Wednesday 24 May 2017
This will be short and sweet...
Last night both of us got mildly sick - suspect food - so the drive from Roanoke VA to Charlotte North Carolina via Spencer NC wasn't as nice as it could have been. It also rained all the way.
I got a couple of shots at Spencer and did a bit of shopping. Neither of us had the appetite for visiting another museum so we continued to Charlotte.
As soon as we arrived, it started to rain, then it really pelted down, then it got really heavy, with flash bangs adding to the effect. The nasty stuff has now passed, however it's still raining outside and since settling in, have been entertained by the constant roar of jets from the airport and the distant blast of airhorns from the Norfolk Southern.
We're keeping a close eye on the weather and already 2 tornadoes have touched down both north and south of our position - albeit 60 odd miles away. Apparently a school gym has been destroyed.
No photos taken - we'll be hitting the sack early I feel.
Tomorrow we'll be exploring Charlotte - rain or shine.
EJ
Wednesday, 24 May 2017
Tuesday, 23 May 2017
23 May 2017
Tuesday 23 May 2017
Today it rained / drizzled / poured and various combinations of the above all the way from Ashland to Charlottesville, to Lynchburg and our final destination, Roanoke Virginia.
The initial route had me a bit puzzled as Sally the Psychotic SATNAV had us taking some really odd back roads - click - it was still in "Avoid Highways" mode - my fault. I apologised to her and she promptly took me over to Interstate 64.
The first and only stop in Charlottesville was the Amtrak Station and the sight of people unloading bags from their cars was a good omen. About 20 minutes after our arrival, Amtrak's 'The Crescent' from New Orleans turned up. I got a good shot of its arrival and departure as it left for New York.
There's also a diamond here and I should have stopped and thought about this for a while and started listening to the scanner - as it may have hinted that there were two CSX freights sitting not far away waiting for The Crescent to depart. Lloyd was first to spot it, and I had the video camera set up in record time. I also managed to get a few stills off as well. In my haste to get back on the road, no sooner had we driven out of the carpark, another CSX freight turned up. Never mind. There will be more.
The drive from Charlottesville to Lynchburg was sensational. There was hardly anyone on the highway and a lot of it was unblemished concrete - none of the ka-thump ka-thump you get with the patched roads. Highway 29 was a dream drive.
This part of Virginia is totally encompassed in trees. We thought Maryland and Pennsylvania were green - this place - indescribable.
Lynchburg turned out to be a road works nightmare downtown, and it looks as if the city is trying to do something about it's old brick buildings - by converting them to apartments and tidying up the streets a bit.
Nothing worth mentioning about this place, other than we found a CSX GP40-2 switching some boxcars and that was it.
We sat and ate lunch beside the CSX main but nothing came through - the drizzle was starting to get heavier anyway.
In our quest to find lunch, we visited a convenience store that was advertising Hot dogs on the outside, and had a big banner inside advertising Hot dogs, but when Lloyd asked "Where are the Hot dogs?" the $@#%& behind the counter just smiled and said "Oh yeah, I should really take that sign down - we don't have them anymore".
We left Lynchburg with only a few photos on the memory card to take with us. The drive to Roanoke was in wet vertical rain, as opposed to the other 49 different types you can get over here. It looks like heavy drizzle, but 30 seconds outside and you're soaked.
Arrival at the mighty Days Inn at Roanoke - their computer had crashed so we had to wait a bit to check in - their PCs are still running Windows XP - I haven't heard those warning alarms in years !
We took a cruise around town in heavy vertical rain with a slightly cooling breeze and took in the sights from both ends of the yard, looking for a place to catch some action....even though it was raining, I was still looking. We opted not to go to the Transport Museum, but instead found an ideal location under an overpass, and right below us were the Norfolk Southern main lines to the Yard.
We could see some of the outside exhibits from Shenendoah Ave, so I stopped, ducked across the road in the heavy wet drizzle and snapped off some shots. Haven't been so excited to see a boxcar before, but when it's painted in RF&P colours, it really does trip your ground relay...to use a railroading term.
The yard here is also used for the storage of lease engines - probably awaiting a tidy up, so there are some old SOO Line SD60s here - difficult to get a descent photo above the fence in the rain.
We'd already seen an intermodal depart and by sheer luck, as soon as we arrived, a Norfolk Southern manifest departed right on cue.
Through sheer determination, we waited, and waited, and "Here comes one" - "Here comes another one".
Once again, I managed to have two trains turn up at exactly the same time from opposite directions, with one blocking the view of the other. This time I opted to pan with one loco and have the other loco appear in the shot later - the timing was near on perfect. Too busy to take photos.
Two cops turned up, but going by the amount of tyre marks in the gravel, this is what they did on a regular occasion, and they didn't even bat an eyelid as to what I was doing.
Another NS manifest turned up and by now, the wind was getting a real chill to it, so we opted to beat a hasty retreat, get dinner and settle in for the night.
"Y'all have a safe journey now..." - yes, a young lady did say that to me tonight. That's my first ya'll I've heard on this trip. Awesome !
She was helping Lloyd sort out the tricky lid that goes on the coffee cups - despite her efforts, he still couldn't get anything out of it. Putting two lids on the cup probably had something to do with it. He left with his tail between his legs muttering words that rhymed with "Heart Grass" and her having to talk to me.
Once again, I was asked "Where are you (ya'll) from?", and when I replied "New Zealand", once again I heard "Oh, I'd love to go to Australia!"
These people need some serious geography lessons....or maybe we should change our flag to have the words "Not Australia" written on it. This has happened so many times, it's no longer funny.
Lloyd's a bit geographically challenged too, and has a vague idea where he is in respect to other major cities and landmarks around us, so I've bought a Rand McNally Road Atlas and have been marking the roads we've driven on using a highlighter (finally, something that's got the same name in NZ). That should keep him happy.
Tomorrow we continue west and start crossing State borders again. Thanks for the wet weather, Virginia. No wonder it's so green here.
Erin.
Today it rained / drizzled / poured and various combinations of the above all the way from Ashland to Charlottesville, to Lynchburg and our final destination, Roanoke Virginia.
The initial route had me a bit puzzled as Sally the Psychotic SATNAV had us taking some really odd back roads - click - it was still in "Avoid Highways" mode - my fault. I apologised to her and she promptly took me over to Interstate 64.
The first and only stop in Charlottesville was the Amtrak Station and the sight of people unloading bags from their cars was a good omen. About 20 minutes after our arrival, Amtrak's 'The Crescent' from New Orleans turned up. I got a good shot of its arrival and departure as it left for New York.
 |
| The Crescent arriving at Charlottesville VA |
There's also a diamond here and I should have stopped and thought about this for a while and started listening to the scanner - as it may have hinted that there were two CSX freights sitting not far away waiting for The Crescent to depart. Lloyd was first to spot it, and I had the video camera set up in record time. I also managed to get a few stills off as well. In my haste to get back on the road, no sooner had we driven out of the carpark, another CSX freight turned up. Never mind. There will be more.
 |
| A thumping Dash 8 at Charlottesville VA - beautiful sound. |
The drive from Charlottesville to Lynchburg was sensational. There was hardly anyone on the highway and a lot of it was unblemished concrete - none of the ka-thump ka-thump you get with the patched roads. Highway 29 was a dream drive.
This part of Virginia is totally encompassed in trees. We thought Maryland and Pennsylvania were green - this place - indescribable.
Lynchburg turned out to be a road works nightmare downtown, and it looks as if the city is trying to do something about it's old brick buildings - by converting them to apartments and tidying up the streets a bit.
 |
| No prizes for guessing this was a flour mill - now an apartment block in Lynchburg VA |
Nothing worth mentioning about this place, other than we found a CSX GP40-2 switching some boxcars and that was it.
 |
| CSX EMD GP40-2 - with an aircon unit and a dulux overhaul, this old girl will last forever. |
We sat and ate lunch beside the CSX main but nothing came through - the drizzle was starting to get heavier anyway.
In our quest to find lunch, we visited a convenience store that was advertising Hot dogs on the outside, and had a big banner inside advertising Hot dogs, but when Lloyd asked "Where are the Hot dogs?" the $@#%& behind the counter just smiled and said "Oh yeah, I should really take that sign down - we don't have them anymore".
We left Lynchburg with only a few photos on the memory card to take with us. The drive to Roanoke was in wet vertical rain, as opposed to the other 49 different types you can get over here. It looks like heavy drizzle, but 30 seconds outside and you're soaked.
Arrival at the mighty Days Inn at Roanoke - their computer had crashed so we had to wait a bit to check in - their PCs are still running Windows XP - I haven't heard those warning alarms in years !
We took a cruise around town in heavy vertical rain with a slightly cooling breeze and took in the sights from both ends of the yard, looking for a place to catch some action....even though it was raining, I was still looking. We opted not to go to the Transport Museum, but instead found an ideal location under an overpass, and right below us were the Norfolk Southern main lines to the Yard.
We could see some of the outside exhibits from Shenendoah Ave, so I stopped, ducked across the road in the heavy wet drizzle and snapped off some shots. Haven't been so excited to see a boxcar before, but when it's painted in RF&P colours, it really does trip your ground relay...to use a railroading term.
 |
| Seeing this raised my heartbeat a tad. The RF&P has now been absorbed into CSX - odd that it's at a museum beside Norfolk Southern lines, CSX's competitor. |
The yard here is also used for the storage of lease engines - probably awaiting a tidy up, so there are some old SOO Line SD60s here - difficult to get a descent photo above the fence in the rain.
We'd already seen an intermodal depart and by sheer luck, as soon as we arrived, a Norfolk Southern manifest departed right on cue.
 |
| Filthy weather, yet the camera did a reasonable job. |
Through sheer determination, we waited, and waited, and "Here comes one" - "Here comes another one".
Once again, I managed to have two trains turn up at exactly the same time from opposite directions, with one blocking the view of the other. This time I opted to pan with one loco and have the other loco appear in the shot later - the timing was near on perfect. Too busy to take photos.
Two cops turned up, but going by the amount of tyre marks in the gravel, this is what they did on a regular occasion, and they didn't even bat an eyelid as to what I was doing.
Another NS manifest turned up and by now, the wind was getting a real chill to it, so we opted to beat a hasty retreat, get dinner and settle in for the night.
 |
| Friendly Conductor waited until I looked up from my video camera, then gave me a wave. Cool guy. |
"Y'all have a safe journey now..." - yes, a young lady did say that to me tonight. That's my first ya'll I've heard on this trip. Awesome !
She was helping Lloyd sort out the tricky lid that goes on the coffee cups - despite her efforts, he still couldn't get anything out of it. Putting two lids on the cup probably had something to do with it. He left with his tail between his legs muttering words that rhymed with "Heart Grass" and her having to talk to me.
Once again, I was asked "Where are you (ya'll) from?", and when I replied "New Zealand", once again I heard "Oh, I'd love to go to Australia!"
These people need some serious geography lessons....or maybe we should change our flag to have the words "Not Australia" written on it. This has happened so many times, it's no longer funny.
Lloyd's a bit geographically challenged too, and has a vague idea where he is in respect to other major cities and landmarks around us, so I've bought a Rand McNally Road Atlas and have been marking the roads we've driven on using a highlighter (finally, something that's got the same name in NZ). That should keep him happy.
Tomorrow we continue west and start crossing State borders again. Thanks for the wet weather, Virginia. No wonder it's so green here.
Erin.
Monday, 22 May 2017
22 May 2017
Monday 22 May 2017
Today we relocated from Fredericksburg to Ashland Virginia, diverting back to the Spotsylvania VRE Station and Doswell.
We woke to the sight of a steady stream of light rain with no wind. It was expected, so can't really get all upset about it. Because the drive to Ashland was going to be relatively short, I amended the plan and took a diversion back to Spotsylvania and got a few more shots from there (of trains and Spotsylvanian Families....).
The shelter on the platform was wide enough to prevent us from getting wet and the last VRE train had departed about 1.5 hours ago, so the place was devoid of people.
As soon as I'd set the camera up, Lloyd calmly said "Look to your left", while at the same time I was cocking my head towards the right, wondering if the noise I could hear approaching was a train. We were both right - two CSX manifests were approaching at the same time from opposite directions. I concentrated on getting the shot of the train that was going to be closest to us, which also turned up first.
Mr Amtrak paid us 2 visits and then another CSX manifest went by with a whole lot of locos on it. The train was what the locals would call short, however with 65 freight cars, it was good enough for us.
A whole lot of nothing started to happen so I called it quits and we headed south to Doswell. This place features in a lot of some really old VHS tapes I'd bought over the years and I'd always wanted to see the old depot (now used by CSX) and boarded up Tower here. Doswell is also home to a shortline called the Buckingham Branch and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of them in action. Their locos ended up being too far away and there's not a lot of public places you can sit and watch trains, so I jumped out, got a few photos and took off before I got sconed on the head by a pot plant that had been launched at me by a grumpy old woman for parking on her property - I know, what on earth am I on about ?
Let me explain - beside the tracks there's an antiques store and it's run by an old cabbage that vehemently hates railfans. She has NO PARKING signs all around the place and stories are abound about how she will shoo you away and cast spells on you if you park anywhere near her shop to do railfanning. It's unknown why she hates railfans so much, so I can only assume that at a significant time in her life she succumbed to our charming demeanor and exceptional good looks. Who knows? Funny thing is, as I was using her front lawn to turn around, she came outside, put something on the veranda floor and when she got up, sconed the back of her head. I shouldn't laugh, but I did.
We continued on to Ashland and rain continued to fall. I instructed Sally to take us via Highway 1 instead of I95, so it was a more comfortable drive and we got to see a lot more trees that way...
We met up with a like minded railfan, who on Youtube is known as the FastFlyingVirginian and whom we shall refer to as Dave, who was also accompanied by another like minded individual whom we shall refer to as Patrick. Together they are a wealth of knowledge about the RF&P sub and the CSX and Amtrak trains that ply these rails and both had tales of adventures and encounters they'd had on their railfanning activities.
Dave had warned me that Mondays are slow for CSX and he wasn't wrong - today was the longest I'd sat and waited for a train to turn up. There wasn't much else to do and these are the only tracks for miles so it is what it is. The occasional Amtrak turned up intermixed with even fewer CSX freights, with the final encore being the Amtrak AutoTrain - I lie - another regional turned up just as we were about to cross the road to the Trackside Grill for dinner, and I was able to film that one as well...blocking traffic in the process....,ooooops, "Sorry, I'm from Australia !"
Ashland is blessed with having a double main line right through the middle of town, splitting Center Street in half. In some cases there isn't a lot of room between the edge of the road and the rails, so it is often referred to as 'street running'. Train speeds are pretty high at around 45 mph, and between two mileposts it's silent running - ie no horns !
It has an Amtrak stop, but not a definitive station. The Information Centre is the old station building and also shares duties as the Amtrak Station. It's also where railfans hang out, and has a washroom that we can use. We sat there all afternoon. The rain finally stopped and the sky started to lighten.
While Lloyd was occupied doing something else, a squirrel magically appeared. Amazing coincidence. "Omar's Squirrel" is a female that had been set upon by other squirrels and hurt in the process. She is now approaching humans as a source of food and although not tame, will get quite close. Took a photo.
All four of us had a huge dinner at the Trackside Grill - obvious name you'd think, but its proximity to the horse track is how it got it's name. If you sit in a good seat, you can watch the trains (when there are some) roll by. There were two...
Tomorrow we head southwest - big drive again.
EJ
Today we relocated from Fredericksburg to Ashland Virginia, diverting back to the Spotsylvania VRE Station and Doswell.
We woke to the sight of a steady stream of light rain with no wind. It was expected, so can't really get all upset about it. Because the drive to Ashland was going to be relatively short, I amended the plan and took a diversion back to Spotsylvania and got a few more shots from there (of trains and Spotsylvanian Families....).
The shelter on the platform was wide enough to prevent us from getting wet and the last VRE train had departed about 1.5 hours ago, so the place was devoid of people.
As soon as I'd set the camera up, Lloyd calmly said "Look to your left", while at the same time I was cocking my head towards the right, wondering if the noise I could hear approaching was a train. We were both right - two CSX manifests were approaching at the same time from opposite directions. I concentrated on getting the shot of the train that was going to be closest to us, which also turned up first.
Mr Amtrak paid us 2 visits and then another CSX manifest went by with a whole lot of locos on it. The train was what the locals would call short, however with 65 freight cars, it was good enough for us.
A whole lot of nothing started to happen so I called it quits and we headed south to Doswell. This place features in a lot of some really old VHS tapes I'd bought over the years and I'd always wanted to see the old depot (now used by CSX) and boarded up Tower here. Doswell is also home to a shortline called the Buckingham Branch and I was hoping to catch a glimpse of them in action. Their locos ended up being too far away and there's not a lot of public places you can sit and watch trains, so I jumped out, got a few photos and took off before I got sconed on the head by a pot plant that had been launched at me by a grumpy old woman for parking on her property - I know, what on earth am I on about ?
Let me explain - beside the tracks there's an antiques store and it's run by an old cabbage that vehemently hates railfans. She has NO PARKING signs all around the place and stories are abound about how she will shoo you away and cast spells on you if you park anywhere near her shop to do railfanning. It's unknown why she hates railfans so much, so I can only assume that at a significant time in her life she succumbed to our charming demeanor and exceptional good looks. Who knows? Funny thing is, as I was using her front lawn to turn around, she came outside, put something on the veranda floor and when she got up, sconed the back of her head. I shouldn't laugh, but I did.
We continued on to Ashland and rain continued to fall. I instructed Sally to take us via Highway 1 instead of I95, so it was a more comfortable drive and we got to see a lot more trees that way...
We met up with a like minded railfan, who on Youtube is known as the FastFlyingVirginian and whom we shall refer to as Dave, who was also accompanied by another like minded individual whom we shall refer to as Patrick. Together they are a wealth of knowledge about the RF&P sub and the CSX and Amtrak trains that ply these rails and both had tales of adventures and encounters they'd had on their railfanning activities.
Dave had warned me that Mondays are slow for CSX and he wasn't wrong - today was the longest I'd sat and waited for a train to turn up. There wasn't much else to do and these are the only tracks for miles so it is what it is. The occasional Amtrak turned up intermixed with even fewer CSX freights, with the final encore being the Amtrak AutoTrain - I lie - another regional turned up just as we were about to cross the road to the Trackside Grill for dinner, and I was able to film that one as well...blocking traffic in the process....,ooooops, "Sorry, I'm from Australia !"
Ashland is blessed with having a double main line right through the middle of town, splitting Center Street in half. In some cases there isn't a lot of room between the edge of the road and the rails, so it is often referred to as 'street running'. Train speeds are pretty high at around 45 mph, and between two mileposts it's silent running - ie no horns !
It has an Amtrak stop, but not a definitive station. The Information Centre is the old station building and also shares duties as the Amtrak Station. It's also where railfans hang out, and has a washroom that we can use. We sat there all afternoon. The rain finally stopped and the sky started to lighten.
While Lloyd was occupied doing something else, a squirrel magically appeared. Amazing coincidence. "Omar's Squirrel" is a female that had been set upon by other squirrels and hurt in the process. She is now approaching humans as a source of food and although not tame, will get quite close. Took a photo.
All four of us had a huge dinner at the Trackside Grill - obvious name you'd think, but its proximity to the horse track is how it got it's name. If you sit in a good seat, you can watch the trains (when there are some) roll by. There were two...
Tomorrow we head southwest - big drive again.
EJ
Sunday, 21 May 2017
21 May 2017
Sunday 21 May 2017
Nothing succeeds like a budgie, or so it is said.
Today we explored the thriving metropolis of Fredericksburg Virginia. To tell the truth, it looks just like any other place here, so I didn't waste any time acting like a tourist and headed straight for the Spotsylvania VRE Station - VRE = Virginia Railway Express, which doesn't run on Sundays so I was guaranteed a good car park and an empty platform.
For us railfans, Spotsylvania was known as Olive...probably still is for the die hards.
Anyway, with memories of 2003 lurking in my mind, where I stayed all day on this line and only got about 7 shots, we arrived to an empty car park and an empty platform and reasonable lighting conditions - a bit too bright with the overcast conditions, but you can't have it all.
As soon as Lloyd managed to shut his mouth for a second and stop talking, it was soon obvious that we had just missed a train - diesel and horn sounds coming from the south fading into the distance. Never mind, there's surely to be something come along - and so it did. We got there at about 0930 and by the time we left at 1300, I'd filmed 9 trains. Most were Amtrak but hitting the RECORD button on the camera counts, so nine trains is nine trains.
Spotsylvania appears to be a very new subdivision still under construction, with house and land packages with waterfront access, boat ramp etc starting in the mid US$200k mark. Insanely cheap house prices - these people would have a heart attack if they moved to NZ.
We partook in lots of interesting conversations and came to some inspired conclusions about what was going on during the down time, but no ground breaking insights worth publishing. One assumption was that the lines through here were a double track main and the far side track was either a passing loop or an additional main that ended nearby and the near side track was the line for the platform, making a total of four tracks. Interesting stuff, isn't it? Never mind, anyway, one of the tracks had new concrete sleepers in it and they were all crooked - somewhere out there is a guy who had just one job...one job.
Over the hills and far away was the Fredericksburg Gun and Rifle Club, however the sounds coming from it and the echos from the clouds made it sound like the Cannon and Howitzer Club.
Tummies needed to be fed - yes, another trip to Sheetz, then we ventured into the city to have a look at people fishing in the Rappahannock river. I asked one lady what she was fishing for - she said, and I quote "Nothing, I just like the romanticism of fishing", at which point she flicked me a quick wink and a wry smile.
Okaaaaaaay.
I took a photo of the rail bridge and told Lloyd that there were too many people here and the light was bad for video...
We then popped along the road a bit and parked in the Amtrak/VRE station car park - once again empty - and I scoped out the platform for potential shots, which also looks along the bridge I'd just photographed. It was bang on, so I popped back down to the car and grabbed my gear and set up.
Then an undesirable turned up and sat about 30 metres from me and he was frantically gesticulating and talking to himself, (I think he was in the middle of an argument with one of his personalities and was losing) then he walked towards me and started nosing through the rubbish bins - getting closer and closer. Time to go. Sods law promptly kicked in and a train turned up as we drove off. My personal safety and that of my gear was more important than getting a shot.
Using all this knowledge and skill, I decided to check out the VRE station at Leeland. It's OK, but there are lots of lamp posts in the way. However the close proximity of the trees kept the bright overcast sky out of the shot and the access path was elevated above the tracks so that was a bonus.
By the time we left at 1730 I had another eight shots on the memory card, plus a video of a cardinal singing his lungs out to another cardinal; awesome little red birds that look strikingly familiar to the big red birds in the game Angry Birds. They have a crown of feathers and a black face that makes them look annoyed at something. Yes, I videoed a bird.
Dinner at Popeyes - more tasteless chicken similar to Roy Rogers and 'home' - two beds and a shower, that's what we remind ourselves of.
A nice 21 degrees today, so I got careless and ended up with a red head and face. We both had a good day with lots of war stories told and a reasonable number of trains in comfortable and safe surroundings.
Tomorrow we head south, but not very far.
EJ
Nothing succeeds like a budgie, or so it is said.
Today we explored the thriving metropolis of Fredericksburg Virginia. To tell the truth, it looks just like any other place here, so I didn't waste any time acting like a tourist and headed straight for the Spotsylvania VRE Station - VRE = Virginia Railway Express, which doesn't run on Sundays so I was guaranteed a good car park and an empty platform.
For us railfans, Spotsylvania was known as Olive...probably still is for the die hards.
Anyway, with memories of 2003 lurking in my mind, where I stayed all day on this line and only got about 7 shots, we arrived to an empty car park and an empty platform and reasonable lighting conditions - a bit too bright with the overcast conditions, but you can't have it all.
As soon as Lloyd managed to shut his mouth for a second and stop talking, it was soon obvious that we had just missed a train - diesel and horn sounds coming from the south fading into the distance. Never mind, there's surely to be something come along - and so it did. We got there at about 0930 and by the time we left at 1300, I'd filmed 9 trains. Most were Amtrak but hitting the RECORD button on the camera counts, so nine trains is nine trains.
Spotsylvania appears to be a very new subdivision still under construction, with house and land packages with waterfront access, boat ramp etc starting in the mid US$200k mark. Insanely cheap house prices - these people would have a heart attack if they moved to NZ.
We partook in lots of interesting conversations and came to some inspired conclusions about what was going on during the down time, but no ground breaking insights worth publishing. One assumption was that the lines through here were a double track main and the far side track was either a passing loop or an additional main that ended nearby and the near side track was the line for the platform, making a total of four tracks. Interesting stuff, isn't it? Never mind, anyway, one of the tracks had new concrete sleepers in it and they were all crooked - somewhere out there is a guy who had just one job...one job.
 |
| Although we got some sort of warning of approaching trains, they were moving so fast that I barely had time to switch the camera on - all except this coal drag, which was running on two of it's three locos and was fair screaming to crawl past us at what appeared to be about 25 mph. Easy photo op. |
 |
| Amtrak Loco Engineers and Conductors were very friendly, with all of them giving extra blasts on the horn when we waved out. One guy even hung out the window - I've yet to check the video to see what sort of 'wave' he was giving us... |
Over the hills and far away was the Fredericksburg Gun and Rifle Club, however the sounds coming from it and the echos from the clouds made it sound like the Cannon and Howitzer Club.
Tummies needed to be fed - yes, another trip to Sheetz, then we ventured into the city to have a look at people fishing in the Rappahannock river. I asked one lady what she was fishing for - she said, and I quote "Nothing, I just like the romanticism of fishing", at which point she flicked me a quick wink and a wry smile.
Okaaaaaaay.
I took a photo of the rail bridge and told Lloyd that there were too many people here and the light was bad for video...
We then popped along the road a bit and parked in the Amtrak/VRE station car park - once again empty - and I scoped out the platform for potential shots, which also looks along the bridge I'd just photographed. It was bang on, so I popped back down to the car and grabbed my gear and set up.
Then an undesirable turned up and sat about 30 metres from me and he was frantically gesticulating and talking to himself, (I think he was in the middle of an argument with one of his personalities and was losing) then he walked towards me and started nosing through the rubbish bins - getting closer and closer. Time to go. Sods law promptly kicked in and a train turned up as we drove off. My personal safety and that of my gear was more important than getting a shot.
Using all this knowledge and skill, I decided to check out the VRE station at Leeland. It's OK, but there are lots of lamp posts in the way. However the close proximity of the trees kept the bright overcast sky out of the shot and the access path was elevated above the tracks so that was a bonus.
 |
| I was so busy with the video camera I didn't get a chance to take any photos, so here's a sight that every railfan desires - a green light. There was no warning of approaching trains from this direction - not even a blip on the scanner. |
By the time we left at 1730 I had another eight shots on the memory card, plus a video of a cardinal singing his lungs out to another cardinal; awesome little red birds that look strikingly familiar to the big red birds in the game Angry Birds. They have a crown of feathers and a black face that makes them look annoyed at something. Yes, I videoed a bird.
Dinner at Popeyes - more tasteless chicken similar to Roy Rogers and 'home' - two beds and a shower, that's what we remind ourselves of.
A nice 21 degrees today, so I got careless and ended up with a red head and face. We both had a good day with lots of war stories told and a reasonable number of trains in comfortable and safe surroundings.
Tomorrow we head south, but not very far.
EJ
Saturday, 20 May 2017
20 May 2017
Saturday 20 May 2017
Today we relocated from Cumberland MD to Fredericksburg Virginia, calling in to Hagerstown, Point of Rocks and Alexandria on the way.
I set the SATNAV to avoid toll roads, so it theoretically took a bit longer.
Hagerstown was an unknown to me, and since it was 'just down the road' from Cumberland, I was reluctant to spend any great deal of time here (I don't like the idea of spending an entire day railfanning in one place when you've still got a 4 hour drive to get to your final destination). I had three targets lined up, all within walking distance of each other:
Next stop was Point of Rocks - I was going to call into Harpers Ferry but for reasons unknown, decided against it. POR produced one CSX freight and a light loco move then lots of nothing.
I plugged in the address to the hotel at Fredericksburg and realised that the driving time was going to be almost 2 hours and that this needed to be broken in two, so we re-directed to the Amtrak station at Alexandria, an old haunt of mine from 2003. Amtrak traffic was good, CSX not so good - only two freights passed through, however it was an ideal environment - sitting on the grass, shoes off, overcast and warm. I forgot to take photos as I was concentrating on video only - the trains turned up almost unannounced.
The drive 'home' was awfully slow - I95 was jammed up and we spent a long time doing only 20 mph - lots of fender benders witnessed, but the apparent cause of the jam was just poor design at one particular interchange. Once we got past that point traffic was free flowing again.
Dinner at Ihop - where we froze to death sitting under the aircon outlet - food was good (I ate Lloyds broccoli - yes, really), service was mediocre - probably due to an ineffective and hovering manager - I watch Bar Rescue so I know about this stuff...
As for the Super 8 in Fredericksburg - not recommended, and to think we're staying 2 nights here.
Tired as. Tomorrow we go exploring. Hmmmm.
EJ
Today we relocated from Cumberland MD to Fredericksburg Virginia, calling in to Hagerstown, Point of Rocks and Alexandria on the way.
I set the SATNAV to avoid toll roads, so it theoretically took a bit longer.
Hagerstown was an unknown to me, and since it was 'just down the road' from Cumberland, I was reluctant to spend any great deal of time here (I don't like the idea of spending an entire day railfanning in one place when you've still got a 4 hour drive to get to your final destination). I had three targets lined up, all within walking distance of each other:
- The CSX yard had excellent photo opportunities to increase my 'roster shots' as all the locos were shut down and pointing towards me. I managed to get a few without trespassing.
- Next door is the museum where I managed to take quite a few shots of old ugly stuff.
- And lastly, the model train shop which should have been open but wasn't - he was supposed to open at 9am on a Saturday but was still closed at 9:45 - his loss, my saving.
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| CSX6540 - re-furbished GP40-3 - the intent was probably good, but the new cab design is mighty ugly. |
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| WM132 - restored Baldwin VO1000 - museum piece. |
Next stop was Point of Rocks - I was going to call into Harpers Ferry but for reasons unknown, decided against it. POR produced one CSX freight and a light loco move then lots of nothing.
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| CitiRail CREX 1515 ES44AC leads a CSX freight through Point of Rocks. |
I plugged in the address to the hotel at Fredericksburg and realised that the driving time was going to be almost 2 hours and that this needed to be broken in two, so we re-directed to the Amtrak station at Alexandria, an old haunt of mine from 2003. Amtrak traffic was good, CSX not so good - only two freights passed through, however it was an ideal environment - sitting on the grass, shoes off, overcast and warm. I forgot to take photos as I was concentrating on video only - the trains turned up almost unannounced.
The drive 'home' was awfully slow - I95 was jammed up and we spent a long time doing only 20 mph - lots of fender benders witnessed, but the apparent cause of the jam was just poor design at one particular interchange. Once we got past that point traffic was free flowing again.
Dinner at Ihop - where we froze to death sitting under the aircon outlet - food was good (I ate Lloyds broccoli - yes, really), service was mediocre - probably due to an ineffective and hovering manager - I watch Bar Rescue so I know about this stuff...
As for the Super 8 in Fredericksburg - not recommended, and to think we're staying 2 nights here.
Tired as. Tomorrow we go exploring. Hmmmm.
EJ
Friday, 19 May 2017
19 May 2017
Friday 19 May 2017
Today we relocated from Altoona PA to Cumberland Maryland. I had to make a difficult decision - take the long way via Johnstown and Meyersdale to Hyndman following the Sandpatch route, or shoot straight down to Hyndman before going to Cumberland.
The long way would see us trackside, the short way would get us to Cumberland earlier. One other factor was the fact that the expected high was to be 30 degrees C, and sitting in the SUV in that heat waiting for a train is not on the cards. The long way was windy and slow and not good for passengers, the short way was quick and easy.
I was indecisive right up to the last minute. I chose the short way as I wanted the time to explore Cumberland.
So, we went to Hyndman and arrived in time to see the tail end of an intermodal pass through town - as per usual...
We parked up at the bridge in time to see an Amtrak pass through, and then it went all quiet.
Knowing that Fairhope was just a few miles up the road, we went for a short jaunt and came across the grade crossing which also has a viewing platform elevated above the tracks, with a guide rope to help steady yourself as you climbed up the rocks - it was needed.
After a long wait a coal train finally showed up and soon after a manifest passed through, as well as a high rail.
Two good shots were enough - off to Cumberland.
Cumberland is a massive CSX facility with heavy loco repairs as well as a large yard - about 4 miles long. Photographing this, let alone getting any video footage is near on impossible. On one side is the Potomac River, on the other side is a street that you can't stop on, and then there are the trees.
As it turned out, the best place to get photos of moving trains was from our hotel room, which has a good view of the action, however you can also hear the action so I'm not sure how well we'll sleep tonight. During the day, not many trains went through, however now that it's night, four have gone through since I started writing this - a few choice words have been bantered around the hotel room...make that five trains. Even though there's no grade crossings, the loco engineers have found a reason to hit the horn - right outside our window. I will find out who you are and where you live...
There were a couple of places where there were locos parked up, however finding somewhere to park became the next problem.
We tried the Amtrak station, which was in shade, however just a few yards away a large gathering of undesirables was happening - gut feeling said "Get out now" so we did. There was no seating at the station anyway.
Overall, Cumberland itself is not a railfan friendly town. You have to go to the outer limits to find a decent place to sit and wait - Mexican Farms Road was one of those places, although once again, the vegetation was getting out of control.
Dinner was at Roy Rogers, which would imply poor Trigger was on the menu (horse meat). We both had the chicken, but the crispy coating was so thick the flavours didn't penetrate to the meat, so it was actually pretty tasteless. Potato and gravy was good though.
Tomorrow is a big drive - the biggest so far...should be cooler though.
EJ
Today we relocated from Altoona PA to Cumberland Maryland. I had to make a difficult decision - take the long way via Johnstown and Meyersdale to Hyndman following the Sandpatch route, or shoot straight down to Hyndman before going to Cumberland.
The long way would see us trackside, the short way would get us to Cumberland earlier. One other factor was the fact that the expected high was to be 30 degrees C, and sitting in the SUV in that heat waiting for a train is not on the cards. The long way was windy and slow and not good for passengers, the short way was quick and easy.
I was indecisive right up to the last minute. I chose the short way as I wanted the time to explore Cumberland.
So, we went to Hyndman and arrived in time to see the tail end of an intermodal pass through town - as per usual...
We parked up at the bridge in time to see an Amtrak pass through, and then it went all quiet.
Knowing that Fairhope was just a few miles up the road, we went for a short jaunt and came across the grade crossing which also has a viewing platform elevated above the tracks, with a guide rope to help steady yourself as you climbed up the rocks - it was needed.
After a long wait a coal train finally showed up and soon after a manifest passed through, as well as a high rail.
Two good shots were enough - off to Cumberland.
Cumberland is a massive CSX facility with heavy loco repairs as well as a large yard - about 4 miles long. Photographing this, let alone getting any video footage is near on impossible. On one side is the Potomac River, on the other side is a street that you can't stop on, and then there are the trees.
As it turned out, the best place to get photos of moving trains was from our hotel room, which has a good view of the action, however you can also hear the action so I'm not sure how well we'll sleep tonight. During the day, not many trains went through, however now that it's night, four have gone through since I started writing this - a few choice words have been bantered around the hotel room...make that five trains. Even though there's no grade crossings, the loco engineers have found a reason to hit the horn - right outside our window. I will find out who you are and where you live...
There were a couple of places where there were locos parked up, however finding somewhere to park became the next problem.
We tried the Amtrak station, which was in shade, however just a few yards away a large gathering of undesirables was happening - gut feeling said "Get out now" so we did. There was no seating at the station anyway.
Overall, Cumberland itself is not a railfan friendly town. You have to go to the outer limits to find a decent place to sit and wait - Mexican Farms Road was one of those places, although once again, the vegetation was getting out of control.
Dinner was at Roy Rogers, which would imply poor Trigger was on the menu (horse meat). We both had the chicken, but the crispy coating was so thick the flavours didn't penetrate to the meat, so it was actually pretty tasteless. Potato and gravy was good though.
Tomorrow is a big drive - the biggest so far...should be cooler though.
EJ
Thursday, 18 May 2017
18 May 2017
What a day. We kicked things off with a visit to Horseshoe Curve, but got there too early, but as we sat at the gates contemplating what to do next, Norfolk Southern loco AC44C6M number 4002 went through leading a stack train.
This has been the first time that Lloyd has seen me anything above mildly excited about seeing a NS loco - and for good reason - the paint job is one of a few. Taking a photo of this loco was impossible as the tracks are way up high, and we were way down below, and I just had to get a video shot of it - the next best place to get a shot was at Cresson, I made like an American and chose to ignore the speed limit and high tailed it through the hills and far away. We got there with about 2 minutes to spare. Check it out.
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| Lloyd nicknamed this loco 'Crazy Horse' - very apt I feel. |
We then returned to Horseshoe Curve, which by now was open, paid the admittance fee and caught the funicular railway to the top where the viewing area is. Later that morning I needed to get back down to the bottom in a hurry so I took the stairs both down, then up. I passed a few people on the way up - OK, so they were toddlers.
We spent the rest of the morning there and I managed to film a reasonable number of trains, including one Amtrak and a couple of helpers - I haven't checked the video footage yet so don't know for sure. It got to about 29 degrees again but we were sitting in the shade of a tree and a cool zephyr was playing around so it was easily bearable.
As anyone who has visited 'The Curve' can attest to, it's impossible to get an idea of the scale of this place until you actually get here, go to the top and put your back to the tracks and see the height difference from one side to the other - it's amazing. Recently a lot of the greenery was removed from key areas of the track so visitors could see more of the trains as they came around - the efforts by whoever did this are appreciated.
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| A 'two for one' shot - where helper locos are facing in the reverse direction, allowing you to get another photo of the same train that makes it look like it's another train. |
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| The western side of the curve looking across to the tracks and down to the access road which also goes through a tunnel under the hill. |
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| The road tunnel under the hill which connects Gallitzin to Altoona, if you want to take the scenic route. |
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| The curve gets lots of visitors from all over the world, and today was no different, with a bus load of Elementary School kids paying a visit. All the loco engineers/conductors were abiding - blasting the horn when people waved. Even the Amtrak staff stood and waved at an open door as their train cruised by. |
We popped back to Altoona for lunch at Sheetz then went to Tunnel Hill/Gallitzin. Since there was no shade there, my intent was to photograph the tunnels and a few things then move on. No sooner had I got out of the car I realised there was a train about to exit the tunnel - no time to set up the video darn it, so only took stills. Just as the tail end popped out, another train came around the corner and entered the tunnel. It's all about timing.
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| Double tracked tunnel at Gallitzin - awesome. |
I did consider checking out Bennington Curve, however the heat and with the potential encounter with rattlesnakes ("I don't do snakes - no way, not going there" = Lloyd), I decided, probably wisely, to give it a miss.
Before anything else happened, we carried on to Cassandra where the Railfan Lookout is and sat there for the rest of the day in the cool shade of all the trees, on benches provided by the local hotelier, who encourages railfans to the area by giving them a discount if they stay at his hotel.
Lots more trains with the scanner bursting into life about every 25 minutes. We also bumped into two guys who were also at Horseshoe Curve that morning and we chatted to them all day long.
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| Yes, another tail end shot. Did I mention the abundance of trees here ? |
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| The footbridge that provides access to the viewing area - plenty of car parking as well. |
Soon enough 5 pm rolled around and the cloud was building up which was reducing the light level - we were also getting hungry and tired - yep, back to Sheetz again for another cheap meal. A quick cash top-up at a drive through ATM and we were soon back 'home'.
Total video shots today - wait for it: 18, which doesn't include the helpers. A good busy day that was thoroughly enjoyed. Stack trains, intermodals, manifests, passenger and even the smelly trash trains all went through, with most of them being shoved up the hill with the use of helper locos on the rear.
Tomorrow we start heading south and cross over to the State of Maryland.....and more trees I guess.
A brilliant day with not much driving.
Later.
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