SD70MAC in BN executive colors leads this stranger through UP's Roseville Yard in the early morning. Bad lighting is unavoidable for this location in the morning.
While the North Dakota State Fair ramps up behind the photographer, eastbound manifest freight throttles up leaving Minot.
UP is dragging things out again. They don't give it to you all at once. Every time the car inspector shows up he comes up with something new. Now they want us to remove the buffer plates over the couplers just in case they want to couple it to a car with tank car type shelf couplers. We plan to leave the diaphragms hanging on the side after the buffer plates are cut free and all the pins are pulled. Still hoping that some day this old Pullman will make it to Arizona.
NS switching a metals scrapyard near downtown Columbia, SC yesterday. The leafy location, dirt road and 40+ year old GP-38-2s give the scene a rural branchline feel.
What is the purpose of the two red flashers on top of 5202's cab? There don't appear to be any on the following engine, or they're not visible with the camera angle. Interesting to see a Stop sign added to the road. That implies that the county, or whoever is in charge, is getting tired of folks blaming the railroad for grade crossing accidents. "C'Mon Bubba, you ran a stop sign!!"
The 5202 unit can be operated by remote control and the flashers operate when it's in that mode. You make a good point on the stop sign too. This is a quiet dirt road .... except on football Saturdays when it becomes alive in a cloud of dust with pickup trucks an' cars loaded up with the Gamecock faithful hootin' and hollerin' GO COCKS!
A lot of nice flashbacks so far, although perhaps it's partly me for thinking of the 70MAC execs as "oldies."
Man, it has been over 20 years since BN died?! Dang! Time flies entirely too quickly. Looks like they are moving some extra power east. And for the sharp eyed, there's even a red/silver thing in there.
I'm volunteering at the ND State Fair as a parking lot gate guard... ...watching the parade of trains just a couple hundred feet away. Shortly after Amtrak clears the block westbound, an eastbound 'cracker stacker' leaves Minot.
An hour later, a westbound manifest with most of Gavin Yard tied onto the drawbar of 2 well-beaten GEs chugs by.
