Hey Now! and then, back to my long walk
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lucky. To start, that locomotive engine pictured prominently in today’s post is older than I am – and that’s saying something at this point in time.
Built in December of 1966, the ‘GP40’ engine originally showed up for work as engine number 183 for the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. In 1970, it changed jobs after a merger and went to work for the Burlington Northern RR as engine number 3013.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
In 1987, BN retired the engine, and it found a new job and identity at the National Railroad Equipment Company, where it became known as NREX 3013. In 1994, this old trooper received a rebuild which brought its emissions into line with modern regulation, whereupon the ‘Carload Express’ outfit bought the unit and branded it as ‘Allegheny Valley/AVR 4001.’
This particular set of tracks, as I understand it, is a part of what AVR calls its ‘Valley Line.’
I asked Google’s AI about this, and here’s its result:
AVR-2 (Valley Line Freight): Primarily a third-shift night job working Sunday–Thursday up the Allegheny River valley to New Kensington and Arnold. However, heavy fracking sand demands mean regular Saturday morning “Sand Extras” run in daylight along this corridor.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Before you ponder, I was on the ‘correct side’ of the signal arms with my back planted firmly on some factory’s chain link fence.
Y’know, was kind of glad that I decided to divert from the Butler Street corridor right around here. Yeah! I’d been ‘out of sync’ with RR shots for the last few walks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
All that I can tell you about their cargo is that these are the the kind of train cars which get filled up from chutes found above, and which then deposit their cargo into chutes found below. Maybe this is that ‘fracking sand’ train Gemini mentioned above? Could be, but as is often stated – I don’t ‘guess.’ All I can offer is the most general form of visual observation, which boils down to what sort of rail car this is.
Covered Hopper Car, I’d wager.
What do you think, railfans?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As I backed away, the secondary locomotive engine appeared. It’s what they call a ‘DPU’ in railroad world.
Also via Google’s AI:
A Distributed Power Unit (DPU) is a locomotive or group of locomotives positioned in the middle or at the rear of a long freight train, rather than just at the front. These units are uncrewed and are operated remotely by the engineer inside the lead locomotive cab using a radio-based control link.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Sated, your humble narrator returned to his miserable course.
If defeat, humiliation, and personal dissolution could be given human form, it wouldn’t appear as pathetic or horrific as that which greets me in the reflections of store windows while scuttling past. I used to be pretty.
I look like the personification of six of the seven deadly sins these days, manifested within a badly functioning human body that’s armored in scars and drowning in sorrow.
Children cry, dogs howl, birds fly away in a panic.
Well… most birds… the Canada Gooses are always a different story.
Back tomorrow.
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Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
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