[HD] Railfanning Norfolk Southern's Roanoke District - July 2019

I made my way back to the Shenandoah Valley to railfan the Norfolk Southern Roanoke District and the CSX North Mountain Subdivision. The Norfolk Southern Roanoke District is one of the few lines that still uses the old N&W CPL signals. For 3 consecutive days, I shot trains at Stuarts Draft, Waynesboro, Elkton, Crimora and Shenandoah, Virginia! I was even able to shoot NS 1069 and NS 1800 for the first time! This was a very fun trip!

B&O and C&O became Chessie System in 1972. CSX became a company in the 1980’s. There was talk in the mid 1980’s of abandoning the North Mountain Subdivision, though that never happened. CSX kept the line to run empty coal and grain trains west out to Clifton Forge. CSX leased the line to the Buckingham Branch in 2004.

Also, N&W J Class steam locomotives did not run on the Roanoke District. However, the K Class did. Some K Class locomotives were rebuilt to resemble the J Class locomotives. K Class are 4-8-2 steam locomotives. In 1946, K Class steam locomotives operated passenger trains in the Shenandoah Valley until their end.

Train #1: NS M6T

NS 1069 - SD70ACe
NS 2644 - SD70M
NS 7641 - ES-40DC
NS 2671 - SD70M-2

Train #2: CSX 166 West (V608-03)

CSXT 166 - AC4400CW
CSXT 65 - AC4400CW

Train #3: NS 15T

NS 7504 - ES-40DC
NS 9256 - D9-44CW
NS 6987 - SD60E
NS 8143 - ES44AC

Train #4: NS M6T

NS 4112 - AC44C6M
NS 8120 - ES44AC
NS 4149 - AC44C6M

Train #5: NS 201

NS 4175 - AC44C6M
NS 4191 - AC44C6M

Train #6: Amtrak P050

Amtrak 163 - P42DC

Train #7: Amtrak P051

Amtrak 20 - P42DC

Train #8: NS 16T

NS 7598 - ES-40DC
NS 9065 - D9-44CW
NS 9071 - D9-44CW
NS 1086 - SD70ACe
NS 9026 - D9-44CW

Train #9: NS 15T

NS 4263 - AC44C6M
NS 9628 - D9-44CW
NS 9543 - D9-44CW
NS 1155 - SD70ACe

Train #10: NS 201

NS 7240 - SD70ACU
NS 4187 - AC44C6M

Train #11: NS 16T

NS 1800 - SD70ACC
NS 9077 - D9-44CW
NS 9538 - D9-44CW
NS 8168 - ES44AC