My wife and I went to Danville today. I let her off at a store and then went to the train yard for a little while. I went over to the north side of the station and office building. There was a train with two UP engines parked, facing north. I parked, and as I was getting my cameras out, I heard an engine rev up. In a matter of seconds, that train started pulling out. I grabbed a shot of the second unit just for the heck of it. While the train accelerated and moved out, I got my cameras strapped on, and also pulled out a cookie to eat while I walked over to where I wanted to wait in the shade for something interesting to come along.
As I was walking, the end of the train that pulled out was in front of me. Between the cars I suddenly saw a black engine of another train heading south. Before the first train cleared out, I noticed what looked like a maroon engine behind the black engine, but it was odd looking. Anything odd required a photo. My digital camera was hanging from my shoulder, not turned on, and I still had a cookie in my right hand. I hurriedly grabbed the digital and turned it on. By then the first train was gone, and I could see that strange looking maroon engine in full, and what looked like an old passenger car behind it, but an extended version. I had no idea what I was looking at. I grabbed one photo.
NS-34 generator slug and geometry test car "Geometry Train"
After I got home, I looked up NS-34 and found out a little about it. Geometry train, it is called. Engine referred to as a slug. This was all new to me.
I was caught by surprise. If it had been about a minute later, I probably would have been ready for a better picture. As it was, it came in beside the tail end of the one leaving, and that blocked my view until the geometry train was on down the track a bit. It went on through the yard I guess. Didn't stop that I know of.
NS-34 This is a cropping of the photo above, only one I got.
There are plenty of photos of this NS-34 on the internet. I can't call it an engine. It isn't self-propelled any more. One source I found said it was an SD9. Anyway, it was interesting. I wonder what will show up next, when I get out somewhere with a camera.