American Orient Express
Antebellum tour 2001
March 22, 2001
The chase started at Macon Junction
at 700 AM. I got up at 230AM that morning to make the drive to Macon. When
the sun rose, there was not a cloud in the sky. While waiting for the train,
a NB freight train comes out of the departure yard of Brosnan yard with
3 NS Business Cars. Bonus!!!!
At Edgewood (Macon), it is time
to get a new crew. One NS crew gets on board, but the train does not move
for another 45 minutes while waiting for another crew.
With the crews finally on board,
it is time to burn up some old steel.
In FOrt Valley, I was looking
forward to a great shot in the wide open space south of the depot, but
the Ogeechee RR had left a string of hoppers in their yard, along the mainline.
So I settle for a shot from between the old switch tower and the depot.
I barely had time to park the car on the Ogeechee RR employees parking
lot that the gates started coming down. A slow order through Columbus Jct
gave me time to set up.
The track to Columbus always
stay very close to the track. Unfortunately, it did not do much good as
the sun was right on top of the train (both sides of the trains were in
the shadow) for almost the entire time. Here it is going by another piece
of railroad history, the Atlantic Coast Line bridge.
Hit by a slow order between Geneva
and Columbus, I get a chance to get a quick lunch waiting for the train
at this location. Take a couple of poles out and that would have been the
best shot of the day, with the nose of 818 finally out of the shadow.
After the change of crew, it
is time for the more scenic part of the ride, but also the more difficult
part of the chase. Around 11 AM, the train gets across the bridge.
I missed the train in several
good locations, but I finally get this shot in Sylacauga.
