Eastern Railroad Discussion > Is interest in NS Heritage units declining?

Been kinda wondering about this, as reports
seem to be less frequent, but maybe that's just
my perception. And 'patch's post below brought
that to mind.

Granted, everything gets a little old with time.

Thoughts ? How's the interest level holding up?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/14 05:31 by NS1703.

I'd say the interest level is holding up, based on the number of page views / comments on some threads.

Since NS is increasingly sending units off line, sometimes for weeks, there's a wider audience.

Based on comments I've heard, many people now have all 20 locomotives in their seen / photographed collection, and are now filling out the list with things like:

--locomotive leading
--locomotive on its own heritage tracks (Lackawanna on Lackawanna tracks, etc)
--units at a specific location etc

Personally, I never had interest in them to begin with...

Posted from iPhone

Considering there are 14 heritage related threads on the front page of this board, I would say its just your perception :-)

If you mid-Atlantic/Midwest/Mid-south guys are bored with NS heritage units, please arrange to have them re-deployed to the hinterlands of Pan Am Southern. I've only seen two Heritage units in New England.

I don't think the interest is deteriorating, most railfans seem to be more intent on letting the unit come to them rather than go on a lengthy and sometimes unpredictable chase. Kind of a more relaxed attitude. I notice many guys who have them photographed are now returning to their traditional way of enjoying their hobby, with the exception, of course, that elusive unit.

Plus keep in mind it has nothing to do with graffiti, tresspassing or blasting those narrow minded people that don't want oil trains derailing in their back yards.

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

Or Ed Dickens.

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

I agree with Lakota-rail. My quest to photograph all 20 of the NS heritage units led me into seven different states in just over 12 months. Those days are behind me, and now I just let them come to me. If one is passing through my home area, or somewhere near my travels, I still make an effort to get a nice photograph. They are still exciting to see and shoot, but for some no longer capture the level of excitement which cause us to go to extreme measures to find them.

Jon

I have photographed most of the NS Heritage Units, not all. Still missing the Virginian, Wabash, Original NS, Lehigh Valley, Penn Central, Reading, Monongahela, and Interstate. And, as far as UP Heritage units go, I have only caught the CNW and MKT.

I have interest in catching all of the units from both railroads, however, I would prefer them come to me instead of me having to travel out of state to catch them. I did travel to Alabama last Saturday for the Southern unit, but that was the furthest I drove to catch a heritage unit. Of all of the units I have caught, I would put a little more priority on catching the IT and Conrail units a second time since I caught both of them at night previously.

> Thoughts ? How's the interest level holding up?

My interest was only mild to begin with. I'm not a photographer any more, and I rarely look at the heritage photos.

They are nice, but I have already seen the heritage units I wanted to see. I'm not going to drive to the nearest mainline to catch the heritage units everytime they lead or trail on a train in my area. If one happens to be on a train coming toward me while I'm out railfanning, that's okay, but I don't have the heritage-fever like some people do.

And while were on the subject, it would be nice if pictures of the same heritage unit taken by different TO memebers would all be posted in one thread, which is better use for the threads and comments features on this site. There is no need for several different location pictures of a heritage unit taken by different TO members to be posted in different new threads. It makes the main boards less cluttered. But that's just my thought.

In a railroad world that seems to get more and more homogenized and bland every day, I get excited about ANYTHING that is out of the ordinary, whether it be a different model, a different paint job, or simply a particular locomotive in a place not normally seen. Around Fort Wayne we are seeing a resurgence of foreign line motive power not seen since the late 90's and I could not be more thrilled, after days when I feel like I have seen all 900+ Norfolk Southern C44-9Ws in the same day. I guess my question to those that don't have much or any interest in the Heritage Units, what DOES get you up off the couch and out along the tracks?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/14 08:20 by junctiontower.

classic units and varnish

junctiontower Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
I guess my question to those that don't have much or any interest in the
Heritage Units, what DOES get you up off the couch and out along the tracks?



Strangely enough it's the trains themselves. I hope the day never comes where I
don't get excited about seeing a train. I was watching and listening to some guys at
Folkston yesterday talking about symbols, engines, etc and thinking they were so busy
with that they didn't even take the time to experience the train passing them by? However
to each his own is what is important...

Jay



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/14 19:33 by Benched_it.

They still excite me because I remember these paint schemes from my youth (1948-1960). Now the goal is to get photos with better lighting (I have lensed all twenty) and especially for me as a Reading Company nut to get all of them on former Reading Lines - so far I have 16 of the 20 on the former RDG.

I bought 2 videos of all of them. great stuff.......

66

NS1703 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Been kinda wondering about this, as reports
> seem to be less frequent, but maybe that's just
> my perception. And 'patch's post below brought
> that to mind.
>

That's because the unit in question is/was trailing and would be of no interest to Patch himself and a number of other heritage collectors.

i just seen my first one yesterday. it was the CNJ unit, but it was to far get pics.

Benched_it Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Strangely enough it's the trains themselves. I
> hope the day never comes where I
> don't get excited about seeing a train. I was
> watching and listening to some guys at
> Folkston yesterday talking about symbols, engines,
> etc and thinking they were so busy
> with that they didn't even take the time to
> experience the train passing them by? However
> to each his own is what is important...

I don't disagree with anything you said, but isn't a train with an interesting locomotive STILL better than a train without one?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/06/14 10:48 by junctiontower.