On the road again

[District_History_Fan]

This Alabama and Tennessee River RR (ATN) train was supposed to have departed Gadsden, Al on its way to Guntersville at 1300. I found a place along the route and waited to get the shot. The train didn't get out of Gadsden until 1440... Welcome to the world of railroading, lol.

The ATN runs some cool old equipment. In this shot, the locomotives are ex Canadian National GP40-2L built by EMD (GM) in the mid 70s. The wide nose, "safety cab" design was new then. Now its the pretty much the norm.

ATN system map http://www.omnitrax.com/fmASMap/maps/AlabamaAndTennesseeRiverRailway.png The railroad is made up of trackage from historic predecessors such as the L&N, Seaboard, NC&StL and sports a bridge over the Coosa river that was built in 1888, Hardwick tunnel (1911), "The Rope", a 180 degree curve leading into the tunnel, and has its main railyard boardering the former site of the historic Gadsden steel mill (Republic Steel).

In this image, a consist of two GP40-2Ls pull a 26 car freight up Sand mountain.

Large version http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3503037206_68a9c288bb_o.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3348/3503037206_493ce40aff.jpg

[Skippy]

Great shot Eric. I love that curvy track. Thank you for searching this spot out and sharing it with us. It is a :thumb: picture.

Skippy

[desert dreams]

The track alone would have been a nice shot, Even better with all the combined elements the crossing sign, the exhaust, lights, etc..
Bill

[District_History_Fan]

Thanks for the comments.

BTW, for anyone interested, this was shot with the Sigma 120-400 OS at about 150mm. I love my L glass, but have developed a soft spot in my heart for this lens. :-) It has been fun so far!

[DsmPat]

I really like this shot. Train photos are spectacular.

[TrainManTy]

Very nice! Those GP40-2Ls really get around, don't they? We still have a few up here on the New England Central Railroad, but the rest have spread themselves all over the place!