Hello everyone, and Happy St. Patrick's Day to you all! Today's video is from my third and final day of railfanning up in Elkhart, Indiana, and was the best of the three days of railfanning I spent there. In just seven hours of railfanning, I caught four heritage units; three Norfolk Southern Heritage Units, and my first Amtrak Heritage Unit in nearly four years. This day of railfanning was by far my luckiest day of railfanning in a long time and perhaps my best single day of railfanning since my first-ever visit to Deshler, Ohio, in 2018, and my best day since my trip to Griffith, Indiana, in June 2023.
Today was one of those days where the great catches compensated for the slowness of the action. Of the three days I spent here in Elkhart, this day (Sunday, March 3rd), was the slowest, but I still got a decent amount of action. The day started off with the westbound Capitol Limited followed by an eastbound intermodal train. About 40 minutes later, the first great catch of the day came with Amtrak Engine #100, the Midnight Blue 50th Anniversary Engine, leading the westbound Lake Shore Limited. Amtrak 100 was the first 50th Anniversary Heritage Unit I have ever seen, and I love the paint scheme of this locomotive. Best part of seeing this heritage unit was it came completely by surprise and was not on the radar to pass Elkhart.
After the Lake Shore Limited departed, the action did pick up a bit with a westbound grain train, an eastbound intermodal, and two manifest trains. The eastbound manifest train, train 19K to Decatur, Illinois, was one of the best trains I have ever seen thanks to a smorgasbord of fallen flag rolling stock, most notably a rare Southern Railway 86-foot boxcars. Southern Railway boxcars are sadly a rarity in the modern railroading landscape, especially the 86-foot auto boxcars. The once common sight on Norfolk Southern rails has sadly slipped into history, but it is still awesome to see them on the rails. The best catch of train 19K, however, was still to come when the Lehigh Valley Heritage Unit (NS 8104) showed up as the mid-train DPU of this train. This was the second time in two days I had seen the Lehigh Valley as I saw it taking train 30Q into Elkhart Yard, and the third time already this year that I have seen it. Another great catch on 19K was a long line of former Amtrak gondolas in special painted orange scheme.
After about an hour of little to no action, I saw a rare three-way train meet in Elkhart, but it was a train meet I did not want to see. Just before the next intermodal train showed up, I got word that the Virginian Heritage Unit (NS 1069) was coming west as the mid-train DPU on train 13N from Conway, Pennsylvania, heading to Elkhart. Thanks to a sequence of unfortunate timing with an eastbound intermodal train just after the westbound intermodal passed, my shot of the Virginian Heritage Unit was partially blocked thanks to the intermodal cars. I still managed to see NS 1069, but to say it was not the shot I wanted is a massive understatement. Ah well, stuff happens. Fortunately, I did get a consolation prize thanks to 4005, one of the DC-to-AC special-painted AC44C6M locomotives, heading east on train 12Q as the mid-train DPU. Much like 19K, train 12Q (the daily manifest from Elkhart to Bellevue, Ohio), featured some rare rolling stock as well, most notably an Ann Arbor Railroad covered hopper. For those who do not know, the Ann Arbor Railroad is a shortline railroad that runs in Southern Michigan, between Toledo and Ann Arbor.
This day of railfanning (and this trip of railfanning, for that matter), concluded in the best way possible; a heritage unit I had not seen in 10 years leading a westbound manifest out of Elkhart. The Wabash Heritage Unit, NS 1070, was leading a manifest train west to Chicago when I went towards the yard to try and catch the Virginian Heritage Unit. I could not find 1069, but finding the Wabash Heritage Unit was awesome. A great end to a great railfanning trip. I look forward to returning to this great railfanning location in the future. I aim to head back up to Elkhart in October as part of my week-long railfanning trip with railfanning friends, and Elkhart will be one of the few spots on this trip. I hope to see as many heritage units on that day of railfanning as I saw on this day.
Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video!
-N&W475.