Well, there was a big time train derailment in Painesville, Ohio on CSX. No on is sure what caused this derailment. I'm pretty sure that they will get down to the root cause of this one soon.

Here is a link to a thread at Trainorders - http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1509910

R.J.Corman is at the scene. I have seen these guys in action once. They will have there work this time removing the wrecked cars.

Norfolk Southern runs a coal train that comes from the Powder River Basin. This train starts somewhere on the BNSF. I'm guessing that it changes hands in Chicago. Somewhere a NS unit with cab signals gets added for the Cleveland Line. This line once belonged to the famous Pennsylvania Railroad. Some trains make there run over the Cleveland Line at track speed while others crawl. Amtrak's Capitol Limited glides along this line at a pretty good clip. There is a coal train that heads west that receives helpers on the rear end. I'm not sure where this train starts at.

Here is a picture of the coal train mentioned above. A trio of EMD SD70 series units (NS SD70M and BNSF SD70MAC) working hard to pull PRB coal upgrade near downtown Cleveland, Ohio.

I have posted questions about the GP39 at the following links:
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,1498636
http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=20158

In the April 1992 issue of Trains magazine, there is an article "Run 8 to Apex" by Kevin EuDaly. Apex was located on the Johns Creek subdivision in Kentucky. In Kevin's article, he briefly talks about the C&O locomotives assigned this coal hauling division. From his pictures, it looks like the C &O used GP7/9's, GP38's and GP39's to haul cool over the Johns Creek sub. The ride up to Apex hit 3% causing these units to run in the red zone in run 8 with wheels slipping and engines screaming off the mountains.

While out today taking pictures, I had a chance to find a GP39. It not too often that you find a GP39 on any Class 1 railroad today. EMD only produced 23 units; 20 ended up on the C&O. No long hauling coal in Kentucky, CSX 4298 (C&O 3918) is now configured as a remote control unit.
I wonder if this unit ever had to go over Apex........

I created a "pen" name, Boomer Hoghead. My favorite author inspired me, Samuel Clemens. Most boys of his era who grew up along the great Mississippi dreamed of working on a steamboat and maybe becoming a river captain. So I guess that while learning the trade and terms of being a riverboat man, he picked his pen name. Mark Twain" (meaning "Mark number two") was a Mississippi River term: the second mark on the line that measured depth signified two fathoms, or twelve feet—safe depth for the steamboat. So what that in mind, I searched for a suitable railroad name. I decided to combine two terms from the railroad. Boomer is a person who has worked for many railroads due to the lack of work on the roads. Hoghead is a old term for engineer. So I just combined the two to form Boomer Hoghead.


Over at Trainorders.com, there is a post at about the term Boomer. Check it out at http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454469

Here is a post about a F40 being used in work train service. I never liked what Amtrak did to these locomotives to make them ready for freight service.
http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?1,1454008