June 29, 2006
I can see the OHCR's line through Zanesville when I peek out my office window, and should I hear an airhorn I usually take a surreptitious peak out the window to see what is passing. Wednesday afternoon, I got a late look at the northbound's power disappearing behind the downtown buildings. The rear of the leader looked more yellow than normal, but I passed it off to a slightly obscured view.
Thursday, when I saw the loaded gons head north much much later than normal, I headed out to find the train. The track swings westward enough that the train heads into the lowering sun. A late train, although rare, is a great thing.
Thusly I was surprised when I saw the leader of the train, the former CSX 4602. I had heard rumors and rumblings about new former CSX arrivals, but I didn't know it had hit the road. It was a former yard engine, an aging Sd40, and looked positively stubby next to one of the Ohio Central Sd40-2s and it's long back porch.
The train changed crew north of town, and I drove around waiting for it to leave. When it started to move, I headed north of town to get the train wrapping itself around a curve normally better suited to cloudy days. I had visions of the train rolling through the Dresden street running during the nice evening light.
The train took forever to get to my spot, only a few miles north of the crew change. When the engineer saw me lingering by the crossing, he laid on the horn, all the way through the crossing. From down low, the train towered over me as I crouched to get the shot.
As I headed north, thinking of places to shoot the train suited to the evening light, my cell phone rang. A plumber had been summoned, trouble was a foot. So I had to turn around. But the whole ride home I thought about the joys of the Ohio Central. Jointed rail, winding wooded right of way, and an eclectic, ever changing roster.
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