Hi all, I have been watching and enjoying the TV show Home Town. I have noticed quite a few trains passing through Laurel but I can't find much info on the number of trains? From what I have researched it is the Norfolk Southern Crescent route which would mean it is a main line? There are not a lot of videos from there on Youtube and the Frograil site doesn't list it anywhere. I am toying with the idea of going down there in May for National Train Day. It is closer than my other choice of Pine Junction, IN which I have done a couple of times already. Any help will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jay
15-20 trains/day on the NO&NE District (10 in the daytime)
FRA record
Wow, that's a bit depressing. Driving 11 hours and 2 minutes / 732 miles for ten trains in the daylight hours or Pine Junction which is 12 hours and 15 minutes / 765 miles? The last time I went to Pine Junction I got 92 trains in the daylight hours. Looks like a trip north is in order. Thanks mudchicken, I greatly appreciate your help! : )
Where is Pine Junction?
Lithonia OperatorWhere is Pine Junction?
Gary, IN
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Lithonia Operator Where is Pine Junction?
mudchicken 15-20 trains/day on the NO&NE District (10 in the daytime) FRA record
Here is a linked site {Mississippi Rails};inclusive of a system map. { map can be 'exploded' to larger size!} @ https://www.msrailroads.com/NO&NE.htm
Hope this helps.
BaltACD Lithonia Operator Where is Pine Junction? Gary, IN
I've passed through Gary on the train, and I've seen Laurel on TV.
Laurel, hands down!!
There are plenty of plaes I'd rather live than in Mississippi (where I did, in fact, live for five years as a kid). But man, if one could get on their waiting list, that HGTV couple does an awesome job on houses that can be had for a song. Even after the reno, you are looking at the cost of a crummy, tiny one-bedroom condo in/near most major cities. And, ya know, the train watching is good ... It's not something I'd rule out, TBH. I don't plan on being in Maine when I'm 80; that's no country for old men.
Yes, Pine Junction would have a little more traffic than you could find in Laurel.
Thanks, Sam for the reference to the NO&NE--and the Queen and Crescent Route (which also extended to Shreveport from Meridian); the Q&C ran from the Queen City to the Crescent City, and had two through trains a day in 1892.
Johnny
mudchicken BaltACD Lithonia Operator Where is Pine Junction? Gary, IN (Tolleston, Buffington & Dunes country - spent a decade there one week only to discover that the railroads aren't sure who owns what in there thanx to a USRA /CR/InDOT screw-up from the 1970's.)
(Tolleston, Buffington & Dunes country - spent a decade there one week only to discover that the railroads aren't sure who owns what in there thanx to a USRA /CR/InDOT screw-up from the 1970's.)
In my qualifying for Train Dispatcher on the B&O's Akron-Chicago Division, I rode Train #7 from Akron to Gary as a part of my Road Review. I hung around the station for a hour or two and then caught a Eastbound freight back to Willard and another train from Willard to Akron.
In hanging around the station at Gary I got to see the bullet marks in some of the concrete walls around the station that were earned in the 1930's Chicago area gang warfare - Al Capone and others.
Sadly, the station you refer to is nothing more than four really thick walls , no windows and no roof today.
Part of my project at Gary had me 8 blocks south of Gary station at Millers (nobody knows about that place on the NYC/MC/IHB Dune Park branch - but the foundation and cinder platform remains are still there.) Quarter corner is still there, a piece of 60# rail. Surprised nobody tried to dig that one up yet. The Wabash main at Millers is on borrowed time.
Sad to see all that high speed track reduced to 10 MPH or just sitting in the weeds. Not far away is the former PRR main with 136#CWR on new ties, laid- but never used. Weird.
it helps a lot, very interesting. Thank you!
samfp1943To "Benchedthatpiece" I did a little research on the NO&NE at Laurel, Miss. It was suceeded by the Southern Rwy and then the NS. Between Meridian,Ms and New Orleans. Here is a linked site {Mississippi Rails};inclusive of a system map. { map can be 'exploded' to larger size!} @ https://www.msrailroads.com/NO&NE.htm Hope this helps.
Mudchicken, I'm curious. What was your project in Gary?
I have enjoyed reading all this, thanks for the help! The down side to Pine Junction is that it's not a good place for quality photography. Also it gets more Amtrak traffic than I like. However for sheer numbers it's hard to beat. Another positive for me is Gary, IN is right down the street and for people who love urban exploration like I do, it's a little slice of heaven! I was lucky enough to photograph the station someone mentioned above as well as the City Methodist Church before the roof caved in and some other abandoned places. Chicago isn't that far away which is always fun. I think Blue Island, Ill isn't that far away I don't think? I still haven't gotten there yet so that would be a bonus. I'm trying not to get my hopes up about going because there is no telling what might happen between now and then?
Lithonia Operator Mudchicken, I'm curious. What was your project in Gary?
Somebody has to do the steering for the throttle/brake jockeys.
mudchicken Lithonia Operator Mudchicken, I'm curious. What was your project in Gary? Line changes for one of the railroads pushed out of the way by the Gary Airport runway extension. Somebody has to do the steering for the throttle/brake jockeys.
Line changes for one of the railroads pushed out of the way by the Gary Airport runway extension.
Hasn't that project been underway for about 10 years so far?
Thanks, mc.
That must be very interesting work. I would think that in that area, any re-routing of tracks would be extremely complicated.
BaltACD mudchicken Lithonia Operator Mudchicken, I'm curious. What was your project in Gary? Line changes for one of the railroads pushed out of the way by the Gary Airport runway extension. Somebody has to do the steering for the throttle/brake jockeys. Hasn't that project been underway for about 10 years so far?
It seems I've had a change of heart about this coming weekend (May 9-10) and hope to go to Laurel, MS instead of Pine Junction. I realize there are not a lot of trains like Pine Junction. What changed my mind is I got word they are supposed to be tearing down a place in Birmingham, AL I've been wanting to hit (urban exploration). I figure I better hit it before it's too late if it's not already?
I plan on leaving Thursday after work from North Carolina and stopping in Austell, GA for the night. Friday will likely be spent in Birmingham all day, at least I hope I can get it done in a day? Saturday will be Laurel and Hattiesburg, MS. Sunday and Monday will be the return trip home and I'll be freestyling with no special places in mind, just whatever I stumble accross? I don't know if I'll come home via Tennessee or follow the NS Crescent route back home?
I have the following NS scanner frequencies if anyone can verify them for me please? 160.245 and 160.950 for Austell, GA. 160.950 and 161.535 for Laurel and Hattiesburg, MS? The trip down will basically be following the NS Crescent route to Mississippi. If anyone has any info on shortlines along that route I would love to know about them? It will be roster shots for them since I doubt they work on the weekends.
I'm open to any and all suggestions for photo ops in the Laurel and Hattiesburg areas as far as trains? Lastly, catching a Ferromex locomotive has been at the top of my railfanning bucket list for years. I realize the odds are slim to none to catch one on my trip, but if you had to pick a spot that had the best chance to see one I would love to know? I had planned to hit the Meridian speedway but someone told me there are less than five trains in the daylight hours now on that route so I scratched that... unless there is a chance for a Ferromex?
Thanks to all who took the time to read this and any help is welcome and greatly appreciated! :)
Jay:
I have ridden the Crescent through southern Mississippi (including Laurel) a number of times and, unless NS has cut back foliage in the past year or so, running through the countryside in that area pretty much takes place in what could best be described as a "tree tunnel". Additionally, in terms of scenery it's basically flat with not a lot to distinguish one location from another outside of the towns.
Having said that; we lived in the northern part of Mississippi for five years and I'd get down to Laurel several times each year. If you're a fan of Home Town, make the drive to Laurel and soak in the ambiance, catching whatever trains you can.
Now; if you really want to catch a higher number of trains the railfan viewing platforms in Dalton and Austell, GA and Irondale, AL would be the places to spend some time. If photographing trains in varying locations is your goal, NS' Atlanta North district between Austell and Chattanooga offers a variety of locations that far exceed anything available in southern Mississippi.
Curt
Austell is relatively close to Birmingham without having to go through (or, really, around) Atlanta, so you have a reasonably straight shot west from there. Note that there is much more traffic in Austell than along the rail line that goes west through Cobb County (but there are some interesting photo opportunities from place to place, including with Amtrak trains, particularly in Temple where the railroad right-of-way briefly becomes the visual equivalent of anything on PRR.... you can then get back on 20 at somewhere like Villa Rica and it's a straight shot likely with little traffic to Birmingham).
Is anyone else getting a 'picture' at the top of this thread, overwriting the normal Trains Forum data in the upper left?
BaltACD Is anyone else getting a 'picture' at the top of this thread, overwriting the normal Trains Forum data in the upper left?
Yes, a picture of what looks like an large abandoned house, made of beige brick.
adkrr64 BaltACD Is anyone else getting a 'picture' at the top of this thread, overwriting the normal Trains Forum data in the upper left? Yes, a picture of what looks like an large abandoned house, made of beige brick.
Glad I am not the only one seeing it and it therefore leads to the question. Why?
From the tilt, I wonder if there is a pair of feet in silver slippers sticking out from one side.
It's an image from Bing. A dereferenced image, so we have no idea where it came from or what wacky Kalmbach-related thing it is supposed to be supporting. At least none of you have to stick your hand in the cobra's mouth and click through to see what it might link to...
Chinese spy camera
Whoa. Like, far out, man.
Greetings from Alberta
-an Articulate Malcontent
Miningman Chinese spy camera
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