Times and locations for spotting.

NCGrimbo Jan 31, 2007

  1. NCGrimbo

    NCGrimbo TrainBoard Member

    24
    0
    11
    Hey all. I'm trying to figure out when and where I can go to do some Norfolk & Southern train spotting. I live in Clayton, NC which is south of Raleigh and north of Selma and Smithfield. I don't mind travelling, but I'd like to limit it in range. I would be willing to go anywhere between Wilmington, NC and Greensboro, NC (east/west) and the NC/VA and NC/SC borders (north/south).

    I'd love to find an active yard that you can view without trespassing, but a good rail section with descent traffic will work also.

    Thanks,
    Kevin
     
  2. chessie

    chessie TrainBoard Supporter

    6,183
    6
    79
    Kevin,
    You probably will see limited traffic in Clayton... There are some regular trains, such as 349 (westbound) and 350 (eastbound). There are also some fairly regular coal trains, such as 846 & 847. I don't know anything about any local switch jobs.

    Harold
     
  3. chessie

    chessie TrainBoard Supporter

    6,183
    6
    79
    The nearest NS yard is Raleigh, which doesn't have a whole lot of action. It hosts some of the NS power for the various trains, including 351/352 and yard jobs.

    Much better action is located in Greensboro. It has a yard as well as is on the NS mainline. The "H" and "K" lines feed into it as well.

    Harold
     
  4. GRAVES

    GRAVES TrainBoard Member

    101
    3
    14
    Not sure this will help you but, there is a lot of NS action just off 85 for a long distance between Greensboro and Charlotte. My recommendation is taking a day trip to Spencer (the NC Trans Museum). When you exit off 85 you will ride on an overpass over a double main line (used by NS, AMTRACK, and others) that has pretty regular traffice passing over it. I ususally catch about four trains on a Saturday between 9am and 2-3pm. Mixed frieght and intermodal.

    Side note - the other night I was driving through Concord and as I approached a crossing the lights started flashing. I didn't know what was coming so I jumped out with my digital camera in hopes of catching some cool video. Two NS 4400s (it looked like - it was dark) were pulling a 70-80 car mixed frieght train through town at what appeared to be 40mph. It was really impressive. Unfortunately the lighting was too dark and my video turned out pretty bad. The horn sounds turned out good though. LOL
     
  5. NCGrimbo

    NCGrimbo TrainBoard Member

    24
    0
    11
    Thanks for the replies. Sounds like another trip to Spencer will be in the works with a stop in Greensboro.
     
  6. chessie

    chessie TrainBoard Supporter

    6,183
    6
    79
    Spencer is a great place.... going south a couple of miles to Salisbury at the old freight depot will open up more possibilities, plus signals. The wye, at the old freight depot and just north of the passenger station, is a great place to catch a lot of action. You will catch pretty much everything headed South out of the yard as well as trains off the Asheville branch. Occasionally, a train will come off this line and go around the depot and head south. Usually there are so railfans hanging out there too!

    Harold
     
  7. justTRAINcRaZy

    justTRAINcRaZy TrainBoard Member

    306
    0
    15
    Hi, Kevin
    I've been doing a good deal of Proto watching lately, primarily between Lexington and Spencer. My daughter and I have been following along the Winston Salem Southbound and High Point Thomasville and Denton for an upcoming layout project, but there's not alot of action along these shortlines.

    All of my pics are posted on our clubs forum located at http://forums.ccnscalers.com/index.php?board=8.0. You may want to click on the Subject header to sort by date.

    The threads are numbered by year-monthday-24 hr time train# milepost. I can tell you that between Spencer Yard and Lexington there are a number of trains weekdays between 8:30am and 11:00 am, and then again around 1-2pm.

    Kevin Beck
    Lexington, NC
     
  8. chessie

    chessie TrainBoard Supporter

    6,183
    6
    79
    It seems that Linwood yard has a lot of activity north out of or through the yard in the morning, then sends more southbound units after lunch.
     

Share This Page