Book Review: RAIL USA Museum & Trips

Hello Followers,

In most instances, my blog contributions consist of personal experiences, trip notes, or a subject of interest related to something news relevant or historically significant. In this unusual case, today's submission comes in the form of a book review of a Bella Terra publication; RAIL U.SA. Museums & Trips. As a frequent travel who is always seeking good rail related reading material, I was recently introduced to this expansive guide and illustrated map that outlines some of our country's most unique rail related tourist destinations, the contact information to those attractions, and an easy-to-read illustrated map that connects our nation's rail preservation sites in a small, compact size.

I obtained a copy of all three RAIL U.S.A. Museums & Trips guides, which feature three separate books that include The Western States, Central States, and Eastern States. The all inclusive three-pack which I obtained at a price of only $24.95 features over 1,200 Museums, Depots, Scenic Railroads, Dinner Trains, Model Layouts, and Historic Sites & Train watching locations. For the occasional or frequent traveler, these compact guides are incredibly handy for quick references, proactive planing purposes, or personal research projects.

The attached photo (at right) features the expanded back side of the RAIL U.S.A. Western States edition, which includes an in-depth review of some of the western state's most prominent rail tourist destinations. A key-gen, which is somewhat visible in the top left of the photo helps identify specific types of rail attractions, such as museums, tourist lines, model layouts, etc. Those symbols are then placed alongside the text of that particular location/site along with its contact information, respectively. This helps quickly identify an area of the reader's interest and makes navigating each booklet extremely user friendly.

Each booklet is laid out very consistently, each featuring summarized information related to a specific attraction, its address/phone number, and other contact information. When fully expanded on the opposite side, the reference guide quickly evolves into an in-depth and well laid out illustrative map that features creative artwork and an atlas that easily pinpoints rail museums, tourist railroads, miniature railroads, etc. in relation to nearby highway systems and other roadways. The map also outlines existing railroads, but primarily focuses on the significance of museum and other rail attractions, as opposed to Class I railroads.

In short, each of these books in part of the RAIL U.S.A. Museums & Trips series are ideal for a traveling rail enthusiast, preservationist, or historian. Their compact size allows them to be easily stowed into camera bags or laptop cases while traveling. Additionally, they're great resources for trip planning purposes. As a West Virginia native, I was very impressed that the Eastern States edition included some of West Virginia's most obscure tourist attractions.

Each booklet is priced at $9.95, while the three-pack all inclusive guide is priced at $24.95. The booklets are a publication of Bella Terra and hit news stands in early 2014. Laminated copies of the maps are available, per request. Visit BellaTerraMaps.com for the latest product information.

Deja Vu in the Desert? Warbonnets still roam the Mojave Desert

Deja Vu in the Desert? 

Warbonnets still roam the Mojave Desert

In my three separate trips to southern California since early 2012, I've focused heavily on visiting and photographing today’s BNSF Railway operated Needles Subdivision, a busy section of transcontinental railroad connecting California’s coastal ports to the Midwestern industries of Chicago. Intermodal traffic dominates this scenic line, which slices through the Mojave Desert between Barstow and Needles. While I've heard several different estimates on projected daily train count, all of my visits to this busy railroad have produced significant levels of rail congestion, and consistent parades of westbound and eastbound trains.

While the double track mainline between Barstow and Needles has endless scenic photo opportunities, I’m also very partial to BNSF and Union Pacific lines west of Barstow, especially in the direction of Mojave proper and continuing west toward the former Southern Pacific Tehachapi Pass, a route deserving of its own story and photo essay.

The original Santa Fe yard and terminal of Barstow has always served as a good centralized point of interest in providing the most trains and variety. Several road locals originate here and the never-ending volume of inbound and outbound trains is fascinating to watch. This is also one of the best locations in the Mojave Desert (from my personal observations) to still watch several decently-painted original ATSF ‘Warbonnets’ lead road locals across the desert.

In a January 2012 visit to Barstow, I had my first, true ATSF Warbonnet encounter in the form of the railroad’s weekday Boron local, a road local that delivers covered hoppers to a Borax facility in Boron, Calif. west of Barstow. The roughly 80-mile round trip disembarks from Barstow on weekdays, delivering inbound cars to the Rio Tinto Borax Mine and picking up outbounds for customer distribution. On a mild and sunny day in January, rail photographer Chris Starnes and I intercepted the Boron job while it was switching out cars on the ‘Boron Spur’, which diverts away from the BNSF Mojave Subdivision to gain access to the facility. In true Santa Fe fashion, former ATSF GP60M No. 160 was doing the honors on this specific day, leading a trio of freshly rebuilt BNSF SD40-2R’s. The train left the facility with a heavy train in tow, putting on quite an impressive audio show to maintain a track speed of 50 MPH.

Fast forwarding over two and a half years in the June of 2014, I was once again in the center of the railroad’s busy Barstow terminal. Approximately two years had passed since my last visit to the area and I was anticipating an entire revamping of the railroad’s selection of motive power for road locals. As Class I’s work all across the nation to repaint locomotives into current corporate logos and schemes, I was expecting the iconic Santa Fe’s of 2012 to be even more endangered.

In a sea of vibrant orange ‘swoosh’ painted BNSF widecabs and rebuilt SD40-2R’s during my first re-encounter in 2014, I was even more convinced that the days of Warbonnet-led road locals were a thing of the past… Continuing east toward Ludlow to re-join access to Historic Route 66, a headlight on the horizon indicated we were on path to intercept a westbound. Expecting to encounter another L.A. bound container train, we diverted away from Route 66 onto a dusty pathway near Ash Hill.

As the train approached, the distinctive red nose of a former ATSF Warbonnet became apparent. On closer observation, a magnified telephoto perspective revealed a westbound light engine move. This was obviously the Cadiz local returning light to Barstow from the Arizona & California Railroad interchange near Amboy, California in the center of the Mojave Desert. The local is notorious for representing unique power lashups, but I was anticipating that even the Cadiz job had fallen victim to the ever increasing BNSF Railway corporate image.

On this extremely hot evening in June, I was once again fortunate to document a road local with classic power. The five-unit light move featured four Santa Fe locomotives; three of which were iconic red and silver ‘warbonnets’ while the fourth was the blue and silver Santa Fe inspired scheme. The leader, BNSF B40-8W No. 558 had received a BNSF applied patch job, separating it from the few remaining (and clean) traditional warbonnets. The trailing locomotive in the light power consist featured a traditional warbonnet, BNSF B40-8W No. 543. With a couple of modern patches/modifications, the aging four-axle B40-8W still proudly represented the predecessor carrier, returning west to Barstow on original Santa Fe rails in June 2014. 

Despite modernization and the evolution of new locomotive technology and efficient train operations with state-of-the-art equipment, one can still find a glimpse into ‘old school railroading’ at Barstow Yard in the heart of Santa Fe’s Mojave Desert…

New angles at an old place...

New angles at an old place...

Living in the outer skirts of Charleston’s city limits, I’m fortunate to have decent access to major freeways and relatively decent secondary roads that lead you to the different areas of the state’s extensive rail network. A 50-mile jaunt to the south places me in the center of the National New River Gorge, a beautiful gorge dotted with old mining communities, abandoned rail yards, and the center of today’s tourism in West Virginia. The New River caters to hikers, cyclists, rafters, and the general outdoorsmen. Those with an appreciation of history, beauty, and good food will not be disappointed… And that’s a guarantee!

The route of the former Chesapeake & Ohio Railway mainline operates through the entire New River Gorge, which is operated and preserved by the U.S. National Park Service. The mainline railroad today is part of CSX’s Huntington Division and serves as a critical link for the transport of export coal to the ports of Virginia. In a cover story written for the National Railway Historical Society’s quarterly publication in Spring 2013, I followed much of the Gorge, documenting abandoned infrastructure, scenery, and passing trains.

One of the most identifiable locations within the Gorge today is the old town site of Thurmond. The National Park Service has made tremendous efforts in preserving the town’s icon C&O steam-era infrastructure. The old storefronts of the once profitable railroad and mining town have been restored for public display, while the C&O passenger station is open for public tours throughout the peak summer season. Despite its main appeal as a historic town for tourists, the small town, which was once the center of the highly profitable New River Coal market, is home to a five residents, per the 2010 census report.

The railroad still operates here today and while coal may not be once it was one in terms of frequency and car tonnage, Thurmond is still an important link to CSX and its operations along the New River Subdivision. From a photography perspective, the use of different lighting situations and angles make the possibilities for photography never-ending.

Visiting the area several times each year, I challenge myself in finding new compositions using different lighting situations and equipment. I have yet to find a place that offers as much history, beauty, and variety as the community of Thurmond. It’s a truly a preserved piece of West Virginia railroad history…

Similarities between the Illinois prairies and West Virginia plateaus

As a long-time subscriber to Blogger content, though a seldom contributor, recent weeks of inspiration through mutual friends, an increase in writing interest, and flexibility in scheduling has allowed me to sideline permissible time to revivify my modest corner in the internet's vastness. As a freelance writer and photographer with a dominant engrossment in rail related content, whether through railroad photography, industry news, or preservation efforts, I'm eager to replenish this blog with rail material or illustrations of personal interest, industry relevance, or historical significance in an effort to share my railroad interests and photography with followers and friends old and new. 

The inaugural reestablishing of this site features a condensed blurb outlining a few collective thoughts and observations during a May 2014 visit to Illinois and Wisconsin. 

 Similarities between the Illinois prairie and West Virginia plateaus

Surrounded by prodigious mountain ranges, narrow valleys, and isolated communities thriving off the production of West Virginia’s most desirable natural resource, I somehow managed to find a interrelation between mountainous West Virginia and the flatlands of Illinois during a recent visit to The Prairie State.

As a Mountain State resident, tracing the mainline of the former Illinois Central Railroad, often called the Main Line of Mid-America, and later acquired by Canadian National in 1999 provided me with an authentic perspective to America’s agriculture industry and its critical significance to the economy of these remote communities.  Temperatures were beginning to warm up and local vegetation was in bloom at the time of my visit in early May, but communities were still preparing their plantations and estates for the year’s harvest, heavily delayed by a winter that exceeded its welcome.

Often exploring obscure mining communities and rural coal mining valleys often exceeding no more than 100 yards in width back home, I’m oftentimes enamored with my findings and enjoy relating them to the communities I visit during my travels. It was apparent that during my time in Illinois following CN’s Chicago Subdivision mainline, there were some unique comparisons between the two diverse geographical regions.

Historic steam-era infrastructure related to the predominate corn and soyben industries dotted the mainline, often positioned around the center of town. Occasionally, a modest station would stand boarded over, dwarfed by surrounding grain silos. The commercial districts of these quaint towns were immaculate, though human activity was seldom.  Occasionally, a large combine would disrupt the stillness, utilizing the Illinois state roads to enable access to nearby ranches.

People were very neighborly, extending waves most times and essentially unmoved by the presence of a camera holding young man with a strange Appalachian accent. The position of the railroad in relation to the community reminded me of being home. I envisioned the significance of passenger rail traffic in its hey-day and how such service enabled access to Chicago, only 90 miles away.

The atmosphere of being in an outlying area, surrounded by natural beauty, historic infrastructure, and hard-working people reminded me of being in the coalfields of remote McDowell County, West Virginia. While understanding the importance of coal back home and how it creates families, feeds tables, and keeps the lights on, I realized in my short trip to Illinois how significant of a role the agriculture industry plays in both the local economy and the railroad.