Eastern Railroad Discussion > Sunday afternoon around Ashland

BNSF gave me last week off so the wife and I decided to head east to do some sightseeing in D.C. and Virginia. While in Virginia, I made time to stop in the quaint town of Ashland, which is 15 miles north of Richmond on the former RF&P, on Sunday afternoon to get a few hours of railfanning in before heading home on Monday. Looking at the Amtrak timetable, I decided to arrive around 3 p.m. and stay until dusk since 5 Amtrak trains were due through during that time frame. CSX made things a little more interesting by running several freight trains through town at the time.

Before getting to Ashland, I stopped at the junction where the former C&O mainline between Clifton Forge and Richmond crossed the RF&P main at Doswell to shoot the Buckingham Branch power stationed there.

1 and 2. Three of Buckingham Branch's GP16's basking in the sun at Doswell, Virginia.

Got to the Amtrak station in Ashland and met up with my father who was also in the Richmond area for other business. Within 10 minutes, CSX ran a southbound junk freight train through town.

3. CSX 5444 leads a former Conrail C40-8W on train Q41321 by the renovated Amtrak station in Ashland, Virginia.

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It was now time for the Amtrak parade to begin. First up was a Northeast Direct train from New York.

4. Amtrak 195 arrives at the Amtrak station in Ashland, Virginia on it's journey south from NYC to Richmond.

Running right on the heels of train 195, was the famous Auto Train.

5 and 6. Amtrak engine 831 leads another AMD-103 on train 53 (Auto Train) down the middle of Center Street north of the Amtrak station in Ashland, Virginia.

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After the Auto Train, I moved a couple of blocks south. Shots were starting to get harder to find since the trees along Center Street started casting long shadows in the late afternoon sun. I was able to find a small clearing and set up just in time for the passage of the Silver Star.

7. Amtrak engine 180 on the point of train 91 (Silver Star) races a Papa John's delivery boy southbound on Center Street in Ashland, Virginia.

I was able to catch one last time before packing it in. This time it was a northbound CSX mixed freight train.

8. CSX 3144 leads train Q42120 north through Ashland, Virginia a few moment before sunset.

The light was about gone so I packed it in and headed back to my cousin's house near Ruther Glen just in time to meet up with them and go watch the Steelers game that evening. Next time I'm in the Richmond area, hopefully I'll have more time to spend along the former RF&P.

Enjoy

BNSFDS

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I really like Ashland, very nice town with friendly people.
Great shots, thanks for sharing!


Jay

Train is doing 40. The speed limit sign two the right says 25mph you are speeding slow it down now or you will get writing up. LOL

Nice shots but you may want to check you CSX train IDs Q413 hasn't run tfor years and if CSX has a Q421 we don't run it on the RFP.

Posted from Android

deeck Wrote:
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> Nice shots but you may want to check you CSX train
> IDs Q413 hasn't run tfor years and if CSX has a
> Q421 we don't run it on the RFP.
>
> Posted from Android

I had my scanner on and heard the conductor call the Langford and Ashland signals as Q42120 and heard him call the Ruther Glen signal with that symbol as well.

BNSFDS

Posted from iPhone

Must have been a reroute. A search shows Q421 as a Boston train which carries trash and manifest freight.

Sharon Evans
Glen Allen, VA



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/25/14 15:20 by RNinRVR.