Our Fostoria trip. Another great laughapoluza

[patrick]

Thanks you to the Great stand up bunch of people. Scott, nate, Pat C, Gregg and his dad mark, Mr tops whos currently staying at a "friends" house in Toledo. and Most of all Mike H and Dane you two guys are great. one keeps me on the straight and narrow, and the other keeps me laughing all the time. With out you guys this trip wouldn't have happened. Mr. topps What can I say buddy... I am so glad to have gotten to meet you. Hopefully you and I will get a chance to railfan someplace just the two of us, because I think the stories you and i could tell between the two of us would be great given our history. its fabulous to meet someone so comical, but yet someone whos got a good head screwed on right and mostly someone whos so knowledgable. A pleasure that certianly was all mine. To the people who have asked to remain nameless where Mike and Dane and i stayed... Thank You. Heat, comfort and laughter don't come cheap and we appreciate every inch of it. Thanks again to everyone for making this a great trip and one of the best Birthdays i've ever had. Also, A specail thanks to gregg and his family for my cam. it works great although i think i've done something wrong while taking night shots because theres a huge delay after the flash. but it works good.
To those who were unable to make it, I can only say that this aint the last time its going to go down this way..each and everyone of us agree we have had a great time. Fostoria is number one in our book and everyone is welcome for these one day events.
Again, thanks to all.... and may we do this again soon....

[RailGal]

So I don't get mentioned!!!

I've been looking at some of the other photos from past trips and its putting my pictures to shame. They need some work (besides the fact that I need a better camera and more experience taking pictures), but I might venture to post a few......Maybe......

I had such a great time hanging out with everyone this weekend as well - those mentioned and those unmentioned. You guys will never know how amazing you all made that day for me. A three-hour stop over in Fostoria turns into an 11-hour stint with new friends and new memories. Thank you so much!!

And thank you especially to those who bougt us lunch. I'm a poor college student (who paid a fortune in gas this weekend) and not having another expense was so nice. You guys are the best.

The memories, the laughter, the jokes - everything from this weekend will keep me smiling for days to come. Thank you, thank you, thank you


Kate
A New York state of mind.

[Scooterb]

Welcome aboard Kate, definitely a day to remember. Glad you came over and intorduced yourself and became part of the group. As far as pictures you need to post a few at least, If you want any pointers Zack or Mr. Tops I am sure would be able and willing to help.

[redside20]

darn its a shame i didn't go

[SousaKerry]

Even though I wasn't there i was listening in most of the day, what was that special load i kept hearing about on the scanner in the early afternoon.


Sousa
p.s. you mean there are actually female rail-fans????!!!!!!????

[RailGal]

Yes, we do exist, though rare to find. We are a special breed unto ourselves - within an already special breed.

[Scooterb]

It was a transformer or something, not sure if its in any of my pics will check tommorow somebody got a pic of it.

[RailCanon]

I got a few shots at that Transformer. I'll try to get them up tomorrow

[RailGal]

Hey - I posted my pictures (at least the better ones) so please check them out and let me know what you all think. Its in the user galleries.

[~Z~]

Hey - I posted my pictures (at least the better ones) so please check them out and let me know what you all think. Its in the user galleries.

Here's a link to her gallery...thanks for uploading!

http://www.railroadfan.com/gallery/thum ... ?album=326

[BB]

Hey RailGal those are some great pictures! Nothing wrong with them at all. So you knew they were having a gathering there or just kind of ran into them?

Believe this would be the transformer you guys are talking about. http://www.railroadfan.com/gallery/disp ... 326&pos=29

[RailGal]

I just ran into them out there. I'm going to school at SUNY Fredonia (Western NY near Buffalo) and I live in the Hudson Valley (Eastern NY between Albany and NYC). I needed to get an instrument repaired in Cleveland and then decided to go catch some trains in Berea - no decent pictures though. Then I went farther west and spent the night with an uncle who lives in Clyde. Being so close to Fostoria, I couldn't go back to NY without stopping. I was planning on leaving around noon, but started talking to those guys and ended up spending the whole day there, not leaving until 7pm. It was a long 4 and a half hour drive back to school, but the trip was so worth it. I'd love to do it again.

Thanks for checking out my photos! I'm going home for Spring Break on Thursday and I'm already planning on spending some time taking pictures around there to post here - if you guys would be interested.

Anyways - I am a rail fan. darn proud of it too!!!



Kate

[BB]

That's cool that you've meet some new friends. Would like to see pictures from New York.

[Scooterb]

We are picture junkies always look forward to more pics.

[sd70accsxt700]

Sign of the times?

[Aleks]

Kate, considering where your going to school theres lots of action down along the former Conrail now CSX lines in and around Buffalo.

Used to go for years down along the lake towards and as far as Silver Creek where the former CR (now CSX) and NS are beside each other most of the way from Buffalo and continue fairly close all the way to State Line and NorthEast PA. Even the Depew stations not bad. A little tight for shots on the south track but decent volume and a few passenger trains.
Another fair spot was at Bayview NY and the west end of Seneca yard to watch a shot photos from.

[RailGal]

I actually go watch trains on the NS and CSX lines that are only about 3 miles from my dorm. There are a few nice places where the road crosses the tracks as they run parallel. I started posting a few night pics from those spots. I want to try and get down there during the day sometime and work on getting some better shots. The trains really move around here, so I need to work on those "fast action" shots.

[Aleks]

Your a little farther west along the lake than I used to go, but your not that far from Silver Creek.
Over the course of a day, sun up to sun down we have averaged a train every 20 mins. Most ever in a day we were averaging one every 18 min.
Last I heard NS traffic is down since the CR split. NS had high hopes to pick up volumes on the old NKP even posting signs at crossings about the increase. For the first few years they did pick up but last reports I heard was maybe 3 or 4 trains in daylight. CSX is not bad but not as busy as when CR was there.
Is this still the case?

[RailGal]

I can hear the whistle from my dorm room (and around most of campus). At night you can also sometimes even hear that wonderful beat of the train on the rails.

I'm not sure what the average is excatly, but its not what some would call quiet around here. CSX definitly has way more than NS, though I can't always tell the difference between the whistles at this distance. (I'm not that good yet.) If I go down to the tracks for at least 2 hours, I'm usually guaranteed at least one NS. CSX is way more sporatic. I was there for almost an hour last night before I saw anything CSX and then they were every 15 mins, even less. I'd turn from watching the FRED and there would be more lights around the bend. This happened for an hour and half before I finally decided to go to bed, though they were still coming.

So CSX is pretty prevelant, and NS is quite a bit more quiet. I think 3 or 4 daylight NS might be a bit low, but I've never been able to spend the WHOLE day. (The annoyance of classes and such. ) I don't really know how busy it was when CR was here, so I can't compare. But I'm rarely disappointed if I can give it an hour or two!