Eastern Railroad Discussion > Washington DC, 19 June 1987

video clip 1) This southbound CSX train is just about to leave DC and cross the Potomac River bridge into Alexandria, VA. It is 1512 hours on 19 June 1987. There are four units up front: A CSX GP30 in the original drab and boring CSX color scheme; followed by a Seaboard System unit; then a L&N engine; and finally a RF&P engine. The long intermodal train had two cabooses, both C&O in Chessie System colors, one a cupola, and one a bay window. I also panned to the west to see the Washington Monument and the Jefferson Memorial.
video clip 2) The second train is a Conrail local, viewed in DC, as it is returning to Potomac Yard in Alexandria, VA. Time is 1523 hours on 19 June 1987.

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Nice videos. The first one may have been the Orange Blossom Special piggyback train. It would have stopped on the mainline at Potomac Yard and had an RF&P unit put on the lead due to cab signal requirements. Virginia was one of the last states to require cabooses and repealed the state law requiring them in January, 1988. Since this train was a run-through, it required a caboose, The Conrail manifest in the second video did not since it would terminate in Potomac Yard.

Thank you for the additional information about the cabooses and the RF&P!