Ashland VA 9.5.09: Manifest Destiny

My Saturday outing to Ashland turned into quite the comedy of errors. Too tired to get out in the morning, I finally arrived at the start of the afternoon, just in time to get stuck at the College Avenue crossing as a loaded coal train came through. I had just enough time to park the car and get out before the southbound Carolinian went by while the back of the coal train was still in sight, paralleling it on the other track. Then while setting up the camera, I discovered that the mic power switch had been turned on, completely draining its battery. I walked over to Cross Bros. grocery and returned with a new battery (plus a spare) in hand - and watched the Juice Train pass as I crossed England Street. The afternoon was off to a great start, alright - I had captured NONE of it on tape, and now that I was finally set up and ready we were entering the quietest part of the day (grumble grumble).

I had resigned myself to not seeing anything else until Q173's appearance around 3, but a small bit of consolation arrived in the form of a southbound manifest a few minutes after 2, led by ES44DCs 5360 and 5449. The CSX gons at 2:08 and 2:16 looked as if they had just left the assembly line.

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• CSX
• freight
• train
• railroad
• manifest
• ES44DC
• Ashland
• Virginia
• HD

[cuzinitr]

I'v had day's (weeks?) like that but, what you did get, was great stuff! 5* and keep on recording, Rich

[GaithersburgRail]

Nice Q439.

[bcanedy]

What a bummer to have so much go wrong. At least you caught something!