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