Hi - Tech Railfanning

N Gauger

1:20.3 Train Addict
Dec 20, 2000
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South Eastern, PA
mywebpages.comcast.net
We're going to try something a bit different here. With all the technology at our disposal over the internet, a few of us thought it would be a neat thing to share our favorite railfan sites.... Or at least places we know exist and want to share with other railfans.

Rules - Do NOT under any circumstances show a picture or place in this thread.. Show LINKS only!!!!!!

The way you do it is:

open Google maps... "Find your railfan site"

Then when you have it set to the view you want it...

Right Click on "Link to this page"

Then click "Copy Link Location"

Then paste it in the post here :) :

If you need help, just leave a note here or contact anyone who has posted here and we'll help you!!!!! :D

Use any satellite information site.. Google, Mapquest, maps.live.com or any other linkable site you know of.

The object is to show railroad locations to exchange information and have fun :D

Some of my favs:
Edgmoor Yard (Wilmington DE) Conrail/PRR/Amtrak
Google Maps

30th Street Station Phila. PA Yards.. Conrail/PRR/Amtrak
Google Maps :) :)
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sep 15, 2004
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Edgmoor Yard (Wilmington DE) Conrail/PRR/Amtrak
Google Maps

30th Street Station Phila. PA Yards.. Conrail/PRR/Amtrak
Google Maps
Edgmoor Yard -
It's kind of hard to tell but it looks like that turntable has not been used for quite some time.

30th Street Station - That's cool! I like the elevated metro line running right up the middle with the catenary lines.

Something about me keeps resisting Google. I still prefer MSN live Search. Check out this place in Naples Italy! Dual turntables and a horizontal table as well down the middle!
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=qt8758j5r0wv&style=o&lvl=1&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=11569856&rtp=null~null&sp=Point.qt8c5dj5r05h_Naples%2C%20Italy___&encType=1
Now, if I could just figure out how to shorten that link...
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sep 15, 2004
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That's really cool. I love that hump yard. It looks like there is not much out there to get in the way of expansion either. There sure are a lot of coal loads in that secondary yard near the top. The maintenance facility is very substantial as well. Well thought out and planned. It's neat to see what can be done when you have the space to do it. Then there are places that don't have room to do hardly anything at all much more than a point of termination...
http://local.live.com/default.aspx?v=2&cp=45.438589~12.315352&style=a&lvl=15&tilt=-90&dir=0&alt=-1000&scene=10968935&rtp=null~null&sp=Point.qt8c5dj5r05h_Naples%2C%20Italy___~Point.rk62nxj0smxd_Venice___&encType=1
 

nkp174

Active Member
Oct 10, 2006
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Cincinnati, O.
I first really started using google earth heavily in spring '06. Even used it in a geomorphology class exercise.

Here's Alpine Tunnel. It was completed in 1884 and abandoned in 1910. It was built to cross the continental divide, but the geologist arrived to late to warn that it wasn't a suitable place for a tunnel...it was mountain debris. Originally there were many snow sheds and snow fences there. It had a stone enginehouse with an internal turntable, water tower, and coal bunker. After it burned in 1905, they built a new turntable closer to the tunnel. If you follow the line (and now road) south, you'll pass over the pallisades and around Woodstock Loop which was originally named after a town which was destroyed by an avalanche on March 10, 1884.

Live Local Search

Here's the Georgetown Loop. It was build to stretch the distance between Georgetown and Silver Plume from 2 miles to 4.5 miles...hence reducing the grades substantially. It was also completed in 1884. It consists of a curved high bridge over the mainline and two reverse curves. It was dismantled before WWII, but rebuilt as a tourist railroad which utilized West Side Lumber shays and central american 2-8-0s. Now they use a hawaiian 2-6-2 and the 1884 Colorado & Southern Cooke mogul #9. Soon they'll also have the C&S/Rio Grande Southern 2-8-0 #74. The C&S engines are cool because the line was C&S for the final 40yrs of its life.
Live Local Search
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sep 15, 2004
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nkp I dont see any pics on your links. Is there something I have to type in on the link page?
Can you see the pictures using my links? ...because we are using the same site. It may just be how we have attached the link.
 

TrainNut

Ditat Deus
Sep 15, 2004
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That's cool Jesso! It reminds me of some of those desert drawings you can only make out from an airplane.
 

nkp174

Active Member
Oct 10, 2006
1,455
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Cincinnati, O.
nkp I dont see any pics on your links. Is there something I have to type in on the link page?

There is a zoom menu...it's on the left hand side of the picture for me. Two of the options are Aerial Picture and Hybrid. Hybrid is what I prefer. If you click it, the picture will appear and the 839 will be heading up over alpine pass.
 
Jan 12, 2006
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Southern CA
This is a pretty cool thread, so I'll give this a try too (I've been looking at these satellite pics for a few years, and never even noticed the 'link this page' feature.

This link is to the first section of my future RR empire, and I plan on starting this area, as a series of Freemo modules, soon. It's a team track used mostly for local lumber and rebar companies, with several spurs (to some sort of concrete additive company (covered cement hoppers), a food chemical company (corn syrup tank cars), a plastics manufacturer (plastic pellet covered hoppers), a plastic pipe manufacturer (more plastic pellet covered hoppers), and a structural steel dealer (bulkhead flats and gondolas). The team track itself sees various sized boxcars, center-beam flats, gondolas, standard and bulkhead flats, and occasionally steel coil cars. A pretty cool mik, in a relatively compact space.

fontana, ca - Google Maps