On borrowed time: CSX C800 in Holland, Michigan

[David Collins]

https://youtu.be/j1hycVXdigI

This past weekend, I was out in Holland, Michigan touring Hope College and the city of Holland with my friend, before she and I met up, I noticed a yellow-red-green on the signal next to the amtrak station. I didn't think much of it because I was going on a tour and getting to hang out with a friend of mine, I still though got updates from RRFan user Talk as to location of the train, which I appreciate. however just as we walked over one of the crossings on to the campus, I heard the unmistakable sound of a K5HL horn, and then a headlight popped around the curve on the south end of the campus, which is when I took the head on shot seen in this video.

The train we saw was C800-16, one of several joint venture BNSF/CSX coal trains that run up and down the line a week. This was a nice catch, since the powerplant C800 is going to will be shutting down in the near future. What was also neat was the added CSX power, these units are added before the train begins it's assault on Saugatuck Hill, where large coal trains like these would often struggle and/or stall. Sort of like helpers you'd see in the Mountains of Pennsylvania/Virginia. But they're added to the front of the train and aren't manned.

[Tom49801]

https://youtu.be/j1hycVXdigI

This past weekend, I was out in Holland, Michigan touring Hope College and the city of Holland with my friend, before she and I met up, I noticed a yellow-red-green on the signal next to the amtrak station. I didn't think much of it because I was going on a tour and getting to hang out with a friend of mine, I still though got updates from RRFan user Talk as to location of the train, which I appreciate. however just as we walked over one of the crossings on to the campus, I heard the unmistakable sound of a K5HL horn, and then a headlight popped around the curve on the south end of the campus, which is when I took the head on shot seen in this video.

The train we saw was C800-16, one of several joint venture BNSF/CSX coal trains that run up and down the line a week. This was a nice catch, since the powerplant C800 is going to will be shutting down in the near future. What was also neat was the added CSX power, these units are added before the train begins it's assault on Saugatuck Hill, where large coal trains like these would often struggle and/or stall. Sort of like helpers you'd see in the Mountains of Pennsylvania/Virginia. But they're added to the front of the train and aren't manned.

Extra power for the Saugatuck Hill is added to any train over 10,000 tons. Once in a while M326 will get extra power added as seen on the loaded coal trains (they are typically 18,000 tons).