Manchester, Ga March 2004 Part 4
Down the line, I stop in Smythville for a look
at an always interesting site. I find Progress Rail mobile working on the
trucks of EMDX6346. On the ready track, I find a recently arrived GP8 from Carolina
Piedmont. Last stop is Albany. I cannot resist the depot under perfect late
afternoon light. Nothing accessible from NS yard except I finally get an un-obstructed
shot of the COFG office. I move on to Railnet where I find the 2 Camas Prairie, a few GP10s
and a couple of repainted CN GP40-2W sitting on the ready track along with
what looks like a GP10 painted red with the word Railnet on the long hood.
No photo as only half of the engine is visible from the road. Does anybody
know where that one is coming from? After dark, I run into CSXT 712 and 504 pulling a very long Q681
out of Thomasville with cars that looked loaded for the most part. It will
pick a bad order in Quitman left by the local and take it to Waycross for
repair. He will have to move at the restricted speed of 25 MPH all the
way. This is actually not that big of deal on the Bowline these days as
neglect of the line continues. Before that, I had stopped and watched the sun go down on the tracks
of the old ACL line to Albany now Railnet barely visible in the distance. The end of a glorious day by the tracks!
