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Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 4:01 pm
by NickThatRailfan
What spots in the midwest/west around Wyoming, North/South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, and Utah offer good scenic shots such as rolling hills, mountains, woods, etc anything thats scenic and has substantial train traffic (preferably 35+)
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:45 pm
by Saturnalia
Marias Pass. You will not be disappointed.
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 2:51 pm
by NickThatRailfan
Saturnalia wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:45 pm
Marias Pass. You will not be disappointed.
How many trains would you say on average? More then 35+
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:23 pm
by Saturnalia
NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 2:51 pm
Saturnalia wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:45 pm
Marias Pass. You will not be disappointed.
How many trains would you say on average? More then 35+
Should be right around the 30-40 range, but the pass is a great place to chase so you'll have no problem staying busy.
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 8:47 pm
by NickThatRailfan
Saturnalia wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 7:23 pm
NickThatRailfan wrote: ↑Tue Oct 17, 2023 2:51 pm
Saturnalia wrote: ↑Mon Oct 16, 2023 6:45 pm
Marias Pass. You will not be disappointed.
How many trains would you say on average? More then 35+
Should be right around the 30-40 range, but the pass is a great place to chase so you'll have no problem staying busy.
I just looked through the symbols that go through Marias Pass I counted 90 in total and minus the about 30 as needed I came up with about 60 daily trains
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2023 11:25 pm
by Saturnalia
I promise you that they are not cramming 60 trains a day on the Northern Transcon. The largely single-track route simply wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Keep in mind a fair number of trains also run via the Northern Pacific/Montana Rail Link route, instead of the Great Northern.
30ish per day is a solid estimate.
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:16 am
by CSXBOY
When I visited Marias Pass in the summer of 2022, I would assume it averages 30-40 trains a day. Now that number can go up depending how many unit trains of grain and oil there is running on the pass. Since trains can only do 25 mph on the pass and a good majority of them are heavy, dead times are frequent. When I stayed at the Izaak Walton inn for a week, there was days when it was completely dead and similar to what you see in a 12 hour peroid on the CN Flint Sub. Though there was a couple days where it was nonstop. Scenery makes up for alot of it. Marias Pass is a very gorgeous piece of mainline railroading
If you like desert scenery I would recommend visiting the BNSF Southern Transcon anywhere from Los Angeles CA to Amarillo TX. Arguably 70-80 trains a day and in some sections maybe upwards to 90 trains a day. When I was in Amarillo TX in April, I counted 44 trains in less than 12 hours and 45 trains in 12 hours the next day. Although Amarillo is in the great Plaines and is not as scenic. Cajon Pass might be the most scenic part of this piece of railroad. Plus you get to see Union Pacific out in Cajon with their Palmdale Cutoff line, arguably 70-80 trains a day. The portion from Needles CA to Flagstaff AZ is also very scenic especially by Flagstaff. Plus the famous Route 66 follows this portion of the transcon. Highly recommend. Desert Railfanning is so much fun.
There is alot out west and honestly I have more fun railfanning BNSF and UP compared to CSX and NS here in Michigan and NW Ohio. If you get the chance get out there. You will not be disappointed. Arizona, Texas and Montana are simply amazing.
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Wed Oct 25, 2023 3:19 pm
by NickThatRailfan
CSXBOY wrote: ↑Tue Oct 24, 2023 12:16 am
When I visited Marias Pass in the summer of 2022, I would assume it averages 30-40 trains a day. Now that number can go up depending how many unit trains of grain and oil there is running on the pass. Since trains can only do 25 mph on the pass and a good majority of them are heavy, dead times are frequent. When I stayed at the Izaak Walton inn for a week, there was days when it was completely dead and similar to what you see in a 12 hour peroid on the CN Flint Sub. Though there was a couple days where it was nonstop. Scenery makes up for alot of it. Marias Pass is a very gorgeous piece of mainline railroading
If you like desert scenery I would recommend visiting the BNSF Southern Transcon anywhere from Los Angeles CA to Amarillo TX. Arguably 70-80 trains a day and in some sections maybe upwards to 90 trains a day. When I was in Amarillo TX in April, I counted 44 trains in less than 12 hours and 45 trains in 12 hours the next day. Although Amarillo is in the great Plaines and is not as scenic. Cajon Pass might be the most scenic part of this piece of railroad. Plus you get to see Union Pacific out in Cajon with their Palmdale Cutoff line, arguably 70-80 trains a day. The portion from Needles CA to Flagstaff AZ is also very scenic especially by Flagstaff. Plus the famous Route 66 follows this portion of the transcon. Highly recommend. Desert Railfanning is so much fun.
There is alot out west and honestly I have more fun railfanning BNSF and UP compared to CSX and NS here in Michigan and NW Ohio. If you get the chance get out there. You will not be disappointed. Arizona, Texas and Montana are simply amazing.
I always have food luck on the Flint Sub usually whenever I railfan Battle Creek or Bellevue I average around 6 trains in 4 hours when I went to Durand on my birthday I was there for 5 hours and saw 6 trains and I went back to Durand 3 days later and saw 12 trains in a 6 hour period the Flint Suh never disappointed me now the NS Detroit District or the Ex Wabsh very unfortunate I only saw 3 trains in 6 hours 2 on the NS and 1 on the Ann Arbor I was highly disappointed
Re: Trains in the midwest/west
Posted: Sun Oct 29, 2023 1:10 pm
by joeyuboats
PUNCTUATION???