Getting stone at the rock quarry, there is a line right there. Just looking at it, it looked like it wasnt used. I was mistaken. Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk
If you haven't already, you ought to check out the nearby Blue Ridge Southern BSR_SteveP. Unless operations have changed, they depart in late morning from Canton and arrive in Asheville at about Noon, then work a runaround and take a train back to Canton. The line to Hendersonville is operated at night, but its power can be found set out at Arden in daylight. Here's one I took of the Asheville train in the morning, several miles out of Canton:
I surveyed the area for photos a month before and figured that light wound be really good at this spot in the morning. I figured it a long shot, but I drove in from an hour away, parked and within 5 minutes it was train time. This sort of thing rarely ever happens, right?
I have seen track a lot worse than that, including the Milwaukee Road track through my hometown shortly before "The End". I remember wondering how trains even stayed on that track and they often didn't. Now that C.P. has it, they have CWRed it and it looks marvelous. Much traffic from the huge Grain Millers company complex south of here in St. Ansgar, Iowa. Doug
I love that ! Reminds me some railroad line in remote Mexico alongside I used to go and snapshot trains running on weed covered rails 10 years or so ago... Dom
It sounds kind of weird to say this, but I sometimes miss seeing trains on weed-choked branchlines, SW's working short trains along at 10 MPH, cab windows open, flanges squealing, cars swaying on low joints and watching it all at a slowed pace. Reminds me of my youth in the early '70s I suppose. Lines are immaculate these days, with long trains flashing past at high speed and often impossible to chase for pictures. I want to note that my nostalgia is also eclipsed by the realization that today's trains are undeniably impressive and are evidence of a thriving and profitable industry that few of us could have imagined 45 years ago.