A Manassas bound Virginia Rail Express train is seen departing Alexandria Station on a hot summer afternoon.

Passing through the remains of the Southern yard at Monroe, Virginia, N&W 1218 pulls some Roanoke=bound freight.

Amtrak Northeast Regional 171 is seen departing Alexandria, Virginia. The train originated in Boston and will terminate in Roanoke, Virginia later in the evening.

NS 821 fights up Christiansburg grade at "John Farm" in Shawsville with the 1800 on point.

The first SD70ACC rebuild, 1800, leads empty coal NS 821 west through Wabun, Va.

Empty grain NS 51V thunders west through Wabun, Va with a dash-9 on point.

N&W 1218 rolls south through Shipman, Virginia with a short freight train. The A is on a ferry move between Charlottesville and Roanoke.

A still relatively clean older AC44C6M rebuild leads a late evening 23g east by the old Marion Depot on the Pulaski district.

Daylight is quickly fading on the overcast day as NS 202 isn't far out of Bristol on it's way to Roanoke for a crew change. Leading is an SD70ACC rebuild.

Continuing on its “deadhead” move from Charlottesville to Roanoke, Virginia, N&W 1218 saves some diesel fuel for the company, bringing some freight through Covesville, Virginia. In four days, it w... (more)

An SD70ACU leads an extra NS 15T, M5T, west through Shawsville, Va.

Westbound intermodal NS 217 works up Christiansburg grade in Shawsville. You'll notice on the mountains in the background that the dust from Africa has made it's way into the area.

One of the little publicized aspects of many N&W 1218 excursions was what happened when the destination did not have facilities to turn the huge 2-6-6-4. On this day, the A had led a long excursio... (more)

NS 194 rolls east through Glenvar, Va on the Whitethorne District with the Nickel Plate heritage unit leading.

NS 194 rushes east at control point Kumis on the Whitethorne District with the Nickel Plate heritage unit on point.