Thursday Proto Photo, Mar 16/17

[Lenny53]

[Caleb Austin]

Here's a few from the Richmond Virginia area.


A southbound CSX freight approaches the diamond at Doswell. Buckingham Branch recently acquired two high nosed GP38-2's from Norfolk Southern. 


Southbound over the James river.


A northbound freight accelerating out of Acca yard. 


Northbound Amtrak.

Caleb.

[Philip H]

A few from one of the two trains we saw in Pass Christian today:

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[MK]

What's with the AC hookup on the Buckingham Branch #8?  I never saw that before.

[aikorob]

battery charger--------the "P" on that GP38 model stands for Prius   

[MK]

battery charger--------the "P" on that GP38 model stands for Prius   

Thanks.  I guess then there's a pricier model with the "T" (for Tesla)? 

[C855B]

What's with the AC hookup on the Buckingham Branch #8?  I never saw that before.

I suspect it's a crankcase oil heater, possibly a battery charger. Despite what the sound cards might imply , cold locomotives are difficult to start. It used to be common practice to leave parked power running overnight to keep the oil temp up for assurance they would be running for the next day's work. Pollution rules, fuel costs, and noise abatement laws made that practice undesirable, so a partially warm oil bath eases the start sequence.

Notice that there are four of these outlet posts, so all of their power must get this retrofit.

[Philip H]

A dedicated DODX came through the other day: