@Amfleet25124 posted:Gentlemen, awesome catches and brilliant photography
Thank you very much Kevin!
Back once again with two more photos a video...this time, the photos are a bit more current, though the video is from (almost exactly) a year ago.
Last Friday, I had the day off work. I had planned for another trip to the Maryland & Delaware, but received word that Amtrak's tri-weekly Cardinal would originate in Indianapolis (not Chicago) with B32-8WH 519 leading. The previous leader, ALC-42 349, allegedly suffered a failure in the magnetic value that PTC used to control the airbrakes; it could still run, but not lead the train. The Cardinal would not get to DC until after sunset, so I resolved to head as far west as I felt comfortable with and get some photos with decent light. My hastily planned chase started with a 3 and a half hours drive to White Sulphur Springs, WV; I managed to get there ahead of the train, but the spot I found was treed in. Even on the winding former C&O, the train manages 60 miles-per-hour over much of its route, so it was not until after prematurely stopping twice that I finally got ahead of the eastbound train at Charlottesville, VA, 4 hours later. Here, the train heads geographic south for the last time as it approaches UVA's steam plant, 2 minutes away from a crew change and station stop.
I got held up in Charlottesville, so my chase of the eastbound ended with only one 'good' photo. 60% of the time, however, when Amtrak has a pinch-hitting locomotive, they send it back to its home rails (or in this case city) on the counterpart train. Consequently, I went out Sunday for the next westbound, and snagged the train on the approaches to the Long Bridge over the Potomac River. I debated chasing again, but decided I did not want to push my luck.
A year ago, I did a joint, more-or-less successful chase of Wheeling & Lake Erie's 663 job. Based out of Falls Junction, on some days the job works industries in Solon and other branches, but we were after the regular run to the outskirts of Cleveland and Ferrous Metals. This job frequently draws four-axles and WE's slowly dwindling stable of high-hood GP35-3s. On this day, we didn't get the prettiest high-hood, but we sill got a unique consist, with GP40-3 302 in its almost-Rio Grande livery, low-nose GP35 101 in P&WV tribute lettering, and one-off gray high-hood 110. We successfully followed the train north from Falls Junction to Ferrous and the nearby stone plant, then had a somewhat rougher time following the train south from there to Akron.
(0:00) Intro (0:10) Falls Jct. establishing shot (0:30) Working Falls Jct. yard (2:40) Departing Falls Jct. (7:00) Lograsso (9:04) W&LE depot, Bedford (10:00) Working National Lime and Stone. (15:24) Working Ferrous (17:24) Departing Ferrous (19:56) Lograsso (22:10) Falls Junction depot (24:10) Arriving Akron (26:22) Yarding at Akron (29:10) Quick photo reel
