{"id":44046,"date":"2026-04-19T06:19:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-19T10:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=44046"},"modified":"2026-04-19T09:01:59","modified_gmt":"2026-04-19T13:01:59","slug":"blue-ridge-flyer-views-from-the-dome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/blue-ridge-flyer-views-from-the-dome\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Ridge Flyer\u2014Views from the Dome"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Having enjoyed our journey aboard Virginia Scenic Railway\u2019s Appalachian Special<\/em> from Staunton to Goshen, we decided to book another adventure\u2014this time traveling east over the Blue Ridge on the Blue Ridge Flyer<\/em>. (Same train set, different run).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Under clear blue skies, we boarded the Budd Vista Dome Shenandoah<\/em>, with our seats upstairs in the dome this time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before departing Staunton, Kris and I watched Amtrak No. 51, the westbound\u00a0Cardinal<\/em>, work up the old Chesapeake & Ohio grade. It had been nearly ten years since I last traveled on Amtrak’s train over the C&O route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the great pleasures of riding in a Vista Dome is the expansive view both forward and aft\u2014especially when meeting opposing traffic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Approaching the siding at Afton, we got a \u201cwhite eye\u201d\u2014a lunar white signal aspect. This is a restricting signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re in luck! Our train is taking the siding. I\u2019ll bet there\u2019s an empty coming against us.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where else on a short line tourist excursion train do you get a signaled meet with a 197-car freight?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At Crozet\u2014named for the 19th-century civil engineer who laid out the route\u2014we paused for the runaround, where our locomotive changed ends. On the return leg, we watched a Blue Ridge sunset from one of Budd\u2019s finest cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Joining the main at Staunton.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
View of C&O’s Staunton station from the dome. It seems quite different than from street level.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"
Meeting coal empties near Afton, Virginia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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For me this was the highlight of the trip!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Run around at Crozet. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Returning to Staunton; the old C&O main climbing west on the right.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tracking the Light Explores rail photography every day!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Where else on a tourist excursion train do you get a signaled meet with a 197-car freight?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44051,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[6060,10,6108,48],"tags":[8614,8613,8337,8597,8602],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/View_from_Budd_Vista_Dome_Shenandoah_on_Blue_Ridge_Flyer_at_Staunton_Va_\u00a9BrianSolomon_DSC_1392.jpg?fit=2048%2C1578","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-bsq","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44046"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44046"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":44073,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44046\/revisions\/44073"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}