Steam & Excursion > Ten Years Ago Today (SOU 4501 - Day 3)

Ten years ago (June 28th)…

On the last weekend of June 2015, Southern Railway 2-8-2 4501, preserved and maintained by the Tennessee Valley Railway Museum, made its debut for Norfolk Southern's 21st Century Steam Program by pulling a trio of excursions out of Bristol, Virginia. Sunday’s excursion was a round trip from Bristol to Radford, VA, named the “Radford Rambler.”

#1. Having spent the weekend staying in a hotel in Abingdon instead of Bristol, we had a short drive to our first spot of the morning, the footbridge just north (railroad east) of the former freight and passenger depots in town. The N&W CPL signals protecting the west end of the Abingdon siding can be seen in the distance.

#2. By now, we were familiar with the speed of the excursion and ease of chasing so we were able to almost jump from siding to siding to check off shots of the endangered N&W color position light signals. Ten miles north of Abingdon, near Glade Spring, we caught the 4501 at the west end of the siding known as Washington.

#3. Just under another 20 miles north, we set up in downtown Marion behind the depot at the west end of the siding.
 

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#4 & 5. With modern signals already protecting the siding east of Rural Retreat, we drove east of town on Ridge Avenue for this view of the excursion, farms and the town in the distance.

#6. Making a quick run up to the next town on the line, we joined a large crowd along Railroad Avenue in Wytheville for the classic CPL shot.
 

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#7. With a stretch of inaccessible running, we jumped about 30 miles up the line to Dublin, the town where we started our chase on Friday to set up on the overpass at the west end of the siding known as Wysor.

The excursion beat us into Radford and we grabbed lunch while the train was spun for the westbound run back to Bristol, which I will post tomorrow. 

- Chris
 

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Nice shots!  They're a feast for the eyes and soul :-)

Very well-crafted views. Excellent images.
Bob

Great pics!!  Thanks for posting.