The New Cannonball

The latest Norfolk Southern Heritage engine that I've seen come through Jonesborough was the Wabash (1070). I saw on the FaceTube that the Wabash was trailing (2nd of 3) on the 15T from Allentown PA, but this has happened before and the engines were taken off at Roanoke. So when I later saw that it had cleared Roanoke with the power intact it became a "simple" task of working out the timing of when it would get to Jonesborough. 

A network of FaceTube friends and a few sites on the Interwebs and a scanner makes it a manageable task to find westbound trains that have made it to Piney Flats and are waiting on clearance to go through Johnson City and Jonesborough on to Knoxville. I've empirically determined that once a train receives clearance, it takes about 50 minutes to get from Piney Flats to Jonesborough which gives me time to get there with time for a few practice shots.

It was cloudy and getting dark fast, so I got lucky when the 37Q came through about 30 minutes before the 15T. It also had three engines which gave me a good opportunity to work out the best angles to shoot from since the Wabash was not leading, and facing backwards. Below are the two best shots, taken behind the courthouse in downtown Jonesborough.

NS1070 Wabash Heritage - Jonesborough, TN - 12/28/2013

NS1070 Wabash Heritage - Jonesborough, TN - 12/28/2013

This was the 8th of 20 for me ... 12 to go !

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

#6 8105 Interstate
#7 8101 Central of Georgia

#8 1070 Wabash

Update:

The Wabash came back through on a frigid Thursday night, this time leading a 15T. It was late leaving Jonesborough, had mechanical trouble in Bristol - the cab heater wasn't working, had to stop for a hot wheel in Jonesborough, and the horn was randomly going off on it's own.

 

More Conrail

The first of the Norfolk Heritage engines that I captured "in the wild" was the NS8098 Conrail. The FaceTube said that it was making a trip back through Bulls Gap to Andover Va. this afternoon. It was raining like heck at the house but I was bored and went on to Weber City to see if there was a good shooting spot to be had. I was also looking forward to shooting something besides black trains, the last few weeks have had only the Nickel Plate Road and the Penn Central coming through the area, so a shot of a blue train was a welcome change.

I was planning on standing under the awning of a business across the road from the tracks but by the time I hit the Va line the rain had stopped. I drove the length of Weber City looking for a good angle to shoot knowing that the 8098 was running as the DPU again. I picked a spot in the parking lot beside Brad's pit BBQ and waited.

The spot i picked was near the top of the rise coming out of Yuma, so the big diesels were really shaking the ground as they came by ... I love that sound. I wasn't aware that there was a double DPU working this train, but that too was a nice change.

NS8100 Heritage, Conrail, Weber City, Va - 12/22/2013

NS8100 Heritage, Conrail, Weber City, Va - 12/22/2013

Another week goes by and no new Heritage engines, but it's always fun to go practice shooting in different places in different conditions. Still at 7 of 20.

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

#6 8105 Interstate
#7 8101 Central of Georgia

Finally ...

I'd struck out twice trying to get a decent picture of the NS8100 Nickel Plate Road engine. Both times it had been leading but both times it was dark and the last time it was raining sideways.

But, thirds times a charm, eh? When the NKP was assigned to 23G I figured that, once again, it would be a missed opportunity as the 23G typically goes through Jonesborough in the wee hours of the morning. But something went pear-shaped east of here and gummed up all the eastbound train traffic Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. Now all that had to happen was for the train traffic to break out about daylight and I'd have a good chance. Well that didn't happen before I had to leave for work ... oh bother.

At work I got word via the FaceTube that 23G was just then rolling toward Jonesborough, so off we went to catch it in downtown Johnson City. I had scouted out this location before as a good candidate for a morning train shot. The light was good - a little too good, actually it would have been better with a little cloud cover - but it was nice just to be taking train pictures during daylight hours for once.

It took twice as long as it should have for the train to get to JC as we thought. There was still fallout from the earlier nights gumming up. But when it finally arrived we got the shots we wanted. Some folk don't like to shoot the engines when they are running as DPUs - pushing from the back of the train instead of pulling at the front - but I rather like it because I can practice shooting the train as it rolls by and get the timing down. Shooting a moving train is a developed skill, so practice is always welcome.

NS8100 Nickel Plate Road in Johnson City

Of all the NS Heritage paint schemes, this one is the second worst IMHO - the worst being the lime green with yellow stripes of the Illinois Terminal "glow worm". Its only redeeming feature is the nicely scripted lettering.

Regardless, it's not a new Heritage engine capture but it is a much better picture of a previous catch. Still 7 down and 13 to go.

Update (12/18/2013): the NKP returned on 22A again, leading this time. I snapped the following two pictures in downtown Jonesborough, just after dark ... again ... one more time.

NS8100 NKP nose, Jonesborough, TN 12/18/2013

NS8100 NKP butt, Jonesborough, TN 12/18/2013

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

#6 8105 Interstate
#7 8101 Central of Georgia

Central of Georgia

The latest Norfolk Southern Heritage for me is the Central of Georgia (8101). This time I was really late - almost too late - getting to the designated picture-taking spot, which was behind the courthouse in Jonesborough. As soon as I parked the truck I could heard the horns for the crossing, and then the crossing gates started dropping - I had no more than 30 seconds to tweak the camera settings before it got there.

I knew it had also been cleared all the way through Jonesborough to Bulls Gap, so it wouldn't be slowing down as it came by. I also knew it was the third of three engines, facing rearward so I practiced getting the timing down on the first two engines. 

NS Heritage 8101 - Central of Georgia - Jonesborough, TN

This is the first decent shot I've made with the 35mm f/1.8 lens I got a few weeks ago. I got it because I convinced myself that my normal lens (18-200 f/3.5) wasn't fast enough to get any kind of shot after dark. Maybe I was right. I still dialed the ISO way up and set the shutter to 1/125 at f/1.8, deciding that I had a better chance at brightening a dark picture than getting one bright enough that was in focus.

This makes 7 of 20, only 13 more!

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

#6 8105 Interstate
#7 8101 Central of Georgia

The Santa Train

This year's Santa Train included the CSXT Heritage engine 9998 (it's an F40PH-2, usually seen as AMTRAK engines). I wanted to get a picture of this engine - and a picture of Santa on the last car - but the stops along the route are always too crowded for a clear shot, and the traditional photo locations are full of other picture-takers too.

So, I used Google maps to scout out a location that would be devoid of other folks and provide some background scenery for a train picture. I settled on the south portal of the Clinch Mountain tunnel which is about 1/2 mile from where the train makes a stop in Kermit. I was unsure of the terrain because Google doesn't have a street view of Yuma Road in Kermit - go figure - so earlier this week I took off at lunch and made the 45 minuted drive to the spot I had selected. It was an excellent location; nice long incoming shot, some interesting background, and a going-away shot to get a Santa picture. So now the only worry was whether other folk would be there or not when the train rolled through.

The Santa Train runs on a pretty strict time table, so I felt good about only getting there about 30 minutes early. I scouted out the right angle that would include the ruins of the Kingsport Glass sand towers in the background and a shot of the end of the train where Santa would be. Then I borrowed a piece of firewood to prop up my iPhone for video and waited for the train.

Well, first off, I was disappointed to see the 4043 leading, not the heritage engine 9998.

CSX 4043 (SD40-3)

Since it was trailing the only shot that makes sense is this angle ... stupid CSX, don't they know that folk want to see the cool heritage engines out front, not the plain old average everyday SD40's ?

CSXT Heritage 9998 (F40PH-2)

And then Santa rolled by on the observation deck of the last car ... and he waved at me !

Santa waving at me !

Somebody should tell the folk at CSX to think about the order of the engines when they include them on special runs. I mean seriously, how much effort would it take to make sure the heritage engines are leading on the runs when it counts?

Creamsicle

The Norfolk Heritage engine 8105 (Interstate) - affectionately called 'the creamsicle' (or the orangesicle) because of the cream-over-orange paint scheme - came back through Johnson City that evening on the 22A. It was leading 22A through here last Sunday but it was delayed in Radford and got here over two hours late, which meant it was way after dark. I just don't have the skillz and/or tools to take pictures of fast moving trains in the dark. So I missed it.

It came back as the DPU on 23G on Wednesday morning, but I missed it again, by only 5 minutes. When I heard that it was coming back this evening I figured I had a reasonable shot at it, but then the rains came ...

I heard the call for it to leave Piney Flats and made the trip to downtown JC anyway. It was about 5:45 when I rolled through - I made it with five minutes to spare. I grabbed the umbrella and worked out a way to hold the umbrella with one arm while leaving both hands free to work the camera. It's not great camera work but it's proof that I saw it!

Here's what I ended up with after some serious massaging with LR4.

NS Heritage 8105 - Interstate in Downtown Johnson City

NS Heritage 8105 - Interstate in Downtown Johnson City

6 Down ... 14 to go ... bring it!

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

#6 8105 Interstate

NS Heritage 8100 (Nickel Plate Road)

I struck out badly Sunday night trying to snap a picture of the NS 6920 (Honoring our Veterans) in Jonesborough. It rolled through about 8:00. I just don't have the skill-set and the equipment necessary to take a picture of an object moving that fast in that low an amount of light. I can learn skills, but I don't see that grade of hardware in my future. 

So, I woke up Monday morning to hear that the Norfolk Souther Heritage #8100 (Nickel Plate Road) was on its way through Johnson City to Jonesborough. The 8100 is my favorite of the mostly black heritage paint schemes. The yellow stripes and the scripted  Nickel Plate Road  look really sharp.

It was going to get there about 7:00 AM and it would still be dark, and I knew that Jonesborough was a bad bet. So on a whim I drove to downtown Johnson City hoping there would be enough street lights to get a reasonable picture.

Once again I got there with less than 2 minutes to spare. As soon as I opened got parked and opened the truck door I heard the train horn ... crap ... I hastily setup my iPhone on the tailgate and quickly looked around for the most light and metered a couple of possibilities. It was going to be too dark again, but what the heck, give it a go.

Did I mention it started misting and blowing right into the camera? This is the only picture I got that wasn't a blurry blob or covered with water spots. A grainy train with yellowish stripes. Yeah, not so good. If you didn't know it was the 8100 you couldn't figure it out from the picture.

Heritage NS8100 Nickel Plate Road

Not a complete fail, but far from what I want. I tried to grab a single frame from the video but no joy as they were blurry too. Maybe next time ......

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road

NS Heritage Penn Central

At lunch today a friend of a friend saw a Facebook post that said the Norfolk Southern Heritage engine #1073, the Penn Central - with the 'worms' logo - was on train 202 which would bring it through Jonesborough this afternoon. That's not an opportunity that often arises, so we decided to do a late/long lunch in the Parson's Table parking lot and wait.

We knew it wasn't the lead engine, so we scouted out locations to give us the best angle for a shot at an engine in the middle of a consist. We also knew it would be making good time coming through town so the window to get a shot would be small.

I picked a spot up high, my accomplice picked a spot down low with a wider view and the result was "I chose poorly". I'm not sure why, but I had not anticipated the 1073 being the third of three engines in the line, facing backwards. So my short window of time only allowed me to get one shot of the engine's butt while it rolled by ... backwards.

NS1073 Penn Central Heritage

The Penn Central is the least different in paint scheme from a normal Norfolk Southern black and white. But at least it was shiny and clean, and it was captured while doing its job.

That makes it number 4 of 20, only 16 to go!

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#4 1073 Penn Central

NS Heritage Lehigh Valley

I got confirmation that the Norfolk Southern Heritage engine 8104 (Lehigh Valley) was stopped in SWVa, but no information on when it would leave or where it would go next.  So it was decided that we'd take a ride over through the mountains looking for some good fall color and try to catch it before it got gone.

Well, the search for good color was a bust - it's just as green with a hint of mustard yellow over there as it is here at home. But I did get to see the "Valley Girl" parked at the far end of the yard, still hooked to the black and white #8149. Still dusty from the long trip up from Georgia, the burgundy and gold looked pretty washed out under the bright sky.

NS8104 Lehigh Valley

I've related to others that catching it stopped in a yard is kinda like taking a picture of a lion at the zoo, it's a legit lion but it's not a legit location for a lion; it's not "in the wild". I'd much rather catch the engines doing work. Regardless, that's number 3 of 20, 17 to go.

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail 

#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

NS Heritage Conrail

There's nerds in every crowd, I should know 'cause I'm a nerd in several different crowds. Among railfans, there are those that chase the Norfolk Southern Heritage locomotives. These engines are like Pokemon for Railfans ... "Gotta Catch'em All!" This is the second one I've seen in person, and the first one I've seen 'in the wild'.

NS Heritage Conrail at Copper Creek

The Conrail was working as a trailing DPU, pushing hard on the tail end of this long consist of coal cars as it crosses Copper Creek near Duffield Va. - the Copper Creek viaduct used by CSX is visible in the background.

I got wind of the Conrail's impending pass through our area about noon but it had been raining all day and I figured there would be no chance to get a picture. But the rain stopped about 6, another tweet said the train had just made the turn at Bulls Gap which gave me plenty of time to get to Copper Creek before the train. I scouted out the best angle considering the engine was at the rear of the train and waited.

About 7:00 it started sprinkling again, and at 7:01 I heard the train. So I covered the camera and lens with a towel and took some practice shots on the coal cars as they passed by about 30 mph to make sure I could stay focused on the engine as it passed by. The practice shots helped, and this was the best of the ones I got.

2 down, 18 to go!

#1 1069 Virginian
#2 8098 Conrail

Trains in Tunnels

This past Saturday I ventured out to the Natural Tunnel State Park in Duffield Va (aka injun territory) for the first annual Norfolk Southern Railroad Days. The main attractions for me was getting to walk the railway through the tunnels and getting to see the Norfolk Southern Heritage engine painted and lettered for the Virginian Railway.

the Virginian is an EMD SD70ACe - bigger than you think

the nose

the crossing light and horn at the pedestrian crossover

oh, i forgot, an Operation Lifesaver C40-9W engine was there too
here it's moving backwards into the tunnel

Norfolk Southern paid homage to its predecessor railroads during its 30th anniversary year by painting 20 new locomotives in commemorative schemes that reflect the heritage of those predecessors. Go here if you're interested: http://www.nscorp.com/nscportal/nscorp/Community/Heritage%20Locomotives

#1 1069 Virginian

Big Water

After a weeks worth of rain I wanted to go see how much water was flowing over some of the waterfalls around home. The problem is that most waterfall hikes require multiple creek crossings, but creeks that are flooding makes that a non-starter. So I needed a waterfall that I could get to without a creek crossing ... there's only two that I can think of : Rock Fork and 

There was a break in the rain on Saturday morning, so I talked the spousal unit into accompanying me on the relatively short walk. We'd easily be done before the rain started again, right?

The Nolichuckey river was way up and way muddy. But as we got to the creeks higher up they were running full, but not real muddy, excellent. There were a few hardy folk trout fishing in the Rocky Fork creek, it looked like a waste of time to me, lots of water with a lot of color, but they were hard at it. 

The first picture is Rocky Fork Falls taken from along the main road. There was so much water flowing and it was generating so much mist that getting a picture from down along the creek bank just wasn't going to happen.

The second picture is of the triple falls ... except there's so much water flowing that you can't tell there's supposed to be three distinct sections to the drop.

The last picture is of the last waterfall along the creek. Again there's so much water rolling that it loses all of it's recognizable features.

Hot Gossip, Cold Drinks

With construction on the new traffic roundabout at the busy intersection of State Route 81, State Route 353 and Depot Street set to begin this summer, Five Points Grocery is about to become a pile of rubble.  The store officially closed its doors Sunday, March 31. 

In a town that is proud of its oldest-town-in-Tennessee architecture, Five Points is not a picturesque building, or situated in a particularly nice location, but it's been around a long time and deserves to be remembered, if only in pictures.

Since us country folk don't get many chances to drive in roundabouts (also called roundy-rounds or rotary intersections) I figured it's my civic duty to learn the proper method of navigation through these traffic-control devices. So I did what modern folk do when they have a question ... I turned to the interwebs. So here ya go, put some knowledge in your head:

A roundabout is a type of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is slowed and flows almost continuously in one direction around a central island to several exits onto the various intersecting roads. In a modern roundabout, entering traffic must always yield to traffic already in the circle. Elimination of the opportunity for the most deadly crashes at intersections (T-bone or perpendicular crashes) is the greatest benefit of the roundabout design.

 

Saying the roundabout is “absolutely safer” than a traffic light at the Five Points intersection, Steve Allen, TDOT project planning director, added that studies show there are fewer severe crashes using that type of intersection design. The absence of traffic signals keep traffic moving during slow times, Allen said. The main drawback, he said, is the public’s unfamiliarity with using roundabouts, an issue he said can be addressed by using plenty of well-placed signage.

Notice that Mr Allen dis not say "fewer crashes", he said "fewer severe crashes", just pointing that out. With a high school full of inexperienced drivers forced to use the roundabout twice a day, five days a week, and the rest of the citizenry generally being older drivers, the potential for incidents is quite large. My guess is that one of Jonesborough's finest will be stationed at the roundabout full time.



Here's an artist rendering of the proposed roundabout at the Five points intersection. Dwight Armstrong with the TDOT Project Management Office in Knoxville describes the design as a typical roundabout with a bypass lane.


The upside is that there won't be any red-light cameras installed at this intersection.

Would it be in poor taste to take bets on when the first crash in the roundabout takes place?

Maybe we should run a contest to name the roundabout !

Chasing Steam

The restored Norfolk Southern 630 was back in town this past weekend. I spent the day with John and Ian chasing it round the area.

The 630 rolling back to the Bristol Train Station on Saturday evening

A shot of the Bristol Train Station after everyone had gone home

In front of Gilley's Hotel / Bulls Gap Train Depot

and yeah, technically it's a fake ... the diesel pic was taken about
an hour before the 630 arrived, I merged the pics in CS5

Rolling downhill past the old Limestone Depot ... notice the lack of steam and smoke

There was a mechanical problem with one of the diesel pushers between Limestone and Jonesborough
which made the arrival in J'boro about a 45 minutes late. Here the 630 is passing the Salt House headed for Johnson City.

the last shot of the day was the 630 crossing Boone Lake over the Bluff City bridge

VA in the Snow

I lost interest in the Bowl of Superness ... so I spent the time working over some pictures I took at the VA Mountain Home in Johnson City today ... enjoy.

Oh, and here's a picture of a barn in a field across Headtown road ...

First ...

It's important to start a new year off with a win; it sets up a winning attitude that can carry a person successfully through the next 364 days. Several years back I made a resolution to get a good night's sleep on new year's eve, and I am proud to report that once again I succeeded in sticking to my resolution.

The weather report said that New Year's day was going to be a total washout - and it was - so if I was going to get a year-ending picture posted it would have to be taken on the 31st. But I needed an idea of something that needed it's picture taken. As providence would have it I got a FB message from George Stacy about an old farmhouse on Simerly Creek road that he liked. The spousal unit needed to go to Elizabethton anyway, so the timing was right to swing by and see the house for myself.

It is a neat old house, sitting about 10 ft above the road. This angle is the best as there is a power pole with several guy wires to the right of the house.The gray skies made the surroundings a very unremarkable mix of browns and grays, with just a touch of green. Even the rust color on the roof was rather flat. I was hoping that some of the recent snow would still be on the ground, but no joy.

The clouds were rolling fast and the sun was popping in and out, so I waited until there was consistent cloud cover and snapped a three shot bracket that yielded this HDR. Since there was real lack of color in the picture I thought I would have to make it a black & white, but the HDR processing was able to bring out enough color to make it interesting.

Now that I know the house is a cool structure, I'll go back out there when (if) it snows again, and in the spring, summer and fall when the trees can provide some colorful backdrops.

----------------------

Directions: the house is 3.3 miles from the intersection of Simerly Creek Road and Route 19E (between Hampton and Roan Mountain).