Here is DMIL 8240 on the Fuller interchange track with IC 18044, the very first car I ever bought! (January 1985). The former 40' gondola has been lengthened to a tolerable 50', and my dad was able to get Seth himself (the owner/operator of The Train Barn, where I bought it) to autograph the car.
471 passes under an automated lap counter at speed. Counting gets harder for me when I run out of fingers, so it's a good thing my lap counter can do it for me. Those GP40s continue to rack up the miles...
The ramp to "The Elevation" (or upper level) turned out to be literally a 5% grade. Hard to imagine what it was like when NS was still running on Saluda grade, doubling and tripling every train! Unfortunately the DMIL has to do likewise, and what you see here is the result of a car coming upcoupled and the ensuing runaway that piled up on a diamond. Had another runaway last week--put several cars on the floor and damaged most of them. This is not for the weak of heart! In time, the plan is to lengthen and reduce grade of the ramp, to a more reasonable 2%. Until then, sending trains out of Muskegon is going to be a little dicey...
DMIL's pair of SD40-2s idle east of the diamond at Fuller, waiting for a CR transfer to pull through with another Essexville coal train.
Video is of 471 on track 1 (to Muskegon) and an Essexville coal train C910 initially bound for Durand on track 4.
DMIL in action
Thanks for the kind responses!
1
Message Thread
« Back to index