This past Monday (04/09/12) was one of those lucky days, when everything just seems to come together. Thanks to a flood of heads up on Jreb and other places, we knew well ahead of time that the Ringling Brothers circus train would leave Louisville that morning, to start its long trip to Norfolk Va. The bad part about that for me is that I would be at work, and my 10 year streak of bad luck with the circus train would continue.
I had figured they would be out of Louisville early, but thanks to a few texts from Adam and Ed that morning, it became clear that it would be running a lot later than anyone figured. After some calculating, I figured I might be able to get done what needed done, and get out of work early enough to have a shot or Two. I got to a point where I could leave a little before Noon, and with the knowledge the train was just going by Waddy, hatched a plan to rush home, change clothes, grab the camera, meet Adam and go get some shots.
I got home in record time, grabbed what I needed and got out the front door just as Adam pulled into the driveway (and the rear of the train was going by) We took off in hot pursuit, and would spend the rest of the afternoon following them South. With a lot of other trains to contend with, plus slow orders and other delays, we had no trouble getting ahead of them, and that allowed me to get Two shots I figured would be the best for the train (Crossing the Green River at Southfork KY, and then crossing the Cumberland River bridge at Burnside). There are just not a lot of places around here to get any "wide open" shots where a lot of the train is visible, so it was great to get them on both of those big bridges.
While my bad luck with circus trains was finally broken, the 048 would have some bad luck of its own. After a slow trip out of Louisville, crews running out of time, and then hitting a dump truck at a crossing in Oliver Springs TN later that night, the train would arrive in Norfolk much later than planned.
Below are my favorite shots of the day. If you want to see bigger versions, check out this link to my Gallery on Pbase with much higher resolution images. http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nscircus12 (http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nscircus12)
Our first shot of the day, just down the road from home. NS 048 starts through the tough "Roller Coaster" profile near Convoy KY, on the Louisville District.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_Convoy_040912_2.sized.jpg&hash=15bb812f325569c053cec572b33c06315fdceced)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_Convoy_040912_3.sized.jpg&hash=79991db9c88739d8261ca39fe2b3ef09177cc7b4)
A Circus worker and his pooch enjoy the view and fresh air.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2Fcircusdog_040912.sized.jpg&hash=ced96199f7aaf7ac7af6d157277e4c3883127158)
After being delayed for a while by 223 ahead, NS 048 leaves Harrodsburg KY
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_harrodsburg_040912.sized.jpg&hash=cfe68366031e9a844c4d56647e13a8e693edd015)
We easily got ahead of them again as they eased through a slow order between SJ Tower and Danville KY. As you can tell by this shot, MofW season is in full swing, and a T&S gang had just cleared up for a few trains to run.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_SJtower_040912.sized.jpg&hash=bc5b626bc26e667025a3d462afa307a6730571c0)
The Southbound Circus train crosses the Green River Bridge at Southfork KY, with that SD60 singing as loud as I have heard a EMD sing..they would be struggling to get over the hill at Kings Mountain in just another mile.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_southfork_040912_001.sized.jpg&hash=c004e75e4d926cbc613bf0e213c3463e1aed5ec6)
Adam gets a few shots of the coaches, as they cross the bridge at Southfork.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FAdam_ns048southfork_040912.sized.jpg&hash=a0659a03eaecb2cf5e0ed40a2da5a6ccf49069b6)
The train is seen here as they come out of the big sag at Norwood KY. They would soon have to stop near Science Hill to swap crews. With all of the delays, the Louisville crew would not make it all the way to Burnside.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_gradison_040912.sized.jpg&hash=adee0b00f97765797655cf4bdb3d9168a896260c)
Our last shot of the day, and my primary goal ...The circus train crosses the Cumberland River Bridge at Burnside KY. With a fresh crew on board, there was no need to stop at Burnside, and it was sure nice to see a train fly across the bridge at track speed again! Check this shot out on Pbase...this small pic doesn't do it justice.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fjreb.org%2Fv-web%2Fgallery%2Falbums%2Falbum51%2FNS048_burnside_040912webcop.sized.jpg&hash=d950bbcf12d02a48fb68f059c29e78e12bcdd799)
Nice catch there EM.