Agreed. Sadly, the nearby "Loops" between Asheville and Linwood, NC that assumed Saluda's tonnage is now being demoted. The Loops aren't being abandoned, but most of the line's freight is being moved to the N&W main and not much will remain. In better times on the Loops west of Old Fort, NC in November 2007:
I took this pic with my first Digicam (Fuji MX-700) but didn't know how rare Conrail 6000 was at the time.
Yeah, and the track in the middle is in pretty bad shape. The one with the tank cars is now mostly used for interchange cars between UP and BNSF. The hoppers on the far left are being unloaded at the chicken feed business. Tower 17 used to be between the small equipment buildings on the right.
I think I researched this road number for modelling (2 Rail Power shells on a lengthened Athearn chassis). It has a "twin"
Did someone say toaster? The crossing gate is not activated because it is for the BNSF tracks barely visible in the foreground. The train is on the UP line which is about 100 feet beyond and running parallel. December 6, 2006 in Rosenberg.
At the eastern end of the Loops is Old Fort, NC. The sun is going down, but I was able to squeeze off one more shot with my Kodachrome ASA 64 film. It's November 2007. The bottom two photos are from Old Fort in August 1983. One shows the station when it was an open agency, train order signal and all. The other shows three SD's making ready to head up the Loops to Asheville.
