B-Line Railfan

CSX and Amtrak Northbounds through Ashland, Virginia

spgass — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 22:09:07 +0000

Yesterday, my daughters had a nighttime cross country meet at Pole Green Park in Mechanicsville, Virginia. My wife and I stopped on the way to enjoy a nice dinner outside at the Caboose Market & Cafe in Ashland, Virginia right next to the CSX former RF&P mainline. Two northbound trains passed while we were there, first a CSX mixed freight and then an Amtrak train. Later we saw a cool “billboard” advertising the Virginia Scenic Railway on a bridge over I-295. Here’s the video of the CSX train, plus additional photos below.

Video

Photos

Northbound CSX train is led by SD70MAC 4563 through the charming town of Ashland, VA on 9/19/2026.

Amtrak P42DC 82 leads a northbound train into Ashland, Virginia on 9/19/2026.

A railcar advertises the Virginia Scenic Railway above the I-295 near Richmond, Virginia.

Busch Gardens Railway Steam Train

spgass — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 01:36:54 +0000

I visited Busch Gardens in Williamsburg, Virginia yesterday with my family and rode the propane fueled steam train there. Here’s a video of the train arriving at Festa Station in “Italy.”

Video

NS 25A with a Red, White, and Blue Caboose

spgass — Sat, 22 Aug 2026 22:33:03 +0000

Norfolk Southern 25A was big train today with only two locomotives. The train took about eight minutes to pass over the Blue Ridge Mountains on the NS B-Line at Linden, Virginia. The TOYX C380 caboose brings up the markers, en route to the America 250th Celebration at Spencer, North Carolina. In the foreground of the video, a car loaded with trash containers was set out by NS 289 on the short siding at Linden earlier this week. A photo and video are below:

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TOYX C380 caboose on the rear of NS 25A on 8/22/2026.

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NS 955 Office Car Special with Special Leaders

spgass — Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:02 +0000

Norfolk Southern train 955 passed east on the NS B-Line this evening led by NS ES-44AC “The Stars and Stripes” 8118 and NS SD70IAC 1776 “The Bell” which have been painted to celebrate the 250th Birthday of the United States. Here is a photo and video of the train passing through Front Royal, Virginia.

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NS train 955 passes a driveway along Happy Creek Road in Front Royal, Virginia on 8/5/2026.

Video

50 Years Ago: The Liberty Limited ’76

spgass — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 04:35:17 +0000

This is an audio recording my dad made on July 17, 1976 of the Southern Railway Liberty Limited ’76 on the B-Line crossing a road to the then-IBM campus off of Wellington Road in Manassas, Virginia. Power for the excursion was Southern 2-8-0 630 and Southern 2-8-2 4501. In the second half of the recording, you can hear engineers on both locomotives playing their whistles.

N&W 611 Celebrating America’s 250th

spgass — Mon, 06 Jul 2026 00:30:47 +0000

I visited the Buckingham Branch Railroad on the Fourth of July yesterday and caught three scenes of N&W Class J 611 leading the 10:00a Virginia Scenic Railway excursion between Louisa and Gordonsville, Virginia. The 611 is specially decorated with a red stripe, white stars, and an emblem for the semiquincentennial (250th birthday) of the United States. Photos and a video are below:

Photos

Norfolk and Western Class J 611 pulls an excursion train along Dunkum Store Road east of Gordonsville, Virginia on 7/04/2026.

The 611 pulls an excursion train west nearing Gordonsville, Virginia on July 4, 2026.

Video

NS 90G Geometry Train West Through Linden

spgass — Mon, 29 Jun 2026 20:36:03 +0000

At lunchtime today, I was able to catch Norfolk Southern train 90G passing through Linden, Virginia on the NS B-Line. Consist was NS SD70ACe 1059, NS 38 “The Brick”, and research car NS 36. A video and going-away photo are below:

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Photo

NS train 90G, a geometry/inspection train heads west on the NS B-Line in Linden, VA on 6/29/2026.

NS 25A with BNSF Power

spgass — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 22:01:47 +0000

Norfolk Southern train 25A was led today by a pair of BNSF locomotives shown here passing the Appalachian Trail crossing in Linden, Virginia. BNSF ES44C4s 6663 and 4217 were the unit numbers.

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BNSF ES44C4s 6663 & 4217 lead NS train 25A through Linden, VA on 6/19/2026.

Video

NS 25A in Front Royal

spgass — Fri, 19 Jun 2026 20:59:39 +0000

Here’s a photo of Norfolk Southern train 25A in Front Royal, Virginia from May 30, 2026. Lead power was ES-44DC 7561.

NS train 25A is led by ES-44DC 7561 on the NS B-Line in Front Royal, VA on 5/30/2026.

NS 289 Climbing Linden Hill

spgass — Sat, 23 May 2026 00:01:33 +0000

Norfolk Southern train 289 is led by NS SD70ACe 1047 and AC44C6M 4943 east up the grade near Linden, Virginia on a rainy spring day. A photo and video of the train are below.

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NS train 289 passes east over the Pickrell Road crossing near Linden, Virginia on 5/22/2026.

Video