Train Chase Action

Returning home to Pennsylvania from a wedding in Richmond, I decided one cool Sunday morning in November to check in on the Buckingham Branch in Dillwyn. I had not been back there since an excursion in 2006; I was curious to see what had changed in a decade. I assumed all would be quiet on a Sunday morning. After photographing the excursion equipment idled near the depot, I was surprised and delighted to hear a horn somewhere north of town. A grade crossing or two later, I caught sight of the tail end of a local. The chase was on. I spent the next hour going from grade crossing to grade crossing. The Dillwyn branch is not the easiest line to chase, given that many of the crossings are a mile or more off the main highway. Nevertheless, I was able to catch the northbound a half dozen times. It was good to see the Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac #101 under power, even if in the trailing position. It was also good to see Geep #1 again, only this time with her nose chopped since my first introduction. I had hoped the movement would go all the way to the James River at New Canton, but the crew stopped after Bridgeport to do some switching ... and I never caught them again. The morning shadows reeked havoc on my photography, but it was a fun unexpected chase, nonetheless.