Ashland VA 4.18.09, Part 1: Morning Has Broken from Fast Flying Virginian on Vimeo.

Part 1 of a 3-part chronicle of the trains through Ashland, Virginia on Saturday morning, April 18, 2009. The traffic was steady, with 14 trains in a little over 4 hours.

The parade began with a northbound intermodal, led by ES44DC 5379 and C40-8W 7705. Just 9 minutes behind the intermodal but on the other track was Amtrak's Northeast Regional 82, led by P42 153. The conductor bid a friendly farewell to a young railfan and his father as the train pulled away.

Next, AC4400CW 565 and SD40-2 8099, smartly dressed in CSX's latest color scheme, rolled south with general merchandise. Stashed in between the head-end string of company boxcars and the tail-end Guilford-era Maine Central boxcar was a well-weathered RF&P covered hopper, back on home rails.

Just 11 minutes behind the first southbound general merchandise came another one, with some heavy-duty power on the point - ES44AC 914 and ES44AH 839. The AH is an update of the standard ES44AC, with extra weight and tweaked wheelslip software added to squeeze out more tractive effort.

Next, Amtrak's Northeast Regional 88 arrived less than a minute (early!) off the advertised at 8:47, led by P42 81. Take a look at the shiny clean undercarriage and wheels on coach 82571 - a fresh rebuild perhaps?

CP Rail -- Spiral Tunnels on Laggan Sub -- Work Train from HJ Mueller (aka The Old Railfan) on Vimeo.

The work train which had been blocking the line finally moved ... after setting out a few cars in the Yoho siding (Mile 129.8). Busloads of tourists asked: Where are the trains?

Four engines (SD40-2), 40 hopper cars and a caboose made the wait worthwhile and provided a change from the usual unit trains.