Spent a weekend recently on the Tallahassee line from Madison, Florida out to Cottondale and back. Saw some BNSF's, UP's and several interesting artifacts on the line.
As someone with profound hearing loss, it is wonderful to hear such clear, precise narration. No mumbly words or fast cadences. That is greatly appreciated and because of this quality, I learned a lot. Super camera work, especially the pacing scene and the canopy of trees does, indeed, make for some super scenery. Lots of CSX's old grey units are looking rusty and beleagured nowadays, but most of them in this video look washed.
Your videos are simply so awesome ! The amount of detail, the journey to the trains, the commentaries, the sound, the visuals.. just wow! Thank you so much for your time and willing to share what you experience with everybody ! And thank you so much for all the extra information you provide, makes my day to hear your voice!
Distant Signal, honestly in my area, I hear a lot of trains in my area and the reason on why I hear a bunch of trains is because it is a double track main, and at attridge rd in Churchville, NY, when a train gets on the west shore sub, I know that there is a limited clear signal. Since I used that how to read signals video, I know that trains getting on the west shore sub near my house get a limited clear.
When I lived in Tallahassee I would fan that line and you brought back a few fun spots I had forgotten about. Great stuff as always buddy and thanks for having us aboard.
Sorry you got stuck on the wrong side of the siding. Stuff like that happens to me occasionally too. Also, thanks for showing that spring switch - that is really cool!
Another wonderful video. Learned of the spring switch and Douglas City, both of which I wasn't aware. LOve the footage and the sound. Made my day. Thanks Danny & son.
Whenever I had to do a meet at a manual siding, it was common courtesy for the conductor of the train holding the main to Stop at the other end and line it back for the main so the other train's conductor didn't have to walk a whole train. Of course there were the occasional times that the dispatcher did not want us stopping for any reason, short of a safety issue / emergency. But in cases where the meets were restricted to 10 MPH, a quick stop to line a switch was no big deal and saved time for everyone else. Kudos on the video Danny.
Danny...every time i hear the trains..your voice narrating..i think of that great song.."City of New Orleans"..just so mournful and full of nostalgia...thank you for such great videos...
Danny, Excellent job on this video and on all of your train videos to-date. Your narration of what the viewer is seeing is top notch. I really appreciate the maps you have included to see where you are at and/ or what you are describing ... very beneficial. I also enjoyed your explanation of the operation of a spring switch in live action along with the constant changing of the signal at the same time. Keep up the excellent train videos and I am looking forward to your next one. Thank you. John
Don't know how I missed this one, but, wow! One of my faves! You are suited for the long form, Danny. I could sit here all day watching your catches and listening to your stories. So thankful that you share your passion and knowledge, and that you've exceptional skills for this medium. Keep on keepin' on, Danny!
Hey Mr harmon. Love your videos. I just ns 137 on my route. Columbus ga to Birmingham Alabama with ex bnsf sd70mac and i notice the spring switch as it was crossing to the main. Nice action that switch! Nice videos once again. [Csx] 😀
Awesome as usual Danny!!!! Your videos are second to none! Just your knowledge of the whole system is so amazing. I can watch your videos for hours on end!!!!!
Agree. Danny makes the best train videos on TH-cam. His knowledge is spot on. I'm a retired career railroader, and he knows as much as any employee. Most foamers are wrong on half the stuff they post. Not Danny. Keep up the good work Danny
You have an awesome channel here! I really enjoy watching, and today I learned something new! I've never heard of a spring switch before! Very ingenious!
Nice to see you in my neck of the woods. I'm in Tallahassee and was working the day you came into town. Would have been great to meet the voice of Fox 13 Tampa Bay. Keep up the excellent work :-)
I love this stuff on the details of what it takes to a railroad function. Danny your great narration is clear as a bell. And accompanying video is technically excellent. Thank you for your effort.
When I was a young lad (circa 1960) we would drive US 90 from Jax to Tallahassee all the time. I would just watch the tracks and the signals to see what is coming or going. It was a three hour trip, but the time just flew by as I kept looking for SAL trains. Went down to Woodville (south of Tally) and they had an SAL spur at that time. I played on those tracks (long before I knew better). That spur is now a rec trail. Danny, Thanks for the memories.
Excellent video, I caught that first train with the 3 BNSF engines here in Pensacola Florida on November 22 2017. Title of video is (BNSF In Pensacola)
Thank you for the awesome vids. I live in New England and understand the ops around here, but the amount of info you include in your videos makes me feel right at home and your narration is perfect, it is not just info it is educational. I love the background history and the understanding of the traffic patterns and dispatcher's moves. Thank You
Excellent, informative! Photography and narrative equal to each other in quality! Learned a great deal from this one video! We had spring switches on the Chicago Transit Authority system, and I understood them in principle, but this is really illustrative. Intriguing mechanical interconnection with its signal.
That was a fantastic vid, Danny. I really enjoyed the bit about the spring switch. I've never seen one in action. As a side note I noticed a Leslie five chime mounted on the top of the SD70 at 8:21. Great work!
Awesome video Danny! You are in my neck of the woods now. I work in Quincy, live five miles from Chattahoochee in the edge of Georgia. Can you imagine the wait times before they built that flyover at Chattahoochee yard. You could set there for up to an hour waiting on the train to move. I know my dad lives just south of Chattahoochee. I also like to catch trains pulling the grade out of Chattahoochee either on Atwater Road, or in Mt. Pleasant. Those coal trains can struggle pretty good with that grade, at least for Florida anyways. I have sat watched many a train in Douglas City and never knew why they were going so slow coming out of the siding. Now i know.
I've seen spring switches around before, mostly on ex-DMIR trackage, but I've never sen a switch indicator bounce between red and green like that. I'm guessing that's because iron ore cars (DMIR's staple freight) are only 25 feet long and the points can't bounce back with a wheelbase that short. I did see an indicator stick on red after a train cleared once, so the next train to approach it would have to stop and inspect that switch before proceeding. I would guess that that siding is probably older than 1993, though. I'm not sure when US&S stopped making those cool old colorlight signals, but it was probably before then
Danny, thank you so much for this video. I have never seen a diamond before and after watching this episode my fiance and I drove from Dothan AL to Cottondale to see this very one. It was so cool to be standing there seeing what we just watched on your video! We even saw a train with 6 Union Pacific Locos running East to West on the Gulf wind route. We then saw the same train out in Chipley, FL. Thank you for your videos, we love them. Don't have FB or I'd leave you a comment there.
Another great video! Great action, plus I learn something new with every video of yours I watch. By any chance have you done a video about your railfan set up? Questions like, what type of camera you use? What you edit on? How you get such great scanner audio? Any other equipment you use? I know I can't be the only one interested. I looked through your videos and didn't see one but I easily could've missed it. Thanks again for the great content! I thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to your videos.
I’m assuming it’s under Track Warrant Control. We have that up here in Wisconsin on the UP ex-CNW line between Chicago and the Twin Cities. Except it’s ABS/TWC along with PTC. Sometimes the dispatcher will give instructions on the Track Warrant to the train to leave a certain switch lined for the siding.
Saw-by...so _that's_ what that maneuver is called! As for those flatcars at the Tallahassee crossing, I think they might be TOFC's, but I'm not sure. I've never seen any up close before, since it seems only intermodal Q100s and Q200s pass by my place
They're very common in the mid and western United States. As stated in the video, they save time and money and lots of walking. But they can also be problematic, which is likely why the switch position indicator was installed. I don't think he really pointed it out in the video about spring switches, but the "spring" action only happens when trailing the switch, out of the siding. If you were to come up on the point of the switch, you'd still have to get out and throw it like normal, and then set it back after you were in the siding.
The cars are actually empty on that train, but they are intended to carrry liquid ammonium nitrate as a hot concentrated solution (cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/5397).
Thank You, When I Was Smaller I Did Not Know Anything About Trains. And Now I Know So Much From This Channel And All The Info You Provide So Again, Thanks And Keep Up The Good Work!
I haven't seen a switch go front and back. Love your video's. ☺☺🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚂
Just discovered this one now...great footage. I love Florida and go yearly to visit my son in Port Orange. Probably moving down soon. Can't wait to do more railfanning there.
You could always tell when CSX trains come where I’m at. Where I’m at, they only turn on when the train is in the block and shut back off when it leaves. It turns back on later when another comes close. With Norfolk Southern, they just keep it on and the only time you know one of their trains are coming is if the yellow light is flashing or it’s green. Theirs don’t shut off when a train leaves the block.
![Union Pacific's Caliente Subdivision [Las Vegas NV to Milford UT]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/l1Pa_2XTxBA/mqdefault.jpg)
As someone with profound hearing loss, it is wonderful to hear such clear, precise narration. No mumbly words or fast cadences. That is greatly appreciated and because of this quality, I learned a lot.
Super camera work, especially the pacing scene and the canopy of trees does, indeed, make for some super scenery.
Lots of CSX's old grey units are looking rusty and beleagured nowadays, but most of them in this video look washed.
Your videos are simply so awesome ! The amount of detail, the journey to the trains, the commentaries, the sound, the visuals.. just wow! Thank you so much for your time and willing to share what you experience with everybody !
And thank you so much for all the extra information you provide, makes my day to hear your voice!
Thank you very much. Comments like yours make all the effort worthwhile. Very glad you enjoyed it.
Distant Signal, honestly in my area, I hear a lot of trains in my area and the reason on why I hear a bunch of trains is because it is a double track main, and at attridge rd in Churchville, NY, when a train gets on the west shore sub, I know that there is a limited clear signal. Since I used that how to read signals video, I know that trains getting on the west shore sub near my house get a limited clear.
Wow! You have a driver now. You are moving up in the world. Thanks to you and your son for another great video.
Never seen a spring switch before. Very interesting!
Same here! Ingenius design to save time!
Same here.
Add me to the list of those who have never seen one. Simply amazing ... and clever
@@walterryan4062 and shoe leather !!!
They use spring switches on Tramways.
I'm 63 years old and feel like Danny H. is my grandpa. Great train videos. I have learned much. Thank you.
Danny, your rail fan videos are by far the best, ALWAYS looking forward to the next one!
4:46 I looked up the game results and Florida State won 77-6.
Delaware State is a FCS team, not a FBS team.
Thank you for the Spring Switch Education!
When I lived in Tallahassee I would fan that line and you brought back a few fun spots I had forgotten about. Great stuff as always buddy and thanks for having us aboard.
Love those older signals!
Railfa n Danny's videos are always packed with educational information!
also that rail line should be 2 main tracks and hope-ly amtrak runs trains on that rail line again soon !!!!!
Sorry you got stuck on the wrong side of the siding. Stuff like that happens to me occasionally too. Also, thanks for showing that spring switch - that is really cool!
Another wonderful video. Learned of the spring switch and Douglas City, both of which I wasn't aware. LOve the footage and the sound. Made my day. Thanks Danny & son.
Whenever I had to do a meet at a manual siding, it was common courtesy for the conductor of the train holding the main to Stop at the other end and line it back for the main so the other train's conductor didn't have to walk a whole train. Of course there were the occasional times that the dispatcher did not want us stopping for any reason, short of a safety issue / emergency. But in cases where the meets were restricted to 10 MPH, a quick stop to line a switch was no big deal and saved time for everyone else.
Kudos on the video Danny.
Danny...every time i hear the trains..your voice narrating..i think of that great song.."City of New Orleans"..just so mournful and full of nostalgia...thank you for such great videos...
Wow! That's handsome praise indeed. Many thanks, Rich!
I like mixed freights too because of the variety… great catch on the pipe flats!!!
What a truly awesome video! Keep up the good work Danny! That spring switch is truly something you don’t see everyday.
you do awesome video's Distant Signal :)
Very interesting video. Especially seeing a “spring switch” in action. I’ve heard of them before but have never seen one in action. Very cool
Danny,
Excellent job on this video and on all of your train videos to-date. Your narration of what the viewer is seeing is top notch. I really appreciate the maps you have included to see where you are at and/ or what you are describing ... very beneficial. I also enjoyed your explanation of the operation of a spring switch in live action along with the constant changing of the signal at the same time. Keep up the excellent train videos and I am looking forward to your next one. Thank you.
John
Great video as always! Glad to see all of the old signal set-ups still working on that line!
I'm not what you'd call an avid rail fan, but I certainly enjoy these videos and the professionalism that goes into the production!
Don't know how I missed this one, but, wow! One of my faves! You are suited for the long form, Danny. I could sit here all day watching your catches and listening to your stories. So thankful that you share your passion and knowledge, and that you've exceptional skills for this medium. Keep on keepin' on, Danny!
That Douglas city switch is one of a kind . First time I have ever seen one
You always get the best catches! Wow.
7737 at 8:35 is on rough looking engine, I love big, dirty machinery still chugging away.
17:11 Noticed the signal was switching from green to red.
Spring switch, very handy it seems. Then again, that would be the job for the man in the caboose in the old days.
Hey Mr harmon. Love your videos. I just ns 137 on my route. Columbus ga to Birmingham Alabama with ex bnsf sd70mac and i notice the spring switch as it was crossing to the main. Nice action that switch! Nice videos once again. [Csx] 😀
Awesome as usual Danny!!!! Your videos are second to none! Just your knowledge of the whole system is so amazing. I can watch your videos for hours on end!!!!!
Very cool video! I love seeing interesting train movements!
Love this guy. The best train guy in the business.
Agree. Danny makes the best train videos on TH-cam. His knowledge is spot on. I'm a retired career railroader, and he knows as much as any employee. Most foamers are wrong on half the stuff they post. Not Danny. Keep up the good work Danny
Another great video Danny. Loved the close ups of the diamond and the spring switch especially. Don’t know how I missed this video after 5 years.
I agree, manifests are the best, mainly because you have a better chance of seeing old railroad reporter marks like ATSF, NYC, CR, CNW, MP, etc.
I see a lot of MP and conrail cars in my town, was really surprised about the conrail cars, I’m all the way in texas!
@@TexasRailfan2008 you see it all out here for sure! Houston has just about every reporting mark on one manifest!
@@AbelG8781 yep
Since I was a kid I have always been a of trains. I now live by the train tracks
Mr. Harmon, all your videos are great. Keep it up!
Top drawer old boy , carry on and all that ! Give us more !!
Really enjoy your videos, I have learned quite a bit about the railroad equipment. Keep up the great work. PS. Watching the videos is very relaxing.
Danny glad to see you and you son got spend quality time on a shade hobby
You have an awesome channel here! I really enjoy watching, and today I learned something new! I've never heard of a spring switch before! Very ingenious!
CSXT 2640 was up in Michigan back in 2016. Was used alot in Wyoming Yard in Grand Rapids and some in Ensel Yard in Lansing.
Nice to see you in my neck of the woods. I'm in Tallahassee and was working the day you came into town. Would have been great to meet the voice of Fox 13 Tampa Bay. Keep up the excellent work :-)
Mixed freight is my favorite too. Love it. These videos are amazing.
I love this stuff on the details of what it takes to a railroad function.
Danny your great narration is clear as a bell. And accompanying video is technically excellent. Thank you for your effort.
When I was a young lad (circa 1960) we would drive US 90 from Jax to Tallahassee all the time. I would just watch the tracks and the signals to see what is coming or going. It was a three hour trip, but the time just flew by as I kept looking for SAL trains. Went down to Woodville (south of Tally) and they had an SAL spur at that time. I played on those tracks (long before I knew better). That spur is now a rec trail. Danny, Thanks for the memories.
Excellent video, I caught that first train with the 3 BNSF engines here in Pensacola Florida on November 22 2017. Title of video is (BNSF In Pensacola)
Job well done thanks for sharing your Railfan adventure with us take care my friend
Always liked your videos. Very interesting today. Can't wait for your next one. Thank you.
Thank you for the awesome vids. I live in New England and understand the ops around here, but the amount of info you include in your videos makes me feel right at home and your narration is perfect, it is not just info it is educational. I love the background history and the understanding of the traffic patterns and dispatcher's moves. Thank You
Interesting video. I learnt a lot of american railroading. Thank you very much. Greetings from Germany.
I've only been watching for a couple of weeks but I have quadrupled my knowledge of railroading. Thanks so much.
Excellent, informative! Photography and narrative equal to each other in quality! Learned a great deal from this one video! We had spring switches on the Chicago Transit Authority system, and I understood them in principle, but this is really illustrative. Intriguing mechanical interconnection with its signal.
Great educational video. First time seeing a spring switch in action!
☆☆☆☆☆
Very cool seeing the Cotton Belt boxcar!!
AWESOME VIDEO
this is simply GREAT televison that is entertaining ot watch for some strange reason
Love your videos, keep them coming.
Fantastic as always!!!!!
That was a fantastic vid, Danny. I really enjoyed the bit about the spring switch. I've never seen one in action. As a side note I noticed a Leslie five chime mounted on the top of the SD70 at 8:21. Great work!
Awesome video Danny! You are in my neck of the woods now. I work in Quincy, live five miles from Chattahoochee in the edge of Georgia. Can you imagine the wait times before they built that flyover at Chattahoochee yard. You could set there for up to an hour waiting on the train to move. I know my dad lives just south of Chattahoochee. I also like to catch trains pulling the grade out of Chattahoochee either on Atwater Road, or in Mt. Pleasant. Those coal trains can struggle pretty good with that grade, at least for Florida anyways. I have sat watched many a train in Douglas City and never knew why they were going so slow coming out of the siding. Now i know.
I've seen spring switches around before, mostly on ex-DMIR trackage, but I've never sen a switch indicator bounce between red and green like that. I'm guessing that's because iron ore cars (DMIR's staple freight) are only 25 feet long and the points can't bounce back with a wheelbase that short. I did see an indicator stick on red after a train cleared once, so the next train to approach it would have to stop and inspect that switch before proceeding. I would guess that that siding is probably older than 1993, though. I'm not sure when US&S stopped making those cool old colorlight signals, but it was probably before then
very cool. awesome power and lashup's. awesome catches.
Danny, thank you so much for this video. I have never seen a diamond before and after watching this episode my fiance and I drove from Dothan AL to Cottondale to see this very one. It was so cool to be standing there seeing what we just watched on your video! We even saw a train with 6 Union Pacific Locos running East to West on the Gulf wind route. We then saw the same train out in Chipley, FL. Thank you for your videos, we love them. Don't have FB or I'd leave you a comment there.
Thank you so much, Didi! I'm so happy you got to see Cottondale and then that massive train at Chipley. All the best!
Dude you make the best videos, very informative, and on point, thanks, please keep them coming
Another great video! Great action, plus I learn something new with every video of yours I watch.
By any chance have you done a video about your railfan set up? Questions like, what type of camera you use? What you edit on? How you get such great scanner audio? Any other equipment you use?
I know I can't be the only one interested.
I looked through your videos and didn't see one but I easily could've missed it.
Thanks again for the great content! I thoroughly enjoy watching and listening to your videos.
Good idea, Christian. I'll try to do a "How I Do It" video sometime this year.
Your son Robert is such a good guy to do railfanning with
Always enjoy your videos and commentaries. Keep 'em coming!
As always great presentation. Never saw a spring switch in action. Thanks for the great catch!
I’m assuming it’s under Track Warrant Control. We have that up here in Wisconsin on the UP ex-CNW line between Chicago and the Twin Cities. Except it’s ABS/TWC along with PTC. Sometimes the dispatcher will give instructions on the Track Warrant to the train to leave a certain switch lined for the siding.
Another great video, educational too. Thanks Danny!!!
Loved it. Thank you,Sir!!
Always a great video and always informative. A spring switch - who would have thought.
Loved the video. The spring switch portion was very interesting. Nicely done.
Excellent video! Always well done
Saw-by...so _that's_ what that maneuver is called!
As for those flatcars at the Tallahassee crossing, I think they might be TOFC's, but I'm not sure. I've never seen any up close before, since it seems only intermodal Q100s and Q200s pass by my place
another awesome video, so much detail. keep up the good work.
Great video. Really great. Thank you.
WoW ! I was unaware of a spring switch ! Thank you for sharing !
Thanks for your comment! Yes, first time I'd ever seen one on a main line.
They're very common in the mid and western United States. As stated in the video, they save time and money and lots of walking. But they can also be problematic, which is likely why the switch position indicator was installed.
I don't think he really pointed it out in the video about spring switches, but the "spring" action only happens when trailing the switch, out of the siding. If you were to come up on the point of the switch, you'd still have to get out and throw it like normal, and then set it back after you were in the siding.
Excellent video man. I always enjoy when you shoot the Tallahassee line
1:35 those tank cars are carrying some pretty nasty stuff
BuckeyeNationRailroader look like corrosives
I think so
The cars are actually empty on that train, but they are intended to carrry liquid ammonium nitrate as a hot concentrated solution (cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/5397).
CSX 7737 has seen some better days... poor one.
Yet again another excellent video Danny. I really enjoyed this one.👍
I really enjoy your videos. They are so neat and fun to watch. And you explain everything so well. Thanks for the video. 👍👍👍❤️
Very interesting video Danny, I especially like seeing the signaling and operation and explanation of the old spring switch.
I Love Train's ! *Appreciate That's*
Thank you very much for Awesome Great Works !!
Thank You, When I Was Smaller I Did Not Know Anything About Trains. And Now I Know So Much From This Channel And All The Info You Provide So Again, Thanks And Keep Up The Good Work!
Good video of a spring switch Danny.
Great Video, thanks for posting.
I haven't seen a switch go front and back. Love your video's. ☺☺🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚃🚂
That info on the spring switch' is a detail new to me. Thanks teacher!
Awesome as always Danny!
Wow another awesome video man you do the best Thanks stay safe
Love your video, wish I knew about them when I had family in Sanford. some location I recognize from my trackside wandering. Keep up the great work.
Just discovered this one now...great footage. I love Florida and go yearly to visit my son in Port Orange. Probably moving down soon. Can't wait to do more railfanning there.
Awsome video
this was a amazing catch, and again I love the voice :-)
Wow!I am always looking forward to see yourt videos. Absolutely first class!!!
Thanks Ollie!
loving your videos. love the commentary and the footage both. the way you speak you sound like a news anchor.
You could always tell when CSX trains come where I’m at. Where I’m at, they only turn on when the train is in the block and shut back off when it leaves. It turns back on later when another comes close. With Norfolk Southern, they just keep it on and the only time you know one of their trains are coming is if the yellow light is flashing or it’s green. Theirs don’t shut off when a train leaves the block.