Planning to Chase

With, what could be a choice between my overnight to Atlanta and a excursion behind 611, I did decide and now have my tickets. As psychologist and philosophers tell us, no decision is a decision. I decided to do both. The flyer and the website stated "North Carolina Trips – April 2017, Departing from Spencer, NC" and "Virginia Trips – May, Departing from Lynchburg....Departing from Roanoke." So, what did I decide? I would take both. I would take the excursion at the end of May and the overnight to Atlanta at the end of April. Tickets purchased. Since I had a overnight daytrip to Atlanta planned, I focused on the NW 611 plans.

Planning of each is still in planning as to details. Of course what details are subject to change and detailing, even as I am doing them. I started to "detail" the excursion, first, even though it was later. I decided to take one of the excursions out of Roanoke. I could drive up, chasing the morning excursion on the in, than take the afternoon excursion, spend the night, and return home, chasing the outbound morning excursion. It has the advantage of more reasonable close hotels. A better option merged. I found a reasonable motel within 15 minutes, walking, from the train station. I decided to go up on day 1, chasing the morning excursioning, on the inbound side. Than I would chase the morning excursion and ride the afternoon excursion. I would spend another night and chase the morning excursion on the outbound, as I returned home.

I began the details of planning my chases. Things have changed since my first chases. Back then was before Internet and google maps, online. You had to get a map, with railroads indicated, or buy a topographic map. You could take your chances that those places that look like a place for good runby were indeed good. Crossings were the known to have some good about them. The best thing would be to reconnoiter before hand and find those good runby sites. I took out my google maps on the laptop and began. I would see a good place and bring up street view to see what it was like. What might look good on the map might not be so good in person. It might be that the tracks were too high from the road or cut through so pictures were hard or impossible.

I laid out one chase, than did it right. I went on Google maps, and laid out directions for Lynchburg to Roanoke, using the starting and ending points. I than laid out all the runby locations, set as destinations, bringing up from the map, what looked good and than checking out against street view. I than laid them out in both directions. Finally, I eliminated the one that were only good from from the opposite directions. Now, I laid the first runby point and chose the second, which I could drive to, to be runby the train. After all that, there was one sight seeing item that I chose to drive by on my way home. So in this way, I laid out each chase, with two runby on each and saved each.