Railfan Stories

[Anonymous]

Hey wondering if anybody has any good railfan stories to tell about. I do. I didnt actually railfan but i listened on my scanner. I live next to the Norfolk Southern Hagerstown District. This morning at 7:00 when I woke up there was no trains coming through but about a half hour later I heard the first train I think it was 213, then he was followed by 11R. These two are eastbound train that run over the B-Line. Then I heard I14 over at Woods, If anybody here lives in Front Royal they know where that is. Anyway those two had to meet I14 which is an intermodal extra. My dad was on that train this morning copying track warrants. Then you got the dispatcher talking to the Maintanence of Way guys trying to get some track and time. Then after the dispatcher gets done with the MOW's he gets a call from I14 asking for a signal at Riverton Jct. while he is talking to local V92 and 38Q at the same time. I think he was getting kind of mad because he yelled. Then just a couple of minutes ago W7Q, 37Q, 227, 211, and V87 went through. Thats 5 trains within 1 hour. Now there is a 12R that just asked for the signal at Riverton Jct and there is still lots more on the way I know there will be a 212, 228, and E95 not sure about anything else. Man wish I could of gotten out to see the trains today. If anybody would like the train #'s for up here i got em
11R, 12R, 211, 212, 213, 214, 227, 228, 24G, 22G, 38Q, 37Q, 16T, 15T, V86, V87, 800, 840, 828, 829, 801 and 2 rare trains 694 and 695 both coal. The ones in the 800's are also coal exept for 828 and 829 which are unit coke trains.
If anyone has any good stories please post them. I wanna see where all the good railfanning spots are at so i can visit them one day!

[sooblue]

Hi Kevin,
I'd like to come down and visit YOUR railfan spot.
sounds like it's pretty busy where you are.
Mike

[Anonymous]

That's some action right there. Well, I experience something like that a couple of weeks ago. The Amtrak Silver Meteor derailed in the low country part of South Carolina on the East Coast Main Line (CSX) that connects New York to Miami. As a result, many trains had to take alternate routes. Here in Columbia, SC, the Columbia Subdivision connects to that line in Savannah, GA and as you would expect, we got some of the action. Now in Columbia, NS and CSX runs through here through a junction called Devine Junction (CSX Controlled). So on one Thursday morning, I didn't have to be at work until 1:00 that afternoon so I decided to go down to the junction to catch some action. As I was driving to the junction, I looked down at the Amtrak station and noticed something out of the familiar. I seen Superliner passenger cars sitting there. So I turned on my scanner to see what was going on and apparently, the Amtrak Auto Train was running out of gas. So I went and parked at the junction and as I arrived, I picked up NS 238 indicating he had a clear signal at Elmwood Jct., so I knew he was 2 minutes away. At the same time, NS 192 was getting permission to enter the Yard Limits so I knew he was 5 minutes away. As the scanner went conversation free for about 2 minutes, the CSX Cayce Yardmaster called the Auto Train and told him that some CSX engines were on the way to take the train on to Savannah, so I knew NS 192 was going to have to wait to come through the junction. As te engines hooked up to the Amtrak, a CSX Coal Train pulled up to Elmwood Jct. and another one pulled up to Andrew's siding which is 2 railroad miles from Devine Junction. Once the Auto Train was ready, this is how everything transpired after that:

Amtrak Auto Train- 8:02 AM
NS 238- 8:05 AM
CSX N114 Coal Train- 8:12 AM
CSX U302 Coal Train- 8:20 AM
CSX F750- 8:35AM
CSX F795- 8:48 AM
NS 192- 8:54 AM
NS P77- 9:12 AM

Those 8 trains came through within a 1 hour and 15 minute window. It went quiet for about a hour after that, but I didn't care. That was some action, especially seeing the Amtrak Auto Train with that array of power (1 CSX SD70MAC, 2 CSX GP40-2s, and 2 Genesis). The trains that goes through this junction everyday are

NS- P75, P77, P78, P79, P85, 155, 156, 191, 192, 237, 238, 337, 338

CSX- F750, F788, F789, F795, Q210, Q211, Q463, Q464, Y120

Amtrak- 91, 92

And the trains that runs when required or on certain days are

NS- P65 Chip Train, 367, 368, 778, 779, 780, 781
778, 779, 780, ad 781 are coal trains

CSX- MANY COAL TRAINS. Coal trains bound for electirc plants in SC and Florida. Grain Trains

If anyone is ever interested in coming down to SC to Devine Junction in Columbia, SC, shoot me a e-mail @ [e-mail]

[Anonymous]

Wow I'd like to visit that area! Anyway this morning around here there wasnt too much going on except for 11R and 213 heading east. 213 was over 8000 feet long! Right now I think there is a V86 working somewhere. He has been in town all day long! 214 went through about 2 hours ago. I know 211, 38Q, and 227 already ran. They all come through at around the same time maybe around mid-day. 37Q went through about 2:30 hours ago. Still waiting for 12R, 228, 212, and E95! Dont know about any coal trains.

[Anonymous]

Hi there,
Not to change the direction of this thread but would some one be willing to explain how train numbers like those mentioned above are determined or assigned?
Thanks!
Ralph

[Anonymous]

Wednesday is usually a pretty busy day around here. I didn't go this morning, but, when I got off of work, I decided to drive down to the junction and see was there anything going on. When I got there, NS P85 was coming back from it's day of switching along the W Line and NS P77 was waiting on CSX F789 to clear the junction so he could also pull into the yard. So I seen 3 quick trains, that was decent. The area where you railfan, how many trains do you get a day?

[Anonymous]

To tell you the truth Ralph, I don't have a idea. But, this is what I do know:

Around SC,

For CSX, F are the Florence Division locals
N are Coal Trains
U are Coal Trains
E are empty hopper trains
Coal trains in the 100 series are usually destined for Florida
Coal trains destined for the Carolinas are in the 300 series
Q are scheduled priority merchandise trains. I know most 200 series Q trains usually have something to do with automobiles and contracted services.

For NS, around here, P is Piedmont Division Locals
200 series are Intermodal Trains


And that's all I know. For info about identifying CSX trains, go to www.alabamarailfan.com and he has a section about CSX Train Identifiers that might help you out

[Anonymous]

Well you could see anywhere between 15 and 20 a day through here. Not bad considering that it is all single track.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the info!
I wondered if different letters designated different types of trains and if odd or even numbers might designate different directions of travel. Does any one know if there are standard procedures in the industry related to train number disignation or does it vary from road to road?
Ralph

[Anonymous]

Generally, southbound and westbound train numbers are odd numbers and northbound and eastbound trains have even numbers. Some railroads use letters instead of numbers to indicate the origin and destination of a train, such as Z-LACATG, with LAC is Los Angeles CA and ATG is Atlanta GA. The Z, Q, P, S, H, M, and such letters on the front of the letters may designiate the priority of the train. with Z being the highest priority intermodal train and M the lowest priority general freight train. Some railroads use Q to designiate coal trains and other railroads use Q for intermodal and auto trains, so it depends on the railroad.
On train railfaning, last Sunday in Memphis we had 19 trains pass Kansas Ave. in 6.5 hours. We were short on trains until 6 trains passed in 45 minutes at the end of the day. We usually see about 3 per hour.

[Anonymous]

I appreciate the temporary diversion in topic and the education regarding train numbers. I now return this tread to its original direction. :)
Ralph

[Anonymous]

No problem, train numbers, railfan reports and railfan stories kind of go together.

[BRAKIE]

Well,this happen in Marion Oh.I recall it well.
NS 234 Conrail Columbus line dispatcher! No reply.
NS 234 Conrail Columbus line dispatcher! No reply.
NS 133(?)Conrail Columbus line dispatcher!
Columbus line answering 133
Yeah,dispacher we heading west,can we get a signal for MA? The Conrail (at that time) crossing.
Keep 'em rolling Columbus line out!
NS 234 Conrail Columbus line dispatcher over! no reply.
133 (?) to 234,you may want to try that one the Conrail channel he just might hear you!
234 Huh Roger that!
I heard this on my scanner.Never will forget it. I think the train was NS 133,but not sure.I do remember what was said though!

[Anonymous]

I can relate to that problem. Around here, there's a NS P65 Woodchip Train that travels on CSX rail to it's destination from Andrew's Yard (NS Yard, Columbia, SC). Now between Andrew's Yard and Elmwood Jct (this is the spot where the NS train gets on CSX track), the NS train has to use 3 seperate road channels (1 NS and 2 CSX) and 3 seperate dispatcher channels (1 NS and 2 CSX) to get to first get on CSX track and then to acquire DTC blocks to proceed.