Hi, This final post covers the last two days of our trip. On the next to last day we arrived at the Blue Ridge Southern office in Canton about 8:00 AM only to find that the westbound morning train had left about 15 minutes ago.
Having learned that the train would go further west this day, turning back in Sylva, NC, we headed out in pursuit. However, we neglected to ask where the train would work. We started looking for a location west of Waynesville and found a nice spot where we waited for 2 1/2 hours with no train. As the rails showed no sign that a train had passed we were confident. However, about 11:00 AM we decided to head back into Canton as the Asheville Turn was supposed to leave at noon. About twenty minutes after we arrived back at the office the Asheville Turn was cancelled for the day due to track work so we headed back west.
Finally, on the east side of Sylva we found the crew running around their train (above and below).
Fortunately this is not currently fast track and we were able to photograph the train further east of Sylva,
at Willets-Ochre Hill,
Fisher Cove and
at Granny Smith Drive off Apple Drive west of Waynesville (above and two below).
The next day was allotted to NS in Virginia. Our first stop was Alta Vista as I had never seen the large trestle there. Just south of town a signal indicated a northbound was headed toward us so we set up for a shot on the bridge. After about 20 minutes we could hear the northbound approaching but it took the connection to the former Virginian and headed west instead of crossing the trestle.
After lunch we explored a little and found this spot just east of downtown where a pair of CPLs still govern train movements. From a railfan who was waiting there we learned an eastbound coal train was close.
Next we headed up to Lynchburg. However, the weather was poor, the train operations in town were confusing and Saturday traffic was awful so we decided to quit a day early and head for home.
It was a very enjoyable and productive trip for me right down to the last photo. Thanks for looking.
Having learned that the train would go further west this day, turning back in Sylva, NC, we headed out in pursuit. However, we neglected to ask where the train would work. We started looking for a location west of Waynesville and found a nice spot where we waited for 2 1/2 hours with no train. As the rails showed no sign that a train had passed we were confident. However, about 11:00 AM we decided to head back into Canton as the Asheville Turn was supposed to leave at noon. About twenty minutes after we arrived back at the office the Asheville Turn was cancelled for the day due to track work so we headed back west.
After lunch we explored a little and found this spot just east of downtown where a pair of CPLs still govern train movements. From a railfan who was waiting there we learned an eastbound coal train was close.
Next we headed up to Lynchburg. However, the weather was poor, the train operations in town were confusing and Saturday traffic was awful so we decided to quit a day early and head for home.
It was a very enjoyable and productive trip for me right down to the last photo. Thanks for looking.
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