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80 years ago on this very day in 1944, the Allied Forced made commenced the largest amphibious assault in history on the beaches of Normandy, France. This assault would begin the Allies push into occupied France and the start of the end of the Axis reign in Europe. Now in 2024, NS 391 found itself sporting none other than CP 6644 "Honoring WWII Veterans" which sports the unique invasion stripes that were applied to every Allied aircraft used in the assault. Today, we honor those men who died on those beaches, and whose spirits never returned from Operation Overlord.

With the sun fading fast, BNSF 9691 and BNSF 9688 bring a set of manifest cars down the hump lead in Tulsa, Oklahoma for classification. This is most likely the last stand for these old SD70MACs, with many of their brothers already being stored in Alliance, Nebraska, never to turn a wheel under their own power again. Soon these MAcs will join their brothers, but until then, they serve the Tulsa hump, classifying cars till their time is up.

Barely beating out the last inklings of daylight, CSX loaded phosphate B211-23 roars through the small town of Rebecca, GA with a pair of CP AC4400CWs on the head end. Quite a nice blend of colors from the sunset and the CP red.

After catching a pair of trains on the CSX W&A sub, I managed to get ahead of this NS 391 in Flovilla just as the sun began to set. Power for this train was a pair of aging UP AC4400s, one in the ex SP style and one in the ex CNW style builds.

Making its way south from Flynn Yard in OKC, the OKC-Gainesville local rolls past the former ATSF depot in Pauls Valley, OK with a pair of former ATSF "Super Fleet" GE C44-9Ws on the point. For the majority of the year, these locals have been featuring Warbonnet duos, trios, and recently, even a quad set. Who knows how long this will last, as more and more of these former Santa Fe Dash 9s are being rebuilt, stored, or scrapped.

With traffic ahead of it at Plant Bowen, local L810 holds at Old Stilesboro Road with RF&P 6394 on the head end. 6394 is the second unit that has been assigned to this local to receive a nose repaint to “as built” paint, with the first being CSX 6914 receiving the infamous “Chessie System” nose.

For the first time in 4 years, the TVRM Summerville Steam Special turns off the NS interchange at 23rd street and enters onto Chattooga and Chickamauga Railway trackage for the trip to Summerville, GA. Powering the special are the two steam workhorses of TVRM, SOU 630 and SOU 4501.

Headed back east on L810, CSXT 6914 lugs its local back towards Cartersville, GA.