Streamliner From Spencer
In 2014 the North Carolina Transportation Museum held their biggest party ever and in my humble opinion the single greatest railfan event I've ever attended before or since. Following up on their wildly successful heritage unit family portrait event for Norfolk Southern's 30th anniversary they planned something even bigger.
Gathering 26 surviving freight and passenger diesels from the classic first generation era, they all came together for three days of festivities centered around the old Southern Railway turntable in exceptionally well executed ballet of railroading.
Bringing classic EMD and Alcos from as far away Waterville, Cheyenne, and Seattle to North Carolina through the cooperation of Amtrak and multiple Class 1s was a feat unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. And though the event took place on the museum grounds located at the former Southern Railway Spencer Shop complex there was a particularly cool offline event. Two special excursions were run, one each on Friday and Saturday, from Charlotte to the museum and the trips included a three hour stay at the event. One of Bennett Levin's two attending Pennsylvania Railroad E units powered a three car train of his private cars unassisted by NS or Amtrak units. This was in the pre-PTC era making such a trip impossible today.
Here is the Saturday edition seen having just departed the museum as it starts on its 50 mile sprint down the old Southern Railway mainline back to Charlotte. Leading the train operated as Amtrak 010 is EMD E8A JTCX 5809 (blt. Jan. 1951 for the PRR and later serving the PC, Amtrak and CR where at the latter it was numbered 4020 as part of their Pullman green OCS fleet). The little streamliner is on Main 2 of modern day NS' Danville District at about MP 333 approaching the 11th street crossing as it passes some local power tied down at the south end of the old Spencer Yard.
Salisbury, North Carolina
Saturday May 31, 2014
Streamliner From Spencer
In 2014 the North Carolina Transportation Museum held their biggest party ever and in my humble opinion the single greatest railfan event I've ever attended before or since. Following up on their wildly successful heritage unit family portrait event for Norfolk Southern's 30th anniversary they planned something even bigger.
Gathering 26 surviving freight and passenger diesels from the classic first generation era, they all came together for three days of festivities centered around the old Southern Railway turntable in exceptionally well executed ballet of railroading.
Bringing classic EMD and Alcos from as far away Waterville, Cheyenne, and Seattle to North Carolina through the cooperation of Amtrak and multiple Class 1s was a feat unlikely to be repeated anytime soon. And though the event took place on the museum grounds located at the former Southern Railway Spencer Shop complex there was a particularly cool offline event. Two special excursions were run, one each on Friday and Saturday, from Charlotte to the museum and the trips included a three hour stay at the event. One of Bennett Levin's two attending Pennsylvania Railroad E units powered a three car train of his private cars unassisted by NS or Amtrak units. This was in the pre-PTC era making such a trip impossible today.
Here is the Saturday edition seen having just departed the museum as it starts on its 50 mile sprint down the old Southern Railway mainline back to Charlotte. Leading the train operated as Amtrak 010 is EMD E8A JTCX 5809 (blt. Jan. 1951 for the PRR and later serving the PC, Amtrak and CR where at the latter it was numbered 4020 as part of their Pullman green OCS fleet). The little streamliner is on Main 2 of modern day NS' Danville District at about MP 333 approaching the 11th street crossing as it passes some local power tied down at the south end of the old Spencer Yard.
Salisbury, North Carolina
Saturday May 31, 2014