Heritage of a different color, SP 1996 on the CNO&TP in KY

[E.M. Bell]

Saturday 08/24/13, Union Pacific 1996, the Southern Pacific heritage unit, made its second trip in less than 7 days through Kentucky. Earlier last week, it had lead train 224 from Atlanta to KC, and instead of going back to the UP there, it came back on the point of NS 223.

We where treated to a very hot August day, with almost no clouds for the majority of the day. A large number of folks seemed to be out to shoot this one, not to mention the MGA 8025 which was leading train 264 North. 223 made a fairly quick trip that morning out of Louisville, but got "hung up" in Danville KY for over 4 hours. The CNO&TP was a mess around Danville with a ton of trains, both North and South, converging on the yard at the same time.

223 had several trains ahead of them, and by the time they all fueled and made pick-ups or set-outs, it would be almost 3pm before the 1996 would head South. . The train was even further delayed as the crew went on the law at Waynesburg KY, requiring a "Dog Catch" crew to come relieve the Louisville crew. By that time the sun had already gotten around enough to rule out a lot of the spots I had wanted to shoot, and made finding good light a challenge. Knowing the territory really paid off in this case, and I was able to plan out the shots I wanted. When the day was over, we had been out over 10 hours, driven 150 miles or so and only came away with a handful of images of our main target, but that is ok by me....quality over quantity!

We did manage to shoot a few more trains, and I will share those later on. For now, here is the Espee 1996 on the CNO&TP. If you want to see higher quality, larger versions (plus a couple of other locations) just go to this link >>>>>  http://www.pbase.com/kd4jsl/cs2nd13eb

A hard working crew of Kentucky farmers are busy cutting tobacco in the background as 223 swings around the curve at Palm, KY. At this point, the crew had less than 30 minutes left before they went on the law, being on duty since 0415 that morning.


With the dogcatch crew on-board, the train sprints down the long tangent at Gradison KY, framed by the Northbound signal bridge.


The late evening sun was perfect by the time the train rolled across the massive bridge over the Cumberland River (Lake) at Burnside Ky. In less than 10 minutes, a South End crew will take over and 223 will head towards Chattanooga.


While there where a lot of our members out shooting, we all seemed to have different places in mind. Several of us seemed to have the same idea for the last shot of the day though..here is Jacob and John enjoying the show at Tateville KY, just South of Burnside.