NS Dash 9 on the move...

Looked what came and parked in front of our EMS station for a little while. A "Dash 9" locomotive. All the locomotives in this series except one late night no shot, were Dash 9 type. Heavy haulers they are and very loud! They are bigger and stronger than the SD40's from the previous post..

Power type	Diesel
Builder	GE Transportation Systems
Model	C44-9W
AAR wheel arr.	C-C
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Trucks	GE HiAd
Wheel diameter	42 in (1.07 m)
Length	73 ft 2 in (22.30 m)
Width	10 ft 3 in (3.12 m)
Height	16 ft 0 in (5.03 m)
Locomotive weight	394,000 lb (179,000 kg)
Fuel capacity	5,000 US gal (18,900 L)
Prime mover	GE 7FDL16
Engine type	45° V16, four stroke cycle
Aspiration	turbocharged
Alternator	GE GMG197
Traction motors	GE 5GE752AH
Transmission	Alternator, silicon diode rectifiers, DC traction motors
Power output	4,400 hp (3,300 kW)
Locale	North America

...pulling hard in a rainstorm heading north towards Tifton Ga.
Late night freight bond for Jacksonville Fla..

...coming on down the line...
...silent sentry....
Soaked Stallions...

Lazy in the Spring..

Spending more time at a nearby state park on Sunday, after the train shoot. It was nice as there was almost no one there. That will change as temps climb into the 90s this summer. I have my tentative road trip date set for the 18th-the 22nd of April. I do have a destination in mind but things can change. Need to see something different, go somewhere different this time.

Norfolk Southern Railway, Adel Georgia

Beautiful weather today, so I decided to go out and find something to shoot. I drove over to the small town that i work in. i knew of a couple of locomotives they park there. They use these to perform switching duties and picking freight in nearby local towns. I was able to get up close and personal this time. They are SD40 locomotives. More pics from my Sunday shoot posting next week!

The EMD SD40-2 is a 3,000 horsepower (2,240 kW) model of C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between January 1972 and February 1986; 3,957 examples were built, and every class 1 railroad in North America operate this locomotive. Part of the EMD Dash 2 line, the SD40-2 was an upgraded SD40 with modular electronic control systems, HT-C trucks, and many other detail improvements. The SD40-2 is one of the best-selling diesel locomotive models of all time. BNSF, Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific operate some of the largest fleets of the type. (Wikipedia)

Power type	Diesel-electric
Service class	Locomotive
Builder	General Motors Electro-Motive Division (GM-EMD)
Model	SD40-2
Build date	January 1972 – February 1986
Total production	3,957
AAR wheel arr.	C-C
UIC classification	Co'Co'
Gauge	4 ft 8½ in (1,435 mm)
Driver size	40 in (1.02 m) diameter
Wheelbase	43 ft 6 in (13.3 m) between bolsters; 13 ft 7 in (4.1 m) between axles in each truck
Length	68 ft 10 in (21.0 m) over the coupler pulling faces
Width	10 ft 3⅛ in (3.13 m) over the grabirons
Height	15 ft 7⅛ in (4.75 m)
Total weight	368,000 lb (167,000 kg)
Fuel capacity	3,200-4,000 US gal (12,100-15,100 L)
Prime mover	EMD 16-645-E3
Aspiration	turbocharged
Cylinders	V16
Power output	3,000 hp (2,240 kW)
Locomotive brakes	Straight air
Train brakes	26-L air

Goofin around...

Playing with my toys...


Hope everyone is having a great weekend...;-)

open road...

its calling.....so close.

work and play..

Turtles and planes..Woo hoo!!





I have found out that I get a few weeks off until my second job kicks in, so I have a little time to shoot pics. I have decided to hit the road for some pics in late April. Everything should be bloomed out enough for some good shots.
I even shot some pics while at work. We recently moved to another station in a nearby town. We rotate shifts between the the two stations. This new station is about 50 feet from a Norfolk Southern mainline. When the train comes through it is moving very fast, around 65 mph! It shakes the building! LOL! I decided to capture some shots as it came by. One finally came by that night and stood out beside the tracks. I was about 15 feet from the tracks when it came by...Sheeesh! That is not a good feeling to have something that big and powerful blow right by you..LOLOLOL!! I messed up the shot of the lead locomotive thus missing it and the shot I wanted. (got a little greedy and it cost me) but I will be ready next week when I go.

Train was about a mile and a half away in this shot.
It was carrying containers bound for Jacksonville Fla. Night time exposure shots are fun to play with..

Lazy day....

Spent some time today with a storm chasing friend of mine. Smitty and I drove over to Reed Bingham state park where we have shot a few times in the past. It was a really nice spring like afternoonwith temos hitting 79 degrees. The park is home to a multiude of animals and the gopher tortoise restoration project. I caught one sitting outside its burrow. It decided it didn't like me to much and eased back underground but not fast enough before I got a quick shot..Unless I am called into work I plan to sneak off again for more pics...Shhhhh..."Make hay or should I say shoot pics while the sun shines"..

Friends, Romans, Wayfarers....

Had a chance to catch up on everyone's blogs and I must say you guys have been busy..I feel shamed! LOLOL! I want to announce that updates on here will be scarce in the coming days weeks and months as I have taken a second job. I already work my usual 24 hour EMS shift and now I will be working at a local theme park as an EMT-I for the rest of the year. This is going to curtail my photo trips, storm chasing and free time to almost nothing. I do this in order to get some bills paid off this year and get out of debt if possible. It is hard to put my photography on the back burner as I love my photo road trips and the freedom to pack up and be gone for days at my on calling. I will have days off but few and far between. I do have a final wedding to shoot as even my videography business will be shutting down for this year. Fortunately it is an area up in the North Georgia mountains that I love and is dear to me and I plan to enjoy a few days before the wedding before the Wayfarer has to "drive up a stob" and spend sometime off the back roads. Not going to disappear, still be around... I will see the world through your blog pages and will post whenever I can... Rick

Somewhere...

Just looking back over the last 5 years......enjoy...