With all the reports of the KCS Belles traveling down the CNO&TP lately I had
the urge to catch a set of these nicely painted units.I'm off on Tuesday and
Wednesdays so with the forecast of sunny skies I headed east around 6:30 AM
from my southern Indiana home towards Danville.I knew it would be a shot in
the dark to catch a set but I figured what the heck.Heading east on I-64 I hear
the normal Dash 9 leaders and when I arrived in Danville shortly after 8 Tues.
morning 177 was arriving with another one leading.My plan (A) was to mostly
linger around the area just to see what I could catch however that would soon
change to plan (B).I decided to head for Bowen to catch 177 there however as I
came up to the area I could see another southbound stopped.To my surprise
143 had a matched set of painted KCS Belles the 4717 and 4714.It was there that
plan B took effect.I'd chase him as far as could and fortunately I had a change of clothes just in case.Shortly after the northbound TripleCrown rolled by the chase
was on.I got him at Bowen,Palm,McKinney,Kings Mtn.(although it was shadowed)
and the new U.S. 27 overpass just north of Somerset.At Cumberland Falls 174
with the 9582 and 175 with the 9887 rolled by first with 143 shortly after that.
Caught him at Revilo,Oneida and finally Sunbright.It's now around 3:30 when I hear the dreaded words that he would be tieing up his train at Oakdale since the
next crew was called for 5.At Oakdale however 123 was leaving with a Conrail
painted C40-8 8301.Got him there,Roddy and Spring City.I backtracked to
Rockwood where I caught a 29Z? (I think that was the number) SB coal with
BNSF ES44AC 5941 leading.Heading back south I caught 223 with a C39-8
leader.From there it was on to Chattanooga to spend the night in a Motel 6.
Nothing fancy but clean and cheap for 29.95.Wednesday morning I awoke to
a mostly cloudy sky.I drove over to the park at TennBridge to see what might
be passing through anyway.NS 264 and 224 went north while 275 came south
while there.I could see a few breaks in the clouds to the north so it was time to head in that direction. Soon it became mostly sunny but nothing of interest
spawned me to bother with them so I continued on.Checked out Oakdale and
nothing was there so on I went.It's now around noon as I neared Onieda and I
started getting hungry so I made a stop at the Arby's at Pemberton.I had to use
the restroom first so when I came out I soon noticed a SB rolling slowly by me.
No time for lunch,I wanted to check this guy out.In about a mile I caught up
and another set of Belles were leading.This time 4713 and 4712 had the honors
of leading 117.Caught up with him at Robbins but since I had some cloud cover
now I decided to continue north.A 174 with 98?? at Parkers Lake and 229 slipped by me with its Dash 9 9200 leader at Eubank.Nearing Danville I hear 376 is
leaving and that he would meet two southbounds around Wilmore so I head
for Burgin to wait them out.NS 287 shows up first with 9474 leading.I decide
to follow Hwy. 33 north out of town to the overpass.A quick glance to my right
and I see a head light.I quickly park the car and put the big lens on.He's moving at restricted speed so when I zoom in on him to my shock another set of Belles!
This time 143 has 4715 and 4716 along with a NS GP59 and GP50.This time the
sun was shining brightly and since he was crawling I was able to catch him at Burgin as well.I figured that I would end this trip where it began at Bowen.
There I ran into Emmett and his family.Unfortunately the clouds were back
but it was a great two days.It was a lot fun but I'd go broke quick if I did this all the time but catching three painted sets of Belles were worth it.Sorry for the long post but hope you all enjoyed.Joe