Posted by Jack Wayne on October 6, 2011 
It is amazing to think this is a main line, with regular Norfolk Southern trains routed to and fro between the big yard in Elkhart IN, and (separately) St. Louis; Decatur, IL; Marion, IN; Birmingham; Chattanooga and Macon, GA. In videos I've seen of this stretch some of the trains go amazingly fast for "street running", sometimes at speeds that appear to be upwards of 30 mph. Usually in what's left of genuine American middle-of-the-street railways you see wide avenues, frequently lined by businesses, with appearances by slow-moving, bell-ringing trains. In Warsaw's case, the horns are blasting (as they should) as if these 90-car manifests were at somewhat less than track speed skirting the industrial district at town's edge. What's more incredible is that these trains are going right through a somewhat narrow, tree-lined street with (on one side, at least) neat older upper midwestern urban homes that look like they could have briefly been shown in the closing credits of the old "All in the family" TV show. And look at the CURVE northbound motorists negotiate. In normal 2-way automobile traffic this is mundane, but on a semi-residential street bisected by a railroad mainline... Incredible.
- Post a Comment -