Eastern Railroad Discussion > A rainy day trackside in Central Virginia 12-16-12

Photo 1: Dawn breaks in the quaint hamlet of Shawsville, VA as NS 67N negotiates a tight S curve with a empty train of ethanol cars in tow, as a layer of morning fog carpets the surrounding valley. This is actually the steepest section of Christiansburg Mountain; if a westbound will stall out, it will do so short of the crossing pictured in this photograph. If a train successfully climbs the first two miles of the grade, it will likely make the top of the mountain situated 10 miles to the west at Christiansburg. The town of Shawsville is quiet this dreary Sunday as the train abruptly ends the peaceful morning with engines in notch 8 and a horn echoing throughout the valley.
Photo 2: The uniformity of ethanol cars are played out in this moody scene depicting 67N's train traversing the S curve pictured above at a different angle.
Photo 3: After clearing a 10 MPH slow order back in Shawsville, the engineer on 67N has just opened up the throttle as it now moves uphill at trackspeed with a filthy Canadian National second in command as the train approaches Friendship Road just east of Montgomery Tunnel.

Samuel Phillips
Radford, VA
Photography by Samuel Phillips

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Photo 4: NS 186 parades downhill through this nice early morning scene at Shawsville, VA with a pair of C40-9W's permeating the air with the sound of dynamic breaks whining holding back the heavy manifest train as it descends the 1.5% grade.
Photo 5: After waiting for traffic ahead to clear, NS 823 struggles to get his train up to speed as the two big GE's shake the ground in notch 8 while it negotiates the hamlet of Shawsville, VA. This monster hopper train will take twice as long to climb grueling Christiansburg Mountain because of his heavy train consisting of roughly 150-170 empty coal cars.
Photo 6: NS 29W files through Elliston at trackspeed with a long string of autoracks in tow as it makes a running start for grueling Christiansburg Mountain that lies just ahead. The "Lights out indicate approaching train" crossing sign is a unique landmark that has stood here in Elliston for decades; it is presumably the last one still in operation and makes for a interesting photograph, especially in such moody weather like this.

Samuel Phillips
Radford, VA
Photography by Samuel Phillips

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Photo 7: Now along the former Southern Railway south of Hurt and Altavista, we find NS 186 climbing uphill near Greene, VA with two GE's wide-open in notch 8 as they prepare to stop ahead to await the arrival of northbound #214. A vegetation called "kudzu" is a frequent plant that grows trackside along the former Southern and that is very apparent in this image of #186.
Photo 8: "186 approach track two Motely, NS 186 out!", a statement heard over the scanner as #186 approached this former Southern Railway signal just north of Greene. The approach signal is for the meet with 214 that will take place just south of here.
Photo 9: Hotshot intermodal #214 charges over the Roanoke River in Altavista, VA as it files north through the quaint community with a trio of Norfolk Southern motors heading up the train. After arriving in Lynchburg, NS 214 will perform a speedy set off for Norfolk bound intermodal I3G to attach to his train for the trek east. Rain clouds begin moving into the area that will bring heavy rain to Central Virginia overnight.

Samuel Phillips
Radford, VA
Photography by Samuel Phillips

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Photo 10: Now on the former Virginian Railway Altavista District, NS 820 is pictured splitting a pair of approach lit N&W CPL's situated in the small hamlet of Stone Mountain, VA. Dense fog moves into the area along with the approaching front coming from the south with heavy rain. Train #820 is making great time along this relatively flat section of the former Virginian with much slighter grades opposed to the P-D north of Princeton...
Photo 11: Another view of #820 depicts the photographer shooting between old boards part of an old wooden overpass located here in Stone Mountain. A good percentage of the country roads required to access locations between Roanoke and Altavista cross the tracks on old wooden bridges; this is just one out of many I witnessed while exploring this intriguing route.
Photo 12: Running just minutes behind #820 is Hyco bound coal train #764 pictured here charging east near the community of Moneta, VA just west of the location above. Another pair of approach lit CPL's are situated in the background of this image. The CPL's along this line are quickly disappearing as part of NS' plan to upgrade the signals along this route to the modern safetrain signaling system.

Samuel Phillips
Radford, VA
Photography by Samuel Phillips

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Photo 13: In the very last light of the day, NS 18M hits Tinker Creek Connect in Roanoke, VA to take the train south roughly one mile to join the former Virginian Altavista District and then the former Southern at Hurt. Two C40-9W's are in charge of this heavy Linwood, NC bound manifest as darkness quickly falls upon the community; the old N&W CPL stands tall and proud as it witnesses yet another train. These signals are on borrowed time though, as NS quickly is eradicating them from service.

December 15th, 2012

Photo 14: With the sound of EMD's whining in full dynamics permeating the air, NS 762 descends the western slope of Merrimac Hill, standing at 1.5%, as it parades through a rock cut situated in Yellow Sulphur, VA while it treks east toward Roanoke on the former electrified Virginian Railway.

Thanks for looking!

Samuel Phillips
Radford, VA
Photography by Samuel Phillips

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Nice shoots and I got 823 on Saturday as he went through Blackstone, VA. Shots are in the post I just put up.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA

A great display of photography and the story that goes along.

Your last shot is incredible. IOTD in my opinion....

Posted from Android

Those are some really neat pictures!
Jim

Great stuff, once again. I really look forward to your posts.

Samuel,

Excellent photography as usual. Still love the S curve in Shawsville!

Regards,
Russ

OUTSTANDING set of pics!!!! Thanks for sharing.