Sometimes It's Just Luck
One more frame of this simply lucky catch from my trip down south.
After getting skunked in Jacksonville as told in this sad tale: flic.kr/p/2njbVLR it was time to start the long trip north. Luckily the rail gods mush have had sympathy on me as they offered up two bits of redemption. This was the second of only two trains I shot this day. If you missed the first of the two you can find it here: flic.kr/p/2njpeou
After catching that Amtrak 89 in Dillon it was back on I95. Originally I hoped to get to Rocky Mount before sunset to check out the yard and catch something coming through the spooky downtown that I'd seen out the window of the Auto Train as we passed through a week earlier. But I realized we wouldn't make that before sunset so randomly picked out Selma on the map where I knew CSXT crossed NS on a diamond beside a surviving depot.
But I had no intel at all on if anything was coming. While I saw a pair of NS Dash-9s working in their yard to the west they were in the shadows so I headed over to have a look at the depot. As soon as we showed up I heard a horn blowing and had just moments to find my way around the construction and fence to get set up for this shot of CSXT Q528-28 a Rocky Mount to Nashville drag manifest. It was 7:20 PM and there wasn't much light left but what there was was gorgeous....clearly the rail gods must have felt pitty for me after Jacksonville!
The train is on Main 1 hitting the diamond at MP A161.2 on modern day CSXT's South End Sub. Crossing at grade is Norfolk Southern's H Line at MP H109.4.
The present CSXT1 railroad line here dates from 1888 when originally built as the Florence Railroad. In conjunction with two other segments completed in 1892, it became part of a cutoff roughly between Wilson and Florence that shaved 61 miles off the the north south route that traveled through Wilmington on the Atlantic coast. In 1899 it was incorporated into the new Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and became a part of that major Class 1's Richmond to Florida mainline. It still holds this role today as a key link in CSXT's north-south I95 corridor commonly known as the 'A Line.'
The Norfolk Southern line is far older having been opened for business through here in 1856 and interestingly is not owned by NS but is actually the North Carolina Railroad Company. The NCRR is a non-operating private company whose shares are 100% held by the State of North Carolina (though prior to 1998 about 25% were in private hands). Long leased to the Southern and its predecessors since the 1871 the NCRR today is operated and maintained by NS under and exclusive trackage rights agreement. To learn more about this interesting arrangement and its history check out the NCRR's page: www.ncrr.com/about-ncrr/
And as for the Selma Union Station here, it was built in 1924 replacing an earlier 1897 built wooden structure. Almost demolished in 1975 it was purchased by the town and saved despite not serving any trains. However Amtrak again began stopping in 1982 and today it is served by the New York to Savannah Palmetto and the New York to Charlotte (which swings west off CSXT on to NS here) Carolinian trains. To learn more about the station click here: www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/selma-nc-ssm/ And amazingly, Selma offers more rail surprises as the oldest surving station in the state dating from 1855 survives nearby beside the NCRR tracks.
Selma, North Carolina
Thursday April 28, 2022
Sometimes It's Just Luck
One more frame of this simply lucky catch from my trip down south.
After getting skunked in Jacksonville as told in this sad tale: flic.kr/p/2njbVLR it was time to start the long trip north. Luckily the rail gods mush have had sympathy on me as they offered up two bits of redemption. This was the second of only two trains I shot this day. If you missed the first of the two you can find it here: flic.kr/p/2njpeou
After catching that Amtrak 89 in Dillon it was back on I95. Originally I hoped to get to Rocky Mount before sunset to check out the yard and catch something coming through the spooky downtown that I'd seen out the window of the Auto Train as we passed through a week earlier. But I realized we wouldn't make that before sunset so randomly picked out Selma on the map where I knew CSXT crossed NS on a diamond beside a surviving depot.
But I had no intel at all on if anything was coming. While I saw a pair of NS Dash-9s working in their yard to the west they were in the shadows so I headed over to have a look at the depot. As soon as we showed up I heard a horn blowing and had just moments to find my way around the construction and fence to get set up for this shot of CSXT Q528-28 a Rocky Mount to Nashville drag manifest. It was 7:20 PM and there wasn't much light left but what there was was gorgeous....clearly the rail gods must have felt pitty for me after Jacksonville!
The train is on Main 1 hitting the diamond at MP A161.2 on modern day CSXT's South End Sub. Crossing at grade is Norfolk Southern's H Line at MP H109.4.
The present CSXT1 railroad line here dates from 1888 when originally built as the Florence Railroad. In conjunction with two other segments completed in 1892, it became part of a cutoff roughly between Wilson and Florence that shaved 61 miles off the the north south route that traveled through Wilmington on the Atlantic coast. In 1899 it was incorporated into the new Atlantic Coast Line Railroad and became a part of that major Class 1's Richmond to Florida mainline. It still holds this role today as a key link in CSXT's north-south I95 corridor commonly known as the 'A Line.'
The Norfolk Southern line is far older having been opened for business through here in 1856 and interestingly is not owned by NS but is actually the North Carolina Railroad Company. The NCRR is a non-operating private company whose shares are 100% held by the State of North Carolina (though prior to 1998 about 25% were in private hands). Long leased to the Southern and its predecessors since the 1871 the NCRR today is operated and maintained by NS under and exclusive trackage rights agreement. To learn more about this interesting arrangement and its history check out the NCRR's page: www.ncrr.com/about-ncrr/
And as for the Selma Union Station here, it was built in 1924 replacing an earlier 1897 built wooden structure. Almost demolished in 1975 it was purchased by the town and saved despite not serving any trains. However Amtrak again began stopping in 1982 and today it is served by the New York to Savannah Palmetto and the New York to Charlotte (which swings west off CSXT on to NS here) Carolinian trains. To learn more about the station click here: www.greatamericanstations.com/stations/selma-nc-ssm/ And amazingly, Selma offers more rail surprises as the oldest surving station in the state dating from 1855 survives nearby beside the NCRR tracks.
Selma, North Carolina
Thursday April 28, 2022