Motive Power

The Bay Line was my first real teenage exercise in taking thoughtful roster shots. It was a hot summer day when we visited the Panama City shops, and I was thoroughly impressed by the fact that we could sign a waiver in the office and subsequently crawl all over the property without hindrance. Lucky for me, most the Geeps were in the stable that day; the railroad was quiet. That give us plenty of time to look inside the impressive shop building and study all the idled 38s outside. Nothing beats the all-business Spartan cab of a 38, and the Bay Line had plenty of them around in the 1990s. My dad appreciated the fact that several of the pre Dash-2 movers could trace their roots all the way back to his beloved Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. Me, I was busy snapping up roster shots and capturing all the numbers. The sharp green and yellow paint schemes impressed me even as a teenager, and you have to like a shortline pike that keeps some cabooses active on the property. It was a great visit. And thanks to the Bay Line stable of General Purpose movers, I fell in love with the diesel locomotive wedge shot and science of collecting roster photos.