School's out for summer...... It's 2010 (I think) and I think the Coast Starlight(I think, could be Empire Builder) passes a Freight in Vancouver Wa.
A south bound BNSF "Brown Worm" coming off the Galveston Sub onto the Sunset Route to head into Houston. Rosenberg, Texas.
Caught a couple of different kinds of railroading about 20 miles apart but worlds different. First of all, I went to Imlay City to get a battery put in my computer and hung out on the viewing platform next to CN's ex GTW mainline while I was waiting. I caught this freight there. Meanwhile, back at Marlette, G&W orange and cream is becoming more prevalent as more Huron and Eastern engines are repainted. Finally, this heavily weathered ex D&H car was a rare and interesting find in this day and age.
From a mid-1980s snapshot taken in Montgomery, AL is a freight headed by a trio of GE units in Family Lines paint. On the point is ex-L&N U30-C 1553. Montgomery was once served by the CofG, SAL, ACL, WofA, GM&O and the L&N!
This was a couple of weeks ago, but I still really like the setting and the contrasts! Am heading to my LHS in Billings today, and hope to catch more than a few trains, and you guys will definitely be the first to see them!
OK Box, I was able to zoom in on the D&H car. Looks like It's ATGX 12343. Definitely worth a modeling effort in the future. Also found it (a bit cleaner) on rr picture archives: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=3576248
Today, NS, CSX and AUT (Watco's Autauga Northern) serve Montgomery. The CofG and SAL lines were removed in the late 1980s. NS removed the CofG and bought the former GM&O line, operated it for 25 years, then leased it to Watco's Autauga Northern (AUT) in 2011. There's a large paper mill on the line, so AUT moves upwards of 9,000 carloads annually. The AUT uses trackage rights on CSX (the same GM&O line) to extend its reach into Montgomery.
Autauga Northern. Somehow I must have missed reading or hearing anything about this operation. Guess I should do some surfing!
I moved from Montgomery in the early '90s and have lost much of my awareness of current operations there. I just recalled that the Meridian & Bigbee now operates the former WRofA's extension west of Montgomery, so that makes four railroads entering Alabama's State Capital. Like the AUT, the M&B uses CSX trackage rights to gain access, riding CSX rails from Burkville to Montgomery. Soon after I left, CSX downgraded the large L&N yard there and shuttered the engine terminal, transferring things to Boyles Yard in Birmingham. From what I gather, it's still a good town for trainwatching though.
"Interchange at Blue Hour" A pair of light units rest on the CP/BNSF interchange track just west of Soo Tower interlocking before dawn. It sort of looks like a helper pocket...
I was up in Red Bluff, Ca. dropping a trailer at the Walmart DC up there, and watched as a very slow moving stack train headed south:
