In Celebration of the CSX.

[grande man]

More for my fellow CSX fans...

Black Creek, just north of Birmingham's Boyles Yard

 

[trainman1980]

S5T horns

I love the S5T horns on the CSX engines like these I caught.
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=legsbluetrain&view=videos&query=csx+s5t

 

[wheeler1963]

Well I finally had the camera at work, and I had a train too. So here is the local taking empty flats out of Ft. Bragg this afternoon.

2 ES44DC's today. Much bigger power than I normally see.

The engineer was kind enough to let me climb on top of his lead unit to get detail shots!!

He had a string of 60 or so DODX flats behind him.

 

[UP2CSX]

Nice detail shots, Jerome. That's just what we need more of for modeling. I never knew an ES44DC had an RV type skylight on the cab roof. I assume the white, round object behind it is the GPS receiver. That's weird mounting for the Sinclair radio antenna also. Those antennas are directional so they usually get mounted so the ends are in line with the track. First one I've seen mounted sideways. I also wonder why all the horn chimes but one had bug screens on them?

 

[wheeler1963]

Jim, I don't think that is a sinclair antenna. I think that is a grab iron. Notice the one in blue (bottom left corner) of the same picture. That's what I used climbing up from the catwalk on the conductor's side.

 

[V&AL]

I wonder if the "skylight" is what they put in for units that dont come with a roof A/C? prefab cabs might all have the hole for it...

 

[UP2CSX]

Jerome, might be a grab iron but then where's the train radio antenna? I know Sinclair makes VHF radio antennas that look (and are built to be used) like grab irons and this looks like one of them. I think I can see a coaxial cable coming out of the right side. But, then again, I could be completely wrong.

V&AL, do you thibk the unit with the skylight is meant to be sort of sime-permanent "B" unit? The hole was there because they all come from the factory with the hole for A/C but CSX may have added the skylight as the cheapest covering if the unit is not normally occupied. It's hard to imagine a regular engine with A/C in the South.

 

[V&AL]

it's hard to imagine a unit designated a "semi B unit" otherwise why not plate over the windows and yank the control stand?

it is perplexing...

 

[UP2CSX]

Makes sense if you think about it. Leave off the expensive things like A/C and use it as a temporary B unit during hot weather. When things cool down again, you can use it as a regular locomotive. Since most trains have MU'd consists, why provide A/C for unoccupied cabs?

 

[martin_lumber]

The "bonnets", aka bug screens, fall off. That's why it's gone.

BTW, it's a AirChime K5HL....and notice how it's mounted....4 bells back, 1 chime forward. New FRA regulations require Class Is to mount their horns so that 100 feet infront of the loco, they sound at 110 db. Of course, the railroads just decided that it was easier to mount the entire horn BACKWARDS in order to comply with this. Next time at trackside, think about how the government is risking our lives to comply with the yuppie's ears.

Damn government.

 

[V&AL]

yea, cause at 55 MPH the train is moving at 75 feet.. per SECOND. sure I can jump outta the way of a speeding locomotive that fast. but then again, my granddaddy was clark kent...

 

[NC&StL]

Hi folks,
I am a newby here, and I am in the heart of CSX country (Gadsden, AL) and I have a ton of L&N, Family Lines and CSX era photos on paper. I will get a scanner and get some of them posted. I have the F7 pair just outshopped in Nashville back in the early 80's among others, and a Geep with a broken axle (!) at Gallatin, TN.

 

[grande man]

Hi folks,
I am a newby here, and I am in the heart of CSX country (Gadsden, AL) and I have a ton of L&N, Family Lines and CSX era photos on paper. I will get a scanner and get some of them posted. I have the F7 pair just outshopped in Nashville back in the early 80's among others, and a Geep with a broken axle (!) at Gallatin, TN.

Sounds like fun Bob! Post them when you can.

We've been shooting some at Gadsden in recent months. The ATN is a fun little RR, especially considering their ancestry of L&N, NC&StL and Seaboard.

My grandfather worked at a foundry in Gasden in the late 40s - early 50s and my mom has some fond memories of that time.