Ashland VA 08.10.19: A Platform Approach

When I arrived in Ashland for an afternoon visit on August 10th, the first thing I noticed was what was missing - and no, peanut gallery, I don't mean the trains. In preparation for the upcoming platform renovation, the local garden club had removed most of the landscaping north of the station, save for the tree and a few flowers. Fortunately, the trains weren't quite as sparse: 0:04 - First up was Amtrak's northbound Carolinian at 2:23, led by P40 837. 1:11 - At least we got the longest lull of the visit out of the way early; all the better to let the sun move to a more favorable angle. At 3:37, Q031 rolled through town under the leadership of a '1 by 1' lashup that has become the norm. ES44AH 928 was on point, backed up by sister unit 884 serving as a DPU closer to the rear of the train. 3:58 - Platform onlookers milled about at 4:09 as Q301 marched down track 2, led by ET44AH 3316 and AC4400CW 82. The gondolas on the head end afforded a longer look at the 82's increasingly rare 'YN2' livery as the power faded into the distance. 7:47 - If you're going to nail only one shot in Ashland, make it the Flagship - or Big Daddy, or whatever term of endearment for the Auto Train tickles your fancy. The August 10th edition of Amtrak 53 put in an early appearance at 4:58 behind P40s 830 and 815. 9:12 - The Silver Star wasn't far behind, passing 11 minutes later behind 'Big Game Train' P42 157 and unadorned sister unit 172. 9:52 - Often the first train of the late afternoon Amtrak rush, Northeast Regional 195 was third as it pulled up to the platform at 5:19 behind P42 87. Q409 overtook the Regional as it conducted its business, preventing a look at the power except for ES44AH 751 working as the DPU near the rear of the consist. 13:36 - The platform crowd had thinned out by the time the northbound Palmetto arrived at 6:10, but the greeting was no less enthusiastic as P42 117 and train cruised past. 14:18 - Look closely as Northeast Regional 66 approaches and you'll see a second headlight in the distance. As P42 202 and its train took care of business at the platform on track 2, ES44AHs 3179 and 3108 overtook it with coal drag T685. 18:03 - The second parallel meet of the day probably should have been my cue to stop there, but I couldn't resist lingering for one more. In a much quieter scene, P42 43 led Northeast Regional 99 into the station just before 7:30. I tried to move to incorporate the moon into the departure shot, but in my haste to do so I wound up obscuring it behind a tree branch. Sometimes you shoot the moon and win, other times not so much.