Western Railroad Discussion > Noon at One o’clock

No, this isn’t related to the semi-annual absurdity of jacking with the clocks, which we just did last weekend.
 
Noon is a place.  It’s just SP timetable east (geographically west) of Flynn on the Toledo Branch, between MP 710 and 711.  It’s where the tracks swing north away from Hwy. 20 and up the Mary’s River canyon.  It’s where the “Dynamite Spur” is, and Timber Supply Co. still gets a car spotted here every once in a while.
 
Until a couple years ago, Mary’s River Lumber Co. was in operation here; that site is now vacant.  On the other side of the tracks, Patrick Lumber Co. seems to be expanding.  Neither of these mills had rail service, at least that I’m aware of.
 
I’ve been hoping to get some drone shots of the Toledo Crawler here, and yesterday was my first successful lunch time attempt at catching that train here.  After an unsuccessful search for the train (a mile up the river) on the first flight, I landed, changed batteries, and waited. 
 
Just a few minutes later it appeared around the bend, drifting downgrade very slowly.  It was as if the crew knew their approach was audibly difficult to detect, and wanted to give me time to get airborne.  I sure appreciated it!
 
1.  At 120 meters altitude and a mile up the river (as the drone flies) to the first bridge (looking SE toward Philomath)…no train (yet). 
 
2.  A closer view of the bridge and trestle.  Would this be an okay shot with a train in it?
 
3.  Looking up the Mary’s River canyon from Noon.  The train is drifting slowly downgrade and rolling across the switch to the Dynamite Spur.
 
…3 more…
 

---

---

---

4.  At the entrance to Patrick Lumber Co.  Part of the vacant Mary’s River Lumber site is at the lower left of the photo.
 
5.  Looking east toward Philomath.  Remnants of the recent snowpocalypse in the Cascades is visible in the distance.  Two of those 29 boxcars appear clean and untagged.  At least on one side.  Those 4 green metal buildings have appeared just in the last couple months, and the area beyond them is currently being developed.
 
6.  Looking east into the Willamette Valley; the head end of the train is at Flynn, adjacent to the Georgia-Pacific lumber mill.  (I finally got the whole train in one shot, and some ideas about how to do it better next time!)
 
I’ve been thinking about making this a continuing series called “Lunchtime Dronefoaming.”
I guess this will be Part 1.
 
Hopmere Hank
 
 

---

---

---

I've got a drone now. Looking forward to getting some aerial train shots and videos.
Keep it Interesante.

State please (there are some hints [SP timetable and Willamette Valley], so I'd guess Oregon)?
Where in relation to a major city (east, west, etc. from Portland, Albany, Salem or Eugene)?

I'm enjoying the views but the colors look funny. Is there a filter on the drone or in your processing?

Thanks

Why is it absurd to "jack with the clocks?" I happen to like more evening daylight. But in Winter, more daylight is needed in the morning for kids to get to school etc.   Most other countries change their clocks as well, albiet a week or so later in the year. 

Cumbresfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> State please (there are some hints , so I'd guess Oregon)?
> Where in relation to a major city (east, west, etc. from Portland, Albany, Salem or Eugene)?
>
> I'm enjoying the views but the colors look funny. Is there a filter on the drone or in your processing?

You guessed rightly. 
I assumed I listed plenty of clues in the introduction, and included a clue in 5 of the 6 captions.  Sometimes I forget others aren't as familiar with the local geography.

Photo 2 was overexposed by 2 stops, as captured (according to the camera), so I attempted to correct it a little using what I had (MS Office 2010).  I probably made it worse.
Photos 3-6 are unedited, but they were extracted from a video, which resulted in a .png file (which T.O. doesn't accept), then converted to a .jpeg.  The trees still have their winter look, but not for long.  I'm not skilled in photo editing (yet)...it's on my short list.

HH

I like the time change also.  Living in Northeastern Washington if we stayed on Standard time all year it would be light at 3:30 or so in the Summer and not light until between 8-9 am in the Winter.  Much better to have it light until after 10pm in the Summer and getting light by 7-8 in the Winter.

wirelessenabled Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I like the time change also.  Living in
> Northeastern Washington if we stayed on Standard
> time all year it would be light at 3:30 or so in
> the Summer and not light until between 8-9 am in
> the Winter.  Much better to have it light until
> after 10pm in the Summer and getting light by 7-8
> in the Winter.

There are two bills in the NM Legislature to change daylight savings time:
One bill passed in the NM House and sent to the Senate keeps New Mexico on Standard Time all year.
The other bill passed in the NM Senate and sent to the House keeps New Mexico on Daylight Time all year.

Talk about a dysfunctional system - it's crazy! 
But neither one has a chance as they are tied up in legislative committees in the body which voted to pass the exact opposite bill. And we have one, slight saving grace from the damage that the NM legislature is doing to citizen's rights this year: The state constitution limits the time they may be in session to 60 days and that time expires at noon this coming Saturday and all bills not passed by then DIE!!

Here in SoCal I prefer daylight savings year round.  I think it is easier to gradually adapt to differing lighting through the year than to switch clocks back and forth, and I prefer the longer evenings of light in the summer.  That said, it is presently against Federal law for a state to keep Daylight Savings Time year round.  You can keep Standard time year round or change the clocks back and forth, but not DST all the time.  The Feds would have to change the rules to allow states to go with year-round DST.  Seems like there's bigger fish for them to fry at the moment.

Andre

Edit: Meant to add that the drone shots were pretty cool.  



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/19 17:15 by Heymon.

Cumbresfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> State please (there are some hints , so I'd guess
> Oregon)?
> Where in relation to a major city (east, west,
> etc. from Portland, Albany, Salem or Eugene)?
>
> I'm enjoying the views but the colors look funny.
> Is there a filter on the drone or in your
> processing?
>
> Thanks

Oregon.

West of Corvallis, Home of Winterail.

I can't answer the last one.

Rob

Either way looks like a Toledo Hauler to me and it looks good!

Great photos, HH! Oddly enough, I know exactly where you were.  The bridge in #1 and 2 has the construction date of 1899.

The house in #2 was for sale a few years ago, in the neighborhood of $700K, complete with a trackside view of the P&W!

Oh, BTW, with a short train, you're pulling uphill to the Dynamite Spur eastbound and it crests just east of the crossing into the mill, whistle loudly for my step son and his family who lives nearby...

Roustabout out!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 03/14/19 22:01 by roustabout.

roustabout Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The bridge in #1 and 2 has the construction date of 1899.
>
> The house in #2 was for sale a few years ago, in the neighborhood of $700K, complete with a trackside view of the P&W!

I've been by there many times (in my mis-spent youth), both on the river (Feb. and March, when the water was high enough) and on the rail.  Always a good time, and uniquely beautiful through the canyon from Wren(s) to Noon.

HH