Black Friday Rolling Stock, 2013

On November 29-30, I had a chance to check out CSX and Amtrak action in East Syracuse, NY. My SD card filled with images and as I reviewed them later, I noticed that a lot of them showed unique rolling stock. Being more of a rolling stock guy than a locomotive guy, this bit of self-analysis should not have come as a surprise to me. The auto rack graffiti above is a pretty good representation of what I must have looked like trackside as a cavalcade of cars commuted past me!

Takin' out the trash. GIMX 639241 looks like an ex-CN 89-foot container built to handle 20-foot ISO containers, now in trash service lettered for General American Marks Co. (above). STAX 10451 is the first of a second order of cars for Norwegian-owned Statoil, built by Trinity Rail in 2013. The company operates in both the Marcellus and Bakken oil fields:

Space - the final frontier. Buffer cars are used on oil trains to separate locomotives from the tank cars. BNSF 808323 is stencilled 'Buffer Service' and MW:

Well, oil be darned. TILX 193519 is a Trinity Industries Leasing tank car in oil service. Placarded UN 1267 for crude oil, the car rests easy on its springs as it returns west for another load.

Here today, gons tomorrow. A couple of gondolas on a CSX freight that was entering the East Syracuse Yard: CSXT 491850 (above) and Railgon GNTX 297446 (below):

Between a rack and a hard place. The lighting was good for some logo photography. UP is not shy about displaying its logo, but this large Warwick Railway/P&W car with its tiny Kansas City Southern 125th anniversary logo makes it hard to find on the side of WRWK 300122. As someone asked online, "Can the logos be any smaller??"

Out with the bath water. Yesterday's bathtub gondola for coal becomes today's bathtub gondola for scrap metal MEAX 3034 (above) and 1976-built Schnitzer Steel Industries SSEX 10069x (below):

Song of the South. Graffiti'd but still giving a green light to innovation, SR 531582 poses with its Superior door.

To L and back. Louisville, New Albany & Corydon Dual Air Pak bunkerless refrigerator car re-lettered for Laurinburg & Southern 13730.

What the hezzle? Heritage Environmental Services HESX 010 is hauling envonmental waste. Could be medical, could be industrial....do you really want to know what's in those tarped containers? Do you??

Signs of the zodiac? Skizodiak, wherever you are, you just made spotting this TR boxcar car really easy for railfans.

Every so often I go a little crazy photographing stack cars. Some of these are unusual cars, and some carry interesting CSX and other US containers. Unlike back home, not a red Canadian Tire container in the bunch! These are smaller uncaptioned photos - just click to enlarge. If you would like a 'short stack' simply scroll down to Running Extra. 

Running extra...

I have heard of selling patio furniture, snow tires and other assorted bric-a-brac items on Kijiji. But a Budd car? Makes a great Christmas gift for the railfan who has everything. (Or there's always Home Hardware's digital-control boot dryer - a soleful Christmas gift if ever there was one!)

Speaking of Christmas, the season just wouldn't be complete without Trackside Treasure's Yuletide prose-y post. Another Christmas classic awaits its close-up. It's a toss-up right now between Air Horns We Have Heard on High, Have a Holly-HO Gauge Christmas, and O Christmas Tree Train. Hmmm.

Christmas specials: Kelly Clarkson's Cautionary Christmas Musical Tale featured an angelic trio version of Silent Night with guests Trisha Yearwood and Reba McEntire. Surprisingly twang-free! Kelly brought a whole sleighful of soul. This Wednesday it's the 2013 Canada Walk of Fame induction special on Global, honouring the inimitable Oscar Peterson, son of a sleeping car porter.