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>>> Amtrak Town Hall Meeting Recap
Friday, March 12, 2010 Amtrak held a town hall meeting in Chicago on March 6 in conjunction with Trains Magazine. Topics discussed included Amtrak's photography policy, upcoming equipment acquisitions, and the future of long-distance trains. To summarize the photo policy, photography at Amtrak-owned stations on limited access platforms (those that are staffed or in large cities) will be limited to ticket-holding passengers who are boarding or de-training. The photo policy does not apply at stations not owned by Amtrak (which make up two-thirds of the stations they use). Amtrak is also working on a railfan registration program similar to that developed by BNSF Railway. For upcoming equipment purchased, the immediate future holds twenty to sixty electric locomotives for use in the Northeast and up to 170 additional Viewliner-design cars to replace the remaining Heritage equipment and expand the single-level sleeping car fleet. Beyond that replacing the Amfleet I cars in the Northeast and acquiring bi-level corridor cars for the Midwest are also near-term possibilities. There is a 40 year plan to replace the entire current Amtrak fleet. Finally, the future of the long-distance trains is secure. Amtrak is undertaking a long-range plan to improve on-board service and reliability. Copies of many of these documents are available on Amtrak's web site. After the meeting was over guests were left to tour a display train at Chicago Union Station made up of three rebuilt Superliners and the first GE P40 diesel rebuilt with stimulus funds. Photos are available on flickr. Posted by Brian at 9:45 AM >>> Butler, Indiana Derailment Photos Friday, February 19, 2010 I went to Butler, Indiana today to see the mess Norfolk Southern made with 206 yesterday morning. I have posted some photos on flickr and there is a discussion on RailroadFan.com as well. It was an excellent opportunity to test out the new digital camera! Labels: butler, derailment, indiana, photography, railfan, trip report Posted by Brian at 10:47 AM >>> railohio Goes Digital Sunday, February 14, 2010 Today, it can be said, railohio "went digital." Yesterday the mailman brought my first DSLR, a Nikon D90. Today it went for its first field trials. I've been avoiding the issue for a few years now. I'd argue that the camera I wanted, a Nikon D700, was still too costly or that there were too many "extras" to get along with the camera that drive the price up further. I played the "computers are too unstable to entrust with my photos" card a number of times as well, never mind that I used Macs and my computers were perfectly reliable. It was, in the end, simply a preference for film that kept me from switching. It was also the film that made me switch. Fuji is about to end their subsidized processing mailer program; that would virtually double my processing costs. My film scanner has also seen better days, greatly reducing the usefulness of those film-based images in an increasingly digital world. I was coming to terms with all that, however. The change ended up being more opportunistic than premeditated. I logged in to check Facebook one day last month and saw a friend was offering a D90 and lens kit for sale. A figurative light bulb lit up in my head and I did some quick calculations on my estimated tax refunds. I made an offer equal to the value of my tax refunds and my film and processing budget for the spring; long story short, I'm now the owner of a Nikon D90 and 18-105mm VR. By my calculations the camera will have paid for itself if I shoot just three-quarters less film than I did last year. That's right, I don't even have to give up film entirely to make the switch pay off. Of course, my original arguments against digital still hold true. There are still a number of things I need to get before I dive headlong into this. Memory cards are at the top of the list. The camera is being supplied with but one 1GB card, not nearly enough when dealing with 12-megapixel images. A trip to Meijer is in order this week to pick up a pair of 4GB SDHC cards. Those same images will also eat up my hard drive space. This past autumn I purchased a 1TB external hard drive, but I'm going to need to beef up the computers, too. I'll likely end up getting a new 250GB hard drive for each the Mac mini and Macbook this spring. From B&H I'll need to get a second rechargeable battery, I know a couple DSLR shooters who can drain a battery in less than a day, and maybe one of those cheap wireless remotes, too. Down the road I'll need to get some wide "DX" glass to make up for the 1.5X crop factor of the smaller image sensor. I'd also like to get the vertical grip battery holder which would help mimic the handling of my beloved F5. The F5 is going to a new home on long-term loan along with some of my other photo gear out to the Northwest. The new (to me) SB-28 will likely go with and probably the manual focus glass as well. I'll keep the N80 and FM-10 for future film shoots along with all of my digital-compatible autofocus lenses. Photos will be posted later this week. Labels: cameras, photography Posted by Brian at 7:36 PM >>> iPad Arrives Friday, January 29, 2010 After months of rampant speculation Apple's iPad has arrived. It doesn't run OS X and it doesn't have a webcam, but it's still an amazing device. For starters, it's priced at about half what Apple pundits expected. It also introduces new functionality to the iPhone OS in the form of iWork. And don't forget it doesn't require an AT&T contract to get wireless service either. That is possibly the most revolutionary idea behind it. So what is the iPad? It's basically an iPod touch on steroids. It fits somewhere between the iPhone/iPod product line and the Macbooks. It is, in essence, Apple's reply to the "netbook" phenomenon. It can best be described as the everyman's gadget. No, it won't replace your iPhone or likely your laptop if you need specific applications. It promises to be the ultimate in traveling light, however. So why are people griping about its release? Its not fully customizable, but what Apple product is? It lacks support for Flash. It doesn't have a webcam. And don't forget the biggest complaint of all, it's made by Apple. In spite of this techno-whining, it will still sell by the millions. Yes, I do plan to get one. My Macbook will be three years old this summer. I'm sure when it dies, be it a year or three years from now, I'll replace it with an iPad. Truthfully, I don't need all of OS X when I travel. Sure, I'll miss having some favorite games, but when I travel all I really need to do is check e-mail and do some research on where I'm at or where I'm going. That can easily be accomplished on the iPad, or even my iPod touch for that matter. But the iPad is just so cool! It doesn't do anything that my iPod or Macbook don't do now, but if my experience with the iPod is any indication it will do them very, very well. With an iPad I can carry a digital portfolio of my photography, play games, read a book, catch up on news, or update my blog. I can do it from anywhere in the house, anywhere in the yard, and, with the AT&T wireless setup, anywhere I travel. Going to Chicago for a long weekend? The cheap data plan will be perfect for trips like that. Having a keyboard dock makes it even more useful at home; if the rumored compatibility with a Bluetooth keyboard comes true it will be very appealing for travel. This year will be very interesting for Apple. The company is poising the iPhone OS to be a dominant player not just in the smartphone category but also for personal entertainment and now even productivity. It's shaping up to become more relevant than OS X even. That development would truly be interesting. Posted by Brian at 1:20 PM >>> Henry Ford's Railroad Thursday, January 07, 2010 This past week the Indiana & Ohio moved what are presumed to be their last auto racks out of Flat Rock, Michigan. The road that Henry Ford (re)built is now out of the automotive business. It should come as no surprise, however, with the two-year long shake-up of the domestic automotive business that is still playing out. It's only natural for contracts to be reevaluated and awarded based on new business projections. It will be strange regardless of the circumstances to see only covered hoppers and gondolas moving north of Lima on the road formerly with all the connections. Labels: railfan Posted by Brian at 12:52 PM >>> All is Quiet on New Year's Day Friday, January 01, 2010 There was a time, not too long ago, when railroading was a 24/7/365 operation, when only the postal service (Neither rain, nor sleet...) had greater fortitude. Today, however, all is quiet on the rails. Only "essential" trains are running, those of Amtrak, commuter agencies, and, of course, UPS. What happened to the mantra that railroading is a year-round and essential operation? Labels: railfan Posted by Brian at 12:31 PM >>> A Railpictures Gem Wednesday, December 30, 2009 I don't normally call attention to Railpictures.net, but this series of photographs is worth the trouble. Chuck Schwesinger has been posting some amazing photos from the Upper Midwest, and now the Pacific Northwest. They're definitely worth a visit to the site, even if you're normally put off by the flashy ads and pop-up windows. The pleasure is very much worth all the pain. Labels: photography, railfan Posted by Brian at 7:29 AM |
>>> About Me Brian M. Schmidt is a freelance writer and photographer from northwest Ohio. View my complete profile >>> Links Cafe Unknown Last Otaku Standing Rambling West route99west.com/addendum Under the Weather Blog World Scott >>> Previous Posts
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