FastFlyingVirginian's video: But Wait There s More: Labor Day Weekend Railfanning Along The RF P

A heady mixture of a long weekend, clear skies, cooler temperatures, and lower humidity goes a long way towards encouraging the pursuit of railfanning happiness. I would have been perfectly happy with the full day of railfanning I planned for Saturday, but late-breaking developments two days later drew me trackside again for an encore. September 5th 0:00 - Q032 "Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise..." I met my goal of being trackside in time for the passage of Amtrak 52 by a wide margin. I took up a position south of England Street in Ashland before 6, and got the news that my chosen target was still somewhere south of Petersburg. As a bonus, I was also there in plenty of time for intermodal hotshot Q032, which breezed past under the sunrise at 6:29. ET44AH 3360 led the way, with sister unit 3361 serving as the DPU. 3:52 - Amtrak 52, Auto Train Some socially-distanced chat with fellow early risers helped pass the time until 52 finally made its appearance at 7:14, led by P40s 837 and 835. 5:11 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 88 More people were stirring as Northeast Regional 88 arrived in town at 8:38, led by P42 205. After an initial stop with most of the train still south of the newly-renovated portion of the platform, the train eased forward for boarding and then continued its journey. 7:27 - CSX Q415 ES44AH 980 and AC4400CW 104 lifted their throaty voices in song - with SD40-3 4011 and ES44AH 824 providing backing vocals - as they lugged Q415 through Ashland at 10:40. The consist was topped off by a string of empty welded rail gondolas, accompanied by a bay-window caboose still (mostly) wearing Chessie System colors. The renovation of the station platforms continues on the northern portion. 12:17 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 194 Waiting passengers admired the new platform as Northeast Regional 194 arrived at 10:54, led by P42 198. 14:12 - CSX Q135 Stack trains Q135 and 136 are creatures of the night more often than not, so I was happy to see the former put in a late-morning appearance at 11:12, powered by ES44AH 3238 and ET44AH 3259. 17:47 - CSX Q031 After a pleasant lunch with some of the local riff-raff, I relocated south to the Francis Street crossing. My timing left a little to be desired, as Q031 nearly got the drop on me at 2:14. ES44AH 3149 led the way alone, with ET44AH 3472 positioned fairly close to the front as a DPU. 21:07 - Amtrak 80, Carolinian With Q301, D794, and Amtrak 89 having passed during lunch, the afternoon outlook was mighty quiet. After the northbound Carolinian rolled by at 2:45, I relocated to the station platform for the remainder of the day. 23:03 - CSX D794 GP38-2s 2795 and 2720 returned to Richmond with a short D794 at 4:22. 24:11 - Amtrak 91, Silver Star P42s 25 and 76 led a lengthy Silver Star past the Ashland station at 4:58. In addition to the post-Covid travel downturn consist that has seen the return of the dining car and the addition of an extra coach and sleeper, this edition tacked a deadheading sleeper and coach onto the rear, behind the baggage car. 25:10 - Amtrak 53, Auto Train The P40 pair that led the northbound Auto Train returned in reverse order on the southbound at 5:12, with P42 72 catching a ride to Florida. 26:36 - Amtrak 90, Palmetto P42 138 led the northbound Palmetto through Ashland at 5:57. 27:22 - CSX Q410 ES44AHs 706 and 777 powered a late Q410 past the new platform at 7:04. 410 has carried an increasing number of autoracks since the completion of the tunnel clearance project in Washington DC, and this consist was no exception. 31:41 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 99 Northeast Regional 99 made a quick stop in Ashland at 7:23, led by P42 194. 33:23 - CSX Q416 Reports of an 8-unit lashup on Q416 proved untrue (at least north of Richmond) as the big train roared through Ashland behind 'only' 4 units just after 8 PM. September 7th 37:16 - CSX Q031 A daylight run of 'Honoring Our First Responders' ES44AH 911 on Q410 proved too tempting a target for Labor Day, so I returned trackside to capture it at Jones Crossing in Woodford. Q031 was the warm-up act at 1:24 pm, with a foreshortened consist bookended by an ET44AH/ES44AH pair. 38:41 - Amtrak 80, Carolinian Amtrak's northbound Carolinian preceded Q410 out of Richmond, so I moved to yellow alert when it rushed past behind P42 135 just before 3 PM. 39:20 - CSX Q410 Moment of truth. The grungy patina worn by ES44AH 751 and AC4400CW 418 emphasized the immaculate commemorative scheme on the 911 as Q410 finally passed Jones at 3:46. The 911 was dead in tow, and the head end had an assist from ES44AH 724 tucked in further back as the DPU. 41:25 - Amtrak 53, Auto Train The 911 was undoubtedly a hard act to follow, but the Auto Train did its best as it streaked past at 4:48 behind P40s 835 and 837. 42:42 - Amtrak 90, Palmetto Ending with a flourish - the northbound Palmetto rode off into the sunset at 5:56 behind Phase IV Heritage P42 184.