Monday evening, after dark, CSX old Monon line about MP 130. Southbound something, maybe 1500 feet long, with many lights (sodium vapor. looked like moving streetlights). I was northbound, and in that area US231 is most of a mile from the tracks, no chance to turn around and chase it to Linden (IN) where road is close to tracks.There appeared to be smaller lights between “street lights”, but could not see for sure. The only things I could think of were some sort of work train, or possibly one of the circus trains. Any ideas?
How fast was it moving ? If slow - like 2 - 5 MPH - perhaps a rail grinding ‘train’. What looked like the orange sodium vapor lights would have been the orange sparks from the grinding wheels under each ‘car’, and the lights in between to keep an eye on the work, for camera monitors, for the crew walkway, and ‘clearance’ or ‘running’ lights. Or, maybe a short rail train, with floodlights to illuminate the action on all of the cars when dropping or picking up rail at night. Otherwise, I’m not thinking of anything else.
Thanks much for that link ! [bow] That video illustrates the action at night perfectly ! [tup]
Then just allow for the Original Poster saying he was “the most part of a mile away” from the track, and that rail grinding train correlates with his impression very well - it’s most likely what he saw, I’ll wager.
Thanks for the replies. I have seen rail grinding during the day, and watched the night video. What I saw did not look like that. It definitely was not grinding, and looked a lot longer than a grinding rig. Lighting was different also. Maybe it was running between jobs. If I still had my radio equipment I could have monitored the traffic and found out but do not have that gear any more. I will be glad to get back to longer days in 6 more months or so and be able to see what is going on.