Introduce Yourself, Round Two!

[Matt L]

As far as railroad likes.  Obviously I'm an NS fan if I'm here on an NS forum.  Of the Class I railroads it is what I prefer to watch.  That being said, I'm a bit more of a regional and shortline kinda guy preferring them to the usual vanilla widecab GEs seen on most Class Is nowadays.  I will say though that I'll enjoy watching just about any train anywhere.  Sometimes it's more about simply enjoying being outside in the fresh air.  I'm still a big Conrail fan since that's what one saw for NJ freight railroading in the 80s and 90s.  I'm also a big Lehigh Valley fan with blame laid for that on a engineer friend who worked for them in their last few years.

It looks like we're on the same page with our tastes in railfanning. Since you're a fellow LV fan, here is NS at the former LV terminal in Sayre (PA) 10 months ago: http://www.jreb.org/ns/index.php?topic=8759.0

I'm pretty blessed with shortlines here in upstate NY- over a dozen are within a day's drive from Rochester and most of them interchange with NS, too. Like you, I enjoy the assortment of vintage standard cabs that power those shortlines. Alcos are my favorite... but I enjoy Geeps, EMD switchers and older GEs, too. Speaking of GEs, I'm going to start a thread in the Vintage Rails section about the former Southern and NS B23-7s that operate on the Finger Lakes Railway. They sometimes operate on former LV rails, too! 

[csx6900]

Hello everyone-

My name is Evan Lofback.  I am new to these forums but can be found on a few other forums and discussion groups such as TrainzForums, serails, and Floridarailroading on Yahoo.  I lived in the Tampa Bay area of Florida  for all of my life before moving to Maryville, TN (just southeast of Knoxville) about 4 months ago.  Compared to Tampa (and Florida in general), Tennessee and the surrounding areas are 110% better for railfanning.  I am thoroughly enjoying the NS traffic here, as we obviously didn't get too much of them in Florida.  And of course, I also have the CSX KD Sub that runs through Maryville to keep up the blue-and-yellow sightings.

I am also the owner of S-Line Productions.  Some of you may know my videos on YouTube under the username of csx6900.  I will frequently be posting my videos in the "Moving Pictures with Sound" spot on the forum.    You can also purchase a professional-quality DVD from S-Line Productions about the move of RPCX GP10 #8330 from Eustis, FL to Parrish, FL via Orlando, Waycross, Folkston, Plant City, and Tampa.

Although I now realize that I have chosen a terrible username for an NS forum, I look forward to being part of this forum and contributing to the group. 

-Evan Lofback
S-Line Productions
Maryville, TN

[Michael Knight]

Welcome! Glad to have you here! It must be nice having both the premier railroad of the East and then that "other" railroad in your back yard now.

I would have thought that Tampa had more to offer than here though. At least it's all bright blue, yellow, and gold there....

[E.M. Bell]

Evan, welcome to Jreb...A CSX user name here will get you heckled and poked at, but all in fun. Heck..6900 is a EMD on that other road I think, so thats not TO bad

feel free to post away..the video sharing section could use a little boost now and then!

[csx6900]

I would have thought that Tampa had more to offer than here though.

Heh, you would like to think so.  Things have gotten much better in the last year or so with the "resurrection" of some trains that went away when the economy tanked, but it's still relatively slow compared to Tennessee... and almost anywhere else in the United States, quite frankly.  The Bone Valley phosphate operations are neat to see, but other than that, there's not too much mainline action.  Tampa only originates and terminates 8-9 mainline trains a day.  But there's countless locals.  Plus the scenery is relatively flat and boring.  I'd much rather be recording drag freights in the mountains than a local passing through a swamp lol.

Evan, welcome to Jreb...A CSX user name here will get you heckled and poked at, but all in fun. Heck..6900 is a EMD on that other road I think, so thats not TO bad

feel free to post away..the video sharing section could use a little boost now and then!

Thanks!  Yeah, I figured that I'd have some fun poked at me, but that is to be expected.  What can I say?  I grew up with CSX pretty much running through my Grandmother's backyard.  And yes, 6900 is a good old GP40-2 that used to be based out of Tampa on a regular local job.  She was mated with slug 2315.  I grew quite fond of the pair and named my channel and most of my usernames after her.  Unfortunately, I hadn't seen them in some months before I left Tampa and haven't heard anything of them since.

That was one good thing about west central Florida, though: We had all of CSX's good Geeps.  I believe that all of their ex-Reading GP39-2's are located in Florida as well as all three of their GP60's.  I'll miss that much about Florida for sure.

EDIT: And yes, in case you couldn't tell, I am also a big EMD fan! 

-Evan

[NS_Milepost_279.2]

Well, I'm new here too.

I'm Alex Wood and I have been a railroad videographer for little under one year, however I have been a lifelong railfan.

I am from Tuscola, Illinois home of the Union Pacific's Villa Grove Subdivision, CSX's Decatur Division and Illinois Central's Chicago Division. I lived right next to the IC until the age of two where I would stand in the window and watch their SD40's and GP11's cruise by, I consider my railfanning life to have began there. My favorite railroads gave always been Illinois Central; Gulf, Mobile and Ohio and Norfolk Southern. I re-visit Tuscola often to railfan however I have become very active in railfanning the NS Central Division at either Spring City, TN or Emory Gap, TN. I moved to Tennessee in 2008 from Illinois. I also tend to railfan Knoxville, TN for the CSX and NS there as well.

I plan to have a railroad career as an engineer, I am most inspired to do so as both my great great Grandfather and his brother were engineers. One being with the Seaboard and the latter being with the Southern. I plan to work for Norfolk Southern out of Chattanooga as my Uncle Billy did.

Anyhow, I love to meet new railfans and meet up and railfan with other people.

Cheers.

[MotoLinz]

Howdy, all -

My name is Lindsay, I live in West Knoxville/Concord/Farragut-ish, TN, and I used to think of trains as occasional inconveniences.

...and then I had kids.

What started as a brief fascination with Thomas the Tank Engine somehow morphed into a full blown case of train fever, particularly for my four year old - he is basically obsessed with Norfolk Southern (although I think Conrail really has his heart) and anything that involves steam. Norfolk Southern's Knoxville-Chattanooga main runs right through our little section of far west Knox County and parallels our favorite park. Thus, the intentional train watching began. At this point, we are not terribly sophisticated. We basically drive between the signals at Anchor Park and Martel Road and attempt to deduce, based on colors, whether or not a train is headed out way. Pitiful, I know.

Last spring, I accosted Evan (csx6900) on YouTube after he posted some Knoxville videos and gathered some valuable railfanning tips from him. Upon Googling for information about this weekend's big train festivities in the area, I stumbled upon JREB. Although most of it is, as yet, far, far above my head, I hope to learn enough to make our light railfanning a little more streamlined and economical, as well as effectively foster my sons' love of trains as long as they are interested.

If anyone noticed, or was annoyed by, the weird lady with two bouncy kids in the blue Volvo leap-frogging (I'm not sure "chasing" would be the appropriate term for that trip...) with the 630 on Monday, that was us.

Looking forward to filling my brain with all sorts of train tracking knowledge and eventually becoming a less pointless member!

- Lindsay

[csx6900]

Hey there Lindsay!

Welcome to JREB!  Glad to see you here.  I think you sell yourself short as far as what you know about railfanning.  Based on my discussions with you in the past, you seem to know quite a bit about railroad operations, particularly in the Knoxville area.  Of course, there's always more to learn no matter how seasoned you are, but you seem to have a pretty good start.

I hope you enjoy your time here on JREB, and you can learn even more about this intriguing hobby.  If you ever have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.  You can never ask a stupid question - take it from me - I don't even know the difference between passing and meeting! 

-Welcome,
Evan

[Badhorse79]

Oh no he didn't lol!  Welcome lindsay hope your stay here is comfy and please remember use the correct jargon

[MotoLinz]

Evan, Evan... Please. Stop embarrassing yourself! I believe the term you're looking for is "overtaking."

Hey - you're right! I do know a lot!

[florida581]

     I might as well make myself known to you fellow NS fans.  My name is Andrew Stephenson and I'm from New Port Richey, FL.  I've been a lifelong railfan (of nearly 31 years).  I'm interested in pretty much all aspects of railroads, but my favorite thing to do is just to hang out trackside for extensive periods of time and watch.  I mostly just OS the trains I see, but I'll snap a shot from time to time.  Being from Central Florida, the nearest NS line is 195 miles away in Jacksonville, so extensive road trips are required.
     I'm glad that this site is available for Norfolk Southern fans.  I can say that NS is my favorite class 1 railroad, following in the footsteps of my favorite fallen flag...Southern.  I'm also interested in train symbols and yard operations.  I look forward to swapping info with everyone and maybe I'll see some of you trackside!

[beal99]

I'm not sure why I never did this....

I'm Nate Beal, I live in Chicago near Wrigley Field. I've been a railfan since my dad tossed a camera in my hand at age 3, good ol' Fisher Price Kodak 110 (and took me to watch trains in Detroit near our house before that). Have lived in such exotic places for trains such as Grand Rapids, MI, Sandusky and Cincinnati, OH, and Evansville, IN I've been all over the country for pictures, and have uploaded a bunch to my flickr site, as well have begun to scan my dads old slides. Also on RP.net as well. married, no kids (yet), nice to meet all of you

www.flickr.com/natebeal

[cadilacmuzik]

HI

I'm Nathan Wyatt.  I have been fascinated with trains since I was a small child.  I live in Swannanoa, NC and frequent all of the  NS lines around Asheville.  In the past 2 years I took up an interest in photography and decided to combine it with my love of trains.

I enjoy the chase and the rural places my train watching takes me.  My favorite place around Asheville are the Old Fort Loops.  It is some what remote and you can always hear the trains coming.  Check out my adventures on my youtube channelhttp://www.youtube.com/user/cadilacmuzik?feature=mhee  or my blog www.ashevillerailfan.com

[at26c]

Hi All,

I'm Stewart Anderson from Melbourne, Australia and this year I celebrate 30 years of 35mm photography. I'm also an engineer with over 28 years of service and I'm embarking on my second trip to the USA in 4 weeks. The main focus of the trip will be shortlines that interchange with the NS.  Apart from 1000 wide nose GE's, I think the NS still has a relatively eclectic roster, so I am looking forward to seeing some high-hoods along the track.   

[Forum Admin]

We have seen a large increase in our membership in the past month or so, and I just wanted to take time to welcome all of our new members to Jreb! I think you will find this to be a informative, fun place to hang out, with great information and one of the best behaved group of fans you could ask for.

Take a few minutes to take a look around and get the "feel" of the fourm, and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Lurkers are always welcome, but we invite you to participate and join in. Pictures, heads up, questions and good natured ribbing is always welcome....and feel free to introduce yourself to the group as well!

[JWall]

I am James Wall form Rural Hall? Winston Salem NC.  Avid NS photographer and prototype modeler.  I model NS, N&W and Southern with some "Foreign Power".  I am currently remodeling my layout  that occupies a 20 by 40 building the back yard.  Actual layout is 20 by 35 with 15 by 5 for workbench area.  I have not been doing a lot of model building with the layout out of commission.  Only one project last year was Southern/Central of Georgia RS-3's.  I am an ALCO fan and model NS and Southern GE's.
GE's model include:  B32-8, C36-7, C39-8, C39-8E, C40-9, C40-9W in NS.
                             U23B, B23-7,  B30-7A1, in Southern

[Badhorse79]

Welcome James ... happy to see a fellow modeler my names Eric and hope to see some of your locos and other modeling projects

[locotech]

Hello all! I am Kevin from east of Atlanta, GA.
I work with locomotives in a technical capacity. I look forward to some discussion.

[chipallen16]

Glad to have some more Georgia people on. I hope you enjoy it here, Kevin!

-Chip 

[Trainman24210]

Sid Vaught from Abingdon, VA and Hilton Head Island, SC depending on the weather.  Is anyone else out there from the Savannah/HHI area?

[butch]

Welcome Sid

[JHood4501]

I didn't know about this when I first joined a few months back but I guess I should introduce myself.

I'm Jordan Hood from Gainesville, Georgia on the Piedmont Division. I've always been a railfan and I can't think of any better hobby than this. I've met a lot of good people through the whole thing (and thanks to local Jrebber and friend trainkid16) have become more involved in railfanning recently with NS. Besides railfanning, I also a model railroader with my grandpa where we run what will be a 1950's Georgia Railroad with the occasional CofG, ACL or whatever we railroad/era we feel like running. I post my pictures on rrpicturearchives and Facebook, so feel free to look me up on both sites. I've enjoyed soaking up all I have on JREB so far and hope see some of ya'll trackside sometime. 

[AFT2101]

Hello! I am Joe Hiltz from Lenoir City, tn. Great web site. I was in Farragut, Tn and a lady out with her two children gave me the link to this site.

[MotoLinz]

Hello! I am Joe Hiltz from Lenoir City, tn. Great web site. I was in Farragut, Tn and a lady out with her two children gave me the link to this site.

Glad you made it over, Joe. Loads of great resources here. The boys and I chased an extra quick one into Lenoir City this morning. Thanks again for the books. They're getting plenty of use!

- Lindsay

[AFT2101]

You are welcome Lindsay. Glad the boys are enjoying them. The information on this web site will help me be more productive on my photo shoots. And will offer another excuse for not getting things done around the house. lol

Joe