Southern 630: CNO&TP

[PGupton]

I was one of the many people out chasing the 630's trip up to Harriman and back today, and it was probably one of the more interesting runs I've been out on! I was unable to get outta town early enough for Tennbridge so I just started off at the depot in Spring City, aiming to hit up all my usual hang outs from there to Harriman. The train ended up not even leaving Chattanooga within an hour of its scheduled departure time, and I got plenty of NS trains (and a heritage engine!) while waiting. The sun was crap for anything but broadsides northbound, but I wanted to get the signals too so I framed 630 with those when it finally came through. We chased it up north of town where my Cross Country training came in handy sprinting down a road and across a field to get the shot. Shortly thereafter the train slowed down (it had previously been going 40mph) due to the brass on the 3rd axle(?) running hot. By the time it came through Rockwood it was entirely the diesel doing the work and they stopped just north of town. Another prior incident should be noted: the observation car's brakes had been applied around Soddy Daisy and it was dragged a good ways until they stopped. So whenever it rolled by... bam-bam-bam-bam-bam! The train stopped a few miles north of Rockwood, allowing us to get into Harriman well ahead of it and shoot the old TC bridge in downtown. They then pulled into the yard where the tenders were filled with water, and the engine was serviced. They backed up to the interchange with the CNOTP, and ran down that through CP Strange (instead of going over the TC bridge again). The train stopped once again just north of Rockwood after going approximately 30mph, and the brake valve on the obs car was replaced on the main. After this fix, they flew through town and we headed to Spring City. The train stopped (once again) north of Spring City to facilitate more problems with the brakes. From there on they were restricted to 25mph, and the last I heard they were stopping every 20 miles to shoot the rods. I got it a couple more times around Evensville, and then went on home.
Attached are photos from most of the spots I stopped at. On a side note... the new nickname for the obs car is 'Bam-Bam'

[GP30Rider]

Haha....that was not the nick name we gave the obs car but in the interest of keeping this a family show I won't repeat anything that was said.  Suffice to say it was called EVERYTHING but an observation car.

[etalcos]

Bam-Bam????  Now that's funny.  Its a shame the old girl had a bum brake valve; she is a neat old car to ride/travel in and makes for a classy ending to the train.