Austell, GA: May 18, 2013

[florida581]

I took a (rail)road trip up to Georgia a few months ago.  One of the stops on my trip was Austell, GA.  Austell is located at the junction of two mainlines.  NS' Atlanta North District from Chattanooga joins the Birmingham East End District to form a high density, double iron freeway into Atlanta.  An average of 55-60 NS freights ply these rails a day.  Amtrak's Crescent, 19 and 20, also pass through Austell on their journey between New Orleans and New York City.  Even though this is Norfolk Southern's turf, foreign power is very common.  Coal trains to Plant Scherer (Juliette, GA) use BNSF power.  Intermodal trains from southern California via the Meridian Speedway use Union Pacific power.  Also by way of the Meridian Speedway are intermodals from Dallas, TX.  KCS power is very common on those trains.  Austell is also home to a very large intermodal terminal, Whitaker Yard.  Intermodal transfers between Whitaker and Atlanta's Inman Yard add to the day's action.  A 12 hour stay on Saturday May 18th provided me with 31 trains.  The highlight of my Georgia trip was witnessing my first NS heritage unit, NYC 1066.  It wasn't leading, but being from CSX land (central Florida), I'll gladly take what I can get!  The weather was less than optimal, mostly overcast with scattered showers throughout the day.  But again, being from CSX land, I'll gladly take what I can get.

1.  At 08:36, NS 285 comes off of the Atlanta North District with UP 7716 leading NS 9777.  285 carries intermodal and autos for Jacksonville, FL.

2.  Through the gloom.  Amtrak 19 from the Big Apple to the Big Easy breezes through town at 09:44.  The day's Crescent had some extra power, consisting of numbers 23, 18, and 182.

3.  Southbound Plant Scherer coal train # 738 thunders through Austell with the usual BNSF power.  BNSF 9254 and 9380 were up front and BNSF 5804 and NS 9960 were the dpu's.  Time was 12:00.

4.  At 14:33, a couple of visitors from Canada trail NS 6772 on train 64Q.  CN 2600 was the middleman with BCOL 4601 bringing up the rear. 

5.  At 15:13, southbound train 251 with NS 2678 and UP 5589 come off of the Atlanta North district with 109 roadrailers for East Point, GA and Jacksonville, FL.

[florida581]

6.  NS 290, an autorack / intermodal train from McCalla(Birmingham), is coming off of the Birmingham East End destined for Croxton, NJ.  Time was 15:39.

7.  Inman to Whitaker Yard intermodal transfer G5A had some excellent power, an MP15E and SD40-2.  2413 and 1647 slowly haul 106 intermodal platforms into Whitaker at 17:28.

8.  The highlight of my trip, southbound train 67X rounds the bend into Austell with NS 1000 leading and New York Central heritage unit 1066 trailing.  I was anticipating this train all day, however it didn't show until 18:40.  Go figure.

9.  NS 1000 on the point.

10.  A parting shot of NYC 1066.  A fitting end to my trip!