I have lived in Alabama my whole life, and from personal experience here are my top 5 hotspots: 1. Irondale (Next time you're there try the Irondale Cafe; pretty good Southern style cooking). 2. Vine Street in Decatur (About 60 trains per day where CSX S&NA North and NS Memphis District combine to cross Tennessee River; crossing is a quiet zone so no train whistles though). 3. Kentucky Avenue in Stevenson (NS Memphis District and CSX Chattanooga Sub consolidate; GE 44-tonner and caboose on display by the historic depot). 4. 32nd Street in Birmingham (next to Sloss Furnace and a Frisco 2-8-2; several NS tracks cross Alabama & Tennessee River's former Seaboard line into Birmingham). 5. Flomaton (CSX PD Sub from Pensacola joins M&M Sub on a wye that encompasses Palafox Street and a CSX Yard Office).
I went there today, making the drive down from Huntsville where I’m working for 3 weeks. It was cool and rainy so I had the platform to myself for the hour that I was there. Saw an Amtrak train and an empty coal train along with a lot of switching. There were 5 MP15’s with their stacks capped being shoved around, pretty cool. Thanks for cluing me in. Hitting Decatur tomorrow.
Danny, sounds like you are a retired broadcaster...good to hear and see well produced videos. Keep up the great job! Retired broadcaster here too. Kurt
My home yard! The two lines where the intermodel freight was coming from break apart just east of i20 one goes to Atlanta the other is the old central of Georgia line that goes to Macon ga. This line has a tunnel which restricts the height of the rail cars no autoracks or intermodel traffice on the cog line
I used to live in Irondale in the late 70's. Back then, the Norris Yard was part of the Southern Railway. It was a different time back then as evidenced by the fact that I would often ride my bicycle through the yard and visit the steam shop to watch the old masters maintain the 610, 722 and locos from other lines. In five years of doing this I was not challenged one time. My, how times have changed.
Danny...your videos are always outstanding. The quality is unbelievable. I love how you share your knowledge with us. Thank you. I will say I always get a little sad when your videos end but I eagerly await the next one. Thanks again for all you do!! Please keep these videos coming!!!
My son and I have spent many hours there watching trains. Great place to hang out and if you get hungry while you're there, the Irondale Cafe is hard to beat.
A NICE K5LLA from the beginning and beautiful Nathan P5 at the end. That crossing seems to be busy aaaaalll the time! Hahaha Irondale is a must for railfanning!
Your knowledge of these operations and railroading in general makes these videos so interesting. I had sort of given up railfanning but m back at it now. Saw you from above on the drone shot. Keep it going !!
Back in my elementary school days when I was obsessed with trains, this is where I always went when I wanted to see some trains. Even though I’m not as into it now as I was then, I still stop in every few months when I’ve got nothing else to do, just for the memories and because it’s only fifteen to twenty minutes away from me. The restaurant across the tracks is fantastic too, just a tip.
Man I love the standard cab at 06:37. Danny if you ever go back, you got to eat at the restaurant next to the platform. It's cafeteria style and they have the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had.
Distant Signal hey Danny you should railfan the VR Valdosta Railway Clyattville Valdosta Switcher they mainly use the VR 1200 an EMD SW1200-3 and railfan the Valdosta ADM they have 2 RSSX Switchers and you should also see the UTLX Switcher in Valdosta
I hope you ate at Irondale Café, on the other side of the tracks from where you were filming. On the wall near the check-out counter is a picture of over a dozen engines circled around a turntable decked out in all their colors.
Used to live in Birmingham as a child. Been to Irondale many times. Irondale was also where the Steam Shop was for NS and Southern before that.. In my trips years ago and in the late '80s early 90's, when you could go into the yard, I saw 611 and 1218 in the shop. Oddly, I've never seen 611 move under it's own power. Saw 1218 quite a few times.
This is where I go every Sunday. And if you ever come back. You have to go to the Irondale cafe on the other side of the track. With a much larger viewing platform too
During the summertime, it's best to be on the other side where there's shade from the sun. Caught my first heritage unit here on June 1st. It was the Reading heritage unit. And Amtrak runs through there twice a day also.
My family is from Trussville, just up Hwy 11 from Irondale. Been to the yard many times. The "Irondale Cafe" was the subject cafe' in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".
Longest train I ever saw was 200 cars heading toward Memphis from the Mississippi Delta. Most interesting to me was the fact that there were only two engines on the train -- one at the front and one at the rear.
Great video man I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. If you haven't tried it yet I recommend the Irondale Café for lunch its a great meal with a great view of trains. I live about 45 minutes northeast of here in Attalla off the NS AGS north main line to Chattanooga. This is by far one of my favorite spots to go rail fanning on an evening or off day when I have a few hours to kill. Always plenty of action there.
This is like a Norfolk Southern Folkston funnel. It’s like that in Austel GA too. Those NS trains are as busy as CSX. My house is very close to the NS Mainline . The CSX mainline is right behind my neighborhood.
Just watched this video been train watching here since I was much younger the first set of tracks you approach runs csx while the upper four are for Norris yard KCS Kansas City southern used to run on the lower NS 2 lines but used to be just one line the area is popular because the old film fried green tomatoes was filmed there there used to be a restaurant called the whistle stop cafe there not sure it’s still there been years since I’ve been to that part of town
Danny; You could have seen the ATN, a block south of the crossing, but they usually run at night, and 32nd St downtown has a lot of trains as well, NS, CSX, BNSF and the ATN, which we call "Anytime and Never" around here.
There are two Amtrak trains that come through (19 & 20 - that was the “passenger main” built to speed Amtrak through Norris Yard the Intermodal’s were on). Additionally, you have NS servicing the Mercedes plant @ Vance, AL (West of Birmingham but East of Tuscaloosa -Yard is right next to US 11), the Honda Plant East of Birmingham that NS used to service (CSX has built a loading facility in Talladega where new vehicles are trucked in for loading), Hyundai South of Montgomery & Kia in West Point, GA (just over the Georgia line North of Columbus, Ga..both serviced by CSX. In a few years, Toyota will be building new vehicles between Decatur & Huntsville, AL in the Northern part of the state. Look @ Birmingham Area Railfans (B.A.R.) on Facebook for your next trip to the area. Also, the Leeds depot East of Irondale also has a former SOU caboose, but is w/in sight of where two NS cross each other, one line to ATL & the other crosses over to head to Columbus, GA.
I live in Columbus,Ga I did work at Kia back in 2014 and helped load cars onto the autorack cars. That CSX line out of West Point,Ga and the NS line out of Columbus,Ga interlock at a diamond in Opelika,Ala directly behind a historic train Depot. A very cool place to catch trains that I go to alot. And there's all kinds of great restaurants 100 yards across from the tracks. One even has an outside deck that you can eat on and see trains on the CSX line come by. Great parking with sidewalks and benches also. You may already know all this, but I just decided to throw it out there,haha.
You should check out Railroad Park (sits next to the Birmingham Amtrak station) in Downtown Birmingham next time you visit up here. Most of the time it’s busy with trains going in and out.
Another nice video! I've been through Birmingham's Amtrak station several times as the destination for vacation.. If you can get a good vantage point of the rails through there, it's one of the busiest I've seen - several trains per hour is normal.
Neat location, I might have to go over there someday too. It doesn't look like the cars tend to wait at that crossing. I guess the residents probably don't use it much because it's usually blocked.
Danny just noticed the old Mechanical bells are gone here. They must have just replaced them since July. B Ham had a lovely old station. Was a massive place..it was torn down in 1969. Just a grass lot today.
Nice video. Past New York City. New Haven Connecticut is a nice video place. So is Willimantic Connecticut. Then you have Framingham Massachusetts. That's a real hot spot for train watching. and also Ayer Massachusetts for Norfolk Southern
Please note that just on the other side of the tracks from the viewing station is the world famous Irondale Cafe! Made famous by Fanny Flag as the basis for the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes! I can tell you that the food is great!
Also add Amtrak Crescent in each direction during daylight hours.. There's also another covered platform on the other side of the tracks, iirc: illuminated at night.
Love watching your videos Danny i love your videos on reading CSX signals I'd like to see you make the same video's about NS signals considering they still have alot of pennsy and nyc signals as well as southern and Norfolk and Western signals before there all gone. If you come up to North Carolina on the Pedimont branch around charlotte
Another superb video Danny. I particularly like the way you cut to different shots of the same train. That really keeps the interest going. Also your work with the drone is great and seamlessly fits in. Incedentally, can you see what the drone is capturing in real time, for example via a cell phone or laptop?
Love your videos. What day and time is the best to take my grandson to watch as many trains as possible in Plant City, FL. He's only 4 and has a short attention span! Thanks for your help!
Jon Guiot well the cabs are being scraped (should be a little more specific) and new cabs are being installed with AC traction motors being added, and electrical systems are being upgraded, basically NS is building "In house" AC4400CWs with GEVO components, they actually look good and I'm not to sad to see the old top hats leaving although they should preserve one cause they were unique
About a half mile from where he was filming, back in the train-building yard, it stretches out to about 70 tracks. Take a look at it from Google Earth. Big operation.
I have lived in Alabama my whole life, and from personal experience here are my top 5 hotspots:
1. Irondale (Next time you're there try the Irondale Cafe; pretty good Southern style cooking).
2. Vine Street in Decatur (About 60 trains per day where CSX S&NA North and NS Memphis District combine to cross Tennessee River; crossing is a quiet zone so no train whistles though).
3. Kentucky Avenue in Stevenson (NS Memphis District and CSX Chattanooga Sub consolidate; GE 44-tonner and caboose on display by the historic depot).
4. 32nd Street in Birmingham (next to Sloss Furnace and a Frisco 2-8-2; several NS tracks cross Alabama & Tennessee River's former Seaboard line into Birmingham).
5. Flomaton (CSX PD Sub from Pensacola joins M&M Sub on a wye that encompasses Palafox Street and a CSX Yard Office).
Greetings from India. Love USA's extensive railway network.
I went there today, making the drive down from Huntsville where I’m working for 3 weeks. It was cool and rainy so I had the platform to myself for the hour that I was there. Saw an Amtrak train and an empty coal train along with a lot of switching. There were 5 MP15’s with their stacks capped being shoved around, pretty cool. Thanks for cluing me in. Hitting Decatur tomorrow.
Those mp15s are called slugs I have seen some of them in Irondale Al and Atlanta Georgia at Inman yard
Danny, sounds like you are a retired broadcaster...good to hear and see well produced videos.
Keep up the great job!
Retired broadcaster here too.
Kurt
It is one of my favorite railfanning spots on the Norfolk southern railroad
We're in Birmingham at Children's Hospital so we're going to go here to see some train action when Josh gets discharged!!! THANKS Danny!
My home yard! The two lines where the intermodel freight was coming from break apart just east of i20 one goes to Atlanta the other is the old central of Georgia line that goes to Macon ga. This line has a tunnel which restricts the height of the rail cars no autoracks or intermodel traffice on the cog line
I used to live in Irondale in the late 70's. Back then, the Norris Yard was part of the Southern Railway. It was a different time back then as evidenced by the fact that I would often ride my bicycle through the yard and visit the steam shop to watch the old masters maintain the 610, 722 and locos from other lines. In five years of doing this I was not challenged one time. My, how times have changed.
Danny...your videos are always outstanding. The quality is unbelievable. I love how you share your knowledge with us. Thank you. I will say I always get a little sad when your videos end but I eagerly await the next one. Thanks again for all you do!! Please keep these videos coming!!!
My son and I have spent many hours there watching trains. Great place to hang out and if you get hungry while you're there, the Irondale Cafe is hard to beat.
Really good video with the combination of ground and aerial shots. And a great voice for commentary.
Another great video Danny look forward to your next one happy holidays
A NICE K5LLA from the beginning and beautiful Nathan P5 at the end. That crossing seems to be busy aaaaalll the time! Hahaha Irondale is a must for railfanning!
I never miss your videos, great quality and also the best rail action!
Your knowledge of these operations and railroading in general makes these videos so interesting. I had sort of given up railfanning but m back at it now. Saw you from above on the drone shot. Keep it going !!
Danny what a awesome and informative video.. and the quadcopter view is amazing. Keep these videos coming.
another fantastic video with lots of great scenery and information! Thanks, Danny!
glad you made it up to my neck of the woods. great stuff danny!
The old ns steam program was headquartered there
Another awesome video. No memories here but great action from our competition.
Before I knew what they were I had a dream a long time ago about what those coil steel cars carried... live hamsters!!!
Awesome to see you in my neck of the woods! I'm in Pell City, a little east of there along I-20 (also along the NS route from Birmingham to Atlanta).
Awesome job! Can't get enough of your video.
You should consider coming here around the Erie PA area. There are about 40 trains a day here with the CSX Lake Erie sub and the NS sub.
Back in my elementary school days when I was obsessed with trains, this is where I always went when I wanted to see some trains. Even though I’m not as into it now as I was then, I still stop in every few months when I’ve got nothing else to do, just for the memories and because it’s only fifteen to twenty minutes away from me. The restaurant across the tracks is fantastic too, just a tip.
Man I love the standard cab at 06:37. Danny if you ever go back, you got to eat at the restaurant next to the platform. It's cafeteria style and they have the best macaroni and cheese I've ever had.
Danny, it was great to see your video. Nice action. Great spot to watch trains. Hope to see more of your new videos in the future. Thank you.
Thanks, Walter.
great catch,s danny
Distant Signal hey Danny you should railfan the VR Valdosta Railway Clyattville Valdosta Switcher they mainly use the VR 1200 an EMD SW1200-3 and railfan the Valdosta ADM they have 2 RSSX Switchers and you should also see the UTLX Switcher in Valdosta
I hope you ate at Irondale Café, on the other side of the tracks from where you were filming. On the wall near the check-out counter is a picture of over a dozen engines circled around a turntable decked out in all their colors.
Used to live in Birmingham as a child. Been to Irondale many times. Irondale was also where the Steam Shop was for NS and Southern before that.. In my trips years ago and in the late '80s early 90's, when you could go into the yard, I saw 611 and 1218 in the shop. Oddly, I've never seen 611 move under it's own power. Saw 1218 quite a few times.
Very cool. Yes, I'm going to plan a trip back to Irondale in the next year.
That NS at the beginning had his turn signal on lol.
Wow that looked like a great area to view trains! I’ll have to add that to my list of spots to view trains!
My goodness that's alot of Train Danny! Great catch!!!!!
CSX2057 I like your picture, Chessie Power!
Chessie Rules!!! lol
Great spot. Thoroughbred power!
No matter how good the hot-spot, it becomes a great hot-spot when Danny Harmon shoots the action. Danny, thanks and Happy Holidays to you and yours!
You make the best videos. I leave jest west of Nashville Chattanooga line. Ps keep up good work.
Nice! And 2 Nathan P5 horns is a nice bonus.
Love your videos! Wish there were more of them.
An absolutely great video!!! Fantastic drone work.
Is that you parked next to the Irondale Police car?
Keepem comin!
Great video, Danny. I too was impressed when I visited over the summer.
I thought I saw you there!!! The old depot here was razed in 1982
Yes, I was standing on the platform.
Hey, the furnaces are still there! Sloss Furnaces is a old historic landmark. You should take a look at that!
This is where I go every Sunday. And if you ever come back. You have to go to the Irondale cafe on the other side of the track. With a much larger viewing platform too
Nice work, Danny. Perfect combination of ground cameras, narration, and drone video.
Well dang Danny, had no idea you were in my neck of the woods
During the summertime, it's best to be on the other side where there's shade from the sun. Caught my first heritage unit here on June 1st. It was the Reading heritage unit. And Amtrak runs through there twice a day also.
My family is from Trussville, just up Hwy 11 from Irondale. Been to the yard many times. The "Irondale Cafe" was the subject cafe' in the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes".
Awesome video TY for sharing
Longest train I ever saw was 200 cars heading toward Memphis from the Mississippi Delta. Most interesting to me was the fact that there were only two engines on the train -- one at the front and one at the rear.
Great video man I thoroughly enjoyed watching it. If you haven't tried it yet I recommend the Irondale Café for lunch its a great meal with a great view of trains. I live about 45 minutes northeast of here in Attalla off the NS AGS north main line to Chattanooga. This is by far one of my favorite spots to go rail fanning on an evening or off day when I have a few hours to kill. Always plenty of action there.
Fantastic get. What a hot spot.
This is like a Norfolk Southern Folkston funnel. It’s like that in Austel GA too. Those NS trains are as busy as CSX. My house is very close to the NS Mainline . The CSX mainline is right behind my neighborhood.
Just watched this video been train watching here since I was much younger the first set of tracks you approach runs csx while the upper four are for Norris yard KCS Kansas City southern used to run on the lower NS 2 lines but used to be just one line the area is popular because the old film fried green tomatoes was filmed there there used to be a restaurant called the whistle stop cafe there not sure it’s still there been years since I’ve been to that part of town
Danny; You could have seen the ATN, a block south of the crossing, but they usually run at night, and 32nd St downtown has a lot of trains as well, NS, CSX, BNSF and the ATN, which we call "Anytime and Never" around here.
I hope to get down there one day! Great production, Danny!
There are two Amtrak trains that come through (19 & 20 - that was the “passenger main” built to speed Amtrak through Norris Yard the Intermodal’s were on). Additionally, you have NS servicing the Mercedes plant @ Vance, AL (West of Birmingham but East of Tuscaloosa -Yard is right next to US 11), the Honda Plant East of Birmingham that NS used to service (CSX has built a loading facility in Talladega where new vehicles are trucked in for loading), Hyundai South of Montgomery & Kia in West Point, GA (just over the Georgia line North of Columbus, Ga..both serviced by CSX. In a few years, Toyota will be building new vehicles between Decatur & Huntsville, AL in the Northern part of the state. Look @ Birmingham Area Railfans (B.A.R.) on Facebook for your next trip to the area.
Also, the Leeds depot East of Irondale also has a former SOU caboose, but is w/in sight of where two NS cross each other, one line to ATL & the other crosses over to head to Columbus, GA.
I live in Columbus,Ga I did work at Kia back in 2014 and helped load cars onto the autorack cars. That CSX line out of West Point,Ga and the NS line out of Columbus,Ga interlock at a diamond in Opelika,Ala directly behind a historic train Depot. A very cool place to catch trains that I go to alot. And there's all kinds of great restaurants 100 yards across from the tracks. One even has an outside deck that you can eat on and see trains on the CSX line come by. Great parking with sidewalks and benches also. You may already know all this, but I just decided to throw it out there,haha.
Es tremenda la circulación de trenes en esa población. Muy buen vídeo y muy bien explicado. Gracias
Great content as usual and excellent drone positioning and control .
You should check out Railroad Park (sits next to the Birmingham Amtrak station) in Downtown Birmingham next time you visit up here. Most of the time it’s busy with trains going in and out.
I like the drone action in this, fine video as usual!
you should go to bellevue ohio for their hump yard and for their awesome action almost continuously
I was railfanning that same spot when I noticed something different a railfan and I got a radio cater on my railfan radio
Another great video Danny.
we go to irondale pretty often to train watch. that's my favorite place next to Decatur by the police station
I remember the time that our first visit to Irondale
Another nice video! I've been through Birmingham's Amtrak station several times as the destination for vacation.. If you can get a good vantage point of the rails through there, it's one of the busiest I've seen - several trains per hour is normal.
Beautiful shots Danny -Austin
Thanks1 Yeah I got lucky on the weather. Picture-perfect sky that day.
Adding Irondale to my list of " must see " Thanks Danny
awesome video and catches.
Neat location, I might have to go over there someday too. It doesn't look like the cars tend to wait at that crossing. I guess the residents probably don't use it much because it's usually blocked.
I railfan the norfolk southern railroad for a long time
New spot to put on my bucket list, Nice Job Danny!!
Definitely. Irondale is a must-see.
Distant Signal You got to see Vickers Junction in Northwood Ohio it gets about the same amount of action only difference is there's no yard there
Nice should check out St. Denis, Maryland, it's a very good hotspot too
Danny just noticed the old Mechanical bells are gone here. They must have just replaced them since July. B Ham had a lovely old station. Was a massive place..it was torn down in 1969. Just a grass lot today.
Yes, the mechanical bells are mostly gone. I did find them in one spot up there. I'll put that in a video soon.
Nice video. Past New York City. New Haven Connecticut is a nice video place. So is Willimantic Connecticut. Then you have Framingham Massachusetts. That's a real hot spot for train watching. and also Ayer Massachusetts for Norfolk Southern
It's nice seeing you in my home state.
Please note that just on the other side of the tracks from the viewing station is the world famous Irondale Cafe! Made famous by Fanny Flag as the basis for the movie "Fried Green Tomatoes! I can tell you that the food is great!
You've got to think because of the yard and the mainline that Irondale is almost never dead even on holidays.
Yes, that's what I think. I'm going to make a long weekend and get up there on a Thurs/Fri/Sat.
You should, Danny, and I wish you could pack me along for the trip :D
Danny Harman we visited Irondale Alabama for a few reasons one railfanning and two eating
the only stack trains i see there now is NS245 which also has a setout of cars that are put into the yard before they continue WB
5:11 thats one nice sounding K3LA!
Those rails are HOT!!! Great video!!!
I'm the friendliest railfan for norfolk southern
Also add Amtrak Crescent in each direction during daylight hours.. There's also another covered platform on the other side of the tracks, iirc: illuminated at night.
Request: new york state csx and amtraks selkirk and mohawk sub
its just csx rails amtrak just uses it also
If you came back you'd be sad especially on a Friday lol way less trains now. But sometimes its a lil busy. Nice
Next time you go try Irondale cafe--fantastic southern food
Yet another outstanding video. Thanks Danny, and Happy Thanksgiving.
Awesome catch ns busy
Love watching your videos Danny i love your videos on reading CSX signals I'd like to see you make the same video's about NS signals considering they still have alot of pennsy and nyc signals as well as southern and Norfolk and Western signals before there all gone. If you come up to North Carolina on the Pedimont branch around charlotte
Another superb video Danny. I particularly like the way you cut to different shots of the same train. That really keeps the interest going. Also your work with the drone is great and seamlessly fits in. Incedentally, can you see what the drone is capturing in real time, for example via a cell phone or laptop?
Love your videos. What day and time is the best to take my grandson to watch as many trains as possible in Plant City, FL. He's only 4 and has a short attention span! Thanks for your help!
Late afternoon is a pretty good bet right now. 5PM and later. You should see Amtrak twice and piggyback train Q-046 coming out of Tampa.
Thank you for the help!
I live 20 mins from there it's always that way....thats where I take my kids to watch trains
Irondale is a very busy yard
NS standard cab Dash 9-40C #8822 is a VERY rare engine now a days (6:38). They're being scrapped and rebuilt into NS AC44C6Ms (engine #: 4000s)
Jon Guiot well the cabs are being scraped (should be a little more specific) and new cabs are being installed with AC traction motors being added, and electrical systems are being upgraded, basically NS is building "In house" AC4400CWs with GEVO components, they actually look good and I'm not to sad to see the old top hats leaving although they should preserve one cause they were unique
About a half mile from where he was filming, back in the train-building yard, it stretches out to about 70 tracks. Take a look at it from Google Earth. Big operation.
It's called the Norris Yard. I can remember driving through it by car when I was just a kid back in the 60's. Security is much tighter now.
You should go railfanning at Rochelle Il. There are lots of trains there and many other railfanners are there too.
❤️❤️❤️❤️ your videos! 😄😄😄😄
Nice video! Well done and interesting!
Another good video from you
Irondale Alabama is the greatest place to some railfanning and wacith all of the trains