Non-stop trains, good company and a little fall color on the CNO&TP 10/23/10

[E.M. Bell]

It would probably seem to anyone that reads my post or looks at my pictures, that I am pretty much always complaining about the weather in some way. Clouds, Rain, Snow..when they say it will it wont, and when they say it wont, it will for a week.  The one thing I haven't had a reason to complain about the past 3 months or so is clouds, and with that, rain, because we simply have not had ANY.  Early this year, and through the first part of summer it seemed to rain every other day, and as bad as that is for shooting, I had my hopes up that it would at least mean we would have a really good fall color season, but that has not been the case. The lack of rain over the past few months has meant the tree's are just drying up and dropping foliage without them really turning color.  

Carmon and myself met up with Butch yesterday (10/23) to go South on the 2nd district of the CNO&TP to shoot a few and see what the colors would be like "down South"  While the color was much better than it is here in Central KY, it was still fairly muted, and not near what it has been in years past.  On the upside of things, it was an extremely busy day traffic wise, and it seemed that we barely had time to move from one location to the next without being rushed. NS pushed 9 or 10 Southbounds down the CS between 0900 and 1400. We even managed to shoot a ATSF pinkbonnet leading a late 229..

For the most part, we worked between Tateville and KD tower, hitting a few spots I hadn't been to in a long while. Butch even showed me one spot (Shelton Road) that I had NEVER been to..and let me say that in the past 20 years or so I have been shooting the CNO&TP, I have pretty much seen every inch of it. Butch, you get a attaboy for the new spot!  

Enough jibber jabber..on to the pics. Click this link to check out 15 new images from 10/23, all in high resolution and technicolor.   http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nscs2nd2010

[Backyard]

  Here is a simple review of my favs out of this exposé....

"Auto-router showdown at Waynesburg"...great almost "head-on" meet, with a lot of operational work to stop a train on a rip-wrap grade.

"NS 175 on the roller coaster at Gradison"...more dynamic grade action.

"229 down the hill at Norwood"...from what I hear, this is the "Hot-Shot," and is not a very long train, with a bunch of power.

"NS 2729"...a good basic roster shot, of a ugly locomotive, saved by Horseheads 4-sides....

"A fitting weather vane on top of the new NS depot at Burnside"...a universal trophy shot.

"NS 144 waits for a signal at Kings Mountain on a chilly Sunday Night"..rrpics. net....

"NS 143 climbs out of the valley near Onedia TN on a hot August afternoon"...another dynamic grade shot...unbelievable.

"Southbound NS 143 at Pemberton, TN"...location that is named, rising out of a valley onto a plateau...typical of  the state of KY...

"229 smokes the 63Z (seen in the distance) as they head South"...an excellent reflection of Train 229's overpowered briefness!

"A pair of UP units lead NS 264 North at Bowen KY"...unusual power on one of my favorite memories of the past...plus, I love snow on mountainside vistas.

"A short and sweet Southbound 229 flies through Moreland"...the shortest "hottest train on the division," anywhere! Excellent snow shot!

(Personal query) is "(Eye) 29 at Moreland," a second section of NS Train 229?

"Pink-Bonnet"....a new term to me!

[E.M. Bell]

Wow, I am honored Allen..some actually reads and looks at this stuff

Thats the one thing I love about the CNO&TP..you have so many variables, so many shot options, and all for a tank of gas. Makes me glad to live where I do. If all I had to shoot was trains across cornfields, I would probably take up fishing or drinking as a hobby. 

[Fly Device]

You, sir, are the sultan of shutter speed, the archduke of aperture, and the titan of telephoto. Fine images as always. I like the hay bales with the long shadows and the auto-router showdown. I see what looks like a spider hanging from the signal bridge in the showdown shot. What is that?

[E.M. Bell]

Fly, I had to pop open the big file from the camera to look at what you are talking about, and that showed a single, solitary leaf headed for its final resting spot.. I hadn't noticed it, but it does kinda look like a spider