Roanoke, VA Railfanning 3-19-19

I'm currently on a vacation right now. I'm currently in Roanoke for a couple days. I quite like the Star City, it's a busy railfan location with rich history dating back to the N&W days. If you all remember, I visited here in August 2013, May 2015 (to see the 611 returning home), April 2017, and August 2017. Today I went railfanning at the Amtrak Station that had been completed since my last visit, restoring rail passenger transport in Roanoke for the first time in decades. I love that new viewing platform! Anyways, hope you enjoy today's rail actions.

Clip 1: Riding over the railroad on Gainsboro Road.

Train #1 (0:12): I arrived at the station just in time to catch what appeared to be 29G going by with an SD70ACe leader. SD70ACes are cool, but there are engines more special than that. SD70ACes are basically EMD's version of the GEVO.
SD70ACe 1118
SD60E 6965 (ex-SD60 6590)
C44-9W 9327

Train #2 (3:27): A little while later, an unidentified NS manifest goes north with a P5 Dash 9 on the lead and a bit of a hornshow. While I don't really like when horns are on the wrong locomotives, I don't mind this because I at least saw the engine before the horn blew, so I wasn't fooled.
NS C44-9W 9720
NS C44-9W 9611

Train #3 (7:50): An unusual switching move goes by the station. Two GP38-2 rebuilds (one being an Admiral Cab and one being rebuilt from a GP38AC and sporting the Operation Lifesaver scheme) goes by the station pushing an M930 NS caboose. I even got a wave from one of the guys riding the caboose.
GP38-2 5668 (ex-N&W GP38AC 4135)
GP38-2 5092 (ex-SOU 5092)

Trains #4 and 5 (9:26): In the distance, you can see an NS hopper train approaching with an ex-BN SD40-2 leading. It was stopping at the junction to allow a westbound empty coal train to go by. Most trains go by here slowly, but the coal train was rolling along. The sound of those hoppers hammering the rails was amazing. Once the empty coal train cleared, the short hopper train was able to get underway again. He had a ton of N&W hoppers.
NS hopper train
SD40-2 3539 (ex-HLCX, nee BN 7168)
AC44C6M 4095 (ex-C40-9 8862)

NS empty coal train
C44-9W 9603
SD70M 2644

Train #6 (18:58): Train actions were picking up around this time. I have no idea if this is a local or even possibly 189, but a freight train glides by the station with a GP40-2 in the lead! If it was one digit down, I would have caught myself from Tales on Springfield Railroad. But these were actually the same units that led NS V17 in Petersburg the other day, but with the Dash 9 in the lead. I was surprised, but it reminded me of 2014 at Acca Yard with I caught a CSX GP38-2 leading an SD70MAC on a freight. Sorry for the shakiness, I forgot to use the tripod for this one. I used the alternate camera because I was charging my main camera.
NS GP40-2 3022 (ex-Conrail 3315)
NS C44-9W 9609

Train #7 (25:11): A massive NS 763 goes through Roanoke with 6 engines, including a Shadow Bonnet C6M trailing. When I saw the engine in the distance, it looked like a GEVO, but it turned out it was an AC44C6M. Coincidentally, I also caught 4003 leading NS 195 in Elliston last year.
AC44C6M 4006 (ex-C40-9 8808)
SD70ACe 1038
SD70ACU 7315 (ex-NS/UP SD90MAC 8178)
AC44C6M 4149 (ex-C44-9W 8929)
C44-9W 9388
AC44C6M 4003 (ex-C40-9 8839)

Train #8 (31:36): NS 65W, an empty tanker train, is the next to go by with NS 8099, the Southern heritage unit, trailing! That was quite a surprise.
ES44DC 7575
ES44AC 8026
ES44AC 8099 (Southern heritage unit)

Train #9 (37:53): The same switching move from earlier heads east, this time after picking up two tanker cars from the yard.
GP38-2 5668
GP38-2 5092

Train #10 (39:14): A very long and slow eastbound NS 188 (since it took the Blue Ridge District east) accelerates out of Roanoke with a trio of GE power and a smokeshow good enough to rival an ALCO. This train had a lot of CN boxcars and BNSF/BN covered hoppers.
NS C44-9W 9830
NS AC44C6M 4145 (ex-C44-9W 8892)
NS ES44DC 7717

Train #11 (50:39): An NS local with a LHF ex-N&W SD40-2 in Run 8 hurries into the yard. It was fitting for the ex-N&W unit to run long hood forward since the N&W along with the SOU and the PRR had a habit of doing this. They can do as good as Mater from Cars (I made this same reference on my April 2017 Roanoke trip when I caught an NS Dash 9 running LHF fast). No need to watch where you're going, just need to know where you've been.
SD40-2 6129 (ex-N&W 6129)

Train #12 (51:53): To conclude today's outing, that same switching move once again reverses back into the yard with one tanker this time. They dropped off the tankers from earlier and picked up just one. It's likely that these are for the Coca Cola facility near the museum, but I can't know everything. After this, off to the Sleep Inn where I would later enjoy a take-out dinner from Rancho Viejo (the Mexican restaurant across from the hotel) while editing this video.
GP38-2 5668
GP38-2 5092

Thanks for watching! More to come soon.