so looking forward to stumbling across more interesting rail power. And, no, I did not get one of those whatever type of ride the guy above is riding . I opted for hybrid bicycle (meaning on and off road, but 100% human power not an e-bike). It’s got 29" x 2.5" tubeless tires, chromoly frame/fork, disc brakes, and 1x12 gearing! This is a big change from the bike I’ve been using, which is a 1995 mountain bike with the shock locked out, and fat 26" street slicks, all of which the local bike shop has hurtfully described as “a cool vintage bike” Hey! I bought that new!

OK, party on -

Nick

metalhead85 · 12 August 2025 11:31

Wow I have missed a lot guys. Nick those are great pics of the various equipment rolling around by you. Inspiration for a layout up the wazoo!

metalhead85 · 12 August 2025 11:46

Great pics Robert. Engine 517 in your pic is an EMD DM30AC. They have 3rd rail contact shoes to run into Manhattan. At some point after Jamaica station, they switch to electric propulsion.
The 400 series engines (DE30AC) are identical except they are strictly diesel electric and can’t go into the tunnels, they don’t have the 3rd rail contact shoes like the DMs. They both run on all the diesel branches out to eastern Long Island, such as the Montauk, Port Jefferson, Oyster Bay, and Mainline out to Greenport on the north fork of the island, also the Central Branch. That engine is in West Side Yard, half of which is covered now by Hudson yards. I think it has about 30 tracks or so and has been renovated, I haven’t been to that yard in many years since I left passenger service.
The MU in your other pic is an M7 , we now have M9s as well and still have some M3s from the 70s/80s still in service!

metalhead85 · 12 August 2025 11:50

My family and I have been to the High Line a few times- and loved it! On a few occasions, when I was still in passenger service and had a break between trains, I’d go up and eat lunch up there.
That’d be a great layout to build with so much going on. Love how they shoehorned tracks around those buildings back in the day!
I could be wrong but I think the High Line was inspired by something similar in Paris??

KoSprueone · 13 August 2025 03:15

Or maybe a 2x1 or 3x3 or 7x7 ??

18bravo · 13 August 2025 03:50

I’m thinking of a certain South Park episode…

Stickframe · 1 November 2025 20:10

As I’ve been hobbled, well, I’ve also spent a lot less time riding the bike, which has been a drag. It turns out, it takes a while to rehab a knee suffering an overuse injury. My doc and google both said expect an 8-10 week recovery - and guess what? they were right!

So, in order to get the knee back in shape, I was doing a lot of stretching exercises, and eventually decided some light riding might be good too - but man, very embarrassing to be the guy riding the fancy new bike at a snail’s pace!

But, as I did this, the knee began to equally slowly come back. allowing me to see this, a couple of weeks ago:

A nice sunny day, a slow train, and me a slow rider.

Then yesterday, after a few other rides, I finally decided to go about 20 miles, when I came across this switcher:

Unhappily, the sun was on the other side of the train so a mediocre pic - and, some interesting artwork following:

Again, the sun on the wrong side! but this was pretty cool - the magic particles flowing out from this tanker:

Whoever did this spent some time on it, and it was pretty cool!

Then, this morning out for a short ride through the Port of Oakland, and to quote the great Lionel Richie and the Commodores:

“Once,”

“Twice,”

“Three times a loco” Ahh, so much hot BNSF action for one ride!

And on my way back, I was stopped by this:

Hmmm….the loco well off in the distance, and then, could it be?:

Were these two bringing up the back, the same pair I saw in the yard?

Well, yes! they were! As it rolled past, I noticed the train was headed north, which is also my direction home. So, I decided I’d hustle and see if I could meet it at the pedestrian bridge!

Wow! I made it! a whopping 2.83 miles later! So I was not breaking any speed records, but was going fairly fast (remembering my knee - something I don’t want to screw up again!) and met the front of the train!

This was indeed more of a moral victory for me than achieving a great photo, but it was fun to try and I’m glad I did it! and, the knee is fine.

OK, on we go

Cheers

Nick

Uncle-Heavy · 1 November 2025 20:37

My kids ask me if I ever met a dinosaur …

Uncle-Heavy · 1 November 2025 20:49

There is indeed a similar reuse of an elevated railway line in Paris.
Don’t know who inspired who though …

phil2015 · 2 November 2025 02:10

Nice. Is there a standard name for a color scheme on an engine? Is it called a livery?

Whatever it is, that Richmond Pacific scheme looks nice!

Stickframe · 9 November 2025 05:05

@phil2015 hi Phil, yes, as I understand it, any branding on a commercial vehicle/race car etc is called it’s livery - I don’t know the origin of the word, but it seems in common usage. And, I agree most of the Richmond power looks really nice!

You wouldn’t believe how clean and quiet they/most of them are - as for not most of them, for today this beauty:

I’ve seen this Richmond Pacific EMD SW1200 before, and then again a few days ago. It sounds great! not quiet or subtle - it sounds a bit like a low revving big block with a big cam - lol - quick rev up, and quick drop off - the 1200 hp 12 cylinder engine has a nice deep sound!

And then, this morning while riding through the Port of Oakland, more BNSF power! The Oakland yard has been quiet on the weekends until the last few weeks - maybe retailers stocking up for the holidays? No idea, but more action in the last two weeks than I’ve seen in months:

This is two views of the same pair - I include both because of the fog! wow - it was very dense, and surprisingly comfortable for a guy to be riding the bike through, and there was practically no wind - another plus!

and then way over on the other side of the yard, this pair, bringing up the rear, and then down the road:

another pair bringing up the rear of a different train! These were both long trains - hmmm, maybe I’ll go onto Google earth and scale the approximate length?

OK, on we go
Cheers

Nick

Uncle-Heavy · 9 November 2025 08:24

The text below is two screendumps, I couldn’t find the link to where Google found it …

Rich folks provided clothes for their servants and wanted them all to look the same (uniform)
so the provided clothes had the same colours and designs (gender and rank adapted I presume).
This carried over to the colours on their coaches (foot men and the coach wearing the same colours, looks tidy and displays ‘I am a rich dude’)

Some further explanations here:

Stickframe · 16 November 2025 03:36

@Uncle-Heavy, ahh…the uniform of the railroad, or race team!

Meanwhile, back to the Port I rode - another quiet weekend on the streets:

The San Francisco skyline in the distance - the tall building is Salesforce tower. It was a big deal when built. I have no idea what percentage of it is occupied, but downtown is coming back to life - I had dinner in SF about a week ago and the town was jumping - and the view to my left:

Another long BNSF train with the Port cranes behind. Now three weeks in a row, trains on the weekend. I’ll stick with my guess that this is happening as the holidays are coming up Lots of toys, clothes, TVs, and who knows what else being sent out.

And a couple of engines waiting on the other side of the yard -

Not a traditional view of “Big Sky Country”, but a big sky nonetheless with three more engines in the distance. And not a soul on the roads - it’s wild how quiet it is out here on the weekend. Good for me though! Slowly rolling along for miles on the bike. I’ll keep at this slow pace for a while, as I really don’t want to reinjure my knee! It’s been a real surprise to me how long it’s taken to regain my leg strength - you know what they say about getting old…lol

This is the UP and Amtrak yard. I saw an Amtrak roll by, but the UP yard was quiet - I just like the picture! You can see SF and the Bay Bridge in the distance. On my way back:

This is the another side of the BNSF yard - and finally, for any transit fans out there:

Ahh - some converging BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) trains! They roll all day every day. And from here, a coffee, and home again -

Cheers

Nick

Uncle-Heavy · 16 November 2025 12:42

Isn’t there a building that is leaning?
Competing with the tower in Pisa?

It sucks big time?

srmalloy · 16 November 2025 20:58

The second thing to go is your memory, and I forget what the first thing is…

Stickframe · 19 November 2025 23:31

@Uncle-Heavy, hi Robin, yes, you are thinking of Millennium Tower! it is/was tilting and is still (apparently) sinking, which is a big deal, as it is very tall, and right downtown. The potential for sinking buildings is well known, and the problem is usually resolved by sinking deep concrete piles to bedrock which the foundation is then stacked on - there is a lot written about the problem and solution.

The general problem occurs in many places closer to the waterfront. It’s not unusual for the problem to be resolved for the building, but not as effectively in adjacent areas such as sidewalks and some streets - as such, hinges are designed along the building edge, which allow the sidewalk to sink toward the street while remaining attached to the building! This settling has resulted in some very strange building entry paths!

And, @srmalloy and Robin - yes! as the Rolling Stones said “What a drag it is getting old!” I’m firmly planted in the struggle bus trying to get my legs back to the strength they were! and unhappily, I do remember when they were stronger!

And, Robin, as I know you’re a science-based kinda guy - the new bike is different than the old bike - rather than having 3x7 gearing on 26” wheels, well, I now have 1x12 gearing on 29” wheels. No big deal right? well, no, not right. It takes more work to get these big fat tires moving! The old force = mass x acceleration + getting old = me moving slowly! Just like starting in traffic in a heavy truck lol - you need to go through the gears to get up to speed! or, I do anyway….I thought I could muscle through it (which I technically could) but, that great idea/method resulted in my knee injury!

OK enough fun and games, and back to serious business - trains! Though not much of a show today:

Believe it or not, Berkeley has a very high end retail district right next to the train tracks - you all know the type - Apple store, hand made shoe and art stores, high end food, books, music, and lots of fancy pants apparel - not exactly, ideal for me, but it is a really nice district, and as I was rolling through I nearly tool a complete picture of the omnipresent Amtrak - just missed all of it!

And then, about five miles down the road, in the exact opposite scenario - under the freeway, behind buildings, lots of fences and graffiti, this rail truck:

How’s this for unusual? A tri-drive Freightliner rail runner, pulling a gondola, with a backhoe of some sort mounted behind it? right-of-way maintenance of some sort. Pretty cool, but the aforementioned fences etc prevented me from getting pictures of the rest of what was in tow -

OK, on we go!

Cheers

Nick

Uncle-Heavy · 20 November 2025 00:03

I used to ride a 1x5 bike on 27" wheels back in 9th grade, narrow wheels but nothing extreme in any way. On one sports day in school I picked bike excursion and of course there was an improvised race. After a while another guy and I were in the lead, I let him lead and got some help from the vortexes behind him. The last 100 yards or so I pulled out and passed him. He was hugely surprised since he had a 2x5 bike and thought he ought to be faster than me.

I told him that I had every second of his gears, from 2 to 10, so our top gears were the same.

Heavy tires: My dad told me about a bike excursion he and some friends had made. My dad had a puncture, bad rubber quality back in the 30’ies …
Far from home, no spare tire, nothing to seal the puncture with,
Idea, need a bright idea, think … WAIT! Didn’t we just pass a small lake?
Pumped the tire with water, leaks a lot slower than air …
Filling the whole tire with water is near impossible so there will be an air chamber left. Not a problem, the trapped air prevents the tire from becoming very hard …
Of they went, getting that heavy wheel spinning was hard work, the water flowed backwards against the rotation. Suddenly dad was going fast enough that the water distributed evenly around the periphery with the air bubble by the rim.
Now the wheel became a flywheel.
Wheeeee downhill and then wheeee uphill on the other side.
This “repair” lasted a few weeks until dad got around to fixing that tire.

A bike with a flywheel would be cool. Pedal like crazy at the red light and then let out the clutch on green light and do a wheelie next to the cars, first across the intersection …

Uncle-Heavy · 21 November 2025 14:16

Bike riding
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/1szkmwAhez4

Stickframe · 23 November 2025 05:18

@Uncle-Heavy , yes, heavy tires, frame, and rims! the new bike is a bit of a tank - double butted, gusseted chromoly frame, and 29” x 2.5” tires - it is not svelte….in weight anyway, as it looks pretty cool. I can ride all day very comfortably, jump curbs and train tracks, ride down the occasional flight of stairs, and move with confidence in the dirt, rocks, and mud but, more like a Ford F-350 4x4 than an all wheel drive Dakar rally car! I’m not exactly a 500 hp twin turbo engine either!

Ha! your dad’s idea has been copied! I ran self sealing tubes on my 26” MTB - and guess what? when you spring a leak - bang! then a mist of who knows what sprays all over the frame and chain, and the puncture seals up! You can get about 10 miles out of that, so helpful, but not permanent. The new 29” tires are tubeless and are also filled with sealing liquid - and happily - no flats yet!

Meanwhile, back to the struggle, and another ride through the Port of Oakland, and again, a long BNSF container train getting ready to roll:

Sorry about this bad picture - the sun, behind the train, and it in front of me, but this does illustrate a good point regarding the length of this train. Just over a mile later, on the other side of the yard, I came across the end of this train:

A few points, first, you get a pretty good idea of the length of this train - wow, and as mentioned, we are now on the other side of the yard, but the same side of the train and it is now in bright sunlight. Finally - you’ll notice, I was comfortably standing in the middle of the road taking this and there was absolutely no chance of getting run over - and in fact, I didn’t see a single other bike rider today which was strange. It turns out, other cyclists representing all levels of fitness and quality of equipment are familiar with this weekend training ground and also take advantage of it.

And down the road:

Down at the UP yard, a couple of switchers taking care of business, and in the distance two Amtrak engines -

Further still, and on the bridge crossing the Amtrak yard, one of my old favorites, a Dash 8 switcher - just a nice clear photo! I rode on down to Jack London Square which was also bright and sunny, no wind, and lots of people lining up to catch the ferry over to San Francisco - and on the way home, this truly mediocre picture of one of the UP locals:

Just the nose! but going in reverse. I might have been able to catch this at a different spot to get a better picture, but, down by Jack London Square I decided it would be a good idea to actually crank up the speed - which was indeed fun - but, I did this for just over a mile - not a good idea! and found myself on the edge of revisiting the sore knee….so, the trip home was slow and easy!

OK, on we go

Cheers

Nick