I came back from Washington for a long weekend visit to see my parents (and chase some trains). On the morning of my departure, after getting a haircut, I drove down to the AVR tracks in Venetia on a whim to see if AVR-3 had gone by yet. Lo and behold, 20 minutes later I heard a distant horn, and AVR-3 appeared, led by the pair of GP59s I have dubbed "the twins" (as they are the only two such units on Carload's roster). This was a particular surprise, since on Friday I had been convinced to make the drive all the way up to New Kensington and found the two units sitting cold on the Valley Line. Since I only had my phone, I had to make a quick return home to grab the good camera, by which point the crew had already finished their drop at International Paper and were working Performance Plastics. Tipped off by the consist, I told the small crew of railfans roused by my Facebook post that the train was going all the way to Washington, a somewhat infrequent occurrence these days. We gave chase, and I got the train at a pair of spots I'd always hoped for a picture of, plus VBAT. Regretfully, since I had made plans to see the YN2 GP38-2 working Connellsville, I had to break off the chase before the train returned north; in any case, 4001 would lead, and I'd seen that many times before. All in all a short chase, but one that bore fruit in disproportionate ratio to its length.
Consist: GP59s 4552, 4551 (CLXX), GP40-3 4001 (AVR)
(0:00) Intro
(0:13) Sugar Run Road, Venetia
(1:00) Zedicker Station Road, South Strabane
(1:50) Maiden Street viaduct, angle 1
(2:39) Maiden Street viaduct, angle 2
(3:30) The Road, Washington
(4:18) Photos
