Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS OCS Power meets the Trash Train with more Heritage power

After the NS OCS train with the Southern and Virginian Heritage units returned to Altoona PA after a trip to the Master's tournament in Georgia and return. The train was put away and the power was sitting on the industrial track at CP Works, next to the Juniata Shops. While the power hangs out at the shops, the westbound loaded trash train starts west towards the Allegheny Mountains with the Lehigh Valley Heritage leading the way. The light was perfect as 63V headed west and picked up speed after recrewing and receiving a rear helper at Altoona. Other helpers waitt heir next call to duty over on one of the relay tracks. Here are a few pics. Of note, the Southern and Virginian Heritage units were both originally painted in Chattonooga in 2012, and last year both received fresh coats of paint at Juniata. Enjoy. 4/16/24

Marc L

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We may never see anything similar again as NS faces a complete "Stripped to the studs" by the bottom feeder scumbag "Wall Street Piranhas", as has been reported as the likely outcome of this latest Proxy battle brewing over NS management. So sad that the modern rail moguls (really just money mongers {Modern Day Robber Barons}) use the railroads, their employees and at this point the very customers that provide their existence to line their pockets while what provides the very money that they suck away is ripped awry. Totally self defeating and suicidal. 
Hello Truckers. Here is the open door until Wall Street grabs your A$$ and transportation of America's essential goods can't be moved at all. 
I'll stop here.
Nice photos!
Gonut
 

Very nice pics, indeed.  A real lucky encounter.
jb

Wonderful - A once-in-a-lifetime occurrence!
Bob

Gonut1,  you said it ALL!

raytc1944 Wrote:
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> Gonut1,  you said it ALL!
And I agree 100%, the Greed Mongers are only interested in Today, and they don't care about the future once they suck all the blood out.  Norfolk Southern is doomed.
John in White Marsh, Maryland

Didn't ask for all this trash talk on this post! 

Marc L

 Marc: nice pictures, thanks for sharing.  Your point about the trash talk is well taken.  I'm assuming it may be coming from working rails.  If so, they're probably burned out from tough working conditions and a very un-certain future.  I'm close to 3 years retired; managed to have a decent career as a Conductor and Enguneer and always thought I'd have a hard time when it was time to pull the pin (3rd generation RR'er who didn't always love the company but loved my job).  Near the end, I along with many of my peers could see the inevitable downward trend about to take place in the industry.  Ended up retiring earlier than planned account disability.  For me, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.  I stay in touch with many of my co workers who are still out there and to a man, they're all miserable.  The last few years have been brutal for them and many, including folks with good seniority have gone on to Amtrak and other RR's in search of better working conditions and environment.  The stories I hear make the worst of times I saw and experienced seem absolutely tame compared to how things are now.  The working rails who visit this sight generally view the RR as more than just a job, or they wouldn't spend their time on a web site generally geared to rail enthusiasts, "foamers", or whatever you choose to call them, or however they refer to themselves.  Before retirement, I didn't have a lot of time for being a hobbyist or jumping on T.O.  In retirement, I've found that today, T.O.folks in general seem to have a better understanding of the difficulties working rails face, and seem to be more understanding about some of the complaints and concerns that the working rails share with the railfan community.  I get it, if you haven't lived life on the rails it's hard to really appreciate the challenges and some of the attitudes.  Towards the end of my time, I found most of the rails I worked with, including those who viewed their career as just a job to pay the bills, were a lot more tolerant of railfans than in times past, and some actually appreciate their interest in the railroad, so i felt it should and can work both ways.  I think they appreciate your posts and photos, they're just frustrated and worried about the direction the industry has taken and seems to be headed towards.  I'm glad I managed to leave before things got so bad.  I do miss running and I miss the guys, but now I'm glad I got to do the job and managed to leave without becoming bitter and still able to appreciate what I got to do and the people I got to work with.  I fear that the guys I left behind won't be as fortunate.  Keep posting Marc, it seems the general T.O. population appreciates the time and effort you take to share your work and that includes some of the working rails who are having a tough time and are just venting about a lousy situation.  If I was an NS Engineer, I'd be kind of jazzed about running one of those heritage units; that is, probably up unit shortly after leaving the initial terminal, and sometimes before climbing up on the power....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/19/24 22:26 by TheButcherofBena.