JREB.org

   I went back to the Danville, KY yard yesterday to spend a little time and make some photos of interesting subjects.  I hoped that more unusual locomotives would show up, and they did.  I watched the two yard engines shuttle cars for a little while, and got a couple more photos of them, from a different side.  Then I heard one coming from the north, quietly, for a locomotive.  It came sneaking in, with KCS-3907 in the lead.  It stopped for a few few minutes for one of the engineers to get out and throw a switch, then it started up again and eased through the yard.  I got several pictures of that one.  I was really surprised to see a KCS.  It was the first I have seen, other than in pictures.

This is one of the photos I made after this train stopped.




After the KCS started moving again, I got a broadside view.




    After it went through, I waited for a while, wondering if anything else unusual would show up.  There was a train with an NS unit in the lead, back in the yard, waiting to go north.  I waited, and waited, and then heard something from the north.  Quiet rumbling.  Soon, a locomotive with a red front appeared, slowly moving toward the yard.  I wasn't sure what kind that was at first, then I saw what looked like the Santa Fe banner across the front.  It was!  I couldn't believe it.  A Santa Fe coming through Danville.  I had seen some out west, but not in KY.  That one also rolled up and stopped for a switch to be thrown.  That gave me another chance to get photos of a parked locomotive.  That works better than when they are zooming by.

This is the first photo I made, right after it parked.  I noticed that the red paint had faded a lot.



After it started moving, I was able to get a broadside view, and snapped off a few more photos, including some zoom shots, but angle zooms don't work well, for me anyway--distortion/compression.



   I looked up both locomotives tonight.  I found a photo of the KCS unit that was made in Florida, today.  I found a bunch of photos of the Santa Fe unit, which is now BNSF.  I wonder if there are others still wearing the Santa Fe markings?  I looked up Santa Fe-683 and found photos for BNSF-683.  There are some photos of this locomotive with the Santa Fe name on the side.  Photos from 2004, '05, and '06 have "BNSF" painted under the number, in small letters. It is worn in some pictures.   Photos from years later, 2010, 2011, 2012, don't have that, just the number 683.  That seems odd.  When I saw it yesterday, I didn't see any BNSF on it.   Anyway, it was very interesting, and highly unusual to me, to see a Santa Fe unit come through the Danville yard.  Not only that, it stopped briefly, then moved slowly, and I could get several photos.



   After that one left, the train that had been waiting so long finally pulled out.  It had an orange BNSF unit in the middle, and an NS  SD40-2 in the rear.  It was led by an NS D8-40CW.   I got a few photos of those too.

   To top it all off, after that train left, another one came from the north and stopped.  That one had two NS units at front and rear [of the loco group], with two UP engines in the middle--one with a flag,and one without. I made several photos of all that, then had to leave.  It was an interesting day.