I'll start this thread out with a unbelievable shot of Amtrak following a NS eastbound about six car lengths away at Pine Junction in Indiana. This train was held up because there was simply no room for it to go around as there were three trains in front of it and three westbound Amtrak trains that had to pass it. We watched a parade of westbound Amtrak trains, one every five minutes until finally the slow moving freight cleared the crossovers about a mile further east.

Take a good look at this shot, the Amtrak train is on the same track, not the next track over!

Westbound CP train




Amtrak and CSX westbound traffic

Some of OUR BOYS!

Nice pictures, Kevin. Sounds like some strange movement going on out there.

Heres a few more,
Eastbound Harbor Belt


CP and NS passing each other


Apair of "Top Hats" line up for the east yard lead


Theres lots more........

Nice shots Kev! I'll have mine up in a while.

Keep em' coming!

Not to worry,there was about 10 of us, here's camp with only half or so with the rest behind me, and judging from there looks there was a westbound headed in our direction.

Well, i'm standing behind my camera getting ready to shoot, so yep, there was a westbound commin'!

The question is which one, after about 75 trains they were gettin hard to shoot

Was it that many? Wow! We did good! That's for sure...

As always, our "Mom's" (Meeting of the Minds) are always filled with much comradery and lots of trains! I am the eldest of the group, but my railfan protocol dates back to the early 70's. My philosiphy (sp) is to get up early and get there early. As with most of our other gatherings, I live the furthest away; but am always 1st to arrive. Rather than try and post a lot of pics here, I am posting a link to my Photobucket album. 1st shot is a grab out the windshield cruisin East on I-88 at 5:59 am (37 minutes out of Rockford). After 131 miles of driving, I arrive at Pine Jct at 7:24 am; 2 hours and 2 minutes exactly. Kevin & son Patrick were next to arrive at 8:00 am with 6 trains passing prior to their arrival. Number of trains for this day (12 hours approximate) was never determined. The shots I am posting are in conjunction with shooting video also.
Enjoy!
Ron K of Rockford

http://s37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/akaj...20Jct%208_9_08/

Nice pics in your set Ron! Too bad, I couldn't make it this time.

Thanks Ken, we missed you; but there will be more to come as always!
Ron K of Rockford

Nice shots Ron! I will review the days catch and give a close number on how many trains we saw.

1. The IHB Burns Harbor Job heads east on the NS past a work train sitting in the siding.



2. The work train heads east out of the siding.



3. Amtrak follows closely on the heels of a freight train. This train sat in front of us for 30 minutes. Who knows how long Amtrak was behind him. As he came by, we all raised our arms in the air as a "What gives?" The engineer responded by raising his arms as a "I have no clue!"



4. An NS SD60 being run from the right side of the engine heads west with pigs.


5. Two recently repainted South Shore GP38-2s lead the daily turn to Barr Yard on the CSX.



6. This rarely happens. The two AC4400s were not enough to get the train up the hill to the J, so they sent down two of their dazzling SD38-2s to help. SD38-2s and AC4400s MU'ed. Kinda funny.



7. HAHA! By this point, everyone except for Neil, Steve, and myself had left. Good things come to those who wait! A "Deemer 9" (DMIR 9) pulls a cut of cars out to Pine Yard for the NS.

Great shots Ron and John. As usual the surprises always come after one leaves! I expected the Shore train but the DMIR was a surprise

Suck eggs, John !! Just kidding, great shots; and of course great catch (DMIR).
Ron K

Collectively, between everyone, from the first one there to the last one gone, we saw at least 80 trains. Yes, i'm serious. 80 trains.