Five years ago today, the first train of 2014 to run (over my territory) on the Lafayette District was stack train 21T. NS decided to close down the railroad for the New Year's holiday, so this train was tied down in Peru, Indiana sometime during the afternoon of December 31st. It began snowing on New Year's day and continued throughout the night. The roads were a mess, but my signal duties called, so I trudged through the snow-covered roads to perform my monthly signal tests/inspections at the County Road E 1400 N crossing. While I was there, the Fountain County plows passed through leaving a sizeable pile of snow on the crossing. I immediately spotted a good photo op, and with 21T already calling signals to my east and just a few minutes away, I readied my camera to record the train's passage. Afer shooting all three units in a barrage of chunky, wet and flying snow, I quickly took refuge inside my truck and did my best to do a roll-by inspection as the lengthy train rolled by at 57 MPH!
