Petersburg VA 05.09.15: Crossover Appeal, Part 1

Any trains are better than no trains at all, but sheesh. We were off to the slowest start in recent memory for a day of railfanning, 3 trains in 4.5 hours (4 trains if you count the intermodal I missed at Emporia). The weather was also a bit of a bummer initially, but we had high hopes for improvements in both the weather and the train count as we packed up to slide a few miles north from Carson to North Collier. It was abundantly clear the sun was winning the battle as we arrived at the already-bustling 'Railfan Parking Lot', but oh, the heat and humidity! I was hitting the drink cooler hard, even just standing still (remember kids, stay hydrated!), and the breeze from every passing train was a welcome, albeit temporary comfort. Fortunately, there were far more of those temporary comforts to be had here than at Carson. At 1:06, P42 75 led Amtrak's southbound Palmetto through the curve under the Halifax Road bridge, creating the first of those welcome breezes as it rattled over the interlocking. At 1:27, the northbound Carolinian recreated the scene in the other direction, led by P42 97. Had the Carolinian been just a couple of minutes later we would have had a meet, as Q439 rounded the curve at 1:30 behind AC6000CW 635 and C40-8W 7679. Despite a 35-minute break, inattention to the tracks and/or the scanner meant I rushed to start the camera by the time I heard the southbound Carolinian approaching at 2:05, led by P42 17. I was plenty ready when grain train G757 appeared 9 minutes later, but the fact that the train was moving much slower than P079 might have had something to do with it too. At 2:26, we got a glimpse of what Q438 had been up to since it kicked off our morning further south in Carson (see 'Best Laid Plans'    • Carson VA 05.09.15: Best Laid Plans  ). What had been a 3-unit lashup was now twice that size, although the additional units were dead in tow. Tucked in behind SD70MAC 4806, SD50-2 8584, and SD60I 8723 were C40-8W 7815, ES40DC 5409, and GP40-2 6295. With the dead units in place, the train continued with the business of working in the yard, most significantly to pick up the trash containers that formerly would have been carried on Q702. In the midst of Q438's puttering about, another northbound Amtrak (likely the Silver Star, based on the other symbols I saw later) managed to sneak past behind the freight. I had hope for witnessing Q438's pullout up close and personal, but after one final reverse move the brakes applied with a loud hiss and a sigh, and the crew settled in for what looked like a long wait for departure. Time to cross the road and see what was happening on Norfolk Southern, methinks.