Walking On Empty: March 2015

Friday, March 20, 2015

Original Norfolk Southern 8114

Updated 04/17/15:
The 8114 came back through leading 201, it was another after dark opportunity, but at least this time it wasn't raining. It's not much better, but eventually it'll be back during daylight hours and I can get a decent picture, maybe even the return trip on 202!

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Well it finally happened ... I finally got to see all 20 of the Norfolk Southern Heritage engine fleet. The 20th one had proved quite elusive, having been almost two years since I began collecting pictures of them on trains through Jonesborough.The final motor was the 8114 Original Norfolk Southern with a bright orange paint scheme.

A FB train buddy alerted me to the 8114 being on a train that was having trouble. The 8114 was the 4th of four engines, and it was the cause of the trouble. The 8114 was not running right and the train was so long that it need all four engines to make it to Bristol. I think the train got stuck on the hill coming up out of Jonesborough, but they finally got it running just enough to get up that hill and up the valley toward Piney Flats, but it stalled out there again and another engine was dispatched to push it into Bristol.

I had a good plan for getting a picture; the ETSU Bucs were playing a night home baseball game so I knew they would have the lights on. The train track runs along the first base side of the field about 50 ft from the field so I figured they would provide enough light for a reasonable night shot. I got there about 15 minutes before the train, si walked down the sidewalk and made a few test shots, it was going to be epic. I heard the train horns blaring and just as I could see the ditch lights of the train the field lights were cut off ... crap crap crap.

Did I mention that it started to rain too, oh bother.

My only choice at this point was to run back to the street light near the crossing and fire up the flash and just let the hundreds of inevitable water spots do do their thing. I cranked the flash power down as low as possible, but there's only so much you can do; flashes and rain/snow don't mix well

So, there's all 20 Heritage motors. So now it's on to the next challenge of catching them all leading.

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I'd not seen the Original Norfolk Southern before, so this is a new Heritage motor for me. I'm finally at finally at 20 of 20. Woo Hoo !

#13 1065 Savannah and Atlanta

#15 1066 New York Central

#19 1067 Reading
#12 1068 Erie
#1 1069 Virginian
#8 1070 Wabash
#16 1071 Central RR of New Jersey
#11 1072 Illinois Terminal
#4 1073 Penn Central
#18 1074 Lackawanna
#17 8025 Monongahela
#2 8098 Conrail

#10 8099 Southern
#5 8100 Nickel Plate Road
#7 8101 Central of Georgia

#9 8102 Pennsylvania

#14 8103 Norfolk and Western
#3 8104 Lehigh Valley

#6 8105 Interstate

#20 8114 Norfolk Southern

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This is not a new Special Interest engine for me.
6920 Honoring Our Veterans

6963 GoRail

630 Southern Railway Steam
1030 The Forgotten Heritage Engine

Thursday, March 19, 2015

Radio Active (Part Deux)

As it normally works out, the Facing Book word went out that the Norfolk Southern Heritage engine #1074 (Delaware Lackawanna) was leading the 202. That's most excellent because 202 typically comes through Jonesborough in the early afternoon. A heritage motor though town, during daylight hours, leading ... the trifecta! My only other time seeing the 1074 was late at night back in September of last year, so this is one I've been waiting to get a decent shot of.

It was disappointing that the horn on the 1074 wasn't the typical SD70ACe horn, I really like the ACe horns. And it was raining, so that's bad; flat gray skies make for bad pictures. The engine was rather dirty (but it does work for a living) and in bad need of some touch-up paint.

So, based on how long is typically takes a train to get from Bulls Gap the Jonesborough, I planned to leave work early enough to get to Sand Valley, then sprint to Bluff City. But the word came to me that the train was at the 50 mp about 30 minutes before I though it would be. So I left work in a hurry and I got about 1/2 way there when I heard on the scanner that it was already at Washington College, so I knew I wouldn't have enough time to get to Sand Valley afore it got there. Plan B; go to the Salt House and shoot there. But traffic prevented me from making good enough time to get to the Salt House, so I bailed out and shot it at the 3rd street crossing.

NS1074 DLW, 3rd Street, Jonesborough TN, 3/19/15

As soon as it was by me, I was back on the road headed for Bluff City. I made such good time out of Jonesborough that I was able to get ahead of it and shoot it at OmniSource (JC Herb-n-Metal).

NS1074 DLW, Omnisource, Johnson City TN, 3/19/15

As soon as it was by me there I was back on the road to Bluff City. This where my traffic luck ran out. It felt like I caught every stop light exactly wrong, and every slow person in the are was double file in front of me. I'd made the trip before and had plenty of time to get to the bridge, but this time I was worried. Traffic cleared for me as I got out of Piney Flats so I made it to the bridge over Boone Lake with about 2 minutes to spare.

NS1074 DLW, Boone Lake, Bluff City TN, 3/19/15

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I'd seen the DLW once before, so this is not a new Heritage motor for me. I'm still at 19 of 20.