Railfanning 7-1 and 7-2-2012

Hi, Friend Marc Laborde and I headed down to North Carolina on July 1 to attend the first day of the NS Family Portrait event at the North Carolina Transportation Museum on July 3 (see post below).  As we headed south along the tracks we could here NS #213 leaving Bristow, Va, the crew change point just south of Manassas, VA, so we elected to wait at Calverton we photographed the train passing under a classic Southern Railway signal bridge.

We were able to get ahead of the train an photographed again at Winston, VA south of Culpeper.

We got behind 213 at this point.  However, without realizing it, by Lynchburg we were ahead of it and #211.  We were unable to get any more photos until the bridge over the Yadkin River  on the north end of Spencer, NC.  Here we shot a northbound freight, and

and 3 southbounds, including

#211.

The next morning we went into Salisbury, NC to photograph around the station.  The first train to show up was #18M.  It waited west of the station for

Amtrak #73, a 403B train funded by NC DOT.

Once #73 cleared, #18M headed for Linwood Yard, a few miles away.

Shortly thereafter a local went west.  The building at the left is the old freight station.  It is located within a wye formed by the mainline to Atlanta and the route to Asheville, NC.  Local interests are attempting to preserve it.

Our final train in the depot area was #214.

We then went exploring around Linwood yard and found a grade crossing on the main line by pass around the yard.  Here #214 heads north.  Number 18M was making a pickup out of sight deep in the yard.

Right behind #214 was Amtrak #74.  That's a former GO Transit F59 on the point.

After lunch we returned to the Salisbury station for Amtrak #75.

We had seen this caboose sitting on a string of empty coal cars outside a power plant in Spencer on Sunday and went back to photograph it on Monday.

We then went to Landis, NC, about 10 miles south of Spencer for the rest of the afternoon.  Friend Doug Koontz, a former North Carolinian suggested this town.  The first train was this westbound stack train followed by

 

a westbound freight.

In quick succession around 6 PM were Amtrak 76,

#299, and

and eastbound freight
.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.