Yankee Green on the CNO&TP, Penn Central 1073

[E.M. Bell]

Yesterday afternoon 03/23/13, Penn Central 1073 was the leader on NS 117 out of Cincinnati and South down the CNO&TP to Chattanooga.   Train 117 is one of the "old school" numbers left running on the CNO&TP, and back in the day, almost always had Penn Central and then later on, Conrail power. Back then, foreign power was somewhat rare, but you could always count on certain trains having run through power. It was sort of fitting that the 1073 be on 117, almost a small nod to a little history that nobody thinks of any more.

Yesterdays 117 picked up some rather serious delay at Sharon Yard (just North of Cinncy) which contributed to its rather late departure to the South.  It had arrived from Columbus early Saturday morning, and by all rights "should" have been long gone by the time the sun came up. I had figured I might be able to get up early and catch up to it down South, but as luck would have it we had to go North instead. John Owens met me at our house around Noon, and we headed North to Intercept

Thanks to the train getting even more delay due to EOT issues as it tried to leave, we made it all the way up to Erlanger KY for the first shot, and then spent the rest of the afternoon following it back South as far as Lexington KY. Thankfully the solid cloud deck we had when we left quickly broke up, and we had nothing but sunshine for the whole afternoon. 220 miles of driving only netted 4 locations, but it was still a good day in the end. As far as I know, this is the first time that the 1073 has been the leader on a train through here, so it was nice to be able to cross another one of these off the "list" with some in-service shots.

Oh, Just for the record as I understand it, the PC unit is "Brunswick Green", a color used by the PRR. I have seen this unit up in Spencer NC with perfect sunlight, up close and personal, and Ill be danged if I see anything resembling GREEN. It sure looks black to me, but that may just be my redneck eyes. As any good Southerner knows, them folks up North always do things a little bit different

Check the link for yesterdays results. 6 new images at the top of the page >>>>  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nsheritage_2013_eb

NS 117 tops over Erlanger Hill after a long, slow climb out of the Ohio River Valley.


PC 1073 brings train 117 past the leaning barn at Blanchet, KY


Late in the afternoon, 117 comes under the signals at CP Fayette on the North Side of Lexington KY.