http://www.fl9.com Ken Fitzgerald's railroad photography, railroad radio frequencies and locomotive horns. Sat, 17 May 2008 13:19:37 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Monday May 5th was my last day in Austin, and on the way to work after checking out of the motel I stopped at the Austin Amtrak station.  The weather was now cool with a light rain falling compared to the last few sunny days.  I decided to look for some kind ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/17/a-wet-monday/ Yesterday's blog pictures consisted entirely of EMD locomotives, while today's are all GE products.  While sitting at the County Road 401 crossing west of Taylor I thought Amtrak 22 northbound would be next, but then I heard a rumble growing in volume coming out of town in the opposite direction.  ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/16/now-its-ges-turn/ Sunday morning once I got out of the motel I started listening to the UP Austin Sub dispatcher.  He was talking to the BNSF 6477 North that was approaching Round Rock, so being in north Austin I was already behind in the game.  As this was an SD45-2, I quickly headed out ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/15/emds-dead-and-living/ Late in the afternoon on Saturday I headed northwest out of Austin on Highway 183 towards Cedar Park.  I knew the ASTA passenger train had just left Bertam by listening in on the LCRA radio system they share with Capital Metro and the Austin Western.  I made it to a ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/14/an-enduring-alco/ After catching the Austin Western's westbound rock train, I drove back by the Capital Metro light rail maintenance base just north of Highway 183, and got this side view across a vacant lot of the 104 parked next to the mainline.  A modern RDC, the 104 is one of six cars ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/13/austins-upcoming-light-rail/ On Saturday May 4th it was perfectly clear when I left the motel room in Austin.  The light rail shop for Austin Metro was only a few blocks away, so I drove by there to see if I could see any signs of testing.  To my surprise when I crossed ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/12/austin-western/ Friday night on May 2nd I was on the way back to our motel room in north Austin when I decided to swing my McNeil to see the new Captal Metro light rail overpass I had heard about.  Even though it was dark, a Capital Metro security guard was present ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/11/the-glow-of-the-headlight/ Friday May 2nd found my wife and I in Austin for a few days to help out a family member.  While out picking up supplies I heard a northbound train hit the detector at the south end of town, so I headed for one of my favorite local spots.  The ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/10/18000-horsepower-on-the-mopac/ John Briggs alerted me the UP had run their brush cutter down the Midlothian Sub from Ney Yard, and that the view looking north downgrade from Campus Drive in south Fort Worth was now open to the point you could see the full "S" curve.  The next day on Saturday ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/09/bless-the-brush-cutter/ The BNSF 4009 East we had caught earlier got a track warrant to meet a westbound train at Herman, so we situated ourselves in the middle of the "S" curves between Herman and Fairview to catch the westbound first.  In the end we had to wait a good while for the BNSF 5318 ... http://www.fl9.com/2008/05/08/ending-with-a-reflection/