Ashland VA 04.23.23: The Long Way Home

I entertained thoughts of lingering in the Reading area the day after the Oneida Clipper Revenge excursion ( • Tripping On Anthracite... ), but the desire to start the journey home was stronger in the end. It might have had something to do with the 10+ hour beating taken while standing in a concrete floor open-air car...a good burn, but a burn nonetheless.
0:00 - Amtrak 80, Carolinian
A major backup near Doswell had turned I-95 into a circus (or rather, more of a circus than usual), so I was singing the praises of GPS and Route 1 as I stopped off in Ashland an hour or so off my original ETA. First to arrive after I took my place on the platform was Amtrak's northbound Carolinian, led by P42 129.
0:55 - CSX M410/Amtrak Northeast Regional 158
The passengers waiting for Northeast Regional 158 saw a headlight in the distance and reflexively crossed the tracks, but crossed back in plenty of time when the railfans present pointed out that what they were looking at was not an Amtrak train. M410 was first to the station, powered by ES44AHs 723 and 3184. A short while later 158 drew up alongside to conduct its stop, led by P42 147.
5:11 - CSX M416
Northbound manifest M416 kept the pace of afternoon traffic steady as it hustled through town behind CW44AH 594 and ES44AH 866, with ES44AH 748 on DPU duty. And how about that Bentley convertible parked down by Cross Bros.?
8:54 - Amtrak 90, Palmetto
If you're going to get cloudscrewed while railfanning, make it happen while watching a workaday Amtrak I say. P42 72 led Amtrak's Palmetto northward a few minutes before 5.
10:07 - CSX M421
Scanner chatter of another train doing a roll-by inspection of the Palmetto was a clue to keep the camera ready. Southbound manifest M421 rolled through town minutes later, led by ES44AHs 906 and 3080.
13:37 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 195
195 apparently suffered some kind of mechanical boo-boo on its journey, as it was sporting two P42s on the head end (48 and 163) when it arrived.
15:35 - CSX M301
Southbound manifest M301 was shorter than the freights that preceded it but did include clean CM44AC 7030 as the DPU, assisting ES44AH 946 on point.
16:55 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 124
Off by 1 - P42 125 provided the motive power for 124's 5-car consist.
18:23 - Amtrak 53, Auto Train
From the 5-car 124 we jumped to the other extreme in Amtrak train length on the RF&P Sub. P40DCs 835 and 837 led a 49-car southbound Auto Train.
20:12 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 157
The light was fading fast as 'Big Game Train' P42 187 led Northeast Regional 157 into the station.
22:22 - Amtrak 91, Silver Star
One more from the other side of the platform as the southbound Silver Star cruised past the station, with P42 123 leading its Phase III heritage rostermate 145.
#train #trainspotting #railfanning #railroad #amtrak #ashland #virginia #travel