Thursday Proto Photo Mar 35/10

[Bob Bufkin]

Action at Alexandria, VA this past week.  A few more shots of the NS freight.





CSX southbound with about 50 to 60 Herzog hoppers:




Notice the connection between cars.  Train stopped in emergency so was easy to get these shots.



A few other trains which came through in about 45 minutes time.






And last but not least, this helper was at St Denis last Saturday getting ready to push a coal train through the tunnel.  Three SD40-2 and an SD50.  Great looking lashup of power.

[Lenny53]

[Caleb Austin]

Nice shots Bob, I've been through there on the VRE several times, I always wished I could stop by and check it out.

Yesterday, My Dad and I spent some time exploring the railroad around Afton Virginia.

Our first stop was the old Blue Ridge tunnel, built in 1859 and abandoned in 1944. We had hoped to walk a ways inside it, but it was completely flooded.




My Dad stands in the entrance...


A water fall cascades down the side of the portal.



And here is the tunnel C&O built to replace it.


After seeing the town of Afton in person finally, it struck me just how well Bernie K's Afton oNetrak modules captured the town. I happend had the NSR issue that featured the modules in the car with me, so was able to hold it up to the real thing to compare. Very cool.

After exploring Afton, we headed down route 250 a short ways until we came to the C&O overpass. We scrambled up the hill and walked about a quarter mile along the tracks until we came too Little Rock Tunnel.

This bare red rock bore is only 100' long.

The Western portal.


The eastern portal.


Atop the Eastern portal.


As we were walking back, a westbound empty coal train goes by. We missed seeing it come out of the tunnel by about a minute. Ah well.

[Iain]

You know, I like the SD60 better.  Of course, I like blue, too. 

[wm3798]

You're just trying to ingratiate yourself...

I've been rooting through some of my previous travels...  Caleb's trip to the Cave of the Unknown got me thinking about WM Concrete Culverts...


Out there near McCoy's Ferry



Shank Road, same neighborhood...  The railroad is still active over both of these, on the route between Cherry Run and Hagerstown.


on the Connellsville line west of Meyersdale, and right before the Salisbury Viaduct.  Now part of the Allegheny Passage trail.


Closer to home:  Church Lane near Pikesville in Baltimore

These are all right out of the WM Standards book.

Lee

[DKS]

On Saturday, I found some 1:1 snap track sitting around at West Trenton NJ on the old Reading line.
 






More images: http://picasaweb.google.com/dks2855/WestTrentonNewJersey#

[Mark5]

TOFC (tank on flat car ;D) in the heart of the Billion Dollar Coal Field 1978:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=85989&nseq=70

[AlkemScaleModels]

Nice shots Bob, I've been through there on the VRE several times, I always wished I could stop by and check it out.

Yesterday, My Dad and I spent some time exploring the railroad around Afton Virginia.
...
After seeing the town of Afton in person finally, it struck me just how well Bernie K's Afton oNetrak modules captured the town. I happened to have the NSR issue that featured the modules in the car with me, so was able to hold it up to the real thing to compare. Very cool.

That is cool. Great shots. Things have changed a bit from the time period I tried to model (1950s) and now, the basics are there.

[Mark5]

I had a bunch of shots from Alexandria back in the early 1970s, still holding out hope that I'll locate them sometime this year (will have a bit more free time as the year moves on)