C of G 8101 and a modern day work train

[E.M. Bell]

Tuesday evening 09/25/12, I got home from work with just enough time to grab the camera, get my boots on and head south towards Danville to intercept train 61A, which had the Central of Georgia 8101 leading.  The train was running a bit earlier than normal, and the clouds where starting to break up, which had me hoping I could finally get one of the heritage units at a favorite location of mine in Harrodsburg Ky, but that would not be the case this day....again.

As I headed South, I heard 61A at Highbridge, and diverted my route a bit to try to shoot them at Burgin Ky, and only beat them there by a minute or so. After that, it was off to the wye with hopes that they would get a crew change and fuel quickly and get back on the move towards Louisville. As luck would have it, Danville tower told the crew to tie it down and wait for a ride to the yard, the outbound crew was not on duty yet.. Carmon and myself hung around for awhile waiting on the new crew, all the time watching the train rust to the rail as the sun sank at an alarming rate.

It looks like the 8101 might be hanging around on the 60A / 61A steel trains for a few days, so perhaps I will still be able to get the shot I wanted...only time will tell.

The full sized versions of these can be found at this link.  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/ocs12

Southbound 61A sprints through Burgin KY


While waiting at the wye, I killed some time with a few roster shots, and then with a couple of Southbound moves passing the 61A as it sat there waiting on darkness to come.  




This is probably the most exciting shot I got all that evening. A modern day work train, in the form of a NS Brandt truck with 3 side dump cars passes the 8101.


Triplecrown 251 passes 61A..a stark contrast in paint..

[Badhorse79]

Great shots EM... the Modern Day work train .... well can't say I've ever seen,  let alone think was even possible! ? I need to railfan more often

[thpbears]

Very nice.

[E.M. Bell]

Badhorse, those Brandt Trucks have been around for a few years now. Its basically just a Peterbuilt semi tractor with an extended frame, and equipped with some manner of locomotive air brake system and couplers on each end.  I have seen them moving 5 loaded ballast cars at a pretty good clip, so I guess they are pretty stout pullers for what they are..

They are somewhat controversial in the fact that they eliminate the need for the RR to pay a train crew to go out and spread ballast and moves MofW cars (at least in small quantities).  From what I have been told, all the MofW crews need to operate them is a CDL, which most all of those guys have anyway..

Neat to see for sure, but every time you see one, there is somebody out there on the extraboard that aint working, and should be.. 

[Badhorse79]

That's pretty cool ... I love how a big rig is "Dwarfed" by a Gevo.... 8101 SAID wussup pip squeak

[NSMoWandS]

Those Brandt truck are very cool! And they can pull (usually) about 10 loaded cars. Almost like a beefy Trackmobile. One must have a CDL Class A to drive them and most of the trucks and equipment MoW uses. They are equipped with air brakes like bigger rigs. They also have a coupler on the rear (sometimes one on the front too). Just FYI. Dan