NS 7025         
As typical of this time of year, NS performs is annual track work blitz among many districts and subdivisions and Alabama of course is no exception. A listen to the scanner brings or chat with someone at NS or just general hubbub in groups tend to rear out odd train numbers. Many gasp and clutch their pearls as they scramble to the tracks to see these mystery double digit, lettered ending trains. After all, the rice crispies tell us that since its an odd train it most certainly will have odd power. Where that may had been true some years before that is not the case today. However a few years ago these lowly work trains tended to be squanderers of equally lowly power. Old high hoods of SOU and NW lineage, the long in the tooth SD50's and SD60's, senile PR43C's that seemed to do everything you didn't ask them to do, those 5500 series that were bastardized from old high hoods and even beyond in their years C39-8's. The moral of the story seemed to be "That old gray mare, she ain't what she used to be" is what lead. There wasn't much rolling the dice in the motive department when considering what units to assign these trains. Rolling of the dice would have been an honor, by the looks of things it appeared they were bowling for food stamps. Time marches on though. With all the aforementioned units serving currently as razor blades, yard slugs, working for others or stored, others must fill those shoes. While there may be no documentation photographically that NS 6619 ever lead a work train, after a face lift and rebuilding she certainly most would. The February 1986 built 6619 was stricken from the NS roster in 2015 and after a stroll through the Juniata forest, she emerged in 2016 as SD60E 7025 and placed into service 3/12/2016. This January morning finds NS 7025 leading an NS work train as it snortingly barrels through Leeds, AL. Despite my lack of enthusiasm of the ubiquitous leader and ponderance for the ghost of what once was, the engineer made quite the show with the '25 lugging that work train through the little town at full track speed with horns blaring and the prime mover rumbling. Though what once was no longer looked the same, the actions of what is made me a kid again if even for a moment
Date: 1/6/2019 Location: Birmingham, AL   Map Show Birmingham on a rail map Views: 214 Collection Of:   Chris Martin
Locomotives: NS 7025(SD60E)    Author:  Chris Martin
NS 7025
Picture Categories: Action This picture is part of album:  NS East End District
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Name Type Comments Date
Mike Maskel General NICE SHOT 1/8/2019 11:06:26 AM

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