Thomasville, NC Railfanning August 29, 2025

#train #railfanning #railway #trainspotting

An extra-long Labor Day weekend visit with family in North Carolina presented a chance to do some local railfanning. After ruling out revisiting Five Row or CP Lee, I realized I had a golden opportunity to make good on prior threats to check out Thomasville, just a little further north.

0:00 - Amtrak Piedmont 73
The four-quadrant crossing gates should have been my first clue. Unlike my home stomping ground back in Ashland, the ex-Southern mainline through Thomasville bears no resemblance to street running and the trains are faster. Much, much faster. Amtrak's Piedmont train 73 gave a vivid demonstration as it streaked through town behind F59PHI 1755, 'City Of Salisbury'. The Piedmont trains use locomotives and rolling stock owned by the North Carolina Department Of Transportation (NCDOT). The locomotives are named after NC cities, numbered for their namesake city's year of incorporation, and painted in the colors of the state flag.

1:05 - NS 12R
I should have rolled a little longer on 73's trailing F59PH. Less than a minute after I shut off the camera, my scanner crackled as someone said 'your marker looks good' (or words to that effect), followed by the headlight of a northbound coming into view. The headlight belonged to 12R, bookended by AC44C6M 4723 and SD70ACC 1816.

3:28 - NS 24X
Intermodal hotshot 24X showed some hustle with ES44AC 8168, SD70ACe 1220, and C44-9W 9902 leading the way north.

5:01 - Amtrak Piedmont 75
Southern bay window caboose X703 looked on from the shade as F59PH 1893 'City Of Burlington' led Piedmont train 75 south. The 1893 is painted to commemorate 30 years of NCDOT's Piedmont service and wears a variation of the livery applied to the first locomotives.

5:25 - NS 28R/NS 50W
AC44C6M 4356 and C44-9W 9871 led 28R north and were quickly obscured by the passage of grain train 50W, led by SD70ACe 1162 and AC44C6Ms 4605 and 4381.

10:40 - Amtrak Piedmont 74
Piedmont 74 did its best scalded cat impersonation as it rushed past behind F59PH 1810, 'City Of Greensboro'.

11:17 - NS 119
AC44C6Ms 4507 and 4281 followed 14 minutes later with a very short 119.

12:04 - Amtrak Piedmont 77
Another long wait yielded only Piedmont 77, bracketed by two F59PHs. It was time to return to base and see about some brisket.