Newly activated SD70ACU 7055 leading train 475-09 by Green Island, IA CP Marquette Sub June 10, 2020 Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
They're only that clean once. Very nice catch! "Horsin' Around" This horse statue is painted in honor of the massive trestle behind it. For the record, the horse platform is not level!
Going through my roster shots I discovered that an earlier and unheralded Barcode Unit existed in Family Lines paint. September 1984, Montgomery, AL.
"Streaker Under the Bypass" From the US highway 83 bypass on the west side of Minot, a sweeping curve takes the CP Portal Sub towards Burlington, ND. During blue hour, a CP grain train rolls past the intermediate signal.
Two Family Lines units here, both former SCL. The first is C30-7 SCL 7091. I always liked these big GEs, looking like modernized U-Boats. (April '85 Montgomery, AL). The second is a "GP-16" chop nose 4792. The SCL did all of the rebuild work on this series in house at their Tampa shops. 155 were produced and they seemed to be everywhere on the road. (April '86 Montgomery, AL)
A couple shots of NS 14G at Wyomissing Junction on the NS Harrisburg Line. The once-omnipresent pairs of Dash 9's are much less prevalent. DSC05138 by Sepp K posted Jun 12, 2020 at 9:11 PM Waiting for a pair of intermodals. DSC05152 by Sepp K posted Jun 12, 2020 at 9:11 PM Pulling towards Reading, bound for Morrisville, PA
Thanks for your shots! Are the Dash 9s going into storage? What are they being substituted with? NS has changed up their train schedules so much here in the Carolinas that I hardly know what's going on anymore. I also heard that MG Tower and AR Tower will soon be demolished, leaving only ALTO remaining.
All these great Family Lines shots and I'm reminded of one epic shot in an unlikely place, Crescent, CO. I wish I owned this one, or had permission to repost it, so a link will have to do, Bob Todten, Martch 1984: https://flic.kr/p/XaWCx2
Wow, thats a great photo for sure. I had no idea they ever pooled power. Just goes to show you not to rule out about anything, as far as pooling power goes. The territory that the Seaboard system serviced, it seems to me, to be a bit under represented. That was a cool paint scheme.
As I understand it, the SBD units were on loan to D&RGW who was considering the purchase of SD50s, as the SD40T-2 production was closed by 1984. The D&RGW liked them enough that they tacked their 17-unit order onto that of SBD, hence the uncharacteristic to the 'Grande long hood bell mount. It may have been a production expedient, otherwise Rio Grande would not have spec'd them that way.
Thank you for the comments on the Family Lines photos. My roster shots are filed in alphabetical order and I'm looking forward to seeing what I might have for the Seaboard System. I agree that theirs was a sharp paint scheme. The three shots below were made in 1984 and 1985 in Montgomery, AL. Switchers didn't get the full color treatment. There's a steam locomotive tender partially hidden behind the MP-15DC which served duty on the wreck train.
Several hundred of the Dash 9's have been or are being rebuilt with AC traction and are reclassified as AC44C6M's. Newer power including SD70ACe's, SD70ACC's rebuilt from plain cab SD70's, ET44AC's, SD70ACU's rebuilt from 90MAC's, ES44DC's, and ES44AC's are the replacements. MG tower was demolished years ago, not sure if AR is still standing, but it's been closed for decades. The last operating tower was ALTO, which closed in 2012.
MG was still there; I just read this morning that its demolition has begun. AR is standing, but not for much longer. As you know, MG is west of Horseshoe and very remote. I hiked there in the rain in April of '89. Ugh.
