NS F units on a wet Kentucky night

[E.M. Bell]

It has become almost a tradition for me to go out and shoot the NS Kentucky Derby OCS every year at the Wye just North of Danville KY, and this year was no different. After a long day of shooting on the 2ns district, Carmon and myself ventured back out around 0200 this morning to meet Caleb, and see what we could get.

This makes the second year in a row the 375 and the OCS have arrived at the wye at almost the same time, and that makes shooting a little more difficult. Throw in a little rain this year, and a VERY quick stop at the wye for them, and it was a challenge to say the least. For what ever reason, they did NOT fuel the power at the wye this year. The outbound crew was waiting for them, and they spent all of about 10 minutes stopped, unlike previous years when they spent over a hour sitting there. We had to work quick, trying to stay out of the way.

Here are my results from this year, not nearly as good as what I have done in years past, but hey, its all still worth it to us!

As always, bigger versions can be found at the almighty Pbase link  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/ocs11

First up, a couple of artsy fartsy shots looking South towards Danville from the Faulkner road crossingwhile we waited





And NS 951 as they made the quick crew change.







After the train headed West for Louisville, we went over to Harrodsburg to shoot a little video as they came through town. While we waited for them, a Harrodsburg police officer joined us (to see why Two people would be standing in the drizzle in the middle of the night). We chatted with him a bit, and as the train approached the 127 crossing, a young fellow in a little white car decided to run the gates in front of the train (which was less than a car length off the crossing!). As the train passed, the officer wished us luck, and went after the violator, pulled him over, and was in the process of issuing a nice little driving award for his foolishness. The cops around here are usually pretty cool with us, and that was a nice little treat to end the night!



After that, the Three of us went over to Talmage and sat in the dark, no cameras out, just to listen to those F units bring the train up the hill, with lightning and a nice little storm brewing. It could have well been 1955 as as we stood there and watch it pass us in the dark..every once in awhile, its good to just put the cameras away and take it all in...