Danny, Your videos are great and you productions of them are superb, spent 60 years min the RR industry and I am still shooting photos of the Railroad here in San Antonio, Tx been a railfan all my life all 86 years of it. Keep up the great work...OUT
Another great video, very informative and very well narrated, I could listen to this guy all day!!! By the way, I'm a Brit and I'm constantly amazed at how easy access is to the tracks in the US. In the UK , most railway tracks are fenced and access is very restricted.
Hello Danny! I purchased your Folkston Train Watching dvd several years ago. Was disappointed that your online store is no longer available, but at least we have RU-vid.
Thanks very much! Yeah, I had to get out of DVD's because sales are so rare now. The cost of producing and duplicating is just too high and the minimal sales don't cover the cost anymore.
Just stumbled across this video. I sure wish they still ran through Tallahassee like they do in this video! Hardly ever see trains here anymore. Great work!
Danny, as usual a GREAT video! I can watch them everyday. I know they require dedication of your time and resources and I'm grateful you share them with us!
As always!!! Thank you for the video,always a pleasure to sit down and watch you work your magic. I know you make great videos,because I hate to see the end show up! But I look forward to the next! Thanks for sharing!
Danny! You've done it again! I love your videos! It's so amazing how you incorporate everything in. Missed your videos on here. Must have got busy like so many of us are. I should know. Railroad life! Ugh! Well great catches and completely didn't know CSX hadn't been DPing trains across Florida yet! Very cool!
Man! Those old code poles are so neat! The ones by you down in Florida are in great shape! The old C&NW poles up here in Wisconsin are starting to show signs that Father Time is winning the battle.
You could tell you have loved trains from a child And today you prove yourself Guilty (ha ha) as you show us you childhood hove one block from the railroad tracks. Just as I’ve told you about my childhood living in the northern Illinois town of Genoa where we had the double tracked mainline Milwaukee Road with the Freeport branch of the Illinois Central overpassing it. There is something permanent that happens to a little boy when he sees his first train that changes him for ever, and oh what a wonderful thing it is! I would say those two railroads were a major part of my life into my twenties as we hunted along them, fished of of the bridges. Camped along them in our teens. Ah yes you bring back good memories Thank You Thank You Danny. Best of all for you and all of us out here your love of the railroad has not wained but only grown to be probably one of the main things in your life, And to be able to do that is a Great thing for you and all of the hundreds and probably thousands of your fans that enjoy nothing more than watching another Fantastic Video from You Danny!
One of my favorite things to draw when I was in grade school in Texas was railroad signal masts on relay boxes, very similar to the old ones you showed!
I use to work for progress rail been to every rail yard in America just about.... I asked a UP signal maintainer in Houston delivering there why they used DPU's he said they got 8% better fuel mileage
I've had my fair share of DPU sets. The advantage we had with them in the Hill Country of Texas was that we could hit the steep grade with loads in one shot. Without DPU we were forced to split the trains in two (or more) and section them up the grade unless another crew with power was available to tag on and shove us. For traffic like that, it's far more efficient and less likely to snap off a knuckle or drawbar in the process.
Great chase Mark--what a thrill it must have been for you to get back tom your roots and recall all the great times and places you and your Family had in the capital city----
Great job, DPU Danny! Great to see all my old stops in Tallahassee, the depot at Lloyd and the mill at Live Oak. Oh yeah, that old Florida rain and AC thing too. You forget when you move to the other side of the country. Hahaha. Thanks for sharing that. This was really enjoyable my friend.
Glad you got to catch a DPU train. Looks like you hit the Tallahassee Sub on a good day to see that much traffic in daylight. Another five star production!
your videos are fantastic, I always wondered how to read the signal aspects since I was a young boy, I've got a three head signal nearby my house where I caught a medium clear indication and watched the train diverge onto another track, very cool and informative, keep the videos going!
Nice catches Danny. I guess I'm just used to the DPU's here in Columbia, SC. The CSX CN&L runs through my neighborhood. We're at MP C 6.32. We've had DPU's at the end of coal trains for several years. Before our flooding in early October, we had 130 car coal trains with mid-train DPU's. Only other place I've seen this was out in Oklahoma, Iowa, Nebraska and Texas. Always a neat sight to see.
Fantastic video. I lived at Park Point 1971-72 when I was at FSU. My apartment was directly across from Jim & Milts, and I ate there all the time, especially the pork sandwich.
Distant Signal, I love this video. As a matter a fact I love all your videos. I am a fan of the SCL and I Love it when you say SCL. Also I have seen a 300 car train with a DPU. I live up north and have wanted to go to folkston to see you and the other railfans. I would love to come to folkston next year. Hope to see you there.
Awesome vid, Danny. You put out some of the highest quality railfanning videos on RU-vid in my opinion. What happened to your series on CSX signals? I love all the information you give in your videos, and I was really enjoying those.
Very Nice video as usual! I was just down on the CSX S-Line for a little while and I would like to thank you as I got my guidance from your videos! Ocala was my personal favorite spot, and I enjoyed chasing & pacing the trains on 301.
Awesome job! I train watch in northeast Ohio on the Norfolk Southern Fort Wayne line and the Cleveland line, a lot of times in Alliance OH (if you find yourself in Ohio, make a stop there, almost 50 trains on a 24 hour basis.) in 2012 they ran DPU's on the oil trains during the beginning of the ND oil boom, but since then eliminated use of DPU's (unfortanirly) so its nice to see you watching DPU's now!
Danny i really enjoy your videos. I've been with Norfolk southern now 25 years, October 11th 2018 will be my last day. I will be retiring and going to work with a contractor for the railroad. I started straight outta highschool. Being from southwest Georgia I especially enjoyed this video. Class one railroads are not what they use to be!
Excellent Video Danny ... Nice to show the difficulties of the chase sometimes ... It's not all sit by the crossing, gates, horn engines ... I'd love to chase with ya sometime ... :o)
Another great video Danny! I don't know what the daily total of trains is between Pensacola and Baldwin, but it looks busier than what I thought it was! I've been to Lake City a few times for 2-3 hours at a time and have never seen a train! Timing (and a scanner I guess) is everything!
+Richard Gerlach Yeah, that Tallahassee line is tough. I would never have tried it without heads-up info from other railfans, especially those to the west.
Good video as always, especially now knowing the connection you have to Tallahassee. I love Live Oak and it's railroad history with the Live Oak, Perry & Gulf. If I had the extra money and you were interested I'd finance a video production of a Valdosta, Occidental Jct & Lake City Video. Your voice work is superior in the field of voice talent, keep up the good work.
Great stuff. professionally done. You have a great narrator's voice. Videos are always interesting. Would of liked to see the entire train pass by versus intermittent coverage. Your rail knowledge is impressive, citing off engine makes, etc. Glad you defined DPU and didn't leave it up for guessing. I've watched videos of out west railing, Tehachapi Loop and see mostly DPU trains. I assume because of the acute elevation changes.
Thank you very much! I have some folks who ask to see the whole train, but I'm a TV News guy and have edited video baked into my cake. :-)) Plus this train was so long, showing the whole thing would have taken 7 - 8 minutes. Ha!
Another great masterpiece Danny!! the Tallahassee subdivision is a gold mine filled with a SAL signals, SCL detectors and even code line that looks good :) Only one piece of RR I know that still has its own originallity to it. Y patterns, US&S Color lights and dwarfs....how more beautiful can it get? it seem like NOTHING has changed since you left home and to come back and find it STILL the same way is unbelievable. I think why CSX hasn't touched the Tally Sub was because of the disappearance of Amtrak...so almost in a way...no need to upgrade lol.
Great video Danny, I saw Q606 with a DPU at Folkston Georgia back on August 13th, and there is two Y pattern signals at the mulberry diamond on the ex-ACL bone valley sub.
Danny, welcome back. Your fans miss you. But, I'm sure the wife misses you too! I had to laugh when an old pro like you forgot about the A/C running on your camera lens with high humidity outside. Oh well, Even the professionals make mistakes. Danny, great vid...I live in Jax and made many a trip with family to Tallahassee on US 90 before the interstate system. seemed like we hugged the rails for miles and miles. It was really neat during the evening hours with all of the signals on red and the doll arms in that deep rich blue. sigh - what memories?
+Jerry Sinclair Thanks very much Jerry. Glad to hear from you. Yes, I can't believe I still get caught by that AC mistake. It usually happens to me in the mornings to I wasn't expecting it at 3 in the afternoon. Those trips down old US90 must have been cool seeing all those SAL signals. The trees weren't big then either. You can barely see the tracks now, even when you right next to them.
The US&S Y pattern signals were installed in 2008 on the NJT MetLife stadium track. They are approach lit. Also on the CSX river sub in NJ, the Y pattern signals are both approach lit and ABS installed in the 1960's.
Been looking forward to your next video, and you didn't disappoint. I find it very interesting that CSX is only now starting to use DPU power on their trains, when the CN and CP up here have done it for years (and I'm sure the other US Class 1s too). Still, that Q606-03 was insanely long. I don't even think the CN makes trains that long with DPUs. That or they never come through my neck of the woods, since blocking rail crossings in Montreal during a busy evening rush hour might not be the best initiative... Again though, great video. Making me want to save up and head back down to Florida as soon as I can for some train chasing. It looks a lot more fun than the volume of trains we see here.
+The NovaBUS Fan That blocking of grade crossings has been the fear shared by many of the CSX leaders. They get some nasty letters from mayors and city councilmen when grade crossings are tied up for a long time. But, progress prevails and if they can run the longer trains during ''dark'' hours, you might see more of them...especially the New Orleans to Waycross run.
Another one of my favorite videos! Living in Tallahassee, and working by Godby, I should be able to catch some trains over by Lipona. When you are in town, look me up. Would lo e to do some rail fanning with you.
When I'm in Manchester,Ga at the CSX yard, or right outside of Manchester in Warm Springs,Ga, I'll see a DPU at the end. Last night, my buddy and I were at the CSX/NS diamond in Opelika,Ala, and here came a CSX train with a DPU in the middle. That's the first time I've seen that in person ever. It was a mixed freight train, mostly autoracks and hoppers full of wood chips and a few tankers. It's on a incline so that DPU was much needed.
You probably looked like someone trying to hop that train hiding in the bushes like that at 5:49! Sometimes when I ride Amtrak you can see tents in the woods or "hobos" looking for a train to ride. LOL!
Great video! I think you were hoping to catch one of the monster Bostwick bound Coal trains though. They've been running DPUs through Hamlet on some of the loaded coal trains but those were rarely over 120 cars and had 2 engines (usually ES44ACs) with a lone ES44AC on the tail nothing like the 200 car, 5 unit monsters you guys were getting.
Hey Danny, I finally managed to pick up some of your DVDs while I was in Folkston this past weekend and they are awesome and I plan on going to the Railwatch coming in April 2019 and hope to meet you there, man. I have even found that one of your DVDs named, How to Read CSX Signals is very helpful and helps me understand what the aspects on them mean, such as, a high green means that the train can keep the pedal to the metal, high yellow means approach medium, a flashing green with solid yellow means medium approach medium, a lunar aspect means restricted speed and so on. I wonder if by chance that you can do a series talking about the defect detectors soon and break down how they play an important role on the railroads. Like I said, you are awesome and I want to be like you in your videos and all that good stuff. Take care and God bless, man. Best regards, Railstalker
Not to be a nitpick, but the old row that you crossed in Monticello was indeed the old Perry cutoff, but the line connected to the ex ACL bowline at Thomasville. The line you mentioned would be the old Dupont Sub crossing at Live Oak.
Great video. Just moved out of my apartment in tallahassee on High Road. Got lunch every friday at Railroad Square in time to catch the 1 o clock train roll though. A weekly ritual.
