Ashland VA 4.25.09: Fancy (Almost) Meeting You Here

[trainkid16]

Nice job! It would be plain awesome if Ashland wasn't a quiet zone!

[csxdispatcher]

the earlier dash 8's fins are thinner then the later ones and the dash 9's due to lack of split cooling.

[csxdispatcher]

Several ways. First off: the trucks. AC44's for CSX have either the hi-ad or radial trucks while the 8's do not. The second: the engine air intake behind the dynamic grids, the 8's have a long intake, while the AC44's have a smaller, single air intake. Secondly, the marker lights denote its a Conrail unit. Fourth: AC44's are 1-599 and 5100-5121 in numbers...

[mgaines106]

Nice K5HL on the Q173!

[FastFlyingVirginian]

Other way around - C40s would be dash 8, C44s would be dash 9, unless you're weird like NS and insist on downrating a C44-9W to 4000hp... :)

I'm not sure about the flatter nose, but the radiator 'wings' are slightly thicker on a dash 9 vs. dash 8., plus I don't believe the dash 8's ever came with the same truck design as the dash 9s.

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

The easy way to tell the different is by height. A C40-8W is taller in heigh than a C40-9W

[FastFlyingVirginian]

However, no orders were ever placed for the optional donk rims that the extra height was made to accomodate, and the feature was quietly dropped from the order book later on.

[FastFlyingVirginian]

True, but all the GE's do unfortunately. They just haven't tinkered with their nose design like EMD has - it's the sides and top where you can tell the difference. CSX does have a handful of C44-9Ws, but they're in the 9000 series.

[TrainManTy]

Ah, good ol' Q173! I wonder how many days it takes for it to get up to Massachusetts so I can see it...

Nice video! The horn is a nice change!

[FastFlyingVirginian]

The roster I checked pegs the trailing unit as an ex-CR C40-8W...the lead unit's an ES44DC, you can see the hump along the leading edge of the radiator wing as it goes by.

[Squawk7600]

You have to wonder what all the people along College Ave were thinking today for a while when the trains were blowing their horns through this notoriously quiet area!! Has it been a quiet zone for quite some time??

[FastFlyingVirginian]

I found some info online (minutes from a town council meeting) that implies that it had been at least prior to 2005, and in that year some Federal code caused the town to have to reapply for quiet zone status. Not sure if that means the zone was briefly lifted in the interim.

[csxdispatcher]

FRA changed the rules to become a quiet zone, and yes the horns were blown in town at the time. To keep their quiet zone, Ashland is going to have to close some crossings, I believe.

[cobras84robinjd]

It's a bit odd to here the train blowing it's horn through there.

Bet you enjoyed that.

5 stars!

[FastFlyingVirginian]

...I just hope CSX doesn't think I was a foamer that called in a malfunctioning gate just to hear horns in the middle of town. :)

[mgaines106]

If they'd gone faster, you would have had a close encounter.