Fayetteville trip

I took another railfan day off. I decided to watch in Fayetteville, NC. Had I got an earlier start, I would have followed the Aberdeen and Rockfish, but went directly to downtown. I was planning to first find the A&R switching, but as I crossed the CSX main, I saw in the distance the lights of an approaching train. I quickly changed direction and caught video of the local coming south.

Since my car was aimed in the direction of the Amtrak Station, I decided to hit that next and see what trains were due. It was a fortunate choice. The northbound Silver Star was due withing 40 minutes. A quick check of status on my phone showed that it was about 20 behind schedule. That gave me a chance for lunch at the Subway in the train station. I did talk with a single maintenance person and he told me that all trains were delayed due to a heat order. That was to take into consideration that the rails expand in the heat.

As always, this was not a railfan only trip. I was told that there would be no more activity, freight wise, until around 5 so I went to the mall to cool off and look around. I returned for the southbound Palmetto.

Experience tells me that an Amtrak train will be followed by a freight. Usually this freight is in the same direction. However, there was a freight following but in the opposite direction.

I decided to wait until 5:30. At 5:30, I began a slow walk to the car. I crossed the tracks and began to walk to the parking lot. I saw the headlights of a southbound, a switcher.

Now time to leave. Before I got accross the track, came a final northbound freight.