Talk about ugly. Thank goodness the ones now don't look like these. If they did, I would not be a CSX livery fan Did I say ugly? Did they not make decent paint back then What year was this? I mean even the nose of the locomotive is ugly.
These were made in late '78 to early '79. With railroads hoping to reduce or eliminate cabooses at the time, the notion of the BQ23-7 was to provide a spacious locomotive cab where all crewmen could sit. Crewmen hated the design because it provided no collision protection with vehicles at grade crossings and probably because they wanted to preserve the use of cabooses and the jobs that supported their use.
Two b&w snaps at Knoxville, TN, the first from 11/13/1976 of a rebuilt Alco S-4 with an EMD 567 under the hood and the other of some sort of water car (for fire suppression perhaps?) from autumn 1977. The flatcar has a stenciled build date of 2-27.
Opened in 1905, the L&N's station in Knoxville was a stub-end affair and trains had to back a mile off the main to reach it. [01/21/1978] The station has since been renovated and stands today, used for a high school academy. The passenger car in the picture was used by the L&N to ferry VIP's from the station to the stadium on football Saturdays.
