Saturday, April 28, 2012

Railfan Day brings Rabbit Valley RR Equipment

The RV Railbus meets the Forney at Boulder Point.
The Ponderosa Lines welcomed a guest appearance from the Rabbit Valley last week, offering regular railfan trips and photo ops. A Rabbit Valley railbus and steam passenger train were featured in the midst of Ponderosa Lines favorites, including an SR&RL Forney, a Baldwin 10-wheeler, and the tireless C&S mogul.
An SR&RL passenger train takes the siding at Blumenthal to allow the faster RV train to pass.
The otherwise uneventful day was interrupted by a few close calls, including a head-on scare and a rocky railbus derailment at Viterbo that shook up a few passengers and added to the excitement. Such debacles are rare on the Ponderosa Lines, though officials attributed the issues to a shortage of railway employees. Dispatchers and yard masters were required to double up as engineers and conductors, making for the extra challenge of dispatching (and yelling frantically) from passing trains. Such is life on the Ponderosa Lines of northern Arizona!
Nearly a cornfield meet by the Rabbit Valley visitors.
Incident at Viterbo
The C&S Mogul leads a short freight down grade into Blumenthal.