Reading Leading, Conrail Shoving and Otto has a bad day

[E.M. Bell]

Sunday 07/28/13, Reading 1067 brought a 55A empty grain train North on the CNO&TP, after departing Knoxville the day before and getting a very bad trip North.

Gage and I had already planned on going out Sunday to take advantage of the awesome weather (Fall temps in late July!), and after getting word that the 55A was on the way Saturday evening, my hopes of finally getting a Heritage motor in good light on High Bridge seemed to be within reach..and once again, that was not to be.  When the train left Knoxville, it got a good bit of delay on the K&O after having to assist its counterpart loaded train 56G over Copper Ridge near Clinton TN. 55A did not get back on the move until well after dark that night, and the timing looked almost perfect for that High Bridge shot Sunday morning. I went to bed early, planning on getting up early and hoping for the best.

As I slept Saturday night, OTTO the auto-router had yet another meltdown trying to handle the large volume of traffic on the CNO&TP. By the time I got up Sunday morning, the Southend of the CNO&TP was nothing more than a parking lot for trains that had tied down after the crews went on the law, and rested crews where in short supply.  Only the hot stuff was running, and 55A had dogged out at Robbins, TN where it would sit for 15 hours or so....my hopes of the one shot I wanted quickly vanished.

We headed out and went South, spending the bulk of the day shooting train after train between Burnside Ky and the TN State line. Around 1430 or so, we got word that a dog catch crew was on the way to Robbins to bring the 55A to Burnside, so we headed back South again to wait it out. All said, the delay worked out in our favor, letting the sun get around enough to be good for a Northbound in a few carefully thought out locations. We spent the rest of the evening following him North back to Danville and got several decent shots in that low evening light.

At the end of the day, we had shot well over 20 trains. I will share the rest of the "normal" stuff in a few days, but for now here are a few samples..the entire set can be found at my 2013 Heritage gallery on Pbase by clicking this link! >>>>  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/nsheritage_2013_eb

Reading 1067 brings 55A through the crossover at Revilo Ky, ready pass another crewless Northbound tied down at on #1 track at Stearns.

Perfect blue skies and temps in the low 70's made the all day wait worthwhile. Here, 55A is easing through the sharp set of reverse curves on the hill just South of Greenwood, Kentucky.


"Heritage Happy Hour"  RDG 1067 leads 55A through the deep cut at Antioch, just South of Burnside, passing Conrail 8098 which was the DPU on Southbound 792. The steep walls of the cut produced a frustrating grid of sun and shadow, but a carefully timed shot caught the 1067 in one of the few patches of sun, while the 8098 lurks in the shadows.  We had perfect light everyplace we went all day...except here (of course)


After a quick crew change at Burnside, 55A made a quick trip on North. In this view, Norwood hill is proving to be of no great concern as the train climbs out of the Cumberland River Valley, headlong into the setting sun.