NKP heritage in the cold Kentucky rain on the CNO&TP

[E.M. Bell]

Yesterday morning, I got up early and went to the office, intending to catch up on a few things, finish up my reports for October and other odds and ends  After that I had intended to go home and stay there until Monday.. It seemed like a good use of a cold, cloudy Saturday morning. About 1130 I got a phone call that changed those plans..

The phone call said that the NKP heritage engine was leading NS 124 North, and had just went by Whitley City KY. Normally, I would not bother with a cloudy day BUT...the nasty weather would actually make this one better. Its dang near to imposable to shoot a Northbound train on the CNO&TP at the time of day 124 would be in the area, but with no sun, it "should" work out just fine.  I had the camera with me (I always have the camera with me) So I was out the door at work and headed South to Danville in short order. While driving, I was calculating running times in my head, and hoped I would have a little luck and nab a shot of the train under the old signal bridge at Southfork....and luck would be be on my side.

124 picked up some delay, and I made it to Southfork in plenty of time. After waiting about an hour, I had the shots I wanted and followed the train on North to Danville. While they filled out on tonnage at the yard, I got a couple of shots of the unit with the CNO&TP depot in the background, which was another shot I had wanted with a heritage unit.  With those shots in the bag, plus a couple of extras to boot, it was not a bad way to spend an otherwise nasty day...sometimes clouds and rain are NOT a bad thing.

Full sized version available for viewing at this link>>>  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/gallery/ocs12

Under the skillful hand of engineer Montgomery, NS 124 drops off the grade from Kings Mountain, and passes under the signal bridge at Southfork KY




NKP 8100 leads Northbound 124 across single track at Milidgeville KY.




124 holds in East #1 at Danville as 114 passes by on the mainline.


After 114 cleared, 124 starts to make a huge pickup, and is seen here passing the CNO&TP depot at the North end of the yard in Danville


While I was waiting on 124 to start switching, a Southbound work train came into the yard with the camp cars and equipment from one of the system MofW gangs. Tucked into the middle of the train was the "new" NS diner used to feed the track gang. It was almost surreal to see a classic heavyweight diner in the middle of a busy yard!


With its work completed at the yard, 124 heads on North with almost 9100 feet of train. NKP 8100 leads the train under the Buster Pike bridge at North Wye.

[thpbears]

Nothing could make a cloudy, rainy day better except for watching some NS  run down the line. Nice pics E.M.

[Matt L]

Nice catch on the diner! I had no idea NS still used them.

[Ponce de Leon]

Outstanding images, as always. I wish I could have been there.

[E.M. Bell]

Thanks guys, glad yall like the pics.  With us sometimes getting 2 or 3 days notice of these things running, it was kinda nice for this one to be a surprise. That phone call and less than 2 hours to get down there turned a boring day into something better!