Aww, they replaced the old sign. I was camped out at this spot in Bonsack, Virginia for about two hours today and saw 6 different trains go by. This is on the Blue Ridge line that runs between Roanoke and Lynchburg.
??? Seems rather strange... Looking at the end of the pin, it looks well worn. Could almost drive it out with a punch and hammer.
I'm thinking that perhaps NS replaced its old lock with the new orange lock, but neglected to remove the old?
The old one is not doing anything. Just flopping around on the end of its chain. So I guess they hung it on the shank of the new lock to keep it from getting in the way.
Some shots from yesterday in Bonsack, Virginia. West bound stack train. East bound auto racks. East bound stack train. West bound general merchandise. West bound stack train. West bound Amtrak. They are training crews to start up service between Washington DC and Roanoke this fall.
Sally Rand, a famous Burlesque dancer, in cab of steam locomotive to open "Railroad Week" at Fort Worth's Frontier Centennial, 07/13/1936.
Hard to top Sally, pinstripe cap and all. The U. of South Carolina has many thousands of historic photos on line, including some 800 rail photos. This one at the SOU's Spartanburg station is wonderful. The station still stands, though a lot of what you see here has been stripped away. Amtrak's Crescent calls here daily and a nice local rail museum is housed inside. The track to the left is long gone and was the SOU's connection with the ACL. The train to the right is the Clinchfield's, likely headed to Elkhorn City, KY. Can anyone date this photo? I'm going to guess in the mid-40's, but I have no idea. The closest auto looks like a circa 1940 Packard Super Eight touring sedan, but I'm unsure. Passenger service came to an end on the Clinchfield in 1954.
Taken recently by a friend are these Mississippi Export units at Moss Point, MS. No. 68 is a former C&NW GP-50 and No. 66 is a GP-38-2 bought new by the road in 1979. The MSE is 42 miles in length.
The lead unit (with the name of Big Daddy) has a gong bell. Did any other railroads, other than CNW, do that? Maybe they both are Northwestern, just repainted.
Yep, the 68 is definitely C&NW and other several other websites confirm the legacy of the 66, including the road's site at http://www.mserailroad.com/operations-fleet/ . Maybe the road's Purchasing Agent found a sweet deal on some old C&NW yellow paint.
I thought this great photo by Donald Furler taken in May 1949 at Catasauqua, PA might be of interest. Have you ever seen a tighter curve? The L&NE crew is drilling the RDG yard and is looking upon the LV main and the Lehigh River. In the latter days of steam, only two L&NE 0-6-0s with blind center drivers were permitted on this track. The Alco S-2s are factory fresh in this view. Located north of Allentown, Catasauqua was once a busy place, served by the RDG, CNJ, LV, Ironton and L&NE! The CNJ and LV maintained interlocking towers here.
"Was once..." I take it from your statement this facility is amongst those too many, rails gone and abandoned, which are now just fading memories?
