DaveB Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Following along westwards from this spot is like a modellers dream - everything from ethanol & fuel storage, warehouse complex, container depots, scrap metal site and the biggest complex of grain silos you could ever need! I've spent ages on Google earth, just following the track. A complete time waste really - but hey! I'm retired. Dave Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Dave, it is interesting to swap between Google and Bing - you sometines get a better/clearer view on the other one when flipping between streetview weher available, and Birdseye. but you are right - there is an enormous modelling potential. Jack Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Thanks Jack.Had a look at the location on Bing.There's a lot of industries served by rail,those warehouses look huge.Imagine a layout just based on that,there's storage sidings,spurs going to different industries,bags of switching ,now if someone could just transfer it to a track plan?How do you find these jems? Robbostrains - you asked how to find interesting track layouts - try this http://www.terraserv...=-1&ovrl=-1= you can move between imagery and maps, and around the south and east sides of San Francisco (which is where this is), there are some fascinating knots of tracks around the docks and industrial areas. This uses the USGS mapping and terraserver for the imagery, which is watermarked, but there is a note at the left of the Lat a& Long, so you can the put that into Google or Bing Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Three references to look at - I'm sure that you will find lots more - hint look around ARMY STREET Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Ooooooh! Hasn't it gone quiet! . I have visions of the entire group that normally reads the "Overseas modelling" section, all on Terraserver hunting about! Have fun guys!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Great modelling potential - Walthers Plastic Pellet Transfer Silos fit perfectly, a couple on ebay for $150 and $199 each! I use Bing and Google Earth often - time to try Terraserver. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Good heavens! somebody is asking $249.95! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 11, 2010 Share Posted October 11, 2010 Only just caught up with this thread. Actually I saw it whilst in Cape May over the weekend but couldn't log in...... The wonders of the Internet, eh? Not only can we see these things but we have members that actually go out on the ground and photo them! That Terraserver thing defeated me, Jack - I thought I could just punch in Army Street, no go! Terraserver is still a mystery to me I'm afraid.... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoRS1 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 Following along westwards from this spot is like a modellers dream - everything from ethanol & fuel storage, warehouse complex, container depots, scrap metal site and the biggest complex of grain silos you could ever need! I've spent ages on Google earth, just following the track. A complete time waste really - but hey! I'm retired. Dave Most of my time is spent at the amtrak station that is located in a wye, near the bridge, across the road from the scrap yard. There are many businesses rail served around here, it a great place to rail fan. In Vancouver we get North/ South UP and BNSF traffic, as well as daily Portland and Western. I seen all kinds of locos, from FerroMex, Conrail, KSC, Soo Line, CP, CN, NS and others, all come though the wye. When we were looking for a house, I pick Vancouver, one of the reasons was to be close to major railroads. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Only just caught up with this thread. Actually I saw it whilst in Cape May over the weekend but couldn't log in...... The wonders of the Internet, eh? Not only can we see these things but we have members that actually go out on the ground and photo them! That Terraserver thing defeated me, Jack - I thought I could just punch in Army Street, no go! Terraserver is still a mystery to me I'm afraid.... Best, Pete. Dear Pete, Jack, yep, a quick peek at the terraserver loads shows a spike in random search requests for Western US last night... Let's see if we can get Bing and Google onboard Start by copy/pasting this string into either Google Maps or Bing maps 37.6561 N 122.40486 W This is the 3rd of the TerraServer specs that Jack posted, (couldn't find RR-related stuff with the first 2, although the 2nd had some form of switchlead covered by a Interstate overpass!) Using either mapping tool - move SW along what looks like a UP mainline, and cross _under_ "East Grand Ave" and "BayShore Freeway" - proceed SW and STOP just South of "Airport Boulevard" (The "Mainline" is on an Overpass on top of the road) - at this point, you have the choice to swing either North/Nor West, ending up along "Railroad Ave", with access to a few spurs in the immediate vercinity (terminates in the trees out front of "Rebels Elite" industry) OR East, passing under BayShore Fwy, crossing over Gateway Boulevade at a grade crossing, and heading into "spurs left and right" industrial switching. If you proceed East, you'll run out of track at East Grand Ave and Littlefield Ave, although it appears the track _May_ at some point have crossed East Grand Ave (Note the change in grass color of the East side of East Grand Ave, and the high "grade crossing" style signals at the intersection). Come back WEST, cross over Harbor Way, (Nice BLMA concrete gradecrossing panels! ) pull a U turn W/N/E around "Excelixis" and "Bay Area Diablo Petroleum", and you'll be facing a wild 3-way intersection between - the railroad proceeding NE - East Grand Ave E<>W - and Harbor Way/Forbes Boulevade N<>S (Zoom in hard, and check the details at this intersection!) Following the southern side of Forbes Blvd E/NE, the RR crosses Forbes and diverges NE following Eccles Ave, The proceeds roughly due East, terminating in the weeds around "Columbus Salame", on the north side of Forbes Ave, (although again, there is evidence the line may have proceeded furthur, eventually curving SE and crossing Forbes Ave 1 more time). Get yourself back to the "U turn" just West of Harbor Way, and proceed East/ South, between "Roclun International" and "R Torre and Co". You'll notice, on Google at least, that there are a pair of vans sitting where the rails _should be_ , just north of the East Harris Ave crossing. This is an abandonded spur, with the rails removed, but you can trace the obvious route of the RR south, Crossing - East Harris Ave - Swinging East past "CH Bull" and terminating near "Plastics and Paper Products" - or proceeding south, crossing Utah Ave, - dog-legging (S bend) thru the parking lot of "Pyramid Graphics" - then swinging West/SW and terminating in the fresh asphalt on the "Great World Express" carpark. (Hint, anytime you see a building with a curved wall about the same radii as a RR, bounded by a carpark or another similarly curved building, you've probably found a old RR spur... ) If you head North or South along that "mainline", you'll find a number of active and abandoned spurs (just north of the South Linden Ave crossing, there is an active Concrete/granite spur to the East, and just north of the Scott St crossing, an obviously abandoned but very intriguing spur heading off to the West, thru what looks like suburban housing development!) Just an example of the "poking around" one can do using Google/Bing... Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoRS1 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 In April I am heading to the bay area, it were the in-laws live, My father in law 70th. I was planning on taking a CalTrain to SF, now I will go and check out these areas. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Help! I'm going the wrong way on US 101! In other words I need to follow your suggestions mo' better, Prof........ Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I seen all kinds of locos, from FerroMex, Conrail, KSC, Soo Line, CP, CN, NS and others, all come though ... ...lucky lad... :D take some pics next time; some of us are trying to Railfan from about 5,000 miles away... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 SNIP but there is a note at the left of the Lat a& Long, so you can the put that into Google or Bing Dear Jack, One "gotcha", it's hard here on a US 101/104 keyboard to type in a "degrees" symbol that Google or Bing understands. It's "easier" to type the Lat/Long in decimal format. However, converting true "Degrees/Min/Sec" Lat/Long to decimal ain't easy, unless you have something like this on hand... http://www.fcc.gov/mb/audio/bickel/DDDMMSS-decimal.html Copy/paste the resulting decimal version straight into the Search bar of either Map webpage, and you'll be right where you are(?!?!?) NB that adding the "N" "S" 'E" or "W" can sometimes assist the engine in getting it right... Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prof Klyzlr Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 In other words I need to follow your suggestions mo' better, Prof........ Best, Pete. Dear Pete, Like the bumper sticker says... "don't follow me, I'm lost too..." Happy Modelling, Aim to Improve, Prof Klyzlr "...Railfanning US shortlines and switching from at least 16,000Ks away, somewhere deep in the Aussie Bush..." Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Just to change the subject slightly.... Has everyone seen that great picture of the SD40 in PanAm livery shot at Ayers Yard in the Gallery section? Not sure how to link it but very evocative photo... Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
alcoRS1 Posted October 12, 2010 Author Share Posted October 12, 2010 ...lucky lad... :D take some pics next time; some of us are trying to Railfan from about 5,000 miles away... I wish I did get a picture, it was January 20th 2007, at vancouver WA, it was a sd60 like these roll soo porn for F-UnitMad http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oS9jn4nIQOQ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Only just caught up with this thread. Actually I saw it whilst in Cape May over the weekend but couldn't log in...... The wonders of the Internet, eh? Not only can we see these things but we have members that actually go out on the ground and photo them! That Terraserver thing defeated me, Jack - I thought I could just punch in Army Street, no go! Terraserver is still a mystery to me I'm afraid.... Best, Pete. Sorry, Pete - this is what you should have found Lines going every which way! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-UnitMad Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 roll soo porn for F-UnitMad Aaaah... that's better..!!! B) :D Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Sorry, Pete - this is what you should have found Lines going every which way! That does have a beauty, Jack - quite difficult to model too without having an enormous 'board (or a cruciform shape?)because it would prove critical to have the 90 degree meets! It does contain some of my favourite US trackwork plans......... I'm going to take a closer look at this later on today. Thanks! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I'm not certain of the age of the maps, but the trackwork may no longer exist on more modern photo mapping like Bing and Google - many of these areas have been torn down and rebuilt by developers of inner city areas and Industrial Parks. If you go further north and east in San Francisco There are 3 yards, each belonging to a different railroad. together with lots of lines running along streets, and knots of trackage in the dockside areas, enough inspiration to keep a track planner busy for ages! I must admit that I start with the maps, and then move on to the aerials and satelitte views, This is a plan copied from a suggestion by Ian Holmes in The Twin Cities, just to show that such inspiration can be found all over, and not just in SF! Note the odd shaped building with the curved wall just north of Marshall Avenue- the track has now been removed - incidentally this is near to the Huge (AFAIR) Sears Roebuck Catalogue dispatch warehouse Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I came across a curved wall building in Bayonne set right up against its' neighbour. The only existing rail was a short spur to the building (which has since been removed too, actually the siding at the building still exists as about a 25 yard length of track but the connection to CSX which ran across a busy junction of 440 and US78 link has gone - CSX were fond of "switching" during the rush hour which led to a car driver threatening to shoot the engineer). Fun stuff! Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Here's a link - it's actually 440 and Pulaski St. Very busy junction - you can see where they patched the tarmac so this view is quite new. Spot the little length of track and follow what was there to the curved building - it looks much tighter when you drive pass. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=Bayonne+440+and+Pulaski+St&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=48.688845,74.794922&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=New+Jersey+440+%26+Pulaski+St,+Bayonne,+Hudson,+New+Jersey+07002&ll=40.683697,-74.099178&spn=0.005532,0.018561&t=h&z=16 Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
shortliner Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 I imagine CSX were REALLY, REALLY popular at rush hour! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted October 12, 2010 Share Posted October 12, 2010 Great modelling potential - Walthers Plastic Pellet Transfer Silos fit perfectly, a couple on ebay for $150 and $199 each! Might be worth also looking for the Walthers bakery kit, that includes the same silo's (although not in the same arrangement unless there are alternative "top/base" bits?) plus a really nice blockwork construction modern industrial building with things like nicely modelled "bellows" fitted truck doors - and it costs less than either of those http://www.walthers.com/exec/productinfo/933-2915 Ref the size of some of these modern warehouse structures, some are big enough to become effectively un-modelleable, either physically too big to fit on anything other than a larger home layout or maybe even so large they would look unbelievable in model form, I used this on another thread yesterday but here's an example! http://www.flickr.com/photos/52297608@N07/4931644450/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.