Made a one-day road trip on Sunday, and it turned out to be ho-hum until I decided to head home.
Marion, OH was the destination. Got there a little late, and didn't see a whole lot. First train was the shortest 287 I've ever seen in my life...3 auto racks behind an ex-CR dash 8-40CW. Next up was westbound 17M, with new SD70M-2 #2651 third in the consist. Finally, 851 came through with a spartan dash 9 in the lead.
The excitement came on the way home, however. Around MP 26, which is about halfway between Columbus and Marion, I heard the dispatcher in communication with westbound 319 which had a disabled loco. The plan was to obtain an extra unit off of 305.
I pulled off the road and sat and watched the maneuvers which resulted in 319 snagging NS SD40-2 #3293 from 305 to add to their stunning lashup of weatherbeaten NS GP50 #7005 and broken NS D8-32B #3526. It made me wonder what the crew on 319 did in a former life to deserve such a punishment as to have a lashup whose 3 units combined ages are old enough to receive social security.
305 continued on solo with UP 4641.
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Here are a few shots of the events...(pardon the somewhat below average quality on most of them; the light and shadows were horrible.)
Please click on pic for full-size image:
First, 218 smoked by and cleared-
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fccaranna.rrpicturearchives.net%2Fpictures%2F5120%2Fthumbnails%2Fns8905.218.troyton.jpg&hash=0b2f458122ff3cf8e31b1a8a5556ef26252e40bf) (http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=123804)
305's head unit pulls off and clears out of the way-
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fccaranna.rrpicturearchives.net%2Fpictures%2F2845%2Fthumbnails%2Fns305.troyton.jpg&hash=dafbd30b153af56462edcacadc25eae14dbea31a) (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=213526)
319 just clearing the switch to back onto the spare unit on 305-
(on the second shot you can see the UP unit on 305 waiting in the distance)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fccaranna.rrpicturearchives.net%2Fpictures%2F2845%2Fthumbnails%2FIMG_0896.JPG&hash=ef1bb6897a3dacafd136c77ed20a4f7a06eb416a) (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=213529)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fccaranna.rrpicturearchives.net%2Fpictures%2F2845%2Fthumbnails%2Fns3526.319.troyton.jpg&hash=09255ed2010fa6ef0b118a69cc87ecb39f100af7) (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=213527)
And finally 319 pulling up with the extra unit from 305 to back onto its train.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fccaranna.rrpicturearchives.net%2Fpictures%2F2845%2Fthumbnails%2Fns3293.319.troyton.jpg&hash=3a2c7bb70b0e6a9ca005fc969774f8bae923746b) (http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=213528)[/list]
By the time everyone was situated and back on their respective manifests, I had already left. It was getting a bit dark at this point, and I wasn't going to be able to get much more in the way of photo ops anyway.
Thanks for looking, and YES, that's a female conductor! Incidentally, she asked me if I was having fun as she passed by; to which I replied with an emphatic
"YES!" :D :D
Looks like the thumbs are working great for you.
The second pic, UP needs work stays as small thumb and links to a different pic.
enjoyed the series keep em coming