Ok, cool. Did you see the annoucement of HUB's traffic switch? They're shifting from BNSF to UP apart from the PNW routes....
Nope, hadn't seen that either, though I was starting to surmise it from the facts on the ground. What's a good source for info like that?
Here are a few parting shots of the manifest with 8-units on the point. This guy was in the hole at Rowen, and when he got the clear to proceed he was off like a bat out of hell. No shortage of horsepower that evening! Here he is chugging up the 2.3% at Woodford, taken from my 'pace car':
What's missing from this so-so shot is the sound! I don't care if all those Dash-9's look the same, eight units still make a hell of a racket on a grade like this.
About 10 minutes later he's around the Loop and heading into Marcel as the Sun drops lower:
The reflective striping was catching the low Sun perfectly, and every time a tanker with conspicuity stripes went by it looked like it had half a dozen amber beacons firing off. It would have made a great video with the right equipment (not mine, alas). :-\
I heart mountain railroading.
