Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Well, if you do, there is an interesting thread going on in the Trains, sub forum.
Check out the link below.
May as well go ahead and subscribe to the Train forum.
That way, any new posts will come up with the rest of your forums.
You can unsubscribe at anytime.
Pat

To go to the link/post: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/t-609866-2.html#10494582

Link to subscribe to the Train forum: https://www.uglyhedgehog.com/all-section-list

rehess Loc: South Bend, Indiana, USA

I have to admit that - even though I have a long-time interest in trains - I tend to “zone out” when I see a long train, because many have so many similar-looking cars in a row.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

I have to admit my OCD and trains makes for an interesting combination. I also like looking at the graffiti that adorns most, if not all the cars

Bill_de Loc: US

When I lived on Long Island I counted the cars. Usually the count was no higher than 8 or 9 passenger cars. Since moving to Delaware I see fewer trains, but the number of cars is more than I can count. The graffiti just continues on and on and on!

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Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

Have never thought of counting them, just enjoy watching them

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

We have long freight trains go through town frequently. If they're going fast, they're going straight through. If they're moving slowly, it means they're making a turn up ahead. If I'm sitting there waiting for it to pass, I'll probably count the cars.

mizzee Loc: Boston,Ma

When i was little and learning to count, my mom and I would count cars as we waited for the train to pass. I still do it!

russelray Loc: La Mesa CA

Since my granddad, dad, and three uncles worked for Missouri Pacific Railroad in Texas, I have been counting cars for something like 58 years now. I even have an Excel spreadsheet with various information in it about the trains I have met on all my journeys.

I not only count cars, though, I chase the trains themselves.

The longest train I have met was on 8/24/2013 in Palm Springs, California. It was a Union Pacific manifest with 367 cars loaded with full containers heading east to drop off goods that had arrived at the various ports around Los Angeles. It had 4 lead engines, one helper at the midpoint (between cars 188 and 189), and 2 end of train pushers. If you want to see the longest trains in the world, Palm Springs is a great place to do it because the trains are accessible, but anywhere along the Los Angeles/Long Beach to Yuma corridor can provide great spots for watching Union Pacific action.

My favorite spots for watching trains, though, are not as accessible but the scenery is awesome. #1 is the Tehachapi Loop near Tehachapi, California, and #2 is Cajon Pass between Barstow and San Bernardino, California. For those interested, Union Pacific Big Boy 4014, the world's largest steam locomotive, will be making two excursions through the Cajon Pass on October 12 & 13, 2019. I'll be there to take pictures and videos.

Big Boy 4014 was retired in 1959 and donated by Union Pacific to the RailGiants Museum in Los Angeles in 1961 where it sat on static display until 2012 when Union Pacific requested its return so that it could be restored and run on the rails again in time for the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad on May 9, 2019. Here's my video of Big Boy 4014 leaving Ogden UT on May 12 after all the celebrations were over, heading back to its new home at the Union Pacific steam shops in Cheyenne, Wyoming: https://youtu.be/epjhOjY-L_U

Tehachapi Loop is unique because if the train is about a mile long, it will pass over itself, as seen in my video taken on 2/10/2017: https://youtu.be/yC96HtjRrUU

One other great place to see train above train action is the Colton Flyover southwest of San Bernardino, California. Union Pacific uses the upper track, and BNSF, Amtrak, and Metrolink use the lower tracks. Here's my video of UP over BNSF action on the Colton Flyover: https://youtu.be/c7HpoFrJKro

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

Enjoyed viewing all three videos!!
Pat

nervous2 Loc: Provo, Utah

The Tehachapi Loop footage is amazing. I didn't know trains did that. Thanks for posting.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Hi Bill.Sounds like we had similar experiences (mine was at the level crossing in Oceanside by E. Rockaway).
Moved to Middletown DE recently and had to wait 10 min for a freight train to go by Rt 71. Must have been 100 cars long or the same length of the number of drivers waiting for to go by

Earnest Botello Loc: Hockley, Texas

When I was younger, a very very long time ago, I use to count train cars every time I would see one. The longest I ever saw was 120 cars, in San Antonio, Texas in the early 60s.

Fotoartist Loc: Detroit, Michigan

I count grafitti.

Photomac Loc: The Dalles, Or

Thank you for sharing these videos and stories. I grew up next to a S. Pacific line in Oakridge, Oregon, where it emerged from a tunnel. Oakridge was the RR cntr with all the persons to support the steam engines with round house etc. From Oakridge the line proceeded over the Cascades through some 27 tunnels as it wound through the mountains. It emerged from the final tunnel along Odell Lake next to Diamond Peak. The "helper" engines turned around at Crescent and went back to Oakridge. As a 3 y/o I was scared to death of the fire breathing monsters. My parents took me over to a dock so I could see people having dinner as it went by. Thereafter known as the "eating train."

I assume many of you have been to the photoshoot in Ely, Nevada during the Winter, to participate and ride the trains as well as climb all over and through them. FUN!!

FLBill

I have to cross Florida East Coast Line tracks whenever I leave or return home.
I have to admit I nearly always count cars if I catch the beginning of a train.
Latest record was 110 cars a month or so ago.
Interestingly, the line is the only railroad in the US using liquefied natual gas as a fuel.
The trains have 2 engines with a shortened tank car between them as a fuel tender.