Passing thru a scene with props dating from the late 1800s this westbound freight is about twent minutes from a crew change in Bristol where the former N&W meets the former Southern.

Westbound mixed freight at the place where dispatcher likes to hold them if Bristol is backed up.

My favorite -2 SD is the rebuilt version, more nicely proportioned than the later “kid in tennis shoes”. Rare here but on this day one was handling the local.

Bathed in the reddish sun of a late afternoon a WB mixed freight passes under the iconic pedestrian overpass.

Roaring past the local with a leaser (remember those?) a solid intermodal train (remember those?) is heading for a crew change in Bristol.

“Gut” train daily, but then aren’t they all these days?

Cursed with a very short siding, Abingdon doesn’t get many long distance trains “going in the hole” here. This days intermodal is short and met opposite number (23G) here.

Who knows that this is a short, highly overpowered “bare table” train. The shadow knows! If you get that reference you’re probably old, or a real nostalgia buff. Anyway, doesn’t the ca... (more)

Another fading beauty races west with the (mostly) intermodal train, like a bridal vehicle, with old cans and boxes tied to the bumper in today’s classy manner.

Getting rather funky in its original paint yet still commanding attention, this commemorative unit rounds a shallow curve and tops one of the many humps on the NB line.

SD70ACU 7300 pulls NS 22A west through Abingdon, Va.

EB mixed freight crossing the hump in downtown, passing the moribund former Southern States grain terminal.

WB mixed freight, shorter than usual and no DPUs today.

The most ridiculously long freight scheduled on this line gingerly threads the curves, vertical and horizontal, that make this area infamous for train separations. Seen here approaching a signal ... (more)

Back before it’s rhinoplasty this unit was a common site around here on the local.