The Fuzzy World 3um

Whoa! Dig those old-style numbers on the cab side.

_________________
-Fuzzy
President, Waukesha County Gandy Dancers model railroad club
Adviser, Little WISE Guys & Gals youth model railroad group
DM Rail Group: Milwaukee Franklin & Norway • South Fork • IndustRail • St. Louis Northern • Paris Coal Railway

Now that's an awesome photo! I don't know why I like those orange-nosed BN units so much. They orange and black with green violates all good taste rules that I'm aware of, but I love it!

_________________
Sincerely,
Todd M. Taylor
The Unofficial $oo Line Diesel Roster

This is not on Flickr (railpictures.net, I'd imagine), but ....

It would probably have taken several weeks of arranging and planning to get the photo setup that presented itself Friday evening near Welch, West VA: I was following the Norfolk and Western heritage unit, on train 746, from Williamson towards Bluefield on its maiden voyage pulling revenue. After leaving Williamson, the highway veers away from the mainline, so I lost track of the train.
After an hour and a half of being "in the dark" I stopped at Roderfield to attempt a shot of the train exiting one of the "Heartland" tunnels. Cell phone service does not exist here, so I had no way to find out if I was ahead of the train or not. There was an old-fashioned trackside call-box beside the signal, so I called the dispatcher in Bluefield to see where the train was. It was about 10 miles away, and it would stop near Welch at a control point named "Farm" to add helper engines on the rear to get the train over the mountain into Bluefield.

I also knew the Southern heritage unit had been working in the helper pool out of Bluefield, so I asked her if she knew where engine number 8099 was at. She said it was leaving Bluefield and should be at "Farm" about the same time as the other train. She said she could have them stop at Farm for a photo op if I wanted. Of course I wanted, this is my chance at illustrating history!

I got my shot of the coal train exiting the tunnel, then went to Farm and waited for the moment. Sure enough, 746 pulled up and stopped, and while they were attaching a helper engine on the rear, the next helper set arrived with the Southern engine and posed beside the NW engine. The helper set with the Southern unit would have to sit here and wait for the next train anyway, so the best part of the whole thing is that no trains were delayed at all, and no special arrangements had to be made. If I had to choose two heritage locomotive for a side by side shot, it would have been these two since these two railroads are what started NS 30 years ago. It was Friday the 13th, but I think that has become a good-luck day for me. Being in the right place at the right time sure pays off! Casey

This is the guy who is snapping the "official" photos for NS - hence the water mark.
Arrived in my email - all I did was size it down to 1k.

Attachment:

Ns8103+8099NWSOUFarmleft1539logosm1k.jpg [ 295.25 KiB | Viewed 489 times ]

Actually, Moffat Road is Tom's brother, Mike. Tom is on Flickr as MRL 390.

_________________
Chris
Denver, CO

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, leading to the most spectacular view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds." ~Edward Abbey

Mike Danneman (Moffat Road) nearly gave me a heart attack! TWO CNW coal trains just outside the Antelope mine. That Green/Black lash ain't too ugly either! Presume the tank tender was equipped with a pump.

As a Chicago and North Western coal train loads at Antelope Mine, two other coal trains cruise through Converse Junction, WY on May 12, 1995. A loaded C&NW coal train meets an empty Burlington Northern northbound with five SD40-2s splicing a fuel tender on the main.