In its constant steady growth, Carload Express, the local company that owns the AVR, purchased a few ex-NS locomotives during that road's big sell-off the past few years. Five SD60Ms, slated to potentially replace the SD40-2M (SD45 cardbodied) locos on the bigger road freights, starting arriving this month after a three-year wait. In the internim, AVR took delivery of two ex-NS GP59s: 4559 has mostly stayed in Pittsburgh as trailing power on the AVR-1 interchange job, and 4552 was not seen much out of Glenwood. When @Jason Capra posted that the 4552 was on the AVR-3 job to Washington, I hightailed it down to Venetia to catch it heading back north.
This is my best and favorite shot from the day, and deserves a bit of an explanation. At least from 2011 to 2013, when I was subscribed, Railfan & Railroad used to reserve the last page of the magazine for a vertical shot, perhaps in an effort to encourage smartphone users to submit photos, or to encourage more unconventional photos. When I first visited this spot and saw the ex-B&O telegraph poles, I immediately thought that a vertical photo would be a great way to capture the train and the lineside point of interest.
