Altavista VA Railfanning 10-31-09 (3) NCTM Excursion South Bound

[rwk360]

Why do they have to use AMTRAK diesels on the head end? Isn't there Southern E or F diesels that they could use? Whose tracks were they traveling on? NS?

[m611martin]

This is technically an Amtrak excursion, even though the NCTM is housting it. The Southern E-8 #6900 and ACL E-3 are not up to Amtrak standards so they cannot be operated on these excursions, unless they have the proper upgrades and such. This excursion was on NS territory.

[spiritwingsvirtual]

Nice video that is a very fast excursion train!