The appeal of immaculate and contemporary locomotives

While spending this past Sunday morning trackside along Norfolk Southern’s Pocahontas District, I intercepted a pair of brand new SD70ACe’s assigned to Elkhorn pusher duty between Iaeger, W.Va. and Bluefield. Norfolk Southern has been taking delivery of the 4,300 horsepower ACe’s since mid-2014, numbered in the 1100 series. While I’ve seen several of those locomotives in revenue service, it does not take long for equipment to acquire a weathered look, especially when assigned to coal duty in the Appalachians.

NS J30 helpers, featuring brand new EMD SD70ACe's No's. 1174 and 1173 assist 130 coal loads east through Keystone, W.Va. on January 18, 2015.

These locomotives however, were immaculate. As the sun emerged from a low hanging cloud deck associated with a fast-moving cold front, the locomotives glistened in the low angle sunlight and really stood out among the lifeless winter landscape. Slithering upgrade through abandoned coal towns of southern West Virginia, the two helpers, shoving against 130 loads of W.Va. mined coal looked almost out-of-place. While the coal market continues fluctuating, new AC-traction locomotives are ideal for long haul heavy tonnage routes and therefore, new and state-of-the-art motive power is a common occurrence on coal routes in West Virginia and the Appalachians.

On their maiden run after being released from General Electric in Erie, CSX ES44AC's No. 959 and 960 lead a southbound coal train through Fort Blackmore, Va. on the former Clinchfield Railroad on November 18, 2011.

There’s something appealing and powerful about locomotives that are newly released from their respective manufactures. Equipment glistening with the railroad’s corporate logo, while operating on their first two or three revenue assignments is always a unique find. By now, many of us who commonly browse Internet forums or social media have observed Florida East Coast accepting delivery of their first General Electric ES44C4 locomotives. This begins a new era for the Florida regional, which has been an EMD-exclusive hauler until November 2014.

For a young gun in the hobby, I’m fascinated with today’s era of locomotive technology and how these new modern giants will shape and mold the industry for generations to come.