"Black Thunder"

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BLACK THUNDER

The Silver Meteor on July 1, 1967

This is rather unique view. Robert's grandfather was a Pullman Porter on the Atlantic Coastline, so he does a lot of Atlantic Coastline. In this particular view it's 24-hours after the merger of Atlantic Coastline and Seaboard Air Line. A little bit of sacrilege is taking place because what you have here is an Atlantic Coastline locomotive pulling the Silver Meteor, a Seaboard Air Line train, which is running a little late, hurdling parallel to U.S. 90 going northbound, geographically eastbound, into Jacksonville, Florida. These two railroads were never actually supposed to merge; they were always direct competitors. If you notice, the massive thunderstorm in the background, the "God's of railroading are angry'. That particular mainline by the way, is the mainline between Baldwin, Florida and Jacksonville, Florida. It's one of Robert's favorite train chasing locations because you get a chance to see the trains wide open, even on CSX today. Be careful not to get a speeding ticket in the process! You'll see the cars in the background on the highway. Robert plans to do this same scene in a perspective view. Robert purposely chose this head-on view to reflect the drama and intensity of the moment. That being, once again, less than 24-hours after a merger that was never supposed to be.

Print Size 23" x 15"
Image Size 18-1/2" x 12-1/4"
©1996 Mainline Memories