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On our first chase on the northern half of the Clinchfield, we made Clincho our primary stomping ground as we awaited the YN2 duo on X852. There are many iconic shots to choose from in this area, and so we took what we could get and went with it. This was the first time we had ever shot anything between Boody and Elkhorn City, and so we made the most of the opportunity.

R613 is roaring down the Poorfork towards NRG with CSX 363 leading the charge, still in its as-delivered YN2 paint scheme. We made it with only 2 minutes to spare; we received notification upon exit from the tunnel by Rhea and rushed down from the house. As we stepped out of the truck, and met another railfan by name of Will Jordan, we heard the horn sound in the distance. Perfect lighting, perfect morning catch.

One lucky evening in my early years of photography, I stumbled upon a rare find on the CV. In a world among Gevo’s, an Ex-L&N SD40-2 found its way back to trackage that chances are it had hauled coal on many decades before. My presumption is that it came from Kingsport on its MOW train; inexperienced me at the time wasn’t aware how rare it was to see one of these powerhouses on this coal sub. Of all things, I shot on an Apple IPad at the time; probably the best photo I ever took on it.

The day began as the Eastman train barreled down upon Loyall with 45 empties and a YN2 leader, a classic scene that is only ruined by the trailing YN3 ES44AH. This was strange compared to the normal operations, as they usually load the full 90 cars, take 45’s in 2 trips and brung the entire 90 empties back. The dispatcher got themselves into a bit of a pickle however. R615 was rolling in on Main 2 and the other 45 Eastman loads was on Main 1. In the yard tracks, only 3 are inspected and up to date for use, the rest are for storage or just out of service. A MOW train of ballast and ties took up one of those tracks, and a set of bad orders was on another, meaning that when Eastman arrived with the loads and went in on the only open track, it was impossible for the power to run around for its second cut. Instead of leaving first, the crew had to wait until the high rail finished up for the R615 instead, better news for me. I opted to catch them coming in by the old Baxter Interlocking Tower, built in 1926.