Eastern Railroad Discussion > RBBB Red on board photos, April 11 train-run

Here is a series of PHOTOS taken from aboard the Red Unit Circus Train on its run from Hampton to Norfolk VA, on Monday, April 11. THERE WILL BE MORE ADDED BETWEEN NOW AND 8PM TONIGHT.... STAY TUNED FOR EDITS TO THIS THREAD AS I EDIT THE PHOTOS FOR POSTING ON TO.COM.

REGARDING:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,2441649

CSXT Peninsula Subdivision photos:
(1) WINDSOR SHADES, Va., looking toward the rear of the train as we glide along Highway 60.
(2) East End PROVIDENCE FORGE, Va. siding -- the C&O cantilever bridge signals still in use here may have their days numbered. My apologies for the blurry image, but we were blowing along at about 50mph, and I almost missed this shot of the classic signals.
(3) ROXBURY, Va., about 10 miles west of Providence Forge. Workmen at the business pictured at left came running outside to see us and wave as we crawled through this small village in New Kent County; CSXT maintenance crews were at this point restoring the line to faster, better tracks - working their way west from Newport News to Richmond, and had a slow order through the Roxbury area on this date.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 12:43 by rbx551985.

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Cool pic! So It seems you work for the Circus It most be cool riding in the cars.

RBBB Red Unit; CSXT Peninsula Subdivision photos, continued:
(4) RICHMOND AIRPORT, as seen from inside the Red Unit Pie Car, April 11, 2011. The CSXT Peninsula Sub. runs along the south edge of the runways, and we frequently see jets taking off with a thunderous roar from the Circus Train at this location. Highway 60 is 2 miles north in this shot (not visible, of course), and trains moving on CSX can be seen from the highway, in the distance, if the weather is clear.

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RBBB Red Unit; CSXT Peninsula Subdivision photos, continued: FT. LEE CROSS-OVERS.
(5) Train is crossing over at Ft. Lee; motorists waiting at Charles City Rd. crossing have a LONG time to view every car, as our speed is less than 25mph through the turnouts.
(6) Looking back from the other side as the car enters the other main.
(7) And back to the other side of the vestibule again for a shot of the C&O cantilever bridge signal at this site on the line. As the signals at East End Providence Forge, they say the days of these classic devices is numbered.

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The SCL crane seen below was sitting in the old C&O roundhouse lead at Fulton Yard in Richmond; we were stopped here briefly for the C&O-SCL crewchange. The "SCL" [outbound] crew would take us to Collier Yard in Petersburg.

Next, the train is moving out of Fulton and onto the old C&O viaduct along Richmond's waterfront at the James River.

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TWO SHOTS of the N.S. bridge over the old canal at Great Shiplock Park:

Show 1 shows the (former Southern Railway) West Point, Va. rail line below CSX's C&O viaduct where that line crosses the canal. Up along the canal, NS's "Government Yard" has 3 sidings, and it is there that the Red Unit's flatcars will unload in just 1 more week upon arrival in Virginia's capital city. The flatcar ramps will be placed at their usual spot for unloading: on the West Point branch's mainline at the floodgate - and adjacent to the famous Triple Crossing.

Shot 2 of the NS bridge. No, in case you're wondering, it no longer opens.

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RIVANNA JCT. This is where the CSXT line to Charlottesville branches off the James River line. If you look closely, you can see the front of the train (tops of the coaches) far ahead, just to the RIGHT of the brick building which is behind the signals. This vantage point is at the middle of the 59-car, mile long Red Unit Circus Train.

SECOND SHOT shows a closeup of the Virginia Holocaust Museum in Richmond. Note the German cattle car spotted behind the building; that's a reminder that anything man-made such as a railroad car can be used for bad, or in the case with RBBB Circus, for good. Lesson learned - let's never forget.

Finally, we're uphill in the middle of town negotiating ACCA WYE, and the Amtrak HERITAGE UNIT, recently repainted with huge "pointless arrow" logo (which I actually like), sits waiting for us to get through. (Sorry again for the horrible quality of this photo, but these 1-time use cameras aren't always reliable for grab-shots like this one!)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 13:06 by rbx551985.

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LATER IN THE DAY, at COLLIER YARD (south Petersburg, Va.):
---The northbound Tropicana Juice Train rolls by our train as we undergo the NS inspection for interchange off CSXT.
---Departing Collier Yard, we're being shoved backwards in this shot: view is looking toward the train's rear as we pass a Collier Yard job.

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---The infamous "Collier Club" (some of them, anyway) film our slow reverse-move downhill from Collier Yard to the NS "Secoast" connection. That's NS's Collier Yard office at left.
---A reverse look back uphill toward the crossing.

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---At the bottom of the hill, we're on the turnouts leading onto the NS Belt Line main track.
---HIGH GREEN at Secoast is already set for our run east from here to Norfolk on the old N&W.
---Collier Club railfans photograph our departure east; HEY GUYS: here's what YOU looked like, from "down there on the "W" ...

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NORFOLK SOUTHERN: Norfolk Division photos:
---POE, Va. curve, just east of the I-95 overpass.
---Petersburg Auto Ramp, photo 1. This is just east of Poe.
---Petersburg Auto Ramp, photo 2.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 14:21 by rbx551985.

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---WAVERLY, VA. Note the coach reflection in the bank window to our left (this view looks toward the rear of the train).
---WINDSOR, VA. We're blowing through town now at a flat out 60mph! Sunlight is reflecting a mirror of the peanut silo's image on the side of the clean Circus coach.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 13:44 by rbx551985.

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---GILMERTON (south Norfolk): NS Bridge-7, shot 1. Crews are building a new high bridge for parallel highway 460.

---Reverse angle of Bridge-7 photo above, looking west through the NS drawspan toward the crane after we had crossed the Elizabeth River - South Branch.

---A family notices that we've stopped, blocking the Franklin St./Railroad Ave. grade crossing just west of Portlock Yard, and comes to see us up close. The photo shows them as we are dragging out after the delay; the dad yells up to us that they have tickets to see the show, and are excited to see the Circus Train! Note the classic N&W signals just ahead....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 14:29 by rbx551985.

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---East end of PORTLOCK YARD shows a yard job switching cars as we roll slowly by, approaching downtown Norfolk and the end of today's Circus Train Adventure.

---After another long delay just east of Portlock Yard, we begin moving into Norfolk: here's the train's approach to the Elizabeth River-North Branch drawbridge, or "Bridge-5."

--Norfolk, Virginia's skyline is to our left on the bridge; note the green-glass office tower in the middle of the shot: that's the NORFOLK SOUTHERN headquarters, sometimes referred to as "The Tower of Money Colored Glass."

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---LAST CURVE before arriving at Portlock Yard: this is the St. Julian Ave. grade crossing at approximately Milepost LP-3.5, or thereabouts.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/11 11:47 by rbx551985.

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Thanks for sharing.
John

jmbreitigan Wrote:
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> Thanks for sharing.
> John

You're welcome! Now, following are photos taken INSIDE LAMBERT'S POINT YARD, where thousands of NS coal cars are unloaded each month: this is a perspective railfans NEVER get to see, with notable exceptions such as being employeed by The Greatest Show On Earth, or back in 1983 - when NS hosted a NRHS excursion from Richmond behind the J-611, which used the same BALLOON TRACK through this massive coal export terminal....

PHOTOS 1-3: Inside the yard, as the Red Unit Circus Train drags through at about 15 mph; we're spliced between row upon row of Top Gons, all loaded and awaiting their turn for dumping. In the third shot, the coaches are beginning to negotiate the Balloon Track next to the Elizabeth River.

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---Top Gons galore, all loaded and awaiting their turn at the rotary dumper.
---Next 2 shots show: middle of coach section approaching the Balloon Track, and middle of coach section entering the Balloon Track. In that last shot, note the coaches on the SHARP curve, way off to the left in the view ahead....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/11 15:19 by rbx551985.

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---One of the ROTARY DUMPS, where 2 coal cars are turned nearly upside down to unload....
---Coal vessel being loaded. (There are numerous vessels at anchor this month over in the adjacent harbor waiting their turn to load.)

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---Side view of the coal vessel and the stub/tail track which rises upward to prevent empty cars from going into the water.
---CLOSE-UP of the tail track: a pair of NS Top Gons seem to be up-ended, but this configuration appears to be designed so that two cars can be shoved out of the rotary dumper, where they then descend onto the tail track and onto the spur's stub-end which appears to have JUST enough rise to bring them to a stop. (The end-of-track is over the edge of the Elizabeth River.) Then they roll back through a spring switch into the departure yard assembly tracks on the other side of the yard for outbound empties, opposite the yard tracks which hold the inbound loads.

---Last view back toward the coal vessel conveyor area as we slowly roll around the Lambert's Point Balloon Track.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/14/11 11:49 by rbx551985.

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