05/23/2026
Minutes after a thick Appalachian rain rolls in, the ominous echoes of a five-chime air horn resonate through the narrow hollers surrounding Slate Hill. The reverberations grow louder as a set of headlights peek around the curve and into the tunnel. As the orbs of warm radiance draw nearer, a sensation of rushing wind fills the surrounding environment. The diffused light percolating down through the clouds reveals a bright orange nose as the lead locomotive's chiseled profile breaks out from under the hill, speeding directly towards our low, roadside vantage point. The rushing gives way to a roar as the pair of iron horses come right on top of us and charge on by. The wind becomes nearly deafening as tank car after tank car of Carolina-bound ethanol thunders by, strong enough to drive the rain into our faces instead of falling straight down. Suddenly, the tail end of the gargantuan rolling pipeline hustles by. The tranquil sounds of pitter-pattering rain and a distant barking dog retake the atmospheric ambience as quickly as they had fled only a moment earlier, while the flashing red light bringing up the train's rear slowly disappears around the bend.
Date: 22 May 2026
Time: 3:25PM EDT
Place: Ironto, Virginia
Train: NS 6D4 (Bluffton, IN to Selma, NC)
Power: BNSF 7264, BNSF 7378 (ES44DCs)
