Eastern Railroad Discussion > Searchlights in the night on the CNO&TP

During our travels to the South end of the CNO&TP over the past couple of months, I have made a concentrated effort to document as many of the old signals between Oakdale and Chattanooga as I could. I have almost complete coverage of everything else on the CS North of Oakdale, but the 3rd district was the one area I had neglected.

Our trips South for the steam trips, EMDX 1201 and a other goodies put us in a good spot to fill in some of those holes, and while most of this was done in the daylight, I did manage a few night shots as well. I spent a few hours in Oakdale on the night of October 26th to set up for a night shot of the NS 055 with that big yellow EMD leading, and then Carmon and I hit a few places on the way back to Harriman after the 630 trip on the 27th.

The signal upgrade project is about to go into high gear, and these old GRS model SC searchlights wont be around much longer. When completed, this one project will change the look of the CNO&TP more than anything has since the 1950's....get out there and get them while you still can! I am planing a couple of all night trips in the near future on the 2nd district to shoot some more of these in the dark, and every other chance I get in the daylight as well. All of these where shot with ambient lighting and "painted" with a spotlight in some areas.

I still have a lot of processing to do of the daytime stuff, but here is a peek at some of the night shots. Full sized versions at this link >>> http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/cs3rd12eb

#1 The Northbound signal bridge at Tunnel 25 (Oakdale, TN) under a "partially moony" sky 10/26/12

#2 NS 23G streaks by the unique Triple headed set of Searchlights protecting the South end of the Oakdale yard lead as the wind whips up the pine tree's in the background

#3 The dwarf signal protecting the siding at North Spring City TN shows all red on a breezy Fall evening. Spring City TN 10/27/12

E.M. Bell , KD4JSL
Salvisa, KY
Jreb.org NS group

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#3 Appears to be a bit of a home brew job...

CG Tower

EMBell Wrote:
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> During our travels to the South end of the CNO&TP
> over the past couple of months, I have made a
> concentrated effort to document as many of the old
> signals between Oakdale and Chattanooga as I
> could. I have almost complete coverage of
> everything else on the CS North of Oakdale, but
> the 3rd district was the one area I had
> neglected.
>
> Our trips South for the steam trips, EMDX 1201 and
> a other goodies put us in a good spot to fill in
> some of those holes, and while most of this was
> done in the daylight, I did manage a few night
> shots as well. I spent a few hours in Oakdale on
> the night of October 26th to set up for a night
> shot of the NS 055 with that big yellow EMD
> leading, and then Carmon and I hit a few places on
> the way back to Harriman after the 630 trip on the
> 27th.
>
> The signal upgrade project is about to go into
> high gear, and these old GRS model SC searchlights
> wont be around much longer. When completed, this
> one project will change the look of the CNO&TP
> more than anything has since the 1950's....get out
> there and get them while you still can! I am
> planing a couple of all night trips in the near
> future on the 2nd district to shoot some more of
> these in the dark, and every other chance I get in
> the daylight as well. All of these where shot
> with ambient lighting and "painted" with a
> spotlight in some areas.
>
> I still have a lot of processing to do of the
> daytime stuff, but here is a peek at some of the
> night shots. Full sized versions at this link >>>
> http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/cs3rd12eb
>
> #1 The Northbound signal bridge at Tunnel 25
> (Oakdale, TN) under a "partially moony" sky
> 10/26/12
>
> #2 NS 23G streaks by the unique Triple headed set
> of Searchlights protecting the South end of the
> Oakdale yard lead as the wind whips up the pine
> tree's in the background
>
> #3 The dwarf signal protecting the siding at North
> Spring City TN shows all red on a breezy Fall
> evening. Spring City TN 10/27/12