Nifty Fifty Finds, 50 Railroad and Railway Discoveries: Long - Long - Short . Long -

By Bob Campbell

This colorful exploration of the best of the rest covers everything from Holstein's on wheels (Port of Tillamook Bay dairy cow livery) to the somewhat normal seen in a different light (Southern Pacific's 4449 Daylight Special stripped of the fancy panels and decoration) to little local units most will never get a chance to see (and I might never find again).

These one hundred fifty photographs also cover a wide range of travel from Alaska to Texas, although most will obviously be from the Pacific Northwest with Vancouver, Washington being a little over-represented.

So pick up the pace and ponder through my top fifty finds over the past twenty-odd years behind the lens. (And no jokes about "That's twenty years and the odd one is behind the lens.")

Table of Contents:
Cow Ho!
Grain Train
Port of Morrow Surprise
Triple Treat
- Back in Black
- Mini-Munchkin
- Classic Switcher
Kansas City Southern Livery
Seahawk Service
SP 4449 Daylight Special
Lyle Train Bridge
Everyone Has a Kink - SDPX
Heritage Units
- Penn Central
- Chicago North Western
Rent the CIT Blues
Great Northern Fantasy Find
- F7A
- Empire Builder Heavy Weight
Side Cupola Caboose
Bagged and Stuffed Steamies
Working Shortline Mt Hood Railway
"C" Is For...
Nickel Plate Shark-Nose
Registry Reassignment Hijinks
PNWR/WPPR Alphabet Swaps of Genesee
Balmer Hump Yard
Department of Defense Flats
Intermission - The One That Got Away
Coos Bay Rail Link
Sugar Beet Central
Canadian National - Full Winter Cowling
Webb Asset in Boise Valley
- Stampede Livery
- Mellow WAMX Liveries
Mo-Pac Eagles
Movie Steam
Hidden Way Hideaway
Great Northern Classic Yard Diesels
Tunnel Magic
Oregon Pacific GMD
GATX Trainers
Bloody Nose Southern Pacific Livery
Montana Rail Link
Golden West
United Grain Elevators
SPSR A Long Way From Home
Columbia Basin Railway
- Patriot
- Perfect Pairing of C-Swoosh
- Livery Kaleidoscope
SP&S Pit-Stop
War Bonnets
Alaska Yard Unit
Rails and Rainbows
Rolling Stock - Someone Has To Pay the Bills
Ode to the Caboose

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bob Campbell
• Release date: Feb 8, 2016
• ISBN: 9781311290243

Bob Campbell

The short of it: over-educated, unemployed, and annoying with a camera. Quite possibly a dangerous combination.The long of it:I've been snapping pictures for over a quarter-of-a-century on equipment ranging from a Pentax k1000 to Canon SX700hs - but nothing fancier. In fact, after they retired my Kodachrome 64 film, I hung up the 'real cameras' and settled for "digital pocket snappers." It seems ninety percent of the challenge to taking pictures is to remember your camera (would seem obvious, wouldn't it? But look around at the folks with large, fancy cameras - no wonder they claim the phone-based lens will be the death of real photography). So I do my part and pack it almost everywhere.I was a latecomer to photography, though, so I had time to grow up in many different parts of the country with my formative stage in the South, but junior high and onward in the Pacific Northwest. The last set of initials after my name tacked on by the Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine - making the 'highest degree attained' line of the survey read Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.I still live in the state of Washington with my lovely wife of over two decades who continues to be an invaluable accomplice. For any hazard I manage to avoid, our son does his best to ensure we'll see an early grave.Having spent a little time teaching, I've grown to miss a captive audience to inflict my photography upon, so thank you Smashwords for providing me a forum for dispersing my imagery pain to be loosed upon the world.

Book preview

Happy Happenstance Fifty

You know the feeling. A little tingle in your camera trigger finger as you stumble upon what might or might not be an abandoned, or hopefully active, railroad track. The whiplash ache after catching the faintest glimpse of possible motive power hiding back in a random siding you've just passed. The joy in your heart when your beloved says, Go ahead, turn around. (WAMX 3502 (GP35), WAMX 3528 (GP38-3), WAMX 3821 (GP38-3), July 9, 2014, Nampa, Idaho)

While I do my fair share of staking out specific locations around home here in Vancouver, Washington, nothing really beats finding an unusual locomotive, a relic from the past, or rediscovering a fallen flag livery in this day and age still plying the rails in original regalia. (GN 274, F7A, June 27, 2014, Garibaldi, Oregon)

While most folks are probably smart enough to keep such things to themselves, I'm not one of them. So kick back and enjoy my favorite fifty finds, from near and far. (PVJR 211, May 25, 2013, Vancouver, Washington)

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: Table of Contents :

Note to Modelers

If by any chance you've picked up this tome in hopes of finding inspiration for your own model railroad, I hope you understand you're not alone. I've been involved with multiple scales (currently 'L Gauge,' believe it or not... Yes, Lego makes trains and it's practically made for the cheap-skate scratch builder in mind) and I know what it's like to see a picture of a super-neat idea... but have no clue what the other sides or angles might hide. In this book I'm sometimes giving only a small sample of all the possible images available. So if you're thinking you need a different view, unit, or whatnot, please don't hesitate to contact me. I'm happy to share higher resolution images and as many different angles, views, and treatments of the various topics that I might have. (GN 441, EMD-F45, on Lego RC motor base - and like everything else visible, Bob original creations (for better or worse), January 13, 2016, Felida, Washington)

Or if you just want to talk Lego train in general, give me a holler. (Amtrak F45PH on Lego RC base, Bob original rendition in un-stickered condition, May 1, 2015, Felida, Washington)

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: Table of Contents :

Holy Cow!

No, not just an expression, but a black-and-white extravaganza.

I'd been looking and watching for this Port of Tillamook Bay Holstein cow livery for years after spotting one