Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX Fast Freight at its Best!

CSX’s former Atlantic Coast Line mainline from Richmond, VA  Jacksonville,FL  has always been known as a racetrack, both for passenger and freight.  Passenger train speeds are more familiar, from the famous mail contract race against the Seaboard Air Line between Savannah and Jacksonville in 1900 (120 mph unofficially) to the 100 mph speed limit from 1955-1957.  Freight trains have always been speedsters as well.  Perishable and unrestricted freights were allowed 60 mph over 75 years ago!  While SAL’s TT-23 piggyback was the fastest scheduled freight train in the United States in the 1960’s, ACL’s 175 and 176 quietly competed at the same timings.  My observation over a lifetime of railfanning has been that, until the recent introduction of inconvenient monitoring devices such as radar, GPS and PTC, freights were unofficially limited to the top speed of the locomotives and the guts of the engineers.  ACL expected hot freights to arrive on schedule- period!

The tradition continues:

1.  Q031 (North Bergen, NJ - Jacksonville, FL) holds back around the 60 mph curve at Contentnea, NC, MP 139.0 on Thursday, 10/17/19, with two ES44AH’s set up 1x1x0 and 113 trailers and containers of UPS and hot freight.

2.  Q740, the Tropicana juice train, blasts through Battleboro, NC, just north of Rocky Mount, at 60 mph with two ES40DC’s and 36 reefers, headed to New Jersey.  March 2012.  

3.  The finale’ and my favorite.  On a quiet early afternoon in October 2013, with dogs barking and crickets chirping in Winokur, GA, Q032 (Jacksonville, FL to North Bergen, NJ) breaks the serenity as it charges north at 72 mph (per the Newell DD just to the south).  Three ES44AH’s and 45 trailers and containers - CSX’s version of Super “C”.  Catch your breath! 

Enjoy!

Jay Best
Raleigh, NC
 

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great videos.  i really enjoyed them and thanks for posting.........

66

yes Great and thanks for posting

Ed Stewart
Jacksonville, FL

My favorite was the Tropicana train...

ns1000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My favorite was the Tropicana train...

I noted a smattering of the orange cars in the consist.   Haven't seen them in a while.  I thought they were all white now.

Frankly, I like the orange ones better....

P Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ns1000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > My favorite was the Tropicana train...
>
> I noted a smattering of the orange cars in the
> consist.   Haven't seen them in a while.  I
> thought they were all white now.
>
> Frankly, I like the orange ones better....

And with Tropic Ana holding the fruit basket on her head! ;-)

> The tradition continues:
>
> 1.  Q031 (North Bergen, NJ - Jacksonville, FL)
> holds back around the 60 mph curve at Contentnea,
> NC, MP 139.0 on Thursday, 10/17/19, with two
> ES44AH’s set up 1x1x0 and 113 trailers and
> containers of UPS and hot freight.
>
> 2.  Q740, the Tropicana juice train, blasts
> through Battleboro, NC, just north of Rocky Mount,
> at 60 mph with two ES40DC’s and 36 reefers,
> headed to New Jersey.  March 2012.  
>
> 3.  The finale’ and my favorite.  On a quiet
> early afternoon in October 2013, with dogs barking
> and crickets chirping in Winokur, GA, Q032
> (Jacksonville, FL to North Bergen, NJ) breaks the
> serenity as it charges north at 72 mph (per the
> Newell DD just to the south).  Three ES44AH’s
> and 45 trailers and containers - CSX’s version
> of Super “C”.  Catch your breath! 
>
> Enjoy!
>
> Jay Best
> Raleigh, NC
>  
I love all three,great job.
Notice the difference between 10-19 and 10-13.
Containers vs TOFC.

Uncle Joe
just East of Tampa near the exACL.