Eastern Railroad Discussion > RBBB Red Trip Report 4/20/15 in Virginia

NOTE:  This one's a LONG post; bear with me and its length won't be so grizzly.

RBBB RED UNIT
TRIP REPORT – 4/20/15
Newport News, Va. to Petersburg, Va. (---with Red Unit Circus Train to continue to Columbus, Ohio)
 
Whoever knows the phrase “I’m going around my elbow to get to my thumb” knows exactly how to describe today’s eventual Train-Run scenario:  this is another one for the books, as I often say – and Ringling’s Red Unit will make history again today as well, however not in the way anyone ever expected.  But that’s yet to come….
 
As of late Sunday night, 4/19/15, and into the early morning hours of Monday, 4/20/15, the Red Unit’s flat cars are being loaded parallel to Pembroke Ave. on the old Hampton Branch, formerly the C&O passenger mainline to Phoebus and Ft. Monroe (C&O mile posts to Ohio are still measured from Ft. Monroe, even though the line has been pulled up from there to a point near downtown Hampton, almost at Milepost 4).  They are in two cuts this year:  10 cars are west of the W. Queen St. grade crossing and the other 9 are east of the crossing.  The show calls this a “split crossing” loading arrangement.  (The cars west of the crossing will need to be wyed over in Newport News to be facing the same direction as those being loaded east of the crossing.)  Most years the flats are loaded here in single cut west of the crossing.  Tonight it’s raining steadily, sometimes light and sometimes much more of a downpour – and it’s unceasing.  And it’s a cold rain….
 
MONDAY, APRIL 20, 2015:
 
By 4:45am – The last flat has just finished being loaded at W. Queen St. crossing; the show’s train crew then rides the rental bus back to coaches (the show bus has been loaded on that last flat car).  CSXT locomotive 8454 remains with the flats, uncoupled and just across LaSalle St. crossing, east of the flatcars.  (I just hope that CSXT remembers it’s there, otherwise next year they’ll find it with every color tagged on its flanks but the company’s colors!)
 
6:40am – 8484 couples up to second flatcar cut; cars are walked (checked); they pull ahead at 6:52am, heading westward up the line to Newport News Yard.  The last car out is loaded with the tiger cages and a green John Deere tractor; they are riding upon flatcar RBBX 80716, newly into Hampton from Progress Rail’s Kentucky shops to replace RBBX 84712 which went out on yesterday’s H775 freight train to Richmond – on its way to Kentucky for rebuilding.  By 7am, the rain is gone and the sun is coming out…. So much for the radio reports that there’s a 100% chance of rain throughout this morning – but the rain is gone by for today, and that is a Blessing!
 
The Red Unit’s outbound CSXT Train I.D. is to be P922-20.  Power for the move is the same two engines which brought the train here last Monday:  NS 2594 and NS 8090.

PHOTOS (some are grainy as I was using a one-time-use camera from Walmart, and those like that were taken before the sun came up):
---CSXT 8484 couples to the second cut of flats at W. Queen St. and Pembroke Ave.
---RBBX 80716 brings up the rear of this cut, loaded with tiger cages and a green John Deere tractor
---Engine 8484 leads the last cut over Powhatan Ave. crossing, across [parallel] Pembroke Ave. from a 7-11 store

~~~LOTS MORE TO COME (I'm going through the photos on the flash drive....)~~~

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:49 by rbx551985.

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7:40am – at the 28th St. Yard tracks (near the south end of the shipyard), CSXT puts the cuts of flats together for the move west to where the coaches have been moved earlier this morning:  under the Mercury Blvd. overpass, and between the new Walmart there and the Amtrak station across Rt. 60 (Warwick Blvd.) from Huntington Park where preserved C&O steamer No. 2756 sits.  SIDE NOTE: This large steam engine is soon to be dismantled for a move by truck (--due to permits not being accepted for fully-assembled move over road or rail--) to a new home at the Lee Hall Station site, about 10 miles west up the CSXT mainline.  The flats are at the final staging site by 8:35am, but with Amtrak P094 due to depart here at 9:15am, 35 minutes from now, all Circus moves cease.

PHOTOS:
---The flats sit east of the Newport News yard office while being reassembled
---The second cut of flats is about to be coupled to the first (photo taken from the 28th St. overpass)
---Meanwhile, the coaches are waiting 2 miles west in the departure yard between the Amtrak station (at upper portion of image to the left of the two NS engines) and a new Walmart (off-camera at right)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:08 by rbx551985.

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9am – CSXT units 114 and 559 (yard crew Y101-20) swap tracks, coupling to the Circus flatcars, after local engine 8484 cuts away into another track.  Meanwhile, another yard engine, No. 6019, moves onto the tail track leading out of the yard, then makes a reverse move back over to the departure yard to switch empty coal cars for a pending outbound which will depart after Ringling Bros.’ does.

PHOTOS:
---in an "EXTRA" image, the nearby Newport News Ship Building and Dry Dock Co. is along the James River (half a century or more ago, this shipyard also built railroad cars for C&O and many other railroads)
---The flats are beside the coaches, awaiting final train-assembly; Walmart is at right (image looks west from Mercury Blvd. overpass)
---the Red Unit's 2 container flats, carrying concessions materials, waits on their own track at the Amtrak station
 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:20 by rbx551985.

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9:15am – P094 departs on time, west bound to Richmond, then to turn north to New York City, with engine 83 and eight cars.  Patrons at the station have been google-eyed over the 2 Circus container cars which have been left on a track across the mainline from the station platform; when the other flats appeared 35 minutes earlier, they were even more-so curious about the Circus Train.  Amtrak clears the signal at “Holdout” 1 minute later, about ¼ mile or so west.

PHOTOS:
---Amtrak P094 pulls out of the yard (shot was taken from the Amtrak station platform)
---With Amtrak in the station at right, the Y101-20 crew (on two CSXT units) waits to switch the flats after the other train's departure.  Note the single flat with the Circus BUS on it, between the Amtrak train and the 2 container flats



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:21 by rbx551985.

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9:25am – Local train H773-20 with engine 43 (running long hood forward), and with two cars (a plastic pellets load and an empty LPG tank car), departs, following Amtrak.  As they do, Y101-20 begins sorting Ringling’s flatcars.  They have a trainee being taught railroading today, so these moves take a lot longer than normal:  when they clear out of various tracks while switching, the conductor and his trainee WALK back into the yard into each track they are to shove into, then have the engineer make the reverse moves.  (Safety First is “Rule One” on the railroad, and during on-the-job training that is of paramount importance.)  These “walks happen now on every switch-move for the duration of the next few hours (---the length of their walks is at least 5 car-lengths per switch).  This is part of why it took so long for the Circus’s departure, but there would be one more big delay left before the show would leave town….
 
The flat with the bus would be the last car; it was set out across from the Amtrak station (before P094's arrival).  Then 5 other flats were soon placed on that track with it.  After this, the Y101-20 crew coupled to the 2 container cars, then moved back over to the reaming long cut of flats – 13 more cars.  THAT final flatcar cut was then shoved over onto the others with the bus – then shoved back in the clear:  on yet another track over behind an empty coal train.  Upon the removal of the two CSXT engines (at 10:57am), A BLUE FLAG WAS PLACED ON THE TRACK so CSXT car inspectors could look over the 21 eight-nine-foot cars.  This was the so-called “One more big delay” which added so much time to the pre-departure countdown.

The Y101-20 crew couples to a long, loaded coal train, which will soon be shoved east for unloading at the Massey Piers in extreme-east Newport News, while the CSXT car inspectors walk all 21 Circus flatcars with a fine tooth-comb.   Amtrak’s overnight train P067 from New York City arrives in town on time; disembarking passengers have no idea what massive passenger/mixed extra is about to depart – but one woman and her young son are waiting for her hustband, and they do indeed witness the major event to come:  Ringling’s imminent departure, not long after the Amtrak train disappears east up the mainline for servicing by local crews for an afternoon departure as tonight’s P066.
 
12:10pm – Evidently no defects are found on the show’s flatcars; the Blue Flag is REMOVED, and it’s time to get Ringling on the mainline!  At 12:22pm the two NS engines are dragging the long cut of stock cars + passenger cars out of their track near the Walmart store, while the woman and her son watch from the Amtrak platform with enthusiastic astonishment.  A satellite TV dish has been forgotten [to be removed] atop the roof of the next-to-last coach, but soon it comes down from inside (--it is seen swiveling, then folding down from inside the car--), so that there will be no clearance issue about it during the run (it was rather high above the car roof before being folded down).

PHOTOS:
---NS units 2594 and 8090 drag the stocks and coaches out of Newport News Yard (yes, there's a Blue Unit stock car on this train)*
---The huge cut of passenger cars rolls by across from the Amtrak station....
---and after being shoved back against the flats, are shoved back half a mile until the Pie Car sits across from the station platform

*The two RBBB trains traded 1 stock car each earlier this year.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:27 by rbx551985.

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12:26pm – the double-up is MADE!  (For those not in the know of railroad parlance, a double is the term used to describe coupling two cuts of railcars together.  A “double up” is coupling 2 parts of a train, a “double out” refers to uncoupling them.)  The FRA air brake test commences.  At 12:40pm the train is shoved back into the yard just far enough that the head end is east of the signal circuit out at “Holdout,” about ¼ of a mile west (where we heard Amtrak P094’s engineer call the signal at 9:16am this morning).
 
12:50pm – Air brakes are tested and found to be in GOOD WORKING ORDER; RBBB’s RED UNIT DEPARTS NEWPORT NEWS, VIRGINIA.

At 12:55pm the Circus Train begins passing the library next to the fire station along Main Street; library patrons turn to see it and wave to Circus personnel already out in the quickly warming, bright sunny weather.  Fast-moving clouds overhead keep the sunlight from being too direct; this is a good day for a train-run!  Two couples having lunch a block away at a local restaurant’s outside patio turn to see the train and begin an animated discussion about The Greatest Show On Earth; one wonders what they talk about – but it’s got to be good, as they’re all smiles as they watch the mile long Circus Train rolling by.  Two women in a vehicle have been waiting to see the train and are taking photos of people riding in the vestibules.


PHOTOS:
---Several onlookers (including this railfan) watch as the Red Unit rolls out of town
---Three "center-vestibule" coaches are the last cars before the flats
---P922-20 is seen passing the Hampton Library's parking lot 1 mile west of Newport News Yard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:33 by rbx551985.

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At 1pm the rear of the train clears the Yard Throat just west of the Amtrak station:  acceleration comes quickly now, as they train is late and the CSXT head-end crew wants to help them make up as much time as is safely possible.  In just one more minute, at 1:01pm, they’re blowing through Harpersville Rd. crossing, and people there – as is always the case – are pleasantly surprised to see it is a RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY CIRCUS train that they’re waiting for, unlike the usual 150-car CSX coal trains which normally ply this route.
 
1:11pm – the Red Unit is rolling at about 40mph beside I-64 to the honks of motorists recognizing the logos on the cars, and their smiles tell the story of people who like The Greatest Show On Earth, and all the beloved history that name carries.  As the train rolls underneath the Denbigh Boulevard overpass, a lady wearing a flowered blouse while driving a van on I-64, in the same direction as the train, is pointing ahead toward a seemingly never-ending train-length and is apparently saying “That train’s length just goes on and on and on….”  (Yes, it does:  it’s one of the two longest passenger/mixed trains in World History and the other one is also a RBBB Circus Train!)  A survey crew is working along the Interstate’s lanes in preparation to add lanes to I-64 for dramatically increasing traffic – which can’t come soon enough.  The crews all pause when they see “RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY” on the railcars rolling by them, and they are laughing, and waving to those outside in the vestibules who are also waving over to people in cars, trucks and buses on I-64 who all point, wave and converse to others in their vehicles about The Greatest Show On Earth.  We always wonder if the people like this ever knew the show traveled by rail…..?
 
1:16pm – While the train rolls over Industrial Blvd., workers at adjacent businesses come outside to see the train as well:  it’s a bit late in the day to see a Circus Train here (they’re usually out by mid-morning), so an afternoon in sunny, 80-degree weather makes it all the more inviting.  Motorists waiting at the crossing also smile and wave to those aboard:  the universal greeting of the hand waving is more than just that:  it conveys a welcome greeting, engaging one another in life’s days like this which are pleasant and otherwise mundane – that weekday monotony is wiped away by seeing the CIRCUS TRAIN rolling by!

PHOTOS:
---The old CHESAPEAKE & OHIO "donut" logo still adorns the Main St. overpass in Hampton, Va. as RBBB rolls above
---Seen from I-64 one mile east of the Denbigh Blvd. overpass, the Red Unit paces traffic on the freeway

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1:22pm – Lee Hall Station has about ten people waiting to see the Circus Train, all of them with some form of camera:  still, video (both hand-held cell phones and larger ones mounted on tri-pods) which will be posted later on YouTube.  At a local convenience store people pause to watch as well, pointing to “PEOPLE!” riding outside in the vestibules:  there are a lot of them outside now in the warm, sunny weather, all waving back to those on the ground.  A man is talking with his family in a pickup truck at the crossing next to the restored Lee Hall passenger station, pointing with a huge grin at the Circus Train:  their conversation is animated in the best way a human can converse with his or her family.  It’s a given that they never expected to see THIS train today!
 
As the train continues on, parallel to Highway 143 between Lee Hall and east Williamsburg, people in cars and trucks honk horns, wave, and one man even slows down to pace the head end passenger cars – he doesn’t appear to be a railfan, just an interested public person who is fascinated that THE CIRCUS MOVES BY RAIL.  The train passes the Busch Gardens Theme Park area at 1:30pm precisely, and people across from the Brewery area at a 7-11 store along Rt. 143 wave from windows of the store front and from gas pumps.  Children at a kindergarten a block west of the 7-11 run toward the edge of their playground, all cheering at the Circus Train, which is now slowing down in order to negotiate the crossover at Topping, 1 mile ahead, crossing off the right-hand main onto the Mainline track  This occurs at 1:35, while a man wearing a white T-shirt films them rolling by from the other side of the railroad, and across Highway 60 (there are TWO parallel highways here, one on each side of CSXT:  143 to the north and 60 to the south).

PHOTOS:
---NS 2594 leads P922-20, the 4-20-15 RBBB Red Unit, through Lee Hall, Va. as railfan photographers and videographers get their shots
---The flatcars speed by an aggregate company beside Rt. 143 at West Lee Hall

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1:30pm – About 10 people are on the Williamsburg Amtrak station platform to see this move through town; people there and along the parallel streets all stop to watch, as do many other children at yet another downtown school just east of the station.  Not far west, a Defect Detector (DD-) box states there are “NO DEFECTS” on this train, and makes an axle-count of 268.  By the time the Red Unit has reached Toano at 1:55pm, a few minutes past the Pottery Factory at Lightfoot, it is at track-speed downhill, while a couple and their young son film them rolling by from the bed of their pickup truck.  A man walking toward the rail line, evidently to work at the small factory next to the rail line, stops and watches in astonishment as well:  he’s another case of “I had no idea that they traveled by train!”

PHOTOS:
---The family at Toano, Va. watches and films the passage of the Circus Train
---The last flat, with the bus, ramps and Cat, passes them and disappears around the curve under the Rt. 60 overpass; if the bus had been loaded at the rear of this car, we could have called it a CA-BUS.  (Ahem.)  Note the spot to the right of where the crossties sit in the foreground:  this is where a C&O passenger station once stood, more than half a century ago



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:46 by rbx551985.

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2:02—2:04pm:  another DD-Box at Milepost CA 51.8 states again there are “NO DEFECTS” … and Ringling rolls on.  By 2:08pm they are rolling parallel to Highway 60, and an elderly couple riding motorcycles stops in a median-strip crossover to see them pass.  The train has been steadily moving at track speed, but is now slowing again for a slow order up ahead a few miles, giving the couple plenty of time to see and “study” the Circus Train in all its glory.  I would imagine they also give it their own “thumbs-up.”
 
2:11pm – Passing the Windsor Shades general store, across Rt. 60 from the rail line, they pick up just a little speed as the engineer calls a CLEAR SIGNAL ahead at West Providence Forge siding.  This slow order must be nearly complete, as the train doesn’t slow down quite as much as we did last week going the other way. Many motorists on Rt. 60 slow down to see the Circus Train….

PHOTOS:
---The coaches roll over the Rt. 618 grade crossing, accelerating westbound out of Providence Forge
---Another view beyond, from the median strip of Highway 60



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 12:51 by rbx551985.

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2:18pm – Downtown Providence Forge sees the show moving now at an accelerated pace as the last car clears through the slow order zone.  Beyond town, personnel working at the Revere Gas office all quickly run outside to see the Circus Train and film the roll-by with cell phone cameras, as do others who are stopping along Rt. 60 in their cars and trucks.

PHOTO: at right is the Red Unit; at left across Highway 60 is Revere Gas Co., where employees have stormed out in cheerful excitement to watch and FILM the train's passing of their store (they do this every time either RBBB trains goes through west-end Providence Forge)

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Another point concerning SLOW ORDERS on this line:  CSXT must be doing a lot of work, as last week’s long slow-order at Beulah (just east of the Richmond Airport) has been lifted:  the Circus moves through there at a brisk pace, passing an eastbound coal train with more than 700 axles, near the Laburnum Ave. overpass, just west of the airport.
 
3pm – Arrival/Fulton Yard; crew-change in progress.  Nine minutes later they depart, heading for Acca Yard.  As the train passes “Tobacco Row” apartments (on the long, black C&O viaduct), joggers, strollers, workers, people in apartments, motorists and more all stop what they are doing to watch it pass.  A tourist boat floating in the canal near Rivanna Jct. has its riders looking up at the mile-long train, and the conversation they are having with the boat’s driver is quite animated (a term I like to use often when discussing peoples’ reactions to seeing a RBBB Train, as it’s so descriptive).  All along the ride through town, through Main St. Station and up Hermitage Hill toward Acca Yard, the same excitement overcomes everyone who sees the Circus Train.

Two PHOTOS taken by BRANDON BULLOCK:
---P922-20 rolls west onto the C&O viaduct in downtown Richmond, Va.
---The coaches stretch out twice the length of the trestle between Fulton Yard and Rivanna Jct.

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MORE PHOTOS from this location, below the CSXT (ex-C&O) trestle:
---the tour boat on the canal has riders waving to Circus people who are out in the vestibules, above the canal
---a wider angle of the same boat with the coaches curving off the trestle at Rivanna Jct.
---just around the curve from Rivanna Jct., I grabbed this shot from my car while driving over cobble-stone streets, therefore it's a bit shaky.  NOTE the rails in the pavement:  those were part of ex-Southern Railway's industrial trackage to the long-gone tobacco factories in downtown Richmond.  The famed Triple Crossing is two blocks south of this intersection and Main St. Station is one block to the right, behind the brick building to the right [of the Circus Train rolling on the viaduct above the street]

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Ahead at Acca Wye, railfans have been waiting to see them enter the yard and have their cameras ready.  But something is TERRIBLY WRONG, and no one seems to be aware it’s happening….
 
….Presumably it’s expected that the “TRANSPORTATION ORDER” for all moves by both Ringling’ trains is sent weeks prior to each move, to every office and rail official along the route.  It is expected that all host railroad officials who will need to know of either train’s pending move through their territory will be so informed by sending them each a copy of said Transportation Orders.
 
That communication among railroad offices for such EXTRA rail moves is not always performed, either in a timely manner or often not at all – and today that fact will be the reason for grave concern for this move.  But at this moment, that is not known by anyone on the show nor railfans on the chase.  Curiously, it’s not even known by certain CSXT officials up in Acca Yard.  Today, Ringling needs the train pulled into Acca to have the power run around the train, then tow it backwards (flats first) from there, south on the A-Line, 22 miles to Collier Yard in Petersburg, Va.  That way, when the power runs around the train AGAIN at Collier, it will be facing the right WESTBOUND direction to go down the hill to "Secoast" interchange - and the Circus Train will remain “blocked” in the proper westbound configuration for unloading upon arrival at Columbus, Ohio – this run’s destination.  But alas the devil is in the details, and woe be it to whomever didn’t tell ANYONE at Acca Yard that there was a Ringling’ Circus Train coming today.
 
3:50pm – As the Red Unit approaches Acca Wye, one railfan notices that they are lined up the “Thoroughfare” track and around the wye DUE SOUTH onto the A-Line, and NOT into Acca Yard!  He scratches his head in confusion as the train begins turning south – and suddenly realizes what is happening: 
 
CSXT IS ROUTING THE CIRCUS TRAIN IN THE WRONG DIRECTION!! 
 
It is then learned that no one at Acca Yard has been informed there is even a Circus Train in Virginia (!!!), and while the head end crew had been calling signals coming up Hermitage Hill from downtown Richmond, those up in the tower at Acca Yard were wondering what on Earth kind of train was a “P922-20.”  Then, they could see the Circus cars departing the line which goes into Acca, instead rounding the curve around A-Wye, from the office tower – and the train was quickly STOPPED when the Circus Trainmaster called the head end to ask what the W#Q&*()$ was going on.  (He never used any foul words, but it was apparent that there was considerable consternation that now there could be considerable time needed to COMPLETELY re-block the entire train at Collier Yard before heading west on NS from there.)
 
NOTE:  the Circus Train’s logistics includes details of every rail connection which will be used en route, and EXACTLY how the flatcars DIRECTION OF VEHICLES RIDING THEM will end up heading – which determines precisely how they are to be unloaded.  If a serious error such as this one occurs, the train CANNOT BE UNLOADED upon the highway crossing(s) already confirmed by the next host RR (this time, NS) where the train will be unloaded.  This is of absolute importance, as timely unloading makes it possible to set up the next show in time for the opening performance – and every arena costs Ringling’ (and any such show, concert tour, etc.) rental money by the millions for every second any venue is “rented” for the show.  If the Red Unit has to re-block the train at Collier, it could cost them another 6-to-12 hours of time, which would blow the move. YES, THIS IS VERY BAD.  At the same time, the Circus Trainmaster seems to take it all in stride:  his comment is, simply, “That’s a boo-boo.” 
 
Folks, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has faced far more serious concerns in their 145 years, and this one actually has one potential quick-fix (which all those at Acca Yard’s control tower are hoping will be allowed):  there is a seldom-used WYE track on Norfolk Southern’s N&W mainline just 3 miles east of Collier Yard in Petersburg, and if NS says the show’s 89-ft. flatcars can negotiate the SHARP curvature (it’s called POE WYE), they might allow the show to use it to turn the entire Circus Train, thus avoiding any need to switch out the train again.  In the past, the J-611 steam engine and excursion cars has been turned on this wye (and will be so again this year when the engine is returned to service), so this should be a possible positive resolution to an otherwise avoidable error.  It is hoped/prayed this will become the outcome here.  The Circus continues south at A-Line track speed, and THIS time, thankfully, there are no idiot kids throwing rocks at A-Line milepost 2.1 (but the damage they caused last Monday is apparent:  cracked windshields and dents in nearly all the highway vehicles on the flatcars are easily seen; the culprits still have not been caught, to my knowledge on this day).
 
Railfans waiting at Acca quickly learn of CSXT’s routing mistake, as do many others down the A-Line; the comments are typical of this kind of mistake on the part of a host railroad.  To be fair, it’s not the fault of those at Acca Yard:  they quickly tried to contact the show to see if a reverse move could be made and they COULD perform the reverse move, but by the time they get anyone on the line, the Circus Train is already more than 6 miles south, and moving at track speed.  No, a reverse move is now out of the question, as southbound CSXT freight train Q405 is leaving Acca and following Ringling. 
 
The Acca Yard personnel never got a Transportation Order from their Higher-Ups at CSXT!
 
---GOOD GRIEF---


Two PHOTOS taken by BRANDON BULLOCK:
---Just one minute after taking the WRONG ROUTE around Acca Wye, P922-20 is about to roll underneath the Douglasdale Rd. overpass; Carytown (west Richmond) is at right: the street sign with the yellow bottom was seen in one of my photos taken from the train last Monday when we were on the other track, at right, heading in the other direction.
---The rear of the coaches are brouht up by the three center-vestibule cars, just ahead of the flats.  This part of the run is where hundreds of people, riding in cars and trucks, pace alongside the train and have tremendous good "public relations" upon seeing the big, red banners on all the cars proclaiming RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY
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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:13 by rbx551985.

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3:30pm – Arrv. Collier Yard.  Now the debating begins as to just how this train is to be “turned” to face the proper direction.  It isn’t difficult to know what will eventually happen, however two different railroads must confer and agree to it.  It will take another THREE HOURS for that to be accomplished, and while this happens, severe storms dump hail and rain south of Petersburg – and some weather reports suggest a funnel cloud may be a part of it.  Meanwhile, CSXT and NS personnel are putting their heads together about POE WYE, and don’t give a hoot about storms – they have work to do, and a very special train and its priceless cargo are foremost in their minds.
 
Two PHOTOS taken by BRANDON BULLOCK:
---P922-20 enters Collier Yard, while RR officials confer on what to do about today's MAJOR routing blunder
---A woman and her young son wave to railfans as the Circus Train slowly enters the yard



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:16 by rbx551985.

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(Doesn’t CSX public P.R. tout their company as “How Tomorrow Moves” ….?  This kind of routing error on the part of their officials certainly does not fit that description!  And two weeks in a row of “stabbing” the Red Unit Circus’s scheduling and/or routing (remember last week’s LOOOOOONG delay ¼ mile up the line at the BX Connection track waiting for a crew to be called?) on their part doesn’t make for good P.R. for CSXT on these matters.  No offense is meant by those remarks (--I know for a fact that CSXT executives in Florida will read this Trip Report after it is posted--), however when one states that’s how the run their railroad, you’d think they would actually do it.  That’s not this month, obviously.)
 
HOWEVER…. That being said, certain local CSXT officials know exactly how to run their railroad, and their coordination with local Norfolk Southern officials concerning how to get the Circus Train back on track, so to speak, is absolutely astonishing – and a TRHILLING and welcome change from the higher-ups’ communication errors.  Once again, we see first-hand that RAILROAD PEOPLE IN THE FIELD know their jobs, and they do them WELL!   While southbound freight train Q405 rolls by on the main at 5:00pm (they followed Ringling’ from Acca Yard) as the Circus Train sits in Collier Yard waiting for the two-railroad decision on how to solve their dilemma, everyone at Collier who has shown up to see this move also discuss the potential restoration of faith in CSXT.  It will come, and very soon now.
 
CSXT and NS personnel agree to SHOVE the Red Unit north on the A-Line to the BX Connection after Amtrak’s Norfolk train gets by (it’s just 15 miles out of Petersburg); the storms passing us to the south disperse and blow by, seemingly echoing the railroad’s own storm concerning the Circus Train routing:  the issue is about to be resolved, and in doing so HISTORY WILL BE MADE.
 
7:01pm – Southbound Amtrak P125 quickly exits the A-Line onto the BX Connection, heading for Norfolk – and the A-Line is now clear for the Circus Train’s departure!
 
7pm – While rain ‘tries to’ drizzle down from a fast-moving severe storm to the south (complete with lightning and distant thunder – and car-radio reports heard that it contains hail and a potential funnel cloud within), Red Unit is being shoved backwards, northward out of Collier Yard, to the BX Connection signal.  This is where the show will make history while at the same time answering the old phrase “I’m going around my elbow to get to my thumb.”  But this time, the thumb isn’t swollen with pain and the elbow is not there:  it’s working just fine – it’s now become a welcome relief! - and this is about to become a welcome change in railroad routing practice, perhaps a harbinger of things to come for Ringing Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in future seasons as they move out of Hampton, Virginia (a possible, new and continuing ROUTE that CSXT and NS have created, and has never been used before today).

PHOTOS:
---The rear of the train is seen backing past North Collier as the train is shoved north on the A-Line toward the BX Connection track; THIS WAS A PROTECTED MOVE:  the CSXT Trainmaster, in the vehicle seen near the signals, has the Circus Trainmaster with him, and are pulling ahead past the 5-mph shove move, to get ahead of the train and watch every inch of A-Line north of it

---Railfans discuss today's routing disaster while the head-end of P922-20 retreats behind them, northward (in reverse), in the background.  This group of railfans, including Jeff Allgood at right, are some of the dozens who gather here each weekend from noon 'till sundown to see all north-south CSXT train traffic on the A-Line at right and all east-west NS train traffic on the "Belt Line" below the bridge (and beneath CSXT), just behind where their vehicles are parked.  That CSXT bridge above the NS line is where the "hump" is seen in the two A-Line tracks; the bridge abutmets are sagging at both ends of the short bridge, and every train literally BOUNCES over it when moving at speed, especially Amtrak trains - including the Auto Train



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:26 by rbx551985.

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While dockworkers and truckers at the Inland Container plant next to the track watch, a job briefing begins among the CSXT inbound crew, the NS outbound crew, and the Circus Trainmaster.  A couple pull up beside the A-Line at BX; their car’s Virginia license plate reads “NS 1” and the gentleman driving it is a long-time NS employee who knows the NS outbound crew and their official who will be riding with them on the head end.  As soon as the job briefing is completed, the Circus Trainmaster walks back to his coach while the NS and CSXT crews confer for a short time before the CSXT official taxis his crew off to the Collier Yard office.  The NS crew and official board the lead unit and prepare to move out; they already have the signal to go:  the mast above the left-hand main shows RED-over-FLASHING GREEN-over-RED.

PHOTOS:
---A long-time NS employee and his wife are on hand at the BX Connection signal to film this event
---Job briefing in progress:  NS, CSXT and Ringling' officials discuss the special move to be made today at POE WYE, and the trip beyond



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:30 by rbx551985.

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7:45pm – With the NS crew aboard, and now that the Circus Trainmaster is back aboard the coaches, they move out as NS Train # 047 – quickly accelerating eastbound toward Norfolk to an easy 25 or 30 mph speed (Amtrak takes this connection at 40mph).  The train never accelerates much more, as Poe Wye is only 3 miles east.  The train is soon slowed to the proper 10mph, and when they reach “BRENCO” (under the I-95 overpass), the switch is taken….
 
HISTORY IS MADE TODAY!
 
POE WYE (--10 mph track, since it is so sharp in curvature--) HAS NEVER BEEN USED BEFORE BY RINGLING’ and while NS has turned the J-611 steam engine and heavy-weight excursion cars on it in the past (and will again later this year, with M.O.W. personnel greasing the rails to keep the J’s wheels from climbing them instead of rolling on them), it’s certainly never had a MILE long passenger train going around it!  The other historical part of this is that no Ringling Bros.’ train has been through the downtown Petersburg line (the original N&W route, westbound and downhill from Poe Wye) for at least half a century.  This is the kind of unexpected events that make history, and this time it turns out okay! 
 
Thanks to the coordination of local officials, engineers and conductors from both railroads – and today’s “second trick” Dispatchers of both CSXT and NS, this move will be used and perhaps will be used NEXT year and in years to come, to save time, now that its capacity has been fully realized in such a unique way for such a unique train!

(PHOTOS were taken of the train on POE WYE, however I was using the same 1-time-use camera in many of the pics above, and it was getting dark:  the Walgreens 1-hour developer would not pick up any of the photos from the wye nor the ones I took of the train snaking through downtown Petersburg.  Darn.)
 
8:00pm SHARP – At the prescribed ten mile per hour, the two NS engines begin curving to the left just past the I-95 overpass (practically underneath it), and it’s obvious how sharp the track is:  the wheels screech and the rails groan under the weight – but NS’s tracks are so well-maintained there’s no worry of a derailment or any other mishap:  it just “feels” right to use Poe Wye with a 21st Century Circus Train!  The 6-axle stock cars up front, laden with elephants, horses, camels and more, give out groans of steel upon steel seemingly stretching their legs in a way, but the rails are good, and the track is clear.  Finally, with the last flatcar clearing off the wye onto the mainline, the train quickly accelerates into downtown Petersburg – perhaps the first time in at least half a CENTURY that a Ringling’ train has passed through DOWNTOWN Petersburg, Virginia.  Usually they ride by on the west end of town on CSXT’s (north-south) A-Line or NS’s (east-west) “Belt Line” south of town.  That’s not tonight, due to a comedy of rail-routing errors!
 
8:20pm – Just as a pair of railfans make it to the open area across from the old N&W Petersburg, Va. passenger station building, crossing gates downtown on the S-curve activate for the on-coming Circus Train.  The lead locomotive’s headlight peaks around a curve under the I-95 overpass (just south of the Appomattox River, which is directly behind the open field on which the two railfans have just arrived upon).  Behind the two engines, a ¾-mile long line of SPOT LIGHTS begin to appear, one after another, as the coaches light up the rail line for hundreds of feet.  People in the Croaker’s Spot Restaurant come to the windows to see what kind of train is going by with so many bright lights – and some of them briefly turn back into the establishment to beckon others to come quickly, pointing to the Circus Train:  it’s close enough to easily read the giant, red banners proclaiming RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY for all to see.
 
On the left side of the train, people pause in their evening strolls or walks to see it as well, and the same couple in the car with the “NS 1” license plate, previously seen at BX, is taking another camera-phone video of the rare event from beside the old Petersburg station.
 
8:20pm – the last flatcar of the train, laden with the bus, ramps and Cat dozer, rolls by and into the darkness, uphill toward “Jack” (where the two NS routes rejoin westbound) a few miles west, and along Highway 460.
 
9:30pm (approximately) – The Red Unit is re-crewed at Crewe Yard, Va., and then proceeds west toward their next destination:  Columbus, Ohio.  Now it’s re-I.D.’d as NS Train 048, as the Blue Unit Circus Train is due out of Washington, D.C., also to use the same route between Lynchburg and Roanoke, Va.  That move will follow Red Unit early tomorrow morning and will be I.D.’d as NS Train 047.
 
IN HINDSIGHT
Could more have been done on the part of CSXT and/or Ringling’ to stick to the plan upon arrival at Acca Yard (to pull them backwards to Collier)?  Of course it could have; proper routing a customer’s car(s) is what a common carrier rail company does (or not, when this kind of error happens).  Consider that running it as planned would also have been a tricky move on the A-Line’s 22 miles to Collier, as having the flatcars run ahead of the coaches on any run is risky:  those cars’ coupler slack tends to cause a lot of banging back and forth inside the coaches (with 300+ people, including children and this year a new-born as well, that’s not advisable).  But in the end things worked out well: CSXT and NS personnel coordinated with the on-board Circus Trainmaster to get the train through without much delay at all – and in the process a new, potential routing was ‘discovered’ for The Greatest Show On Earth. 
 
This has been A LESSON IN LEARNING on the part of everyone involved, and when CSXT managers down in Jacksonville, Florida read this Trip Report, I suspect a lot of phone calls will be made within the company to learn why things happened as they did.  That’s for them to discover; we only observe it from outside or from aboard the Circus Train: that’s CSXT’s affair, and I will choose to trust them regarding how to deal with it.  The final result is that the show got to where it was going safely and when it needed to get there; the show DID ARRIVE in Columbus in time for the show (SEE BELOW for tomorrow’s additional info on the Red Unit’s continuing ride to Ohio); that’s the paramount issue.
 
Say what you will about the routing error, but it’s too easy to condemn the railroad when these things occur:  that isn’t fair from a professional perspective since we are watching this from the outside and are not company employees or their leaders.   Remember that SOMETIMES mistakes like this can, interestingly, end up creating new and improved ways to move a customer such as RINGLING BROS. AND BARNUM & BAILEY on a railroad carrier – in this case, Norfolk Southern’s POE WYE may eventually become the preferred way to get future shows from Hampton VA to Columbus OH, or other towns out west that are scheduled after Virginia; time will tell.  (“We learn by doing.”)  Meanwhile, the two longest passenger trains in history (RBBB Red and RBBB Blue) continue to roll, bringing THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH’s two largest tours to Children Of All Ages, and railfans and Circus fans will have their day with them between cities out there on the rails.
 
TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2015:
 
THE FOLLOWING MORNING…. The other show, the Blue Unit, is really late – but is moving nonetheless.  And Red Unit?
 
Here’s what came from a posting by “BlackCat9” on another website:
10:00 AM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Matewan WV - HUS
10:35 AM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Williamson WV – CTYGM 6370
11:30 AM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Kermit WV – CTYGM 6371
15:00 PM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Portsmouth OH - HUS
16:54 PM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Chillicothe OH – CTYGM 6375
18:00 PM EDT – 04/21/15 – RUCT – NS – “048” - Circleville OH – CTYGM 6376
---Arrival/Columbus is between 7pm and 8pm; they’re safely there now.

Corrections are always appreciated for log data.
 
Around 2:30pm on April 21, the Red Unit was rolling slowly across the Ohio River Bridge between Kenova, WV and South Point, Ohio, still on their way to Columbus – but moving safely over NS rails.  By the way, the Red Unit’s elbow and thumb are doing just fine.

‘Till next time…. MAY ALL YOUR DAYS BE CIRCUS DAYS!  (Yes, I really mean that, in the all of the BEST ways possible.)
 
---R.C.

PHOTOS BELOW were taken by NIKKI ROBINSON from aboard the train on the following day, as they rolled slowly over the Ohio River between Kenova WV and  into Ohio.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:37 by rbx551985.

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MORE PHOTOS by NIKKI ROBINSON (taken from aboard the Red Unit)
---1. At Rosemont, Ohio on DAy Two of this train-run, this shot sees a schoolbus full of kids who, according to Nikki's photo caption, had lowered their windows and were CHEERING for those they saw riding outside in the vestibules.
---2. Near Ashville, Ohio, the train passed this amazing scenic expanse under golden sunlight.
---3. They are seen in this photo entering Columbus, while crossing the Scioto River; the arched bridge carrying Highway 62 is the next bridge up the river from this angle.

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POST SCRIPT:  per discussions on other internet sites, it appears that many CSXT field employees between Newport News and Richmond knew the Circus Train was coming, which makes one really wonder how on earth the entire Acca Yard staff had not been informed.  Here's the blurb:  "...HG desk reluctantly gave time to a maintainer at AM Junction and warned him that the circus train is coming. I couldn’t hear the maintainer, but he answered “Lee Hall” which I assume was the location of the circus train at 13:22 which I guess makes sense if he pulled at 12:50 since that’s about 27 miles or so."  It would appear that COMMUNICATION between the various CSXT Dispatcher Desks doesn't always work right, as we saw in what happened to the Red Unit this past Monday afternoon.  Let's hope this never happens again!
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/22/15 13:59 by rbx551985.