Lackawanna heritage in a Christmas Monsoon on the Louisville District

[E.M. Bell]

Saturday 12/21/13, the Lackawanna Heritage unit, NS 1074, was the leader on the Detroit to Shelbyville KY rack train #289.  Thanks to some advanced notice on this one, several of us were able to get out and get a few shots.

I had to go into work for a few hours that morning, and honestly figured it would be long gone before I was able to escape. 289 usually runs in the early morning, and has vanished into the mixing center by Noon or so most days. As luck would have it, the train got some delay up North due to a HOTD issue, and that was just enough delay to allow me to get it.  Thanks to the usual great information our group here in KY tends to share, I was able to plan my morning and get out of the office for a few shots. Tyler (our always reliable man on the North end of the 1st District) starting texting me early with updates, followed later by Mr. Odell in Danville, letting me know the train was on the move West, away from the wye.  While the info is always good here on the forum, when it gets down to "real time" the text messages and phone calls between a bunch of us flow freely, and that is always a great help. I feel very fortunate to have such a reliable group of friends who always pitch in like that, and only hope that I help you as much as you do me!

Carmon had ridden to work with me, and we left Frankfort right at 1130, and headed to Lawrenceburg (KY) for our first shot. The temperature was in the upper 60's by the time we got trackside, and the clouds and rain hung on tight. Central Ky had received a lot of rain ealry that morning, and the storms were building again...it seems that every time something good is running, its cloudy and raining, and that would be the case once again. Seeing as how it would be almost imposable to shoot a Westbound train on the Louisville District in the early afternoon on a sunny day, the clouds actually helped us.

289 usually runs long, and Saturday would be no exception. The train was over 12,000 feet in length, and that meant he was to long for most of the sidings. After our shot at Lawrenceburg, we headed for Waddy KY (the longest siding on the line) where our train would wind up rusting to the rails for almost 4 hours to wait on 223, 285 and 23G.  Due to the steep hill coming into Waddy, I was able to get him 4 times as the train slogged upgrade on wet rail, and then we headed back to the house to hunker down for the next round of bad weather.

The entire set can be found at this link>>>  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nsheritage_2013_eb

12/21/13

The 116 year old Lawrenceburg Hotel looms in the background as Lackawanna 1074 leads NS 289 through town. This scene used to be complimented with the depot, which stood between the mainline and the house track (where the 8770 is setting). This is my hometown, and I spent (what seems like) the majority of my childhood right here watching trains and learning more about 19R train orders and how a RR was run than any child probably needed to know. Today, the hotel still watches the trains roll through town, but the Southern RR, and more importantly the people that ran it, are nothing but a fond memory.


With 12k + feet of train behind them, the 1074 and a GE are struggling to lift the train up the steep grade at the East end of the siding at Waddy KY.




With about half the train over the crest of the hill, 289 wraps around Turtle Tree Curve at Waddy, just in time to start slowing down for the stop at the West end.




Holding the main at West Waddy, waiting on some Eastbounds. The paint on the plow and pilot of the 1074 is starting to look a little rough, as you can see here.

[Ptrainman]

Nice work EM. I really like the Turtle Tree Curve shot. And I know all about the clouds and rain deal, its been the same way around here for 2 months.


Paul

[thpbears]

Nice catch. We went through the coalfields on Sat  and saw one train tied down. We should have seen a lot more.  My poor coal drags are drying up fast.