Nostalgia & History > Photographing an old friend for an OLD friend!

In the world of scanning thousands of negatives that have not seen the light of day in most cases for over four decades, one tends to find trigger points that beg to have a story told. The photo attached here is one example. A bright sunny day in Altoona, just hanging around on different bridges, watching the parade of ever encroaching baby blue units weave their way through town. Conrail at this point was more of a labor than a joy for me to photograph, and the fast changing move to the new baby blue paint was pulling my interest even further away. But, Conrail stillran a lot of trains, and that was my thing. I was looking for something to chase up the mountain, with nothing showing up to make the run worthwhile. All of the sudden I heard a TV 21 approaching town, and saying that the 4022 leader would be suffient to take the hill without a helper. Truly I thought I misunderstood the number indicated. Back in those pre internet days, you relied on second hand info, rumors, and sometimes railroaders for info. According to one of those sources, 4022 was an ex EL E8, Number 833 to be exact, I had heard they had a couple in service on the big C, but never did I ithink it would be on a hot westbound. To cut to the chase, so to say, it was truly the 833/4022 as leader on the westbound. I was not in the best position for the first shot, and barely got to the spot you see in the photo in time to grab a photo. So here is 833 for the even older EL833 aka Roger Durfee! The E unit is actually older than Roger, he just acted like an old man. Needless to say, the diversion I made from Cumberland to Altoona that day was one of those treasured memories that this OLD guy can share with you....and yes I did chase this gem as far as South Fork Pa.! Hopefully, more images will show up. Roger, this is for you old buddy!!

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/05/20 04:36 by Roadjob.

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I remember that that unit along with a sister
ran in Florida.It was a special train.Maybe
something about the merger of  CSX.

Uncle Joe
Seffner,Fl.

That's fantastic Bill !  I sure hope you come across more images of this chase.

A test run after shop work?

Posted from iPhone

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Great catch and shot !
Gary

First-class image and back story.
Bob

Wow - they actually put it head-out on a freight. Lucky for you :-)
RWJ

Heck of a catch there Billy boy- first I've seen photos of this train from you. And yes, the E is older than me lol...and we're both still around !

Roger Durfee
Akron, OH

Another great shot.
Another great subject line that makes me click before I even see it is a Roadjob post.
Another great story.
Another reason I go to TO every day.

And that station wagon? Icing on the cake!
 

Here's my shot of CSXT P973-18 in Auburndale, FL on 04/18/1998 with 8 cars. CR 4020 & CR 4021.

Stanley Jackowski
Valrico, FL

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