Thanks for posting this fantastic view of the Southern Ron! It's what I also remember as a youngster, only in my case the the EMD wagons were painted Soo Line, just a matter of location! I often wonder if the young fans of today will look back as fondly on ES44's and SD70's. From my perspective...not bloody likely. But by letting my mind wander back to the mid 60's, there was a time when I felt EMD wagons were a boring sight to behold! In any case thank you again for posting some of your classic views lately.
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Another amazing image of a bygone era Ron. I agree with Chuck, will we remember today's diesels as fondly as F units, RS2s & 3s, or early Geeps. Not likely.
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I think the reason we do remember these E and F units is they were built to be rolling logos of each company and of the craftsmanship of the designers. The rolling rectangles that ride the rails now-a-days don't produce that sense of awe, in us, as they go by like the older trains did. Look at the steam engines, at one time they were considered to be dirty, filthy, noisy, monsters. Now we go out of our way just to get a glimpse of one that is still working. I believe that future generations of railfans will look at the rectangles and act the way we do now about our legends.
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Great shot. This location is actually Nickajack Hill outside of Mableton, Ga, as I spent many a day in my youth there. We saw mostly black F's in my days, capped off at the end of the day with a dead head of E-8's on The Crescent on his last leg into Atlanta from Birmingham. By the time he reached us he was really moving. I can still see the sparks flying at night as he had to brake hard going into the curve before Cooper Lake Road...
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Growing up in upstate NY in the late 70's early 80's I missed alot of great railroads and units. I can say for sure I love the era's prior to 1985 the most. It takes a real special photo of modern day locomotives to catch my eye. Honestly I dont understand why there are so many photos of Amtrak and their sleek engines on here, so hohum. But I guess we should be thankful that railroads even still exist today.
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