Ashland VA 06.15.24: After The Smoke Cleared

When I'm not lingering in Cass to ride an excursion like last year, it has become tradition to stop off trackside on the way home from the Parade Of Steam. No sense in letting perfectly good daylight go to waste when there's trains to catch, right? I did not book passage on the trip to Wanless this year, so after bidding Cass farewell until later I returned east and stopped in at the station in Ashland.
0:00 - Amtrak 90, Palmetto
Live music from the sidewalk south of England Street mingled with clanging e-bell as ALC-42 338 led the Palmetto north through town.
0:57 - Amtrak 91, Silver Star
The sun and clouds duked it out overhead as P42 81 and ALC-42 318 cruised through the station with the southbound Silver Star.
1:50 - Amtrak Northeast Regional 124
P42 151 led Northeast Regional 124 into the station shortly before 6 PM. No Chargers on the Regionals - yet.
3:33 - Amtrak 53, Auto Train
Also a motive power holdout, the southbound Auto Train was led by P40s 837 and 832. ALC-42s have begun testing on 52/53, however, so perhaps I'll be capturing the change sooner rather than later.
5:35 - CSX M416
Sherman, set the Wayback Machine to 1967...
The railfanning grapevine was abuzz with the whereabouts of M416, and when it finally appeared it was easy to see why - at least once we got a side-on view, that is. The lead ES44AH had been decked out from the cab rearward in Seaboard Coast Line livery and renumbered 1967, the year of SCL's incorporation. Trailing the 1967 were CM44AC 7259 and GP40-2 4429, the latter almost certainly in tow. Random consist observations: it seems like the cut of intermodal business out of CCX is getting bigger, and despite its length it seems like CSX is getting away from slapping DPUs into the middle of everything except the locals. A little CSX heritage was a fine way to wrap up the day's railfanning.
#train #railfanning #trainspotting #railroad #amtrak #virginia #travel

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2/14/26