Deathstars South in Hazlehurst
The daily Illinois Central Memphis, Tn, to Geismar, LA, scheduled freight is seen rippng south through Hazelehurst, MS, on their way south towards the Louisiana border. It's 2024, but in this image there's little evidence to suggest that the Illinois Central has been merged into the Canadian National for almost a quarter of a century. In the late 90's this train would have looked almost the same as it does this April day in 2024. The Illinois Central SD70's on the front have yet to be painted by owner CN, and the Memphis to Geismar train was running an identical 7x a week schedule back in the mid 90s. The only differences between past and present are on paper with today's train. Canadian National symbols this train A420 from Memphis south while the IC had this schedule in their system as MG-5. Whether in 1990 or 2024 this train is always high priority. It carries mostly tanks of either empty or loaded chemicals for the various plants located along the Mississippi River in south Louisiana. This particular run of 420 was over 500 axles and had the EMD 710 prime movers in 1011 and 1001 howling at every little hill they encountered on their way south. With over 100 cars for Destrehan, LA, on the headpin, and a balance of 45 or so left for Geismar the crew of this train was in for a long night of work south. Many days the 420 will run out of time before the crew can reach Geismar out of Jackson with the workload they get out of town. Getting this train was a total surprise, and I was glad for it.
Thanks for looking!
Deathstars South in Hazlehurst
The daily Illinois Central Memphis, Tn, to Geismar, LA, scheduled freight is seen rippng south through Hazelehurst, MS, on their way south towards the Louisiana border. It's 2024, but in this image there's little evidence to suggest that the Illinois Central has been merged into the Canadian National for almost a quarter of a century. In the late 90's this train would have looked almost the same as it does this April day in 2024. The Illinois Central SD70's on the front have yet to be painted by owner CN, and the Memphis to Geismar train was running an identical 7x a week schedule back in the mid 90s. The only differences between past and present are on paper with today's train. Canadian National symbols this train A420 from Memphis south while the IC had this schedule in their system as MG-5. Whether in 1990 or 2024 this train is always high priority. It carries mostly tanks of either empty or loaded chemicals for the various plants located along the Mississippi River in south Louisiana. This particular run of 420 was over 500 axles and had the EMD 710 prime movers in 1011 and 1001 howling at every little hill they encountered on their way south. With over 100 cars for Destrehan, LA, on the headpin, and a balance of 45 or so left for Geismar the crew of this train was in for a long night of work south. Many days the 420 will run out of time before the crew can reach Geismar out of Jackson with the workload they get out of town. Getting this train was a total surprise, and I was glad for it.
Thanks for looking!