The Forgotten Hertitage Engine

The red-headed step-child of the Norfolk Southern Heritage fleet is the EMD SD70ACe #1030. While at the gathering of the Heritage fleet in Spencer it was representing modern-day Norfolk Southern, sporting the current horsehead paint scheme. The "30" in the road number signifies the Norfolk Southern 30th anniversary. The front number boards on the #1030 were temporarily changed to 1982 and 2012 to represent the 30 years since the merger between the Norfolk & Western and Southern Railways

The 1030 came through the area after dark earlier in the week on a 22A so i had hopes that it would return on the 23G today. And another win for the FB folk with a nicely timed heads-up when it left Bulls Gap. 23G got hemmed in at Sand Valley by today's 22A which made timing the 23G through Jonesborough very easy.

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This is a new heritage engine but I'm still at # 13 of 20 official heritage engines for me!

#00  1030 The Forgotten Heritage Engine
#13  1065  Savannah and Atlanta

        1066  New York Central

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

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

  #9  8102  Pennsylvania

        8103  Norfolk and Western
  #3  8104  Lehigh Valley

  #6  8105  Interstate

        8114  Norfolk Southern

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This is not a new Special Interest engine for me.

#1 6920 Honoring Our Veterans

#2 6963 GoRail

#3 Southern 630

Tuxedo

Another win for the Interwebs, specifically folk from the Facing Book and HeritageUnits.com. I finally got a chance to catch one of my favorite paint jobs on a Heritage engine: the tuxedo paint scheme on the Savannah and Atlanta.

The Savannah and Atlanta has been stuck in Illinois for the past six months save one trip through Jonesborough back in January which I missed - but a week ago there was a glimmer of hope that it would get here when I saw on HU.com that it was making a break for West Virginia. The next update had it in central WV, then silence for a few days then BAM! it was leaving Cleveland Va leading on a coal drag bound for Belmont, NC - which would put it through NETN today. The hard part - as it always is - was knowing when it would get close to us.

FB to the rescue ... a FB buddy from the East Tennessee Rail group was waiting on it just west of Rogersville. I would typically go to Weber City Va to shoot trains coming out of SWVa toward Knoxville but I figured I was too late to the party to get to Weber City before it did ... so ... my shooting buddy John and I took and early lunch and bolted for Bulls Gap TN, figuring that the guy in Rogersville could call us off if were too late to catch it there

The following three pics came out pretty good. It would have been nice to have some clouds to break up the sky but you gotta work with what you have.

Savannah and Atlanta, Bulls Gap, TN (04/23/14)

We'd previously used the Google to scout out what looked like a good train shooting spot with an old building for a backdrop. When we got there we a bit disappointed because they layout wasn't as cool as it appeared on the Google; the railroad crossing was much higher than we expected. In the picture below you can see that a most of the bottom floor of the building is blocked.

Savannah and Atlanta, Bulls Gap, TN (04/23/14)

The obligatory butt shot.

Savannah and Atlanta, Bulls Gap, TN (04/23/14)

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This is heritage engine # 13 of 20 for me!

#13  1065  Savannah and Atlanta

        1066  New York Central

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

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

  #9  8102  Pennsylvania

        8103  Norfolk and Western
  #3  8104  Lehigh Valley

  #6  8105  Interstate

        8114  Norfolk Southern

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This is not a new Special Interest engine for me.

#1 6920 Honoring Our Veterans

#2 6963 GoRail

#3 Southern 630

Southern 630

The 2nd annual running of the ex-Southern Railway 2-8-0 #630 as part of the 21st Century Steam program took place on Saturday and Sunday (4/5 & 4/6). Last year we met it in Bulls Gap for the railroad day festivities and then caught it as it came back by the Salt House in Jonesborough, caught it one last time on the bridge over Boone lake at Bluff City. We didn't want to go back to those places again so we used the Google to pick a few points of interest along the out-bound leg and a few different ones on the return leg.

As it moved west on the first leg of it's trip we planned to see the train arrive in Johnson City to pick up a few passengers, then we moved to the Spring Street crossing in Jonesborough, then to the depot in downtown Greeneville.

On it's return trip we caught it at the W. Irish Street crossing in Greeneville and then one last time as it passed under the Old Jonesborough Road bridge back in Jonesborough.

I took lots of pics that were just fine, nothing special, but not bad. The following two are different renderings of my favorite of the weekend. Which do you like best ?

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This is not a new Heritage engine for me. Still at number 12 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

#8 1070 Wabash

#9 8102 Pennsylvania
#10 8099 Southern
#11 1072 Illinois Terminal
#12 1068 Erie

 

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This is not a new Special Interest engine for me.

#1 6920 Honoring Our Veterans

#2 6963 GoRail

#3 Southern 630

GoRail

Norfolk Southern Railroad has some locomotives painted in Special Interest schemes that are not part of  the Heritage fleet. The newest member of this fleet is the NS6963 GoRail and it made its maiden voyage through Jonesborough this morning. The weather was very cloudy and threatening to rain at any time so I was really happy when I heard it's horn blowing at the first crossing in Jonesborough.

NS6963, Jonesborough, TN 4/4/2014

Here's some information from the NS6963 - GoRail press release:

GoRail and Norfolk Southern announced the unveiling of its one-of-a-kind GoRail locomotive today to commemorate the 10th anniversary of GoRail, a non-profit grassroots organization dedicated to educating the public about the benefits of moving more freight by rail. Founded in 2004, GoRail mobilizes support for policies that would lead to more freight moving by rail and opposition to policies that would limit the freight railroads’ ability to meet growing freight demand. The GoRail locomotive will enter into regular freight service on Norfolk Southern’s system.

NS6963, Jonesborough, TN 4/4/2014

The SD60E model features a paint scheme combining the infinity lines of the Norfolk Southern livery with the tracks of the GoRail logo. The lines end in an arrow to depict movement, and the GoRail colors carry through the modified speed lines to show the unity of GoRail and Norfolk Southern, creating the look of land as seen from above and signifying freight movement. 

 

The GoRail locomotive joins Norfolk Southern’s 30th anniversary fleet of 20 non-traditional locomotives painted in the schemes of key predecessor railroad companies and the veterans’ locomotive painted to honor those who have served in the military and reserves.

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This is not a new Heritage engine for me. Still at number 12 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

#8 1070 Wabash

#9 8102 Pennsylvania
#10 8099 Southern
#11 1072 Illinois Terminal
#12 1068 Erie

 

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This is a new Special Interest engine for me.

#1 6920 Honoring Our Veterans

#2 6963 GoRail

Radio Equipped

Thanks to the fine folk on the ET Rail page on the Facing Book I was able to catch another of the Norfolk Southern Heritage engines. This time is is the 1068 Erie. It was on 16T traveling from Birmingham AL to Allentown PA ... and best of all it would be through Jonesborough during daylight hours! Score one for DST.

The following pictures were taken at the 2nd street crossing in downtown Jonesborough. I knew that the Erie wasn't leading but I didn't know which direction it would be facing. I typically want to get a shot of the tail, the side and the nose, but from my vantage point there was a telephone pole dead center of my field of view. So I opted for a tail/side shot and a side/nose shot.

NS Heritage 1068, Erie, Jonesborough, TN (03/11/2014)

NS Heritage 1068, Erie, Jonesborough, TN (03/11/2014)

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This is another new Heritage engine for me; it's number 12 of 20! Only 8 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

#8 1070 Wabash

#9 8102 Pennsylvania
#10 8099 Southern
#11 1072 Illinois Terminal
#12 1068 Erie

The Glow Worm

Twice in the same week ! Another Norfolk Southern Heritage engine made its way to Norton Va. This time it is the NS1072 Illinois Terminal sporting the most, uh, recognizable paint scheme in the heritage fleet. I'm not sure what the folk that decided on this paint scheme were going for, but it does make you wonder what colors they passed over to get to this combination. I guess that since the 8099 Southern was in town last week, sporting the best paint scheme in the heritage fleet, it was necessary to bring the IT into the same location to restore balance.

Anyway, the "paint scheme that only a mother could love" aside, the fine FaceTube folk that live in Norton were on the ball again and alerted the FB community that the IT was in town and where it was located: invaluable information for us folk that have to drive 90 minutes to get there. 

It was parked at the east end of the Norton yard, all by its lonesome. It was a pretty uneventful shoot. I walked into the same location we were given permission to go earlier in the week and snapped away. The sky was a flat gray, which makes good shooting light but you definitely want to avoid getting any of the sky in the frame.

NS1072 Illinois Terminal Heritage, Norton Va, 02/08/14

NS1072 Illinois Terminal Heritage, Norton Va, 02/08/14

NS1072 Illinois Terminal Heritage, Norton Va, 02/08/14

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This is a new Heritage engine for me; it's number 11 of 20; on the downhill run now !

#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

#9 8102 Pennsylvania
#10 8099 Southern
#11 1072 Illinois Terminal

The Southern

When I first saw the Norfolk Southern Heritage paint schemes the one that caught my eye was the 8099 Southern in the green, gold and white. 

I've been watching a couple of interweb sites report that the Southern was working the coalfields about an hour from here but I couldn't find enough free time to get there ... or it was raining. Then I finally saw on the FaceTube that it was seen leading an eastbound coal train out of Norton I figured I had lost my chance. But, it came back this afternoon. So the decision was made to ease out of work a few minutes early and make the hour drive to Norton in hopes of finding it before it left again.

What I hadn't counted on was how cold it was and how fast it was getting dark. We crossed the bridge on the west end of the yard seeing nothing. We then drove to the east wend of the yard and there she was. A quick check of the google maps and we found a road that would take us closer to the engine. There were a couple of nice NS guys there that gave us permission to drive right to the engine. One of my newest FaceTube buddies lives in that area and told me that the NS folk would accommodate photographers if they can. Most Excellent.

We made a couple of shots from there then drove back toward where we first spotted the engine. We veered onto a road that came up along the opposite side of the track where we got a much better angle. The snow started blowing into our faces - and the camera - potentially leaving lots of water spots on the lens and it was getting dark fast. The following three pictures have been brightened a lot.

Norfolk Southern Heritage 8099 - Southern - Norton Va - 02/05/14

Norfolk Southern Heritage 8099 - Southern - Norton Va - 02/05/14

Norfolk Southern Heritage 8099 - Southern - Norton Va - 02/05/14

Fun Fact:
The 8099 has a small “K,” appended to its cab number. It follows the fashion of all Southern locomotives from 1972 onward until the last pre-merger units were delivered in the Spring of 1982. The check letters were Southern’s solution to prevent transposition of digits when keying movement information into the company’s computer system. 

The check code system featured 10 letters; the right code is found using this formula: Take the first number, double the second and fourth numbers; if the second and fourth numbers doubled are two digits, add those numbers together (ie, 9+9 = 18, make it 1+8=9). Then add the sums from 1 + 4 (with the doubled second and fourth digits). Finally, pick the next break point number by tens (10, 20, 30, 40) and take the difference. 

For 8099 that’s 8 + 0 + 9 = 17. Double the last 9 for 18, but because it is two digits, add them to get 9, and add everything together for a sum of 26. The next break point is 30, so the difference is 4. The corresponding numbers and letters were as follows: 0 = A; 1 = F; 2 = H; 3 = J; 4 = K; 5 = L; 6 = R; 7 = T; 8 = W; and 9 = X. So for 8099, the proper letter is “K.” 

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This is a new Heritage engine for me; it's number 10 of 20; halfway to seeing them all!

#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

#9 8102 Pennsylvania
#10 8099 Southern