Trackside Log for Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Today is another day.  I awoke with the intent to put the previous day behind me.  The first step was to leave Norfolk Southern behind me.  I made my way to Clifton Forge and back to CSX.  Shortly after arrival I found an eastbound coal train leaving the yard.  Things were looking better already!

• 0943 Clifton Forge, VA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 777-CSXT 791

There wasn't much else for me to photograph there so I decided to follow the Buckingham Branch toward Staunton.  Just as I'm about to go another eastbound with a Buckingham Branch engine comes through.  Where'd that come from?  "No problem," I say.  I'll just drive ahead and photograph it.  My first stop was Goshen where I sat and waited... quite a while

• 1203 Goshen, VA - Buckingham Branch eastbound Herzog - CSXT 369-CSXT 218-CSXT 760

That wasn't the train I saw.  Where'd it go?  Oh well, at least I photographed a train here.  I waited around a bit longer but nothing showed up.  I continued my drive through the Shenandoah Valley toward Staunton.  This is a very nice drive by the way.  When I arrived in Staunton I quickly found the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and the crew just parking their locomotive.  They gave me permission to take a few photographs so away I went.

• 1249 Staunton, VA - Shenandoah Valley Railroad power - DGVR 40 (photo)

Next I drove over to the Buckingham Branch shops to see what was there.  After obtaining permission for a few photos I took a quick photo tour.

• 1309 Staunton, VA - Buckingham Branch power - BBRR 3 and BBRR 11 (photo)
• 1312 Staunton, VA - Buckingham Branch power - BBRR 6 (photo)

Number 6 was looking pretty bad.  Nothing else was to be seen in Staunton so I headed for Gore and the Winchester & Western.  They've been good to me in the past.  Today was no exception.

• 1609 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western power - WW 709-WW 498 (photo)
• 1611 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western power - WW 120 (photo)
• 1613 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western pieces - WW 403 long hood (photo)

WW 120 was nice to see since it's a former slug with an SW1500 cab hacked onto it.  I love weird stuff like that.  I decided about this time that my night's destination would be Cresson, Pennsylvania.  The route to get there took me through Romney, West Virginia where I ran across the Potomac Eagle train parked and waiting for the next excursion.

• 1708 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - C&O 8016 (photo 1, photo 2)

A couple years earlier I had visited Cumberland, Maryland in hopes of photographing at the bluffs in Locust Grove.  I waited for hours and nothing showed up.  This time however there was a westbound just departing Cumberland.  Yes!  I quickly drove over to the bluffs and waited for about ten minutes.

• 1801 Locust Grove (Cumberland), MD - CSX X389 west - CSXT 7812-CSXT 9018-CSXT 9026

Since the train was heading my way for a little bit I drove ahead and photographed it again in Hyndman, Pennsylvania.

• 1823 Hyndman, PA - CSX X389 west - CSX 7812-CSXT 9018-CSXT 9026

Wow.  This day was so much better than the previous day.  I was starting to feel much better about things.  I drove to Cresson and on a whim decided to see if The Station Inn had any rooms for the night.  Fortune was with me and I was able to secure the PRR room for the night.  What a great conclusion to a much improved day.  I spent a wonderful night at the inn watching Norfolk Southern move plenty of freight right outside.  I had a nice chat with some of the other guests and then had a restful sleep.

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 29, 2008

Wow, I got up pretty early this morning. How unlike me. Anyway, I started the second day of my Virginias trip by heading over to the Amtrak station in Charleston to see if CSX would be so kind as to run a train or two.

• 0746 Charleston, WV - CSX eastbound - CSXT 478-CSXT 656 (photo)
• 0803 Charleston, WV - CSX eastbound - CSXT 4842-CSXT 532
• 0821 Charleston, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 5213

That plan worked out rather well. Since I had to drive through Winifrede Junction anyway, I checked out the Big Eagle Railroad again. The two geeps were again missing from the junction so again I drove west along their tracks to find them. I didn't need to go far before I found them dumping balast in Winifrede.

• 0932 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle westbound - JTPX 2012-JTPX 2011 (photo 1, photo 2)

After a few photographs I continued my trek toward Thurmond, my primary destination for the day. I was following CSX for much of the way and heard a westbound on the scanner in Pratt.

• 1010 Pratt, WV - CSX westbound Herzog - CSXT 369-CSXT 218

A little farther east I found a westbound coal train parked in Handley.

• 1015 Handley, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 5357-CSXT 5463 (photo)

At Deep Water I turned south and enjoyed the drive along some more twisty mountain roads on my way to Pax to begin my search for R. J. Corman. In Pax I found the coal loadout but no locomotives. So I started tracing the track back east toward Thurmond and discovered the three tunnel motors parked at a new office facility in Meadow Fork.

• 1200 Harvey, WV - R. J. Corman power - RJCX 8718-RJCX 8336-RJCX 8569 (photo 1, photo 2)

After a few cloudy photos I drove the short trek to Thurmond where I visited the National Park Service in the fabulous Chesapeake & Ohio station. Then I began the wait for trains. Nothing showed up for nearly five hours but in that time the sun came out. When the westbounds began to flow the lighting was very nice.

• 1502 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 7739-CSXT 4838
• 1700 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 7684-CSXT 5383
• 1715 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound rail train - CSXT 2220-CSXT 6917
• 1731 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 4755-CSXT 871
• 1750 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 337-CSXT 487
• 1922 Thurmond, WV - Amtrak 51 west - AMTK 152

Scheduled time for The Cardinal was 1847 so it was late. There were still plenty of clouds in the sky but miraculously every train was sunlit and every train was a westbound. I couldn't have asked for more. Well, Amtrak could have been on time.

After the westbound extravaganza I packed up and drove to the Fairfield Inn in Beckley for the night.

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 28, 2008

For a little vacation time this year I decided to take a drive through the Virginias to photograph some railway scenes. After work the previous night I drove to Fairmont, West Virginia and stayed at the Fairfield Inn. This rainy morning I awoke and made the short drive to Grafton to see what was going on at CSX. There was a variety of motive power parked at the fuel racks and quite a few LLPX engines leased by the Appalachian & Ohio at the far end of the yard. A CSX westbound was parked under the Bridge Street bridge and provided my only photograph in Grafton.

• 0840 Grafton, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 403-CSXT 452 (photo 1, photo 2)

Very little seemed to be going on at the time so I continued on to the West Virginia Central in Belington. I've been there a couple times in the past but every time I go there's something different. Today was no exception. Fortunately the rain subsided enough for some photography.

• 0937 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC 92 (photo)
• 0939 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - RT 10 (photo)
• 0940 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC M-3 Edwards Motor Car (photo)
• 0941 Belington, WV - B&O C3014 caboose (photo)
• 0943 Belington, WV - West Virginia Central power - WVC 39 Plymouth ML-8 (photo)

My next destination was the Appalachian & Ohio. I stopped by Buckhannon but no motive power was there. I figured the abundance of LLPX engines in Grafton explained that. So onward to Burnsville I drove where I found a pair of CEFX SD90MACs.

• 1112 Burnsville, WV - Appalachian & Ohio power - CEFX 130-CEFX 125 (photo)

While photographing the SD90MACs the sun started to come out which was nice. When I got to the Elk River Railroad it was mostly sunny but a bit hazy.

Every time I visit Gassaway the Elk River geeps are in a different location yet I never get to see them actually working. Well, except for ELKR 4 which never goes anywhere.

• 1158 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 4 and ELKR 1-ELKR 3 (photo 1, photo 2)
• 1206 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 2-ELKR 5 (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3)

From Gassaway I began to make my way toward the night's destination: Charleston. This part of my drive was great fun. The route I chose took me through some wonderfully winding two lane roads through the West Virginia mountains. I had a great time winding my Mustang around them. All good things must come to an end though. Shortly before I got to Gauley Bridge the skies opened and it rained hard. I pulled off the road to wait it out near Alloy where coincidentally a set of Norfolk Southern motive power was parked with a coal train. Once the rain stopped I took a few photos.

• 1547 Alloy, WV - NS power - NS 8730-NS 9368 (photo)

Just as I was finished photographing these two engines I noticed a security guard coming out of the coal facility they were parked at. I'm not sure if he was interested in me or not. The fact that I was leaving anyway made it moot. Other sets of mixed Norfolk Southern and CSX power were to be found on the opposite side of the facility and easily photographable from the side of Route 60.

• 1551 Alloy, WV - NS power - NS 7576-NS 9631 (photo)

Next stop was the Big Eagle Railroad in Winifrede. First I stopped off at Winifrede Junction but neither of the JTPX engines were there so I deduced they were out on the line somewhere. I drove west along Fields Creek Road which parallels the track. I ran across the train loading gravel just beyond the town of Winifrede.

• 1628 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012 (photo)

They were just finishing the load so I drove back along the track to find a suitable location to photograph them again.

• 1654 Winifrede, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012

With some more time left in the day I drove back to Winifrede Junction and photographed the train as it passed under the CSX line and Interstates 64 and 77.

• 1720 Winifrede Junction, WV - Big Eagle Railroad eastbound - JTPX 2011-JTPX 2012

After a fun day I checked into the Fairfield Inn in Charleston. I had some time to kill so I walked around town and then noticed the lights on at the Apalachian Power Park. I walked over and watched the minor league West Virginia Power defeat the Lexington Legends 3-1.

Trackside Log for Monday, August 7, 2006

Vacation 2006 Day Ten

Well, this was the last day of my trip. I started out by bidding a farewell to Kevin and headed out of Myrtle Beach with a destination of home some 1,400 km north. I had a long drive ahead of me. However, I did plan a few stops along the way. Since I was headed back through Hamlet, North Carolina again I stopped by the station to see what was happening there. There were three trains stopped at the junction so I waited for one of them to move. While waiting I photographed the Seaboard SDP35 that was on display.

• 0942 EDT Hamlet, NC - museum display - SBD 1114
• 0957 EDT Hamlet, NC - CSX northbound - CSXT 7550-CSXT 7718

There was a soutbound waiting as well, but I didn't know how long it would be sitting there and I had a long drive ahead of me so I moved on. My next stop was the Yadkin Valley.

• 1232 EDT Rural Hall, NC - Yadkin Valley power - GORX 3614
• 1234 EDT Rural Hall, NC - Yadkin Valley power - GORX 9613

The only other stop I wanted to make on my trip home was the Appalachian & Ohio since it was along my route. I found plenty of power in Burnsville, West Virginia.

• 1652 EDT Burnsville, WV - Appalachian & Ohio power - CEFX 125-CEFX 130-CEFX 134
• 1654 EDT Burnsville, WV - Appalachian & Ohio power - AO 2121-AO 2100
• 1701 EDT Burnsville, WV - Appalachian & Ohio eastbound - CSXT 552-CSXT 526

Now that my trip had come full circle I headed for home. Overall I had a fun and productive journey through the southeast United States. I really can't complain.

Trackside Log for Saturday, July 29, 2006

Vacation 2006 Day One

This was the first day of my vacation. Well, actually I did drive to West Virginia yesterday, but that was a six hour non-stop drive with no trackside time. Because Watco pulled out of the Appalachian & Ohio since my last visit in March I decided to start in Buckhannon. The new opperator, Paducah & Louisville, had a slug set on the property.

• 0721 EDT Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - AO 2102-AO 2105

Since there wasn't much to see in Buckhannon I left for Gassaway. On the way I noticed something I was hoping to find, two CEFX SD90MAC's parked in the Burnsville wye.

• 0817 EDT Burnsville, WV - A&O power - CEFX 130-CEFX 125

With that goal accomplished I continued to Gassaway.

• 0853 EDT Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 1-ELKR 3-ELKR 2-ELKR 5
• 0906 EDT Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 4

My primary goal in Gassaway was to get a decent photo of Elk River 5 that was hidden in March. Having met that goal as well I was off to Thurmond. First I was shocked to find a work train running the line.

• 1040 EDT Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman northbound - RJCX 1804
• 1050 EDT Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman northbound - RJCX 1804

Next I was surprised by word of a coal train coming shortly. I was unaware that R.J. Corman was hauling coal on this line. In fact this was just the fourth such train.

• 1140 EDT Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman Z259-112 west - CSXT 245-CSXT 7585
• 1156 EDT Thurmond, WV - CSX eastbound - CSXT 665-CSXT 414
• 1219 EDT Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman Z259-112 east - CSXT 7585-CSXT 245
• 1339 EDT Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 8637-CSXT 8645-CSXT 4609

I should mention that the old Chesapeake & Ohio depot is beautifully restored by the National Park Service. Inside are some nice exhibits. I encourage people to visit.

Well, it was starting to rain and I had accomplished my goals for Thurmond. My vacation was supposed to start in Kentucky so I set out for the Courtyard hotel in Lexington where I had reserved a room using my Marriott rewards points. Two years living in a hotel does have some benefits.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, March 14, 2006

I wanted to photograph MARC and the Capitol Limited so I got to the station at Harpers Ferry for 0645. Quite a few commuters were waiting.

• 0656 arr/0658 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P878 east - MARC 70/MARC 69
• 0738 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q217-14 west - CSXT 7366-CSXT 8500

I was hoping the sun would stay away for the morning because Harpers Ferry is really an afternoon shot. The sun came out so I moved on.

• 0900 Martinsburg, WV - CSX V819-13 west - CSXT 590-CSXT 556-CSXT 429-CSXT 244

After a couple hours and only one train I couldn't take it anymore.

• 1158 Sleepy Creek, WV - Amtrak "Capitol Limited" east - AMTK 39-AMTK 176

Unbelievable. The Capitol Limited was several hours late. Worse, it surprised me and I couldn't photograph it. Shortly after I ran across HO tower and photographed it.

• 1211 Bath, WV - B&O HO tower

I worked my way over to Cumberland, Maryland and had a look at the CSX locomotive maintenance facility. There were locomotives all over the place but only one was interesting enough to commit to film, a B23-7.

• 1305 Cumberland, MD - CSX power - CSXT 5898

I found a nice location west of town on the main to Pittsburgh and waited… and waited. Nothing came. After a while I'd had enough and left for Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Maybe Norfolk Southern can outperform CSX.

Trackside Log for Monday, March 13, 2006

The weather this morning was looking remarkably good. The forecast was for sun and clouds until some severe storms were to blow through in the evening. Since my photographs of the Sago mine CF7 from the previous day were brutally dark I decided to reshoot it this morning.

• 0734 Sago, WV - Sago mine switcher - SRPP 2500

According to the local news the mine was due to reopen that week after being shut down due to an explosion. After shooting the CF7 I returned to Buckhannon to the Appalachian & Ohio. My timing was off because I missed a southbound while stuck in traffic.

• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - WAMX 5006-WAMX 5103-WAMX 50xx-WAMX 51xx
• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - BAR 355
• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - WAMX 5120

Next I headed for the West Virginia Central in Belington. Wow. Some of the roads I was on to get there were little more than tracks through the forest. On the way I encountered an old Baldwin switcher left for dead at the end of a coal siding.

• 0838 Teter, WV - Rawhide Mine switcher - Cheyenne Sales Company RT-10
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 67
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 303
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - Bentley Coal Company 207
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 415

Sadly the Western Maryland BL2 was locked indoors and it didn't appear to be any work this day, so off to CSX in Grafton. There was an assortment of CSX AC4400's, an SD80MAC, and two NS SD70M-2's.

• 1030 Grafton, WV - CSX westbound power - CSXT 583-CSXT 517
• 1045 Grafton, WV - CSX eastbound power - CSXT 209-CSXT 3xx

It wasn't overly exciting so I continued my journey to Moorefield and the South Branch Valley Railroad.

• 1327 Moorefield, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 182
• 1331 Moorefield, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 80

When I signed my release to photograph at the SBVR shops the nice folks there told me that a southbound was on its way to Petersburg. I went after it but it beat me.

• 1412 Petersburg, WV - SBVR southbound - SBVR 181-SBVR 91 (it's front coupled)
• 1420 Petersburg, WV - SBVR yard - SBVR caboose 1892
• 1428 Petersburg, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 90

Next I took off for the Winchester & Western in Gore, VA with a quick stop at the Potomac Eagle.

• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - VIA FP9 nose
• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - CO 8016
• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - PE 722
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - WW 498
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - ESHR 8066
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - WW 1007

It was getting late so I would be staying over night in Harpers Ferry, WV. I checked into the Comfort Inn and then headed down to the station to write up the day's log and see what trains would pass in the night.

• 1917 arr/1918 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P879 west - MARC 69/MARC 70
• 1948 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX V102-11 east - CSXT 4835-CSXT 785
• 2039 arr/2040 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P883 west - MARC 62
• 2109 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q400 west - CSXT 591-UP 4489-CSXT 8148
• 2139 Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC eastbound deadhead - MARC 7846 (cab car; MARC 62 power)
• 2142 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q139 west - CSXT 5221-CSXT 5232

Also of note is that the Harpers Ferry B&O station is well into its restoration to approximately 1931 specifications.

Trackside Log for Sunday, March 12, 2006

I arose to a wet cloudy morning in West Virginia. Well at least it wasn't actively raining. It didn't take long for it to arrive though.

• 0742 Parkersburg - Little Kanawha River power - LKRR 1205

Apparently driving south was the answer. By the time I got to Charleston the weather was much improved.

• 0914 Chesapeake, WV - Winifrede Railroad - JTPX 2012-JTPX 2011
• 0926 Chesapeake, WV - Winifrede Railroad - DPS 2000 "Nellie"
• 0944 Chesapeake, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 257-CSXT 210

Next I hunted down an R.J. Corman line. I started in Mount Hope, the end of their line, but no red engines. I followed the track north to their junction with CSX in Thurmond.

• 1158 Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman - RJCX 1607-RJCX 1804

I noticed a green signal on the CSX tracks so I waited for the westbound in the rain.

• 1302 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 729-CSXT 765

After the coal train passed I headed for the Gauley River Railroad in Muddlety. Unfortunately when I got there I discovered that the tracks had been removed. Well, nothing I can do about that so I continued on to the next shortline, the Elk River Railroad.

• 1456 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 4
• 1500 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 2-ELKR 5
• 1503 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 1-ELKR 3
• 1610 Heaters, WV - CSX derailment
• 1731 Sago, WV - coal mine switcher - SRPP 2500

It was getting pretty dark while photographing the mine's CF7. I ended my day in Buckhannon where the A&O had some power parked. I checked into the Colonial Motel which was a block from the A&O.

Trackside Log for Saturday, March 11, 2006

Today I set out on my West Virginia trip. The first day was mostly a travel day so I didn't have much planned aside from a few shortlines in Ohio. The goal for the day was to finish in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

• 1000 Conneaut, OH - Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum - NKP 755

My truck was getting very thirsty so I looked for fuel in Conneaut. Would you believe the only station I found had no pumps in service? I continued west praying to find something quickly. Fortunately I found fuel before I ran out but I was getting nervous.

• 1126 Jefferson, OH - Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson power - ACJ 518

Unfortunately the operational power for the AC&J was stored inside.

• 1257 Peninsula, OH - Cuyahoga Valley - BO 21
• 1356 Barberton, OH - Akron & Barberton Cluster power - ABC 1501-ABC 1502
• 1719 Benwood, WV - CSX 2670

I followed a CSX line from Wheeling to Parkersburg. There were quite a few GP38's sitting around, but nothing running. I checked into a Red Roof Inn, got some food at the Mountaineer Family Restaurant, and called it a day.