Colorful consists on this line
is the rule for the general freight trains. CSX, of course, but also a
lot of UP and SP power bring anything from second generation SD40-2s and
Dash 7s to the newest SD70s and Dash 9s. Full UP consists are actually
quite common as the line from New Orleans to Jacksonville has been called
"The UP extension". In the late nineties, leased engines from Helms, LRCX,
CEFX, EMDX, RMGX, GATX and others were added to the consists on a regular
basis during the power crunch after the Conrail merger (see Leased engines
on the Tallahassee Subdivision).
Links to photos:
General Freight I General Freight II General Freight III General Freight IV General Freight V Chattahoochee (River Junction),
Fl; September 1997. EB Freight.
This was one of my first sight of a freight train on the Tallahassee
Sub. Back then, I probably did not fully appreciate what I was looking
at.
A few years away from the Megamergers, an eastbound freight is brought
in by this colorful consist past the "Panhandlers" yard office.
Tallahassee, Fl; April 1998.
PAC F C what? and tell me that number again...Lead engine of a westbound
freight. The reputation of SP for not taking care of their engines appearance,
mostly after the failed attempt to merge with ATSF, lives on.
