Listening to the Ashland, VA scanner feed on Tuesday morning (9/24/13), I heard Amtrak 89, the southbound Palmetto call 145 as its engine number, and I knew in advance that Heritage Unit 145 would be coming back north on Amtrak 90 the next day, so on Wednesday afternoon (9/25/13), I headed 0ut to the Mountain Road crossing in Glen Allen to catch it.
Right as I arrived at the crossing, something called the signals at Laurel just to the south. What I thought was going to be a work train actually turned out to be a nice surprise. Some sort of CSX special went northbound with SD40-2 8882 and GP40-2 6025 leading two CSX Office Cars.
After this train hit the detector at CFP 8.1, Q141, the southbound Juice train called the signals at Hunton and passed by the crossing on Mountain Road with a CW60AC and SD70ACe pair.
Shortly after Q141's passage, I relocated to one of the gravel piles near the tracks right before Northeast Regional 125 was calling Hunton, and it passed by Mountain Road behind P42 91.
Around 6:15 Wednesday evening, I got what I came for, as the northbound Palmetto passed behind Phase III Heritage P42 145.
After receiving a few days notice about the Private railcar "Inspection Car Navy 118" being on Northeast Regional 67 (Amtrak P077 on weekends), I was briefly out of the house on the morning of Saturday August 31st, 2013 and up to Ashland, taking up a position at Langford between Ashcake Road and Francis Street on this day. This day's Northeast Regional 67 had P42 91 on the head end.
Well, I have been very behind on my blog posts lately. I was able to get out a couple of times during the month of August. The first outing that I took in August was on the morning of August 17th. This time I decided to set up at the Railroad Crossing on Gwathmey Church Road in south Ashland.
I had plenty of time to set up my equipment and eat breakfast before my first catch of the day came. Northeast Regional 88 came by Gwathmey Church behind P42 164.
After P088 passed by, there was a little break in the action until I heard a Qxxx on the scanner at Elmont. The train was Q034 which passed by with not one but TWO 3000 series GEVO's on the head end. ES44AH's 3044 and 3057 led CW44AC 5101 past Gwathmey Church Road with a healthy-sized northbound intermodal.
A little while after Q034 passed Gwathmey Church, Amtrak's Northeast Regional 67 (Amtrak P077 on weekends) passed by Gwathmey Church Road behind P42 190. As P067/77 was approaching, some people showed up to cut the grass, and it was time for me to relocate.
My last train for this day was Northeast Regional 194 led by P42 121. On this Day, 194 was running about 40 minutes late.
On the morning of Saturday, July 27th, 2013, I decided to spend a few hours trackside on the RF&P. I decided to set up at the Visitor's Center in Ashland as it had been a while since I had gotten any footage at that location. There was plenty of time for me to set up my tripod and camcorder and eat breakfast before it was time for Amtrak's Northeast Regional 88 to make its stop at Ashland. The defect detector at milepost 8.1
and Elmont signals to the south were all static on the scanner this day but I tried to make out what signals were being called.
At 8:38 AM, Northeast Regional 88 made its stop at Ashland behind P42 150.
After 88's passage, it was almost another hour before the next train showed up. Northeast Regional 67 (Amtrak P077 on weekends) made its stop behind P42 131 on track 3.
So far, it was turning out to be a quiet morning on the RF&P. We didn't get any other trains through until 10:20 AM when Northeast Regional 194 arrived to its stop in Ashland about 10 minutes late, led by P42 9.
While the train was stopped, I decided to take a picture of the "North Ashland" signals
About 20 minutes after 194 was out of Ashland, I finally got a freight; Q702 a northbound empty trash train came through behind ES44AC 849 and CW44AC 360. Not the best of power, but I was glad to finish off my morning at Ashland with a freight
After hearing from a member of Yahoo's "Old Dominion Railfans" group that Heritage Unit 145 was leading Amtrak's northbound Palmetto, I was out to Elmont Saturday afternoon to wait for it.
When I arrived the block signal on track 3 was green meaning that we would get a southbound. Sure enough, shortly after I set up, Northeast Regional 195 called the signals at North Ashland, and made its stop at the Ashland Station. At 5:25 PM, Northeast Regional 195 passed by the camera with P42 123 in the lead.
After 195's passage, the bottom block signal on track 3 changed to a lunar/restricting signal (red over white) which indicated that another southbound train was coming. At 5:30 the southbound Silver Star passed by with P42's 48 and 192.
Then shortly after the Silver Star passed by, the northbound Palmetto passed by with Phase III Heritage Unit 145 in the lead.
About 15 minutes after the Palmetto had passed, Q406 announced that it was passing the signals at Hunton, and passed by the camera with ES40DC 5205 and CW44AC 362
The last train I saw before heading home was the southbound Auto Train led by P40's 814 and 831.
It was time for me to do some Memorial Day weekend railfanning, so on the morning of May 25th, 2013, I decided to go up and get some trains at Elmont Road near Ashland, VA. It was a nice cool, and crisp morning, with temperatures somewhere in the upper 40's to lower 50's.
Right as I arrived at Elmont Road, Amtrak Northeast Regional 82 called the DD just past Mountain Road and past my camera at 7:44 AM behind P42 177:
Shortly after Northeast Regional 82 announced on the scanner that it was stopping at Ashland, I heard Q034, a northbound intermodal (train w/ UPS, JB Hunt) on the scanner at Laurel, and passed the camera at 0755 with ES44AH 3045, ES40DC 5370, and CW44AC 465. This train marked my first time catching a 3000 series ES44AH on camera.
At about 5 minutes after 8 AM, I got an email from one of the members of Yahoo's "Old Dominion Railfans" group about a late running northbound Auto Train, and at about 8:10, it passed by behind P40's 818 and 830:
Amtrak had made a slight adjustment to the schedule for the next Northeast Regional train that I saw, changing its arrival time into Ashland to 8:38 AM rather than 8:48 AM. Northeast Regional 88 was the next train I saw, passing by Elmont Road behind P42 168, which I last saw at Elmont back in September 2010.
A few minutes after 9, I heard Q410, a northbound mixed frieght on the radio, but I was wondering why it was not calling the signals at Elmont. Shortly after, I heard a horn that I knew was coming from something OTHER than a GEVO. I finally got a southbound, as Q401-24 passed by the camera with two SD60M's in the lead- 8776 and 8785, switching from track 3 to track 2 (there is no track 1 on this line).
After Q401 passed, Q410 got the go-ahead from the BD Distpatcher up in Baltimore, and it switched from track 3 to track 2, behind ES40DC 5310, SD40-2, CW44AC 150, and ES44AH 978.
The last train I saw before heading home was southbound Amtrak Northeast Regional 67 (P077 on weekends), led by P42 160.
