The Kudzu Taketh Over! (Current Status of Saluda)

[UPTRAIN]

Those old baldwins look too far gone to save, they are pretty though!!!

[UPTRAIN]

I always said it would be a good idea for UP's Public Relations to have all the predessor railroad's locomotives running on their rails. Such as ST.L.S.W. 819, SP 4449, the SP pacifics and CNW 1385, and so on. That would make a nice seven-a-header on a 50 car passenger train going up Sherman Hill wouldn't it? Just kidding [:P]

[Modelcar]

....Wow, that is a case of forgotten equipment. Rust seems to be getting rid of it for them. RoW sure looks manicured great and good quality alignment.

[Anonymous]

Doesn't look like kudzu, appears to be some form of an ivy. Kudzu has much larger leaves and a bit lighter color green. Hard to tell though, but don't think so. And I've seen my share of kudzu[;)][:P]

[Anonymous]

Dear Readers,


Is this Kudzu, too??

http://lostengines.railfan.net/diesels.jpg

Baldwin Diesels in Roanoke, VA.

In the West they have a plant called Knap Weed which has taken over, but, not like Kudzu!!!

Livestock won't eat Knap Weed as has a type of bristles.

Both should be extirpated.

The Baldwins should be Rescued.

[locomutt]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UPTRAIN

QUOTE: Originally posted by cherokee woman

QUOTE: Originally posted by JoeKoh

Well they say it was the insurance man but I think we need to know the rest of the story.
stay safe
Joe

[}:)]Hey Joe,

Do you want to get Paul Harvey on it[?] You know, his "Rest of the Story"
segments, don't you[?][:p]

I like that guy, I agree, maybe we should call him in! [:D][8D][:)][:p][;)]

To say the least, "That would be interesting"[:)]

[Modelcar]

BRF...By the way, the distorted photo of the massive dip in the rail at the crossing in Saluda I found on a Saluda web site I pulled up from Google. If interested, you might be able to find it there and take a look....

[Train Guy 3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by UPTRAIN

It seems kinda devastating to see these old once pround railroad relics from the past, just shoved aside and forgotten, just to find out how useful they really were, shame shame shame NS!!! [:(!][B)][xx(][V][:(][:O][banghead][censored][D)][|(][#oops]

That's one thing I can say good about UP they have kept up their steam program.

[UPTRAIN]

QUOTE: Originally posted by cherokee woman

QUOTE: Originally posted by JoeKoh

Well they say it was the insurance man but I think we need to know the rest of the story.
stay safe
Joe

[}:)]Hey Joe,

Do you want to get Paul Harvey on it[?] You know, his "Rest of the Story"
segments, don't you[?][:p]

I like that guy, I agree, maybe we should call him in! [:D][8D][:)][:p][;)]

[UPTRAIN]

It seems kinda devastating to see these old once pround railroad relics from the past, just shoved aside and forgotten, just to find out how useful they really were, shame shame shame NS!!! [:(!][B)][xx(][V][:(][:O][banghead][censored][D)][|(][#oops]

[Modelcar]

BRF....10-4....Thanks.

[espeefoamer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train Guy 3

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train Guy 3

I was told that Kudzu will grow a foot and a half on a hot humid day. What does the railroad use to kill it? All that stuff needs to be burnt up and the soil salted so it will never grow again.

Does anyone have the video of the 611 going up Saluda?

Yes,I have it,and it is great. I make a cameo appearence in the video. Someone is being interviewed in the baggage car and I am seen walking past in the background[:)].

So... are you're the guy waving at the camera during the interview. [;)]

No, that's not me.

[Anonymous]

Modelcar: Drove through Saluda earlier and no sign of a dip in the tracks at all. Must have been a distorted picture, like you said.[;)]

[Train Guy 3]

QUOTE: Originally posted by espeefoamer

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train Guy 3

I was told that Kudzu will grow a foot and a half on a hot humid day. What does the railroad use to kill it? All that stuff needs to be burnt up and the soil salted so it will never grow again.

Does anyone have the video of the 611 going up Saluda?

Yes,I have it,and it is great. I make a cameo appearence in the video. Someone is being interviewed in the baggage car and I am seen walking past in the background[:)].

So... are you're the guy waving at the camera during the interview. [;)]

[Anonymous]

No problem. I'm glad I can be of some help as some of these forums involving horsepower and tractive effort just go straight over my head and I'm not able to say too much of importance. [%-)]

[Modelcar]

....Yes, you probably would have noticed as the pic. showed a nasty dip....I believe it was a distortion in the photo. I remember standing right on that crossing in 2001 and thought to myself how good the track looked through there....Thanks for the input.

[Anonymous]

I'll check to make sure, I think I would have probably noticed that yesterday though, walked right there where you're talking about. I'm sure I'll be back through Saluda within the next couple of days since they've started re-paving on I-26 and traffic is usually backing up for a few miles (another reason to use the rails.)

[Modelcar]

...Sorry, double post. Electronic hicup.

[Modelcar]

...Don't know the date but it was since the route was closed down.

[Modelcar]

...Don't know the date but it was since the route was closed down.

[Anonymous]

I didn't notice a dip yesterday, could have just been the picture. Do you know the date of the picture, it could have been a problem that was fixed several years ago too. I'll check next time I'm there just to make sure though.

[Modelcar]

BRF....I recently saw a picture taken right below the street that crosses the railroad in Saluda and it appeared to have a very bad dip in the rails right on the down hill side of the crossing.....?? I'm hoping that was just a defect in the photo. Since you recently viewed it up close maybe you can comment...

[Anonymous]

Someone else noticed the kudzu. I drove up 176 to Hendersonville today and saw that it had been sprayed where it was crawling across the track and was turning a nasty shade of yellow. Suppose Norfolk Southern doesn't want it to get in too bad of shape.

I took some more pictures yesterday on how the tracks look now in Tryon and Saluda that I'll post as soon as I get them developed and scanned (a digital camera sure would come in handy here.)

[espeefoamer]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Train Guy 3

I was told that Kudzu will grow a foot and a half on a hot humid day. What does the railroad use to kill it? All that stuff needs to be burnt up and the soil salted so it will never grow again.

Does anyone have the video of the 611 going up Saluda?

Yes,I have it,and it is great. I make a cameo appearence in the video. Someone is being interviewed in the baggage car and I am seen walking past in the background[:)].

[Modelcar]

....Just tried the photo site again and it worked, so I've now looked at them all. Each time I see a view from the bridge..[looking away from town], I wonder how rough a job it was moving the depot that used to reside down that grade on the right side. Of course it is now placed in the heart of town. That would have been a pretty good job of moving that.

[Anonymous]

Sorry about that site being down, don't know what's with it. I probably just need to put them on a different site that's free like geocities but better. Any suggestions?

[Modelcar]

...Tried to view the photos again...as I didn't have time to get to all of them before and now again it is saying they are "temporary unavailable".....What I have seen so far I enjoyed and can relate to each one at Saluda....Thanks for sharing.

[Anonymous]

Oh I know, I was simply saying how overly good it is at doing it! I sometimes "overstate" myself. Too bad the posts on the forums couldn't represent the tone of your voice, things would be so much easier. Guess I have to use these little signs [:D]

[garr]

Blue Ridge Front,

The pictures were not up brefore my earlier post, they are very informative and good.

The part about not being able to check on the erosion control in the earlier post was in jest. Kudzu is very good at erosion control, its just a little too anxious to do it.

Jay