FL9

About thirty minutes after leaving Burnside and the Cumberland River bridge, we rolled into Stearns, the home base of the Big South Fork Scenic Railway.  There was no sign of their passenger train at the depot, but suddenly the radio came alive on the assigned frequency of 160.800 with a very close by conversation.  I had Judy drop me off on the overpass south of the depot, and within a minute the train appeared with a caboose leading as it shoved into the station.

Moments later their ALCO S2 with its characteristic “burbling” sound also rolled by my perch.

I walked down the embankment to track level and noticed a northbound NS train over my shoulder.

I pivoted to get the NS train and the venerable ALCO in the same frame together.

The old ALCO S2 looked to be well-maintained, and the unique exhaust beat reminded me of long ago days around these units on the New Haven and the Santa Fe.

This looked like an interesting train that would be fun to ride on a future trip back to this area.

Now it was time to pack the camera away for the day before heading to Cookeville, TN and a warm bath after supper.