Google Maps Railfanning Section (READ RULES!)

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Nice finds!

Here's a little something:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7233...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7239...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7276...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7285...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7378...7i13312!8i6656

I didn't write down the numbers because there are way to many but all of these are in Fort Worth, TX.

[JCitron]

Nice finds!

Here's a little something:

https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7233...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7239...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7276...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7285...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@32.7378...7i13312!8i6656

I didn't write down the numbers because there are way to many but all of these are in Fort Worth, TX.

This is really, really cool. If you check out other dates, you'll see NS and BNSF units there as well. The freight yard too is nice and neat-looking. The yard near me is rotting away!

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

There's a yard near you? That's cool. Could you post a google link to it?

The yard near me is maybe about 7 miles away and it's very small. It used to be owned by NS but then the whole Delmarva line was sold to the DCR division of the Carload Express. Here's a few shots of the main yard. There's also a switch yard in Dover also, which I think I've posted before.
Harrington Yard:
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9224...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9243...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9178...7i16384!8i8192
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.9208...7i13312!8i6656
Dover Switch Yard: You can change the time back and see NS locomotives here.
https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1429...7i16384!8i8192

[JCitron]

My yard is about 12 miles away in Lawrence, MA.

Here's the yard switcher after it derailed in 2008!
https://goo.gl/maps/aaQ5cTmNKv8xQNgr9

Not much else to see, sadly because the yard is empty now.

Just another year showing the crappy trackwork.

https://goo.gl/maps/nBL76ZAzDHhPttLV7

There are many standing derailments here according to the crews I've talked to.

Here's the yard switcher not derailed in 2012 before the mainline was double-tracked again.
https://goo.gl/maps/DqrhVbbxXvGhNG2i6

A 2015 shot showing the poor switcher smoldering away as it switches cars. The double-track is in place, but notice the ripped up track in the back near the switcher. All old scrap ties.

https://goo.gl/maps/WdBpS5724dmVvQdx8

I'm glad Pan Am was sold to CSX. Maybe we'll see some upgrades since Lawrence is an exchange yard for freights going to Maine from elsewhere and also serves the switchers to Peabody, Boston (whatever remains), Portsmouth, and over to Lowell.

Nice captures, by the way. I've actually seen those before while poking around. The tracks are in a lot better shape than Lawrence. My city used to have a substantial yard and there was a smaller one across the river in Bradford. The Bradford yard was right outside my apartment, well across the street, and my dad and I would watch the switcher go about its business. Both yards are gone today. Bradford is now a parking lot for the commuter rail and a for commuter train storage. Haverhill-side is a couple of sidings with the rest being ripped up, grass, and weeds.

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Thanks for sharing the yard! The yard near you is bigger than the one I live near but I see what you mean when you say it's old, it doesn't look safe lol.

[JCitron]

Thanks for sharing the yard! The yard near you is bigger than the one I live near but I see what you mean when you say it's old, it doesn't look safe lol.

Yeah it's old. It was once much busier with the M&L branch and the mainline and serving as a division point for the through freights where there would be a crew switch off and freight interchanged. Safe, definitely not! Guilford killed the yard and made it worse and worse, and PAR hasn't helped much. In 1985, a brakeman was killed due to crew cuts and unsafe conditions. This caused a systemwide strike that lasted 9-months. During that time through the early 1990s, I used to hang out there and watch the trains. I got to know the crew and they told me stories that would scare the sh---- out of you! Boxcars and tank cars would just roll over off the tracks because the rails were in such bad shape. You can see the switcher off the rails in the first pic taken in 2012. That's pretty standard down there and not necessary except to help the bonuses for the management. The M&L branch died completely in 2002 when Guilford pushed the STB for full abandonment all the way to the end in Salem, NH. The line used to continue to Manchester, but they had cut it back to Salem, and went through great lengths to discourage business on the remaining end even though that was quite busy. So today, the tracks are nothing but a trail or high weeds and only history.

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Wow! Thanks for sharing! That yard sounds like it sure has some history to it.

[JCitron]

https://goo.gl/maps/v1XTTPdaGjrMhYYcA

Millbrae, CA station

Caltrans F40PH 907

https://goo.gl/maps/orBzXEYwB7ZGBBsb7

BART trains parked at Burlingame, CA.

Note the catenary poles for future electrified commuter rail.

[Forester1]

Nice shots John. I went a ways west to find the end of all those cars! Do you know if there is a timetable for electrifying that route?

[JCitron]

Nice shots John. I went a ways west to find the end of all those cars! Do you know if there is a timetable for electrifying that route?

I did the same with all those BART cars. Those consists are quite long. I don't know the timetable on that. It's way cool to see. I love seeing the signals lit up like that too.

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Those are some nice finds there!

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Here's a few CSX locomotives at Buffalo, NY.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.8985...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9003...7i13312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9003...7i13312!8i6656

Some UP locomotives:
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9006...7i13312!8i6656

I've never seen cars like this before. They look like some type of livestock transportation cars, but it also looks more like auto racks, so I don't know.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9019...7i13312!8i6656

It looks like they are about to pick up a cut of cars.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9015...7i16384!8i8192

Here's a little switcher. It's kind of far back in the shot.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.9015...7i16384!8i8192

[Forester1]

Great shots NorfolkSouthern1036. I am curious about those cars as well. I am leaning toward auto racks, but Kansas city is known for meat, right?
I had never seen one of those Connecticut Southern locos before. I wonder if there are any in Trainz....

[aryadwi_ef641030]

One Indonesian shot, although this time an EMU:

https://www.google.com/maps/@-6.2058...7i16384!8i8192

This October 2018 shot featured the EA203 series EMU used by airport express train operated between Manggarai and Soekarno-Hatta International Airport, although the platforms and its supporting facilities like ticket gates and ticket vending machines for airport express trains at Manggarai station was still not ready when this shot was taken. The solution for this problem was having BNI City station (located just a few hundred meters to the west of Sudirman station) temporarily assigned as temporary terminus until everything at Manggarai station is ready to serve airport express train (while the train still continues to Manggarai station, but all of airport express trains only performs direction change without having passengers getting off and boarded there. This problem was completely solved after Manggarai station began to regularly serve airport express trains after the December 1st, 2019 timetable revision).

[NorfolkSouthern1036]

Great shots everyone!

Here's a scenic view of 2 CSX locomotives in Minoa, NY

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0748...7i16384!8i8192

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.0748...7i13312!8i6656