Railfanning in the house of FFV may have gotten off to a late start in 2015, but as warm weather became commonplace our momentum built steadily. On April 18th, FFV Jr. and I headed trackside for the second time in as many weekends to converge on Ashland with a group of our fellow RF&P Sub fans for a day of train-watching.
Coincidentally, we were meeting up on the same day as Ashland's springtime 10K race, better known as the Railroad Run. Unlike years past, however, the race's route now heads south from a starting point south of England Street, which means no more opportunities to capture scenes of the runners and trains side by side as they both passed the station. We railfans could still benefit from the race, though. As with any town event in Ashland where a large number of people will gather around the tracks, the quiet zone rules were temporarily lifted and crews were instructed to make liberal use of their horns when passing through.
We arrived fashionably late after sunrise, but that didn't mean we were at a loss for train traffic. At 8:48, hands waved, horns blared, and bells rung to welcome the arrival of Northeast Regional 88, led by P42 18. With no passengers waiting to board, the train was on its way again with a minimal pause at the platform. Nearly an hour later, P42 121 let loose with its horn as it led Northeast Regional 67 into the center of town and then departed past the Railroad Run's starting line.
Then it was CSX's turn. At 10:13, Q409 marched south under the leadership of SD70MAC 4775 and C40-9W 9017. The 4775 announced the train's approach with one of the saddest, out-of-breath-sounding horns I've ever heard, so it was probably a good thing that the Railroad Run's crowd was waning by this point. The weak horn show from Q409 was balanced out - and then some - by Q416 as it proceeded slowly up Center Street at 10:38 behind ES44AH 3129 and AC4400CW 126. The engineer blew not only for the crowd and the crossing, but threw in a few quick salutes for everyone waving from the station platform and another for our ragtag contingent. The consist included a few examples of an interesting take on the high-side gondola concept - leased former Union Pacific boxcars that simply had their roofs lopped off and the opening covered with a tarp. It was Amtrak time again 14 minutes later as P42 86 and Northeast Regional 194 bellied up to the narrow track 2 platform to load a handful of passengers.
A lull set in after 194's passage that lasted until 11:40, when Q439 appeared on the edge of town. The Railroad Run festivities had wound down by this time, so there was no horn accompaniment as the train paraded down Center Street, just the full-throated chug of ES40DC 5228. It sounded as if the 5228 was doing all the work; the trailing SD40-2 8864 was oddly silent. We managed another horn salute as noontime neared when Q703 followed in 439's footsteps behind ES44AH 723 and SD60I 8747.
We managed one more freight before breaking for lunch, and it was a bit of an oddball (the train, not the lunch). Our scanner picked up signal calls from a 'W081', leading us to expect a short, eclectic train of work equipment led by an old locomotive that had been busted down to secondary duties. That wasn't quite the case - at 12:21, young whippersnapper ES44AH 3182 and grizzled veteran SD50-2 2475 rolled past the college with a long consist of empty Herzog ballast hoppers. Perhaps the 3182 had misbehaved and a ballast train was its punishment...
16 сен 2024
