The Flickr Random Image Generatr

Hodeiak,eta itsasoari begira olatu ederrak eta oso politak.

The North Carolina Museum of Transportation is in my most humble opinion one of the finest railroad museums in the nation and every much the equal of those in Sacramento, Baltimore, and Strasburg that are held in highest esteem.

The museum is located on the sprawling grounds of the former Southern Railway Spencer Shop complex which served the railroad from 1896 to 1979 when they moved out for good after having opened a modern facility at Linwood two years earlier at the same time they signed over the backshop, master mechanics office and other structures to the state for creation of the museum. The centerpiece of the site which they also donated to the state in 1979 is the 37 stall roundhouse with a 100 ft turntable dating from 1924. In 1983 the museum opened to the public and over the ensuing four plus decades has continued to refurbish and open more structures on the complex while simultaneously amassing and restoring an impressive collection of regionally appropriate rail equipment (to say nothing of all the other non rail historic transportation artifacts that also have a home there).

Conveniently located next to Norfolk Southern's east coast Washington to Atlanta mainline, the site has gained a reputation in recent years as THE site for hosting gatherings of special equipment. The first such gathering was in 2012 when Norfolk Southern brought all 20 of their then newly painted 'heritage units' to the museum for a 'family portrait' as part of their 40th anniversary celebrations

Two years later the museum one upped that with 'Streamliners at Spencer' that saw 26 classic streamlined cab units come from all over the country for a three day festival. Just like in 2012 the even featured different arrangements of locomotives arrayed around the roundhouse whisker tracks as well as a parade and use of the locomotives on the museums on site passenger train.

Since 2014 no major gatherings have occurred though the museum did host the inaugural return of NW Class J steam locomotive 611's return to service with an event in 2015 and hosted her the following year as well for her trip over the Old Fort loops to and from Asheville.

I was fortunate to be able to visit the museum for all four of those occasions, but it had been a decade since I'd last set foot on this hallowed Piedmont soil. So earlier this year when the railfan grapevine came alive with hints of something big afoot I knew that IF it happened I wasn't going to miss it. And happen it did....a spectacle that dwarfed those earlier events in sheer scale and scope with 33 locomotives in attendance including one or more representatives from all six US Class 1s, multiple shortlines and regionals, two passenger operators and three original Bicentennial units from 1976 that have been preserved.

I was one of over 10,000 people that attended all three days and I imagine many of you here were there too. It was an absolute joy to connect with both old and new friends and colleagues from this fraternity of ours and I'm sorry for those of you I missed.

The complete list of attending locomotives is as follows:
CSXT 250 - GE CM44AH
CSXT 2026 - GE CM44AH
NS 8118 - GE ES44AC
BNSF 1776 - GE ES44ACM
UP 4547 - Donald J. Trump GE ET44AC
UP 1616 - Abraham Lincoln EMD SD70M
CN 1776 - GE ES44AC
CN 2026 - GE ES44AC
CPKC 7626 - GE ET44AC (sublettered KCS)
GMXT 1776 - Florida East Coast GE ES44AC
RBMN 1776 - EMD SD40-2
WLE 1776 - EMD 1776
BPRR 4434 - GE C44-9W
RJC 1776 - C40-9W
LSRY 1776 - EMD SD70M
NYSW 3634 - EMD SD40M-2 (originally an SD45)
DL 1776 - MLW M630
NAUG 1776 - GE U23B
ACWR 5520 - GMDD SD50
CRC 1776 - Cincinnati Scenic Railroad EMD GP30
FCEN 1776 - EMD GP10
TPLX 1776 - The Prairie Line EMD GP38-2
GATX 1776 - Vermont Railway EMD GP38-2
CLNA 1776 - EMD GP38-2
OMLX 4200 - Omnitrax Chicago Rail Link GMDD GP40-2W
LSRX 250 - Northshore Scenic Railway EMD GP9
MBTA 1776 - GP40MC
RNCX 1776 - NCDOT EMD F59PH
NW 1776 - EMD SD45 from Virginia Museum of Transportation
ATSF 5704 - EMD SD45-2 from Southern California Railway Museum
MILW 176 - EMD SD40-2 from Midwest Overland Rail Preservation Society

The above all traveled from their homes to the museum while the following two resident locomotives were also in operation:

NCTM 5951 - GE 45 tonner (ex Duke Power) with a simple America 250 logo
SOU 6133 - EMD FP7A wearing a faitful replica of the Bicentennial banner it wore in 1976

In addition to all that five specially painted semiquicentennial TTX high cube boxcars joined the event and bringing up the rear as it rightfully should was one visiting caboose, TOYX 380 from the Port Jervis Railroad museum dressed in a faithful recreation of the Erie-Lackawanna Railroad's bicentennial scheme which adorned sister C354 in 1975-76 but has long since been scrapped.

To learn more about this event check out this link:
www.trains.com/trn/railroads/heritage-rail/railroad-museu...
And for a list of every 250th locomotive decorated including those that couldn't make it the folks at The Diesel Shop are keeping track and you can check that out here:
www.thedieselshop.us/250th-a.HTML

It was hard to get photos without other visitors and fans in them but with patience it could be done. Here a crew is hostling CSXT 250 (Wabtec rebuilt CM44AH originally an AC4400CW blt. Aug. 1996 as CSXT 245) light engine north toward the turntable while older GE cousin NAUG 2798 (blt. Jun. 1977) looks on with TOYX 380 visible between them.

Spencer, North Carolina
Friday August 28, 2026

Nosferatu-Spinne (Zoropsis spinimana)
(c) Marion Thiel

Op zondag 20 September 2026 reed Railexperts met de 9904 een keteltrein van Bad Bentheim naar Amsterdam. Deze machine, die nog altijd rijdt in de kleuren van haar voormalige eigenaar Raillogix, werd begin dit jaar terug in gebruik genomen door Railexperts, waar ze sindsdien allerlei bonte klusjes verzorgd voor de snel uitbreidende spoorwegonderneming. Onder andere levert het bedrijf tractie en of personeel uit voor andere ondernemingen, zoals in dit geval waar er in opdracht van HSL wordt gereden.

Ondanks de enorme wolkenlotto besloot ik toch het spoor op te zoeken om deze trein op de foto te zetten, wat ik op een voor mij nog onbekende plek besloot te doen. Om 16:22 passeert het geheel het Landgoed Monnikenberg nabij Hilversum, wat voor de twee aanwezige fotografen nog maar net succesvol verliep.

Collared Kingfisher

Bo-Katan Kryze