Kickin' In High Gear On a wet bright and early May morning, CSX Q582-10 (Atlanta,GA-Nashville,TN) is notching out as the long manifest drag its way through downtown Dalton, GA (MP WA-98.9 Middle Dalton) with an all EMD motor consist at the lead on the Western & Atlantic Sub. As always on a typical Q582 train the head motor consist of the train would have a line of power with the head two motors online, and the rest dead in tow (DIT) on a typical 8,500+ foot long train. Unfortunately for the crew of this Q582 the the two head motor are pretty much hanging on a wing of prayer, and with only 45 rail-miles or so ahead of this crew before ending it's trip at Wauhatchie Yard, it was gonna be a long and hard rest of the trip north to Chattanooga.
The EMD SD (special duty) series are a strong and reliable kind of locomotive which still serve America's rails today. They have proved themselves reliable by clocking in several million miles of freight service over several decades.
