Eastern Railroad Discussion > Continuing my Out of Area trend... Collier, Richmond & Ashland

Still on going with my out of area month, I headed to Collier on the 25th, and Richmond/ Ashland on the 27th for some action. 
On the 25th, I was originally in Doswell, but a double up, DPU train had me chasing to Carson, VA to catch it! Seen in downton Carson, G758-10 heads south with 114 loaded coal and 84 loaded grain, with CSX 5001 trailing the head end and a Tier 4-SD50 combo as the DPU. 
Later that day back at Collier, NS put on quite a show, with 5 trains in about 3 hours; two of wich had nice power combos. First up was NS 234 with SD70 #2514 on the point. 

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CSX was not to miss out on the show, running some nice trains as well. The first noteworthy train was the Q193 heading south with two units, due to the fact that CSX 500 "Spirit of Grafton" doesn't have cab signals. CSX 5447 was added to lead for the RF&P, and just left on for the rest of the journey. 
Not long after 193 headed south, Q410 came thundering north with a sweet SD70AC pair, leader in fresh paint, and a D8-40CW third out. 
After 410 got across the Appamattox, it was time for Amtrak to put on the usual show. First up was P091 with a friend of mine running the train. 

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And not to be left out, the 'Flagship', Auto Train hot on 91's heels. 
The one we all waited for before leaving that night; NS 236 with a UP SD70ACe leading a 'triclops' and a D9W east. 
Now, onto the 27th. I headed to Richmond to meet a buddy and get a drone (I'll have more of those shots to post once I get it up and running!), and we heard train X118 leaving town on the Rivanna. I booked it out to the West end of Sabot siding, and nabbed this shot of the clean AC4400 leader, with a Tier 4 behind on 580 axles of 'sailboat fuel'. 

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Now comes the fun!
While on the way home, I just so happend to stop in Ashland to top off with gas, and check Facebook, only to see that a loaded coal train was stopped at the north end of town with a locomotive fire. Well, me being me, I wasn't going to pass up on seeing that!
Seen here not long after they had extinguished the fire, N770-25 is less than 50 miles from its final destination of the Wheelwright plant in Chester with CSX 3103, CSX 434, and CSX 332 (the problem child). 
Second shot is probably my favorite from the night. The lights on the firetruck provided some nice light as these shots were taken around 19:30!
Last shot shows the damage done. Train would finally pull from town at 19:45, running as a 25mph train into Acca where they would eventually set the third unit off. 

Hope All Enjoy!!!

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Love the close up of 332's innards.
 

Nice bunch of shots.  Some impressive signal bridges and cantilevers too.  Great right-place right-time coverage on the fire.
Brian Stevens

Great shots as always. I assume the X118 is an extra empty baretable train that would go over the C&O to Ohio? Is that a normal train to have during the week? I'm in WV in October and searching for every bit of info on the minimal traffic that crosses the line now.

UP 8872 led 227 up to Harrisburg the next day, and is now headed back to Norfolk, trailing on 228.  Image is UP 8872 leading 227 up the Linden Grade on the B-line at a crawl (problems with the trailing Dash8).

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Outstanding bunch.
JB