Western Railroad Discussion > Bike-pacing the IOANP

Wondering if I am breaking new ground here with a new genre of bike-pacing train videos?  Or maybe just threatening to break my neck?  Well, only time will tell. 

So - did some bike-pacing of the IOANP (Intermodal OAkland-North Platte) as it pulled out of the Oakland CA yard today and set off toward Niles Canyon, Altamont, Lathrop and points east.   Managed to film a short video from my bike as it rolled through the Port area, and a couple of stills at various points in and around Jack London Square.    Luckily there was no traffic around me, and I was separated from the train by traffic barriers and a wall of K-rails.   This train is getting pretty predictable these days.  If I leave my house on a bike ride at noon and head to Jack London Square, I almost always see the IOANP either still making up his train, or leaving town, like today. 

1)  IOANP pulling out of the yard past Schnitzer Steel.
2)  IOANP about the enter Jack London Square.  Wanted to make sure to get the shopping cart in the photo. 
3) The genre-defining video (Ha!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/24 14:45 by dwatry.

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4)  IOANP in the street running in Jack London Square, showing off his 6 units, all elephant-style. 

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Great catch, 6 units Elephant Styl👍👍👍

Posted from Android

Nice ones dwatry. Love the bike pacing shot. What do you do to get them stabilized like that? I usually go for photos but sometimes a pacing shot out the window of the foamobile is preferred--sort of shaky. Usually take them just while killing time but in retrospect that are in some ways even better than pictures and seem to ripen over time. 

Here's an Oakland pacing shot of the San Leandro job running along San Leandro St. on the ex-WP Oakland Sub headed to R&A Trucking. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/01/24 15:16 by phthithu.

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phthithu - I didn't do anything special to stabilize the video.  I'm guessing the iphone has built-in stabliizing software, perhaps?   Hard to believe that riding a bike over Oakland pavement would really appear more stable than a video shot from a car!

Duncan

Duncan, you're a nut...LOL!

Bob
nerrp.com

When I was a college student at UC Davis, and on the rowing team, I'd going bicycling alot, which was good "cross training" for rowing (leg work).  My favorite thing was to pace trains coming off the West Valley line in Davis, heading east to Sacramento.  The old Lincoln Highway alongside the tracks is now a bike path--no cars.  I think the engineers thought I was nuts, but as they clared the junction, they'd slowly throttle up, and I'd push harder and harder to match their speed.  Ofcourse, the sound of roaring SD-45's and SD-40's only encouraged me onward.  Pushing as hard as I could, going as fast as possible, I'd was able to get up to 20-25 mph towards the end before my legs became overwhelmed with lactic acid.  I'd wave to the engineer as I began to coast, they'd give a toot of the horn and a wave back, and I'd watch them roll away gaining track speed.  Those were great days.  I miss my youth and all the craziness that came with it.  And, my legs got bigger and bigger.  My coach loved my increased power.  My college girlfriend loved the bigger muscles.

And the kids I coach today in rowing get the same advice:  go ride a bike.  I don't talk about the train thing, though....



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 04/02/24 13:57 by coach.

coach Wrote:
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> When I was a college student at UC Davis, and on
> the rowing team, I'd going bicycling alot, which
> was good "cross training" for rowing (leg work).
>  My favorite thing was to pace trains coming off
> the West Valley line in Davis, heading east to
> Sacramento.  The old Lincoln Highway alongside
> the tracks is now a bike path--no cars.  I think
> the engineers thought I was nuts, but as they
> clared the junction, they'd slowly throttle up,
> and I'd push harder and harder to match their
> speed.  Ofcourse, the sound of roaring SD-45's
> and SD-40's only encouraged me onward.  Pushing
> as hard as I could, going as fast as possible, I'd
> was able to get up to 20-25 mph towards the end
> before my legs became overwhelmed with lactic
> acid.  I'd wave to the engineer as I began to
> coast, they'd give a toot of the horn and a wave
> back, and I'd watch them roll away gaining track
> speed.  Those were great days.  I miss my youth
> and all the craziness that came with it.  And, my
> legs got bigger and bigger.  My coach loved my
> increased power.  My college girlfriend loved the
> bigger muscles.
>
> And the kids I coach today in rowing get the same
> advice:  go ride a bike.  I don't talk about the
> train thing, though....

This would make a good scene in Coach: the Movie. Later you would convince some industrial park business owner to start using his spur again.

My novice coach regaled us with stories of him and his college roomies doing stationary squats for fun to see who could last longest. What a nut was on national team.

Posted from iPhone

Bob- I think that’s a compliment, no?
Duncan

Posted from iPhone

Bob- I think that’s a compliment, no?
Duncan

Posted from iPhone

Nice footage!  

I've been bike-pacing for 40 years.  Always good times on the above-mentioned old US 40 path in Davis.  I was just on it yesterday -- no slow trains, but a Capiton Corridor whizzed by at 79 mph.  

Other favorite places are the ORHC trains on the Springwater on the Willamette Trail in Portland, NE Columbia Blvd in Portland (Kenton to me 92nd Ave, a 6 mile run mostly along the tracks) waterfront path east of I-5 in Vancouver, WA and a few others.  600 S St in Provo, Utah.  West side roads along the tracks in Mukachevo, Ukraine, with the 17 car overnight passenger trains slowly pulling out of the station... 

As an undergraduate in Utah I paced a pair of DRGW GPs pulling a 10 car train at 15 mph along the south shore of Utah Lake from Elberta to Goshen.  (Line now abandoned) 

Search my moniker in the video category to see the ORHC Santa trains.  

Ted in Davis 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/03/24 01:15 by gobbl3gook.

For sure, Duncan, for sure!
I'm just envious...

Bob
nerrp.com