@@timmcquaig711 Yes Auto Train would have gone through Ocala but it would have been dark by the time they got there. Also you'd be surprised how many of us Train crewmen watch Danny's videos. They are more educational than most topics CSX can teach.
I've never understood those "impatient drivers." Every time I get stopped by a train at a crossing (which is rare for me), I get as excited as a kid in a candy store. Keep up the great work!
Most people aren't really into trains, though, and more and more people have a "got places to go, things to do!" attitude. A few count the number of cars, but fewer even think about what it's carrying or where the thing is going. If they see a mail train, they may not even realize that their Amazon order from last night may be inside one of those containers.
That always makes my day, I have a train track on the other side of field from, probably half a mile away, I get to watch them from my kitchen until the farmers plant corn there
Yeah. I've seen drivers go around gates with some detrimental results because of it. I lived in one town, where this was quite common. I was first in line and the gates went down and didn't care. Some lady in her fancy Jaguar decided it was too much to wait for the train, a local doing about 15 mph, to come along because he just pulled out of the industrial park. She went around me and got clipped. Her car andwas pushed down the tracks while taking out line side stuff all the way. No one was hurt, but her car was pretty mangled! This crossing has seen other incidents as well due to the commuter station nearby. Idiots see the train stopped at the station and go around the gates rather than wait a minute for the gates to raise up which they do if the train just pulled in. Yet again another fancy car driver was more interested in his appointment and scooted around the gates just as the commuter train started to move. No one was injured this time either, but this cost him his car and insurance bigly.
Some interesting and unusual (for me at least) sightings: Amtrak locomotives running tail-to-tail like most freight locos but unlike passenger locos there and here in Canada (Via Rail), and then the Amtrak train pulling auto-racks at the end! Great catches Danny! Thanks.
Wait a minute......13:49. That is the first time I had *ever* seen a GE unit withOUT the air tanks recessed into the fuel tanks! I did some research after watching this video, and realized that quite a few of the newer AC4400CWM's are like that. I read further, and discovered that by moving the air tanks above the fuel tank, the locomotive gained roughly 10% on fuel storage. As far as I know, CPKC and Metra are the only companies with this variant of fuel tank on a GE unit, and I find that moderately fascinating lol. Those little details get me every time 😆
You know, for once, i would love to know why someone would give these videos a thumbs down? These videos are on-point! EVERY one of them... continue the good work DH.
Hello from Cornwall Pennsylvania. Great job as always. Not only do I appreciate your videography, Danny, but I also enjoy the history lessons as well. Way back when (1950s) I followed the Florida East Coast, even before and during the Ed Ball era and the bitter strike which ultimately made the FEC so unique among Class I railroads. But my knowledge of FL railroads is piddling next to yours so....Many thanks as always. Thanks also for your personal email response to my message. I’ll be back to you soon. I headed north from visiting my family in FL on 3/16, boarding #92 at Winter Park that Monday, in the early evening. That was the day all the Chinese Virus restrictions kicked in big time, and the sleepers were deserted. My wife and I each in a Roomette and just one other couple occupied in the entire car. When we arrived at 30th St. on time (!) Tuesday afternoon at rush hour, we were literally the ONLY living souls in the massive train hall there, except for 2 Amtrak ushers. Talk about eerie!! We made a quick connection to our Keystone Corridor train to the Lancaster area and home. We were very lucky. The nest day the Keystone Corridor trains were cancelled. They’re still not running as of now. Thank you for your fine channel and the personal contact. Both are much appreciated. Stay safe and healthy. Happy Easter. We’re doing our Easter family get-together by teleconference. Sad but true. CAS.
Hi Charles. Sounds like you had a nice ride. I would have loved having a sleeper car all to ourselves, but it would have been a little lackluster not meeting any other passengers on the train. That's one of my favorite parts of train travel. We're doing the sam thing for Easter. My wife I I will be on a Zoom with our kids and other relatives call sometime today.. It sure ain't the same. Thanks very much and Happy Easter to you. Danny
Another outstanding video Danny! A small tip for you about trains and combining them... Hunter Harrison's philosophy was why run one train when you can combine them and run 2? Here, train 119 was a mixed manifest out of Montreal. 651, empty ethanol came up from Albany. It had to go through the yard in Montreal, so, Hunter had them combined to save time, wages and shareholder money. They were then split in Winnipeg when the manifest kept heading West and the empty ethanol went South back to the fields to be filled back up.
Greetings from Buffalo NY. Home of CSX Walden Yard 6, a junkyard for old rail cars, adjacent to an uncoupling yard on Broadway which has fascinated me from a young age. As you get closer to Harlem Rd, the loading yard for shipping containers and automobile haulers sits next to several lines, including a pair of unused spur lines running to commercial properties. If you ever find yourself up this way, it is prime viewing!
Great informative video as usual. Your comment about the flip-top hoppers and how they were emptied reminded me of my first year at Dupont Chemicals in LaPorte Tx. One of the "general helper" jobs was to climb into the gondola which had been full of cliche' and shovel out the remaining cliche' so Mr. Dupont didn't pay for anything he didn't get. The hot Texas sun sure made that day long. Good memories just the same. Thanks for the "way back" memory, and keep the video's coming but stay safe from Covid-19.
This is quite a gift for all of us out here in lock down Danny. Thank you so much for your time shooting, cutting, recording and mixing. You know all that production value is NEVER wasted on a guy like me. When all of this virus nonsense is over we will defiantly see you in out there on the" High Iron." Be safe my friend.
That was alot of information about this line. I often wonder what kind of education these engineers and conductors have to experience before that get out on the rails. Great video Danny. Stay safe.
Typically you start as a brakeman which is about 100 hours on the rails. Conductor is an additional 100 hours on the rails plus classroom. Engineer is 200 hours throttle time. At least on the RR I work on.
For CSX, Conductor trainees get 2 weeks of rules and procedures training followed by 4 weeks of job shadowing. If the trainee is ready by then they will get cut loose and be given a job as a conductor. Most of my cubs got a second four week period so they could be ready, if they were green coming in. Engineers are usually conductors that have applied for an opening and were selected. Training as an engineer requires a rules and procedures class followed by 160 hours as a student engineer. Once they have completed this, they get a ride-along with a DSLE to show they are knowledgeable not only in the ability to handle the train but also that they know their territory. A stop test is performed, usually with a great big banner across the track that reads "STOP - Obstruction in Track" and it's placed somewhere unexpected, somewhere that they are not going more than 20 mph and they generally have enough time to see it and stop. If they can do all of these correctly, they are cut loose as an engineer.
Always full of good info. One thing I've wondered...why do some engines have amber strobes on the roof (like the one at 11:15-11:30) and others don't...when are they used? Switching? Industry? On certain lines? Might be a good topic for covering in another video, too, though I'll welcome a reply here. PS: I like the longer length here; never can get too much of Distant Signal productions and DH!
Strobes are often indicative of Remote Control power. They can only be operated by Remote in a designated RCO zone though so you'll never see it in RCO mode outside of a yard or plant.
In the early 80's - after CSX Corporation was formed but before CSX Transportation was created to operate the entirety of the CSX properties my work group occupied cubicle space adjacent to the Operations Planning Department of Chessie System. Operations Planning KNEW that Centralized Dispatching was going to happen and the ALL tracks/milepost had to be uniquely identified so that computer systems could know what was being accessed. Chessie System personnel assigned the Milepost designations for Chessie System Trackage; Seaboard personnel assigned the Milepost designations for their portion of the railroad. In general - B&O trackage starts with a B; C&O starts with a C, ACL trackage starts with a A, SAL trackage starts with a S, for some reason L&N trackage was given a numerical ZERO as a prefix. Others have been incorporated over time such as the RF&P when it became a part of CSX was assigned CFP as their Milepost designation. YMMV!
Another great and informotive, video, as always Mr. Danny Thank you and look forward to meeting you 1 day on the high iron, I'm an enginer for Amtrak on the NEC
Awesome video Danny! Nice mix of information and trains. Now one thing, the Portsmouth Sub, which spurred out of Norlina NC, originates in Weldon not Richmond. It's a fun piece of railroad all things considered.
I like the fact that you don't do excessive 'panning' when it comes to your video's. Most people just prefer to cut off their video's after the locomotives pass. Today i saw my first ever CSX Phosphate hoppers (8 minute mark) and it was on this video, can't wait for a manufacturer to release them in either N or Ho Scale. I'd be buying a bunch!!!
Thanks Patrick. While I like locomotives very much, they're not the only thing that interests me about railroading. I like the actual operations and business of railroads. If you spend a day just looking for engines or a single engine, you miss a lot of other stuff.
Danny, you have me dumbfounded!! The SCL timetable you showed up close at 07:12 was from my hometown of Franklin, VA. WOW we've hit the big time!!! Of all the tables and locations you could have talked about you chose a little corner of southeast VA and northeast North Carolina. Sure had the memories flooding back of the days I watched the SCL moves around town and the Union Camp paper mill. The Norfolk Franklin & Danville (NF&D) went past our house so to see the SCL meant a short bicycle ride to the other side of town to a friends house were he lived by the SCL. Love the videos!!
Ha! Thanks so much Alex. Yes, I have all those old SCL timetables. Well maybe not all, but I have one from each division. The SCL era was certainly a great time to be a young railfan.
Distant Signal yes it’s autumn here and we are in lockdown... only four reasons to go out and none include rail fanning! I’m building my N Scale layout so I don’t mind too much! Be safe and take care...
Danny, enjoyed this video immensely thus also really like the CSX crews having a great rapport with you by acknowledging when they see you, thats great 👍.One of the top notch rail fanners,that be you Danny. You & your family take care & be healthy & you be safe along the rails. 😎👍👍👍🛤🚂
Great clip, Danny! I love the long ones! So neat to hear your name called out by the train crew, respecting your long-standing passion for all things rail. Man, you are such a cool dude! Keep it up; I gobble up everything you post!
Greetings from New Jersey. The one positive thing about the internet - and there aren't many - are videos like these that you and so many others create and upload. Sometimes I enjoy the straight trains passing the camera videos that so many put out - and then there are those that are informative as well. Yours are informative, with a sprinkle of drama via your great narration. Looking forward to your next one. Everyone, stay safe.
Sir, I've been binging on your videos all night. Excellent videography and narration. You'd make an excellent television news reporter or TV news magazine correspondent.
@@distantsignal It's been my pleasure. I made a comment on another of your videos about a MaxTrac shown in it. Is that one of your radios? Just noticing it said channel "66". Not a lot out there with the 99 channel modified logic boards.
Yeah, I had that done around 2002 to that MaxTrac. I usually only ran the scan list with 4 or 5 channels though. It was too slow to do 'em all. I sold it in '05 for a CDM-1550 which I've used up 'til now. When I get my truck back from the shop I'm installing a new Kenwood NX5700. Looking forward to that.
Comment. Comment. Comment. YT algorythm happy? Good algorythm, atta boy! Seriously, thank you Danny for this post. It is so good to see you out and about!
What a great video Danny. Incredible footage. It was so nice to hear your voice again. So calming and takes me away from all the troubles in our world today. Be safe and keep up your fantastic videos.
Nice catches! I enjoy learning about railroad prefixes and what they are about! I also like the Amtrak Auto Train a lot and also enjoy the narration a lot! Really nice!
Great surprise from you with a new video!!! Kind of breaks up the shelter in place. Please be safe out there and was hoping to see.and meet you at Folkston, but that didn't happen. Stay safe and please keep up the excellent videos
Great and informative video, especially picking up AT at Lakeland Junction going up the Vitas. We are locked down here in Australia and could get a $1600 fine if we went out railfanning, so great to see this. Best regards and stay safe.
Thanks for sharing the meanings of the former ACL/SAL mileposts. I was in FL in early March and rode the “‘Meteor” up to Charleston. Stay safe! And as always I enjoy your videos. I always learn something! Paul in Edmonton.
2:24 they do not require a code. They are triggered by time if the block is granted authority from either end. Or they are unlocked by proximity, when the train is on top of or relatively near to the switch. When I was a young cub, an old head taught me to pop the lock as the previous train was going over it so we wouldn't have to wait for time to run afterwards. That's kinda against the rules... If you look at the locking mechanism a little closer you'll see a window near the hasp where you put your foot. Inside the window is a readout that reads either "PADLOCKED" "LOCKED" or "UNLOCKED" and that is the indicators we get as crew. If it says locked, that means we are waiting for time in the block to run out. And Block time is usually calculated by the distance of the block and the time it will take a train going at track speed to get from one end, to the other.
@@Walkwith7 thanks, brother! Danny is usually never wrong. And a code to activate them would sure save us the 10-20 minutes of waiting. I can't count the number of times I have been standing there waiting for time so it would unlock.
ClawdyaTube listen I know. Its a pain. Danny is the best. When I went to new hire I watched his videos on signals and it helped me understand them way better now. I love the railroad its a fun job annoying but its easy
Great video. Living out west I've never seen the Auto Train. I have seen that style of Auto Rack though as TTX cars and wondered where they came from. Thanks, stay safe. Rob
Good afternoon Danny! At 19:00 there's an engineer that says the same thing. How cool is that?! I love these longer videos of yours because you go more in depth about explanations of RR stuff that is Greek to us armchair railfans. Thank you for all you do for us.
I've been subscribed for quite awhile and get notified when you put up another video. I've been a train nut since I was a young kid. I'm also happy to see old steam engines brought back to life, and the best one of all is the Union Pacific #4014 'Big Boy'. I do have an HO scale Rivarossi 'Big Boy' #4001.
Great video as always, Danny. While I love to hear the details and things about the railroad, I also really like to hear your little stories and things like what you had for lunch that day. I think it gives your videos a bit of personality, and I know you didn't go hungry that day! Keep up the great work!
Hi Danny, thanks for the very interesting video on route labeling, the history of some route segments and the rerouting of the Auto Train. Always fun to see and hear your railfanning adventures. - Dean from Minnesota
WOW, what a great surprise towards the end of the video, I would have loved to witness that. Im glad this was a longer video, great job BTW. Watching it does make me miss your wonderful state of Florida though, we were headed there at the end of this month again, but.........hopefully this fall things will get better. PLEASE, Stay Safe out there, wherever you go, we don't want anything to happen to our favorite railfan.
Great video. Of late your videos have been what has kept me busy during this time of the covid-19 pandemic I think I've watched all of them. Keep going and stay safe.
Cities requiring no horns are doing themselves and auto traffic a disservice safety wise. I live in a little town in NE Texas of 900 on the old International & Great Northern, MP, UP between Palestine and Longview, TX. This is the combination of a northbound line out of Houston and northeastern out of Austin. Since I have lived here from 1998, Amtrak has come through going northbound several times, occasionally several days in a row. When this happens the train misses Ft. Worth and Dallas, TX.
you need to come to Duluth Minnesota. You would have a ball watching the trains going down the hill from Proctor to the ore docks over Lake Superior and back.
Another great video Mr. Harmon. Thank you for the time you take to make such great, interesting, and informative videos. I look forward to meeting you in person some day. Keep up the great work and stay safe.
So nice to see your video this morning Danny! It's been a while and we missed ya! One of the lines not mentioned here was the old Wildwood to Orlando route which was the SX line. More than half of the route is gone now, the remaining being the branch line between Tavares and Orlando. I remember as a kid, seeing trains through Leesburg and the old bridges and railbed that connected Leesburg to Tavares. But I never got to see a train run the distance. Very cool though and with your explanation of the lines being in alphabetical order it makes sense as to the prefix letters now.
Well what a pleasant surprise this morning, plus I will say Good Morning Danny! It must make you feel great to hear an Engineer say 👋🏻👋🏻. You always seem to come up with new and interesting topics, and that Auto-train catch was top shelf. Thank You! Please keep yourself and family safe during this time.
You guys down there in Florida have some great spots to catch trains in action. The bonus is you generally have great weather too. I live near Washington DC about 20 minutes outside of it in VA, the best spots around here for scenic, beautiful shots is an hour or so drive to western VA to the Appalachian mountains.
I've been making a train simulation game on Roblox and these videos have helped me with some inspiration to make these games more realistic. Love your videos! :D
I said it once and I'll say it again Danny you really do remind me of Jim Boyd because he used to narrate and show up in a lot of the film's he worked on with Mark 1 video and like yourself he was also very passionate about the topics, very respectful about the railroads and very informative about there operations
Danny; I always enjoy the railroad's communications links you include in your videos. And you do your best to decipher those messages coded language. You seem to do it better. then the average railfan enthusiasts. With that stated, more than likely, the radio gear you employ has a better electronics design for doing this, plus, as it appears, you provide a cable connection from the radio audio to your camera/camcorder, rather than using the external microphone of the camera to capture the loudspeaker sound from the radio monitor. By the way, the annoying squelch cut-off sound, wouldn't be noticed, if all of the railroads were able to have a different frequency spectrum in the UHF bands to operate, because they could go to a shared and encrypted trunking radio system; just like the radio systems currently employed by Public Safety Agencies nation-wide. When a microphone is unkeyed, the electronics designed automatically will shut off any extraneous band noise; hence, no annoying squelch racquet is heard.
Ha! Thanks very much Timothy. I have to say I LOVE THAT SQUELCH CUT OFF. That's what makes it sound like a two-way radio. All that digital and trunking stuff just sounds like the phone to me.
Totally Awesome! Yes, I subscribed! I'm in one of those places we can see both AutoTrains. Richmond VA and Acca Yard. Well at least pass by. Keep up the great work!
Great video! Shame those classic 8 inch gateless signals near the start were abandoned, but neat to see they're still there. Also quite glad to see the classic crossing signals at 14th Street still survive, especially that rare Federal Signal mechanical bell! This video also makes me wonder what the "000" (or it could be "OOO") prefix on the ex-L&N Mainline across Alabama could've meant... The ex-ACL CSX Lineville Sub also uses an ANJ prefix, interestingly enough.
19:00 "Good afternoon, Danny". Why do all the good crews have to be there.
Exactly what I was just about to say
Thats the second video Ive heard the engineer say Hi Danny ! You know who it is Danny ? Also did the Auto Train run through Ocala on that route ?
@@timmcquaig711 Yes Auto Train would have gone through Ocala but it would have been dark by the time they got there. Also you'd be surprised how many of us Train crewmen watch Danny's videos. They are more educational than most topics CSX can teach.
@@SD40Fan_Jason I always figured Train Crewmen wathe Danny's videos, there so educational.
@@porkchop2218 we also watch them to see if we are in any of them! =D
I've never understood those "impatient drivers." Every time I get stopped by a train at a crossing (which is rare for me), I get as excited as a kid in a candy store. Keep up the great work!
Most people aren't really into trains, though, and more and more people have a "got places to go, things to do!" attitude. A few count the number of cars, but fewer even think about what it's carrying or where the thing is going. If they see a mail train, they may not even realize that their Amazon order from last night may be inside one of those containers.
Jonah Bishop It’s the best feeling to get stopped at a railroad crossing...when you’re a railfan.
That always makes my day, I have a train track on the other side of field from, probably half a mile away, I get to watch them from my kitchen until the farmers plant corn there
Yeah. I've seen drivers go around gates with some detrimental results because of it. I lived in one town, where this was quite common. I was first in line and the gates went down and didn't care. Some lady in her fancy Jaguar decided it was too much to wait for the train, a local doing about 15 mph, to come along because he just pulled out of the industrial park. She went around me and got clipped. Her car andwas pushed down the tracks while taking out line side stuff all the way. No one was hurt, but her car was pretty mangled!
This crossing has seen other incidents as well due to the commuter station nearby. Idiots see the train stopped at the station and go around the gates rather than wait a minute for the gates to raise up which they do if the train just pulled in. Yet again another fancy car driver was more interested in his appointment and scooted around the gates just as the commuter train started to move. No one was injured this time either, but this cost him his car and insurance bigly.
I don't mind sitting at a crossing and watching a train go by as I like to watch trains ever since I was a young kid.
“Good afternoon, Danny!” Wow, thats awesome. Great crews. And you can keep those CP GEVOs. They run by here way too often. And Max is a great guy.
Hands down danny you are the best railfan I like to watch!!.. the paul Harvey of rail fanning!!..
It's my first time hearing him. He does a fantastic job. Really, he could to investigative reporting. He's good!
Ditto! Nice job Danny
Some interesting and unusual (for me at least) sightings: Amtrak locomotives running tail-to-tail like most freight locos but unlike passenger locos there and here in Canada (Via Rail), and then the Amtrak train pulling auto-racks at the end! Great catches Danny! Thanks.
Wait a minute......13:49. That is the first time I had *ever* seen a GE unit withOUT the air tanks recessed into the fuel tanks! I did some research after watching this video, and realized that quite a few of the newer AC4400CWM's are like that. I read further, and discovered that by moving the air tanks above the fuel tank, the locomotive gained roughly 10% on fuel storage. As far as I know, CPKC and Metra are the only companies with this variant of fuel tank on a GE unit, and I find that moderately fascinating lol.
Those little details get me every time 😆
Thanks for pointing that out. I would have never noticed it.
I've enjoyed your channel for a couple years now. I'm a CN conductor in Green Bay, WI. Great stuff very much appreciated in these difficult times.
Good work on your job sir. Please stay safe and congrats to the employees of CN on working safely. 😃
Am an old CN/CPR/VIA railfan and enjoy these CSX videos and your informative comment! 😀🇨🇦
"good afternoon Danny". Gosh, you have such a neat production that the crews know you. Never stop!
You know, for once, i would love to know why someone would give these videos a thumbs down? These videos are on-point! EVERY one of them... continue the good work DH.
Hello from Cornwall Pennsylvania. Great job as always. Not only do I appreciate your videography, Danny, but I also enjoy the history lessons as well. Way back when (1950s) I followed the Florida East Coast, even before and during the Ed Ball era and the bitter strike which ultimately made the FEC so unique among Class I railroads. But my knowledge of FL railroads is piddling next to yours so....Many thanks as always.
Thanks also for your personal email response to my message. I’ll be back to you soon. I headed north from visiting my family in FL on 3/16, boarding #92 at Winter Park that Monday, in the early evening. That was the day all the Chinese Virus restrictions kicked in big time, and the sleepers were deserted. My wife and I each in a Roomette and just one other couple occupied in the entire car. When we arrived at 30th St. on time (!) Tuesday afternoon at rush hour, we were literally the ONLY living souls in the massive train hall there, except for 2 Amtrak ushers. Talk about eerie!!
We made a quick connection to our Keystone Corridor train to the Lancaster area and home. We were very lucky. The nest day the Keystone Corridor trains were cancelled. They’re still not running as of now.
Thank you for your fine channel and the personal contact. Both are much appreciated. Stay safe and healthy. Happy Easter. We’re doing our Easter family get-together by teleconference. Sad but true. CAS.
Hi Charles. Sounds like you had a nice ride. I would have loved having a sleeper car all to ourselves, but it would have been a little lackluster not meeting any other passengers on the train. That's one of my favorite parts of train travel.
We're doing the sam thing for Easter. My wife I I will be on a Zoom with our kids and other relatives call sometime today.. It sure ain't the same.
Thanks very much and Happy Easter to you.
Danny
I always wondered what the lights on the side of passenger cars meant.
Trainfan1055 yellow means the brakes are applied, green means released
@@Railfan9743 don’t some also have red, or are those just doing double duty for doors?
@@jaysmith1408 red is usually doors are released, and white means a guard/conductor is keyed in there(usually on commuter rail equipment)
@@jaysmith1408 And for others red only comes on when the emergency breaks are applied
what is the meaning of the 4-digit on trains side..
Another outstanding video Danny! A small tip for you about trains and combining them... Hunter Harrison's philosophy was why run one train when you can combine them and run 2? Here, train 119 was a mixed manifest out of Montreal. 651, empty ethanol came up from Albany. It had to go through the yard in Montreal, so, Hunter had them combined to save time, wages and shareholder money. They were then split in Winnipeg when the manifest kept heading West and the empty ethanol went South back to the fields to be filled back up.
Greetings from Buffalo NY. Home of CSX Walden Yard 6, a junkyard for old rail cars, adjacent to an uncoupling yard on Broadway which has fascinated me from a young age. As you get closer to Harlem Rd, the loading yard for shipping containers and automobile haulers sits next to several lines, including a pair of unused spur lines running to commercial properties. If you ever find yourself up this way, it is prime viewing!
Yay a new distant signal video!
MBTA & More Productions You and me both! 😆😄
Nice when a crew recognized you. Great informative video Danny.
Great informative video as usual. Your comment about the flip-top hoppers and how they were emptied reminded me of my first year at Dupont Chemicals in LaPorte Tx. One of the "general helper" jobs was to climb into the gondola which had been full of cliche' and shovel out the remaining cliche' so Mr. Dupont didn't pay for anything he didn't get. The hot Texas sun sure made that day long. Good memories just the same. Thanks for the "way back" memory, and keep the video's coming but stay safe from Covid-19.
This is quite a gift for all of us out here in lock down Danny. Thank you so much for your time shooting, cutting, recording and mixing. You know all that production value is NEVER wasted on a guy like me. When all of this virus nonsense is over we will defiantly see you in out there on the" High Iron." Be safe my friend.
Hi Danny, I am sure that the engineers appreciate your videos like we do. I love your attention to detail. Yeah, trains are truly complicated.
That was alot of information about this line. I often wonder what kind of education these engineers and conductors have to experience before that get out on the rails. Great video Danny. Stay safe.
Typically you start as a brakeman which is about 100 hours on the rails. Conductor is an additional 100 hours on the rails plus classroom. Engineer is 200 hours throttle time. At least on the RR I work on.
For CSX, Conductor trainees get 2 weeks of rules and procedures training followed by 4 weeks of job shadowing. If the trainee is ready by then they will get cut loose and be given a job as a conductor. Most of my cubs got a second four week period so they could be ready, if they were green coming in.
Engineers are usually conductors that have applied for an opening and were selected. Training as an engineer requires a rules and procedures class followed by 160 hours as a student engineer. Once they have completed this, they get a ride-along with a DSLE to show they are knowledgeable not only in the ability to handle the train but also that they know their territory. A stop test is performed, usually with a great big banner across the track that reads "STOP - Obstruction in Track" and it's placed somewhere unexpected, somewhere that they are not going more than 20 mph and they generally have enough time to see it and stop. If they can do all of these correctly, they are cut loose as an engineer.
I nominate this video as "Railfan Video of the Decade" - Thanks as always for sharing your passion.
Always full of good info. One thing I've wondered...why do some engines have amber strobes on the roof (like the one at 11:15-11:30) and others don't...when are they used? Switching? Industry? On certain lines? Might be a good topic for covering in another video, too, though I'll welcome a reply here. PS: I like the longer length here; never can get too much of Distant Signal productions and DH!
Strobes are often indicative of Remote Control power. They can only be operated by Remote in a designated RCO zone though so you'll never see it in RCO mode outside of a yard or plant.
In the early 80's - after CSX Corporation was formed but before CSX Transportation was created to operate the entirety of the CSX properties my work group occupied cubicle space adjacent to the Operations Planning Department of Chessie System. Operations Planning KNEW that Centralized Dispatching was going to happen and the ALL tracks/milepost had to be uniquely identified so that computer systems could know what was being accessed. Chessie System personnel assigned the Milepost designations for Chessie System Trackage; Seaboard personnel assigned the Milepost designations for their portion of the railroad. In general - B&O trackage starts with a B; C&O starts with a C, ACL trackage starts with a A, SAL trackage starts with a S, for some reason L&N trackage was given a numerical ZERO as a prefix. Others have been incorporated over time such as the RF&P when it became a part of CSX was assigned CFP as their Milepost designation. YMMV!
0:36 just took my breath away; what a gorgeous pic !!!! i love empty tracks; wonder where they may lead to.
Another great and informotive, video, as always Mr. Danny Thank you and look forward to meeting you 1 day on the high iron, I'm an enginer for Amtrak on the NEC
THANKS! I hope we meet up somewhere under the wire up there!
Awesome video Danny! Nice mix of information and trains. Now one thing, the Portsmouth Sub, which spurred out of Norlina NC, originates in Weldon not Richmond. It's a fun piece of railroad all things considered.
You have the Best Voice and Most Information out there. You’re Almost Overqualified for RUclips. 😬 👍 Thanks and Stay Safe!
I like the fact that you don't do excessive 'panning' when it comes to your video's. Most people just prefer to cut off their video's after the locomotives pass. Today i saw my first ever CSX Phosphate hoppers (8 minute mark) and it was on this video, can't wait for a manufacturer to release them in either N or Ho Scale. I'd be buying a bunch!!!
Thanks Patrick. While I like locomotives very much, they're not the only thing that interests me about railroading. I like the actual operations and business of railroads. If you spend a day just looking for engines or a single engine, you miss a lot of other stuff.
Danny, you have me dumbfounded!! The SCL timetable you showed up close at 07:12 was from my hometown of Franklin, VA. WOW we've hit the big time!!! Of all the tables and locations you could have talked about you chose a little corner of southeast VA and northeast North Carolina. Sure had the memories flooding back of the days I watched the SCL moves around town and the Union Camp paper mill. The Norfolk Franklin & Danville (NF&D) went past our house so to see the SCL meant a short bicycle ride to the other side of town to a friends house were he lived by the SCL. Love the videos!!
Ha! Thanks so much Alex. Yes, I have all those old SCL timetables. Well maybe not all, but I have one from each division. The SCL era was certainly a great time to be a young railfan.
Preserving railroad history for future generations. Thanks buddy!
Thoroughly enjoyable video. You have a great voice for this.
That's because he's a pro.
As always another enthusiastic and informative video... cheers from Melbourne Australia!
Many thanks from you blokes!! Is it Autumn down there right now?? It's Spring here.
Distant Signal yes it’s autumn here and we are in lockdown... only four reasons to go out and none include rail fanning! I’m building my N Scale layout so I don’t mind too much! Be safe and take care...
Danny, enjoyed this video immensely thus also really like the CSX crews having a great rapport with you by acknowledging when they see you, thats great 👍.One of the top notch rail fanners,that be you Danny. You & your family take care & be healthy & you be safe along the rails. 😎👍👍👍🛤🚂
That was terrific!! AMTRAK running north on freight line!! WOW. I love your narrative with the video. Learn so much.
Great clip, Danny! I love the long ones! So neat to hear your name called out by the train crew, respecting your long-standing passion for all things rail. Man, you are such a cool dude! Keep it up; I gobble up everything you post!
Thanks so much, Ash. That means a lot.
This is great viewing keeps me glued to the screen in our lockdown in the UK
Greetings from New Jersey. The one positive thing about the internet - and there aren't many - are videos like these that you and so many others create and upload. Sometimes I enjoy the straight trains passing the camera videos that so many put out - and then there are those that are informative as well. Yours are informative, with a sprinkle of drama via your great narration. Looking forward to your next one. Everyone, stay safe.
DJ Ciro Hey there, fellow NJ railfan!
@@edd17sp74 what part of Jersey?
i'm from Middlesex lol
Hamilton
@@edd17sp74 toms river
Sir, I've been binging on your videos all night. Excellent videography and narration. You'd make an excellent television news reporter or TV news magazine correspondent.
Thanks Stacey. Sorry my channel kept you up all night. Ha!
@@distantsignal It's been my pleasure. I made a comment on another of your videos about a MaxTrac shown in it. Is that one of your radios? Just noticing it said channel "66". Not a lot out there with the 99 channel modified logic boards.
Yeah, I had that done around 2002 to that MaxTrac. I usually only ran the scan list with 4 or 5 channels though. It was too slow to do 'em all. I sold it in '05 for a CDM-1550 which I've used up 'til now. When I get my truck back from the shop I'm installing a new Kenwood NX5700. Looking forward to that.
The title of the video doesn't do it justice for how epic catching the auto train must have been! Great video once again Danny stay healthy out there!
Comment. Comment. Comment. YT algorythm happy? Good algorythm, atta boy!
Seriously, thank you Danny for this post. It is so good to see you out and about!
Thanks Walt!
Nice acknowledgement from the crew at 19:02-3 . That's pretty cool Danny.
When that alarm bell goes off it makes my day. WOW! Another great video, Danny. And that Auto Train is one heck of a train.
What a great video Danny. Incredible footage. It was so nice to hear your voice again. So calming and takes me away from all the troubles in our world today. Be safe and keep up your fantastic videos.
Nice catches! I enjoy learning about railroad prefixes and what they are about! I also like the Amtrak Auto Train a lot and also enjoy the narration a lot! Really nice!
Great surprise from you with a new video!!! Kind of breaks up the shelter in place. Please be safe out there and was hoping to see.and meet you at Folkston, but that didn't happen. Stay safe and please keep up the excellent videos
Thanks. Yeah, I couldn't risk it at Folkston this year. Hopefully in December.
Great and informative video, especially picking up AT at Lakeland Junction going up the Vitas. We are locked down here in Australia and could get a $1600 fine if we went out railfanning, so great to see this. Best regards and stay safe.
Thanks for sharing the meanings of the former ACL/SAL mileposts. I was in FL in early March and rode the “‘Meteor” up to Charleston. Stay safe! And as always I enjoy your videos. I always learn something!
Paul in Edmonton.
2:24 they do not require a code. They are triggered by time if the block is granted authority from either end. Or they are unlocked by proximity, when the train is on top of or relatively near to the switch.
When I was a young cub, an old head taught me to pop the lock as the previous train was going over it so we wouldn't have to wait for time to run afterwards. That's kinda against the rules...
If you look at the locking mechanism a little closer you'll see a window near the hasp where you put your foot. Inside the window is a readout that reads either "PADLOCKED" "LOCKED" or "UNLOCKED" and that is the indicators we get as crew. If it says locked, that means we are waiting for time in the block to run out. And Block time is usually calculated by the distance of the block and the time it will take a train going at track speed to get from one end, to the other.
ClawdyaTube your right. I work out here too. I was going to mention that but you hit it on the head
@@Walkwith7 thanks, brother! Danny is usually never wrong. And a code to activate them would sure save us the 10-20 minutes of waiting. I can't count the number of times I have been standing there waiting for time so it would unlock.
ClawdyaTube listen I know. Its a pain. Danny is the best. When I went to new hire I watched his videos on signals and it helped me understand them way better now. I love the railroad its a fun job annoying but its easy
Mind blown with all this information and those old ETT’s - that’s what I like to see! Great video!
The narration, and information therein really sets your videos apart... You do a great job! Thanks for taking the time to put these together.
Morning coffee and a new Danny Harmon video, great way to start the day. Thanks again Danny for another quality video and stay safe.
Thanks Danny, I always enjoy your videos. Now I understand why it takes a while between articles. Stay Well.
Great video. Living out west I've never seen the Auto Train. I have seen that style of Auto Rack though as TTX cars and wondered where they came from. Thanks, stay safe. Rob
Good afternoon Danny! At 19:00 there's an engineer that says the same thing. How cool is that?! I love these longer videos of yours because you go more in depth about explanations of RR stuff that is Greek to us armchair railfans. Thank you for all you do for us.
Thank You for all time and information you put in all your productions! It makes it so much more fun and interesting!
I've been subscribed for quite awhile and get notified when you put up another video. I've been a train nut since I was a young kid. I'm also happy to see old steam engines brought back to life, and the best one of all is the Union Pacific #4014 'Big Boy'. I do have an HO scale Rivarossi 'Big Boy' #4001.
Great video as always, Danny. While I love to hear the details and things about the railroad, I also really like to hear your little stories and things like what you had for lunch that day. I think it gives your videos a bit of personality, and I know you didn't go hungry that day! Keep up the great work!
Danny, interesting insight to signalling with the RC crossing and it’s issues. It’s what I enjoy about you productions
Thanks JohnJP Chester UK
Hi Danny, thanks for the very interesting video on route labeling, the history of some route segments and the rerouting of the Auto Train. Always fun to see and hear your railfanning adventures. - Dean from Minnesota
What a nice and rare find with the autotrain, thank you for this part of railfan history and allowing me to witness this!
Thank you Danny 😊 I was one asking about the letter prefixes. Love all your videos!
THANKS AGAIN !
WOW, what a great surprise towards the end of the video, I would have loved to witness that. Im glad this was a longer video, great job BTW. Watching it does make me miss your wonderful state of Florida though, we were headed there at the end of this month again, but.........hopefully this fall things will get better. PLEASE, Stay Safe out there, wherever you go, we don't want anything to happen to our favorite railfan.
Great video. Of late your videos have been what has kept me busy during this time of the covid-19 pandemic I think I've watched all of them. Keep going and stay safe.
The AR line actually lasted until about 1988. It was an important freight main from ACL days all through Seaboard System.
Cities requiring no horns are doing themselves and auto traffic a disservice safety wise.
I live in a little town in NE Texas of 900 on the old International & Great Northern, MP, UP between Palestine and Longview, TX. This is the combination of a northbound line out of Houston and northeastern out of Austin. Since I have lived here from 1998, Amtrak has come through going northbound several times, occasionally several days in a row. When this happens the train misses Ft. Worth and Dallas, TX.
you need to come to Duluth Minnesota. You would have a ball watching the trains going down the hill from Proctor to the ore docks over Lake Superior and back.
Fantastic video, Danny! Love your 52 catch!
Another great video Mr. Harmon. Thank you for the time you take to make such great, interesting, and informative videos. I look forward to meeting you in person some day. Keep up the great work and stay safe.
I miss those superliner sleepers , I remember seeing those going threw winter haven years ago , nice catch on the auto train
Great video, as always!
I always learn something new about railroading when watching your videos, well done!
So nice to see your video this morning Danny! It's been a while and we missed ya!
One of the lines not mentioned here was the old Wildwood to Orlando route which was the SX line. More than half of the route is gone now, the remaining being the branch line between Tavares and Orlando. I remember as a kid, seeing trains through Leesburg and the old bridges and railbed that connected Leesburg to Tavares. But I never got to see a train run the distance. Very cool though and with your explanation of the lines being in alphabetical order it makes sense as to the prefix letters now.
caught a new one! from a scottish railfan to you! love the videos!
Danny: your videos are the most informative I have ever seen, keep it up
Loved the O709 switching part especially, and the rest of it too! Sad that Class 1s are trying to drive away local business.
Well what a pleasant surprise this morning, plus I will say Good Morning Danny! It must make you feel great to hear an Engineer say 👋🏻👋🏻.
You always seem to come up with new and interesting topics, and that Auto-train catch was top shelf. Thank You!
Please keep yourself and family safe during this time.
Very nice video and auto train detour reminds me of Amtrak Coast Starlight detour on the west coast!
Danny, glad you are okay. Looking forward to seeing your trip. I've seen Ohio on Virtual Railfan. Glad you enjoyed. Stay safe and healthy. 👍
You guys down there in Florida have some great spots to catch trains in action. The bonus is you generally have great weather too. I live near Washington DC about 20 minutes outside of it in VA, the best spots around here for scenic, beautiful shots is an hour or so drive to western VA to the Appalachian mountains.
I was at Falkenberg Road today - 10/19/20. Was all the way to Plant City along SR 574. Not a train in sight.
Excellent Danny,love the long videos
I've been making a train simulation game on Roblox and these videos have helped me with some inspiration to make these games more realistic. Love your videos! :D
LOVE your videos, Danny!!
It's good to see you're doing well, Danny. Can't wait to see your next video.
I keep hoping that I'll see you when I'm in the Lakeland area delivering and picking up food in my semi.
Outstanding video, as usual, Danny Harmon! Thanks for the information on the mile marker letter prefixes. Learn something new every day.
Once again an outstanding video and very informative too! Cheers from Sweden!
Thanks Ollie!! Glad you're still out there.
Great video! Takes care of my Florida train fix since we cancelled due to the pandemic. We'll try again next year!
I wrote a lot of tickets to drivers that failed to stop and/or drive around the gates. Deputy Sheriff in Savannah Georgia for 27 years!
Another excellent production from Distant Signal 👍🏻
I said it once and I'll say it again Danny you really do remind me of Jim Boyd because he used to narrate and show up in a lot of the film's he worked on with Mark 1 video and like yourself he was also very passionate about the topics, very respectful about the railroads and very informative about there operations
Throughly enjoyed the video. Thanks for all your hard work.
Danny; I always enjoy the railroad's communications links you include in your videos. And you do your best to decipher those messages coded language. You seem to do it better. then the average railfan enthusiasts. With that stated, more than likely, the radio gear you employ has a better electronics design for doing this, plus, as it appears, you provide a cable connection from the radio audio to your camera/camcorder, rather than using the external microphone of the camera to capture the loudspeaker sound from the radio monitor. By the way, the annoying squelch cut-off sound, wouldn't be noticed, if all of the railroads were able to have a different frequency spectrum in the UHF bands to operate, because they could go to a shared and encrypted trunking radio system; just like the radio systems currently employed by Public Safety Agencies nation-wide. When a microphone is unkeyed, the electronics designed automatically will shut off any extraneous band noise; hence, no annoying squelch racquet is heard.
Ha! Thanks very much Timothy. I have to say I LOVE THAT SQUELCH CUT OFF. That's what makes it sound like a two-way radio. All that digital and trunking stuff just sounds like the phone to me.
Great video and commitary, I live in Akron Ohio a hot bed for railroading in the early days, my great grandfather was a engineer on the B&O I believe.
Dan,your productions. are. as smoothe as riding on ribbon rail ! Enjoy every production with joy, Keep am comming
Nice catch on that Amtrak autorack train! Stay safe out there!
Thank you, love any day you post something new.
Thank you Danny for the cool video's. I have learned a lot about the way csx and other trains company run their services.
Totally Awesome! Yes, I subscribed! I'm in one of those places we can see both AutoTrains. Richmond VA and Acca Yard. Well at least pass by. Keep up the great work!
Great video! Shame those classic 8 inch gateless signals near the start were abandoned, but neat to see they're still there. Also quite glad to see the classic crossing signals at 14th Street still survive, especially that rare Federal Signal mechanical bell! This video also makes me wonder what the "000" (or it could be "OOO") prefix on the ex-L&N Mainline across Alabama could've meant...
The ex-ACL CSX Lineville Sub also uses an ANJ prefix, interestingly enough.