The Real Terminator
clocks
Alas, the Short Line DOES still use run thru power off of the NS quite a bit. One could complain, but it just makes the railroad all the more cooler to me.
Such is the case here. The railroad has spent the entirety of Friday night into early Saturday morning loading this 60C (which only came in the prior evening, mind you) and managed to load 85 gondolas with slabs. They've finally got their train properly air tested and are seen in the process of delivering the train to the NS, who will take these slabs to the AM/NS Calvert facility in Alabama. Yes, this is in fact a Short Line crew onboard the train, just using NS power on an NS train on NS trackage.
The train is framed by the very intricate plant at CP 503, better known as Hick Tower. The tower itself is to the right of the train, and is still manned to this day to control the pictured drawbridge to balance the extremely heavy rail traffic with the heavier-than-one-would-expect marine traffic on the Indiana Harbor Canal. The two bridges to the far left have been in this position for years and years, evidenced by no existing track to lead to, though I couldn't give much history of either. And finally, bordered on top by yet another piece of heavy steel, but I couldn't tell you what purpose it serves. Perhaps one of YOU can!
Finally, distant observers will notice the train veering off to the right and out of frame not far beyond the bridge. This is the train swinging off home rails - kind of. Again, what could be considered the Short Line's "Main" is just the leased Lake Subdivision from CSX. The Lake Sub was once the B&O's high speed passenger route into Chicago, but these days follows a 25mph maximum timetable speed, with the SCIH guys typically not going more than 15. How the mighty have fallen... but at least we still have something interesting to follow... black and white gevos or not!
clocks
Alas, the Short Line DOES still use run thru power off of the NS quite a bit. One could complain, but it just makes the railroad all the more cooler to me.
Such is the case here. The railroad has spent the entirety of Friday night into early Saturday morning loading this 60C (which only came in the prior evening, mind you) and managed to load 85 gondolas with slabs. They've finally got their train properly air tested and are seen in the process of delivering the train to the NS, who will take these slabs to the AM/NS Calvert facility in Alabama. Yes, this is in fact a Short Line crew onboard the train, just using NS power on an NS train on NS trackage.
The train is framed by the very intricate plant at CP 503, better known as Hick Tower. The tower itself is to the right of the train, and is still manned to this day to control the pictured drawbridge to balance the extremely heavy rail traffic with the heavier-than-one-would-expect marine traffic on the Indiana Harbor Canal. The two bridges to the far left have been in this position for years and years, evidenced by no existing track to lead to, though I couldn't give much history of either. And finally, bordered on top by yet another piece of heavy steel, but I couldn't tell you what purpose it serves. Perhaps one of YOU can!
Finally, distant observers will notice the train veering off to the right and out of frame not far beyond the bridge. This is the train swinging off home rails - kind of. Again, what could be considered the Short Line's "Main" is just the leased Lake Subdivision from CSX. The Lake Sub was once the B&O's high speed passenger route into Chicago, but these days follows a 25mph maximum timetable speed, with the SCIH guys typically not going more than 15. How the mighty have fallen... but at least we still have something interesting to follow... black and white gevos or not!