FastFlyingVirginian's video: VA Railfanning 02 02 20: What It Was Was Railfanning

I know lots of folks were getting all worked up this past Sunday over watching a TV special of a musical performance centered around two groups of men fighting over a funny-shaped little pumpkin in a cow pasture, but for me it held no interest. When I picked up the grapevine buzz the night before about Q410's consist including the CSX office car rolling stock, plans to get trackside and capture its passage commenced forthwith. 0:04 - I knew 410 wouldn't show up too early in the morning, but with the timetables of past outings swirling around in my head, I didn't want to bank on it making a late appearance either. I split the difference, hedged my bets against human interest, and arrived at Jones Crossing in Woodford shortly before 9 AM. Amtrak's Northeast Regional 88 kicked off the morning at 9:08 as it streaked north behind P42 76. 0:48 - Coal drag N741 followed 27 minutes later, bracketed by 2 pairs of GE AC power. ES44AH and AC4400CW 16 led the way, while ET44AHs 3345 and 3323 brought up the rear. 3:16 - The cloud cover was a little heavier as Q438 hurried past Jones at 10:21, led by ET44AH 3321 and ES44AH 3165. Given the sun angle at that time of day, a dimmer view wasn't such a bad idea. 5:40 - The end of the gray skies was in sight - literally - as Northeast Regional 96 rushed past at 11:11, led by P42 190. 6:33 - The cloud exodus continued as P42 12 and the southbound Palmetto handily overtook them at 11:18. 7:14 - P42 201 led the southbound Carolinian through the crossing under a nearly cloudless sky at 12:38. 7:58 - Intermodal hotshot Q031 provided a break from the Amtrak parade at 12:50, with ES44AH 3038 on point and sister unit 3086 serving as the DPU. 9:31 - The northbound Silver Star slipped past at 12:56, powered by P42s 188 and 198. 10:01 - Q301 wrapped up the lunchtime rush at 1:09, led by ES44AH 962 and AC4400CW 427. The consist included hefty cuts of both Waste Management trash containers and empty Tropicana reefers. 12:03 - Its laundry list of work at Acca completed, our primary target of the day finally made an appearance at 3:04 PM. Office Car Special F40PHs 9992 and 9993 were cleaned, pressed, and neatly tucked away behind road power duo ES44AH 3234 and ET44AH 3342, while the rest of the OCS consist provided a touch of class on the rear: 994009 'Alabama' 994010 'New York' 994307 'E. Hunter Harrison', showing off a new B&O-inspired paint scheme 994317 'Baltimore' 994011 'Michael J. Ward', also painted in the new scheme 994525 'Tennessee' 994315 'Indiana' 994310 'West Virginia' 994363 'Kentucky' 14:16 - The remainder of the day was by no means anticlimactic. After I moved south to Ashland, the dispatcher let fly with 8 trains in 65 minutes. First up was Northeast Regional 195, arriving at 4:48 behind P42 43. 16:42 - P42s 11 and 189 - the latter in 'Big Game Train' livery - led the southbound Silver Star past a small crowd of onlookers at 5 PM. 17:27 - The same onlookers elicited a salute from the engineer of the Auto Train as P40s 830 and 815 led Amtrak's flagship through Ashland at 5:21. 19:28 - The setting sun tinted the scene as a monstrous Q409 crawled through town 13 minutes later, with ET44AH 3394 leading and 3423 working further back as the DPU. The giant was still marching past when it was met by the northbound Palmetto, led by P42 154. 25:13 - GP38-2 2795 and GP40-2 6280 scurried past the platform at 5:48 with local freight D794. 26:01 - Horn duel at sunset - the colors reached their zenith at 5:53 as Q416 closed in from the south and Northeast Regional 157 approached from the north, each announcing their presence. The freight was first on the scene (on track 3, natch), led by 7 units: ES40DC 5327, AC4400CW 294, ES40DC 5491, SD40-2 8254, SD40-3 4338, ET44AH 3322, and ES40DC 5345. A few well-timed low cars gave a fleeting glimpse of 157 making its stop, and the tail of 416 cleared the scene as 157 continued on towards Richmond.