OCS at Nemo (When does 8 trains + 2 hours = disapointment)

[butch]

I checked jreb yesterday morning and catching the OCS at Burnside looked doable, so I hit the road.  I checked in with Emmett and he kept me posted from Kings Mtn.  I got to Burnside and realized the sun wasn't going to be good for the Burnside bridge shot, so I dropped down to the Cave Springs Road bridge near Keno.  I knew from Emmett that the OCS train was following 143 and 60w, so I tried a couple of different shots on them and picked my spot.  I did ok, but I'm not the biggest fan of the sky shot.

Then it was time to hit the road.  I caught up with it again at Greenwood, so I pulled over at Cumberland Falls to shoot it trackside.  Then the fun began.  It is 67 highway miles from Cumberland Falls to the Nemo parking lot.  Then a hard 25 minute hike to the south portal of Tunnel 22 and the Emory River bridge.  On the CNO&TP, it's 63 miles by rail.  When I told Emmett what I wanted to try, he told me to "drive like Batman" and to not "drag my feet".  In my favor, the OCS was still following 143, though it ran around 60w at KD Tower, and it was going to meet a couple of NB trains.  I checked in with Emmett when I got to Wartburg (where civilization ends).  I had passed him but he has a much better radio.  He updated that there was a problem on the single track near Coleman which should work in my favor.

Well, if you are familiar with Nemo, you know it's about a half mile from Tunnel 24 to Tunnel 22.  I am two-thirds of the way to T22 when the OCS  came around the curve.  It had run around 143 and made up some time which left me with a shot from the hip shot of it-ironically, passing the south portal of the abandoned Tunnel 23.  Well, I was there so I hung out as NS ran trains fast and furious-7 more in the next two hours which allowed me to try all the different angles that I wanted to try on the OCS, but didn't get the chance.

If you're still awake and want to see some of the pix, check out this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=65456&id=1052763780&l=0960e9cff3

[E.M. Bell]

Like Carm told you yesterday after you broke the news to us, its the thought that counts, and you get a A+ for effort. The whole chase yesterday was frustrating. With so much traffic out there, it was hurry up and wait. Drive like hell to get ahead only to wait in the sun for a hour. 

If it makes you feel any better, we pretty much got skunked on Two awesome shots down on the AGS South of Chatt. I was following Mike Ray and Ben Chapman down that way, and after the first shot we just could not get ahead of that sucker. Highway 11 follows the tracks for miles down the valley, and all I saw was his headlight in my rear view mirror the whole way. 

You got some good stuff, even if Nemo didnt work out. A SD40-2 leading a train just might become more rare than the F units on the NS before long! 

[butch]

I look at it this way, it was still a fun day.  I mean wall-to-wall trains at Nemo, it doesn't get any better than that...unless one of them is the OCS and you just miss the money shot.

Of course I could have stayed home and worked in the yard.

[E.M. Bell]

Ask Carmon about what happen to us at Tenbridge in Chatt.  SHE wanted a shot of the OCS on the TN river bridge, and that was really the only reason we went that far to start with.  Perfect light, she hiked up the river and down on the bank, OCS is coming, and then a freight stops on the bridge and they run the passenger train on the other track BEHIND the stopped train. 

It was a long(er) ride home after that  

[Batman]

yea , that sucked ,  we got hosed by 169 at tenbridge.

[butch]

That nb between 60w and the OCS had me worried at Cave Springs Road.  What did it look like at Garland Rd?

[E.M. Bell]

Garland was good, but that 224 almost got us. If the 856 had been a minute later the shot would have been ruined.

[butch]

Just checked out Carmon's stuff-you all had a fun day.