Throughout the summer of 2021, Carload Express contracted with RJ Corman to reballast the ex-B&O "Pike" from Streets Run to Washington, permitting a higher track speed of up to 20 MPH. While the reason for this change was not immediately clear, it did allow the area's railfans to see something different from the usual local freight on the line. In July, I happened upon the train at Bruceton, the Wheeling & Lake Erie interchange, where the crew dropped half of their train before starting their ballasting run. This video does not show the actual dumping of ballast (look for that in two weeks), instead focusing on the positioning moves of the joint Corman/AVR crew.
(0:00) Intro
(0:13) The lead GP40-3s are pulled off the head end to run around the train.
(1:08) GP59 4551 is moved below the interchange track crossover
(2:23) Track diagram
(3:21) An empty cut of cars are drifted to their owner.
(5:05) The contractors prepare the lead car for dumping
(5:36) The GP40s shove the train into 4551
(7:03) The 4551 positions the cars for the short dump at Bruceton
(9:37) Dump finished, the train heads south.
