Held most of the afternoon for other traffic, test train 995 finally pulls through the connection from the former Virginian over to the ex-N&W Winston line. The train is headed south a couple of miles where the two MP15DCs and slug (hump power from Linwood Yard in NC) will undergo "adhesion testing" on Starkey Hill. Today's train includes MP15DCs 2399 + 2400, slug 954 (RP-E4U), "research car" NS 32 for taking and monitoring data, 32 loads of coal, and an SD40-2 and SD60 on the north end (not visible here) which will provide some additional tonnage and allow the train to pull straight back into the yard between each run.
