Passenger Trains > North Carolina's F59PH 1869, The City of Durham

1869 was built in 1988 and is ex-GO Transit 535.  North Carolina's passenger trains are called Piedmonts.

1. and 2. Heading Train 73 at High Point, NC on November 18, 2012. 

3., 4, and 5. Train 76 at Salisbury, NC on January 10, 2013.  I really like how the clouds came out.

6. Train 76 at High Point, NC on April 25, 2013.

Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/16 14:24 by MartyBernard.

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At High Point the line runs through a deep cut, as you can see. But it wasn't always that way. The cut was constructed in 1938. Before that time, the tracks were on the same level as the waiting room of the station.

Thanks ctillnc for confirming that.  I always assumed that the cut was man made because the station sure looks like it served tracks at grade level.

Marty Bernard

Great shots,
 the clouds look really neat. Great colors

MartyBernard Wrote:
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Thanks ctillnc for confirming that.  I always assumed that the cut was man made because the station sure looks like it served tracks at grade level. Marty Bernard.

Thanks, Marty, very nice photos.  Until about a decade ago, there was an office-car track in that space along the wall beneath the station building.  High Point got its name because it's the highest point on the original North Carolina Railroad between Goldsboro and Charlotte.  The question, then, is it still the highest point after the railroad was lowered into a ditch as part of a WPA project during the Depression.  And, yes, it is still the "High Point" on the line.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/18/16 18:14 by knotch8.

Love those shots from Salisbury!

Diamond_D Wrote:
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> Love those shots from Salisbury!

Thanks, Marty

That train is immaculate!  Nice shots once again Marty!

mp51w Wrote:
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> That train is immaculate!  Nice shots once again
> Marty!

The trains are immaculate, outside and inside.  And the stations are beautiful, too.  NCDOT has done a phenomenal job in upgrading passenger-train service in North Carolina.  High Point and Salisbury stations were run-down and tired under Southern and Amtrak.  NCDOT refurbished both stations, as well as every other station in North Carolina except Gastonia, and included the rebuilding of the platform canopy at High Point and also built the brand-new covered extension from Salisbury's station building out to the platform and the brand-new canopy on the platform there.  I've never seen a photo of a canopy at Salisbury, but NCDOT installed one.  I've said it before.  I believe that NCDOT has provided North Carolina with the nation's best collection of train stations.  I don't believe any other state can boast of stations as nice as North Carolina's.  And several of North Carolina's stations do not have Amtrak ticket agents.   Kannapolis, Salisbury, High Point, Burlington, Selma don't have agents, but they all have NCDOT-staffed caretakers, who do an excellent job of keeping the stations clean and well-stocked with information.  In a very, very tough political environment, NCDOT has kept up a very high level of customer service.

In another year or two we should see the third daily Piedmont which will provide late evening service Raleigh-Charlotte in both directions. This will also reduce dependence on the southbound Carolinian which is typically an hour or more late by the time it reaches Raleigh.

Lots of miles on those ex-UP and KCS coaches. I believe these trains also have their own version of an Automat car.