Today I finally made it down to Locust Grove's new train watching platform when it was open (I tried in November, but it wasn't open yet). It's certainly a great thing for the city! It's large, with a few picnic tables, and the side facing the tracks has a relatively unobstructed view both directions. There's a live scanner feed, but the main road is fairly busy and I had better luck going back to my car between trains and using my Ham Radio and mag-mount antenna to listen for activity (warmer too ). One bonus I discovered, was that the railing in between the trackmost part of the concrete and the actual pavilion part is about 10 inches wide and 8-10 feet long per segment and at a perfect height to use while standing, each segment easily long enough for several railfans to put books or radios or even lunch! The city is a nice little town, with a generally safe feeling and there are plenty of stores either walking distance or a short drive away. It's less than a mile from I-75. Parking is very convenient being right next to the platform!
Some railfanning tips:
Road Frequency is 160.950.
A good timing mark for southbound trains is when they call the signal at Grove, you'll have just under 10 minutes until it shows up.
There's another signal just two miles before that's another good mark.
There are two defect detectors in range on each side of the city to listen for.
Today's pics:
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 7.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; My first southbound.
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 3.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then one showed up right as I was about to leave.
Some railfanning tips:
Road Frequency is 160.950.
A good timing mark for southbound trains is when they call the signal at Grove, you'll have just under 10 minutes until it shows up.
There's another signal just two miles before that's another good mark.
There are two defect detectors in range on each side of the city to listen for.
Today's pics:
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 7.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; My first southbound.
http://s226.photobucket.com/user/Zatnik ... 3.jpg.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Then one showed up right as I was about to leave.