Fun on the BNSF. Switching Vulcan Asphalt.


grande man

grande man

Bonafied Grande Nut
Hi everyone. I've been out of town (Tunica, MS) for a few days attending a jet fuel handling/fire fighting seminar (boooooring). On the way home I was about to pop to watch and photograph a few trains. So,,,,,, I took a slight detour and went over toward a town called Dora, Al. The BNSF still runs the old Frisco mainline that runs thru the area and one of the local industries is a place called Vulcan Asphalt. The plant is right beside the river. I was looking the RR bridge over when a freight slowly eased across the bridge with the brakeman and conductor on the lead loco. Those guys were pretty cool. The Conductor, in particular, was a hoot.

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It became evident that they had plans for the asphalt plant. The typical switch moves that followed pulled the empties out of the plant and replaced them with fresh loads.
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Mission accomplished.
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A few misc shots...

Meet MOW.
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Geep 60
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Yes, I was flat on my back to get this one...:eek:
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Two more...

The bridge.
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This is a "reject" shot because the train looks to have run out of track... Somehow I still liked it though. :rolleyes:
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Looks like you're having allot of fun with that camera, I'm afraid we're loosing you to it!
 
More great shots Eric! I'm a bit curious: Where do you find the time to get all those gorgeous daylight shots? The sun's usually very low in the sky whenever I'm free to do mine ('cept on weekends).
 
CSX_road_slug said:
More great shots Eric! I'm a bit curious: Where do you find the time to get all those gorgeous daylight shots? The sun's usually very low in the sky whenever I'm free to do mine ('cept on weekends).
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The hours I work vary depending on what the need is. Usually (not always), that works in my favor for afternoon shoots. My job is a blessing, no doubt about that.

Yesterday was one of those days (after a front moved thru) that the clouds still had a lot of definition and color and were well lit from the afternoon sun. I love those conditions.
 
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Alco, Thanks.

Josh, I ain't goin nowhere (Alabama english). :D

Here are a few more pics.

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Eric, nice shots! I always love to watch switching moves. Thanks for sharing these. (Almost makes me like diseasals.......;) )
 
rhoward said:
Eric, nice shots! I always love to watch switching moves. Thanks for sharing these. (Almost makes me like diseasals.......;) )
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Thanks Ray.

Ya'll feel free to add any BNSF/ATSF/BN, etc pics you may have. Maybe we should turn this one into another "celebration" thread.
 
As a side note, I'm learning to dislike flatscreen monitors, but with the contrast boosted way up, the pics look more like they do before I post them on my work flatscreen.
 
grande man said:
As a side note, I'm learning to dislike flatscreen monitors, but with the contrast boosted way up, the pics look more like they do before I post them on my work flatscreen.
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You might want to try messing with the settings on the flat screen (unless that's what you already did -- I'm guessing you messed with the contrast of the photos). If you know the model of the monitor, see if you can find it on www.newegg.com or www.tigerdirect.com and read the reviews to see what settings other people are using. For whatever reason, some manufacturers are shipping them with really strange settings that don't demonstrate the screen's full potential. Case in point: the 22" Acer I just bought shipped with the brightness so high that everything looked silver and gray before I toned it down. Don't know why they would ship it with the color settings washed out, but they did :confused:
 
Have you updated the latest video drivers?? I have updated mine recently and some additions were made to my video card driver where I can boost the gamma through software on the video card that will increase the brightness.
 
GM fantastic pictures Eric, i love the shot looking up at the cab's, they go to show just how big these locomotives are, nice work.
 
I'm coming in a bit late on this but.... Cool Shots! Ive been outta touch for awhile (work and life) What kinda 'new' camera did ya get GM??
 
4Starcstms said:
I'm coming in a bit late on this but.... Cool Shots! Ive been outta touch for awhile (work and life) What kinda 'new' camera did ya get GM??
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Hi Scott.

I upgraded from a point and shoot Sony Cybershot to a Canon Digital Rebel XTi SLR and a couple of pricey lenses. A word of caution to anyone else thinking of doing something similar, DON'T DO IT!, photography is addictive and a sure path to the poorhouse! :D Let's see, I really only have a few grand worth of new glass and accessories planned currently. :D Gee, I gotta get a second job...

I'm finding myself shooting portraits of kids (not just my own), historical industrial structures/mine sites, landscapes and, oh yeah, trains. :cool: It's been fun. :) Photography seems to fit with everything else I'm interested in. I'm working on learning as much as possible about it. While I have a long way to go, there are folks that are helping me out which is much appreciated.
 
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