The Race is On! Two Hot Shot Intermodals Battle it out with Horn and Speed!

Watch until the end for another surprise!!!
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Early in the morning on November 21, 2011, two hot shot intermodal trains 20Q and 24K both race eastbound from Harrisburg, PA to Morrisville, PA making one heck of a heart racing sight. Both trains are about 1.5 miles in length, and basically start and end at the same time! Also note the defect detectors in the beginning of the video: tracks one and two announce simultaneously!
I woke up that morning, and just happen to decide to take a look at ATCS and noticed 2 trains lined east on opposite tracks all the way from Millards (MP 93.5) to Wyomissing Jct. (MP 61), with no opposing westbound traffic anywhere in sight. The leading train, 20Q (with NS 9878 and NS 9022), on track one, ended up being told to wait for 24K to go first at Wyomissing Jct., evidently, 24K is higher priority, and when the 24K crew heard dispatcher telling 20Q that he would stop, they said, "We just like looking at your engines." For those of you who don't know, Wyomissing Jct. is where the Harrisburg Line either enters Reading (which is not possible for 90% of trains because of height restrictions) or temporarily diverges into a single connecting track which leads to the wye at Dunkle where one track heads northeast toward the Reading Line to Allentown and New York City and the other heads southeast to rejoin the Harrisburg Line to Philadelphia. Therefore, one train has to hold a Wyomissing Jct. for the other to pass through the wye before continuing. In this case, both trains were headed to Morrisville Yard, boy, they sure had their hands full!

[@wdavis967]

First one to the single track switch is the winner.

[@sirensandrailroadsofoklahoma]

And the last one dies 😂

[@FranzFerdinandVIII]

(Instantly bursts out laughing hysterically) That is exactly right!

[@mattguy2998]

@@sirensandrailroadsofoklahoma pretty much.lol

[@teslamodels2283]

Lol

[@ProperLogicalDebate]

I think that the Dispatcher or someone would have a say and who would stop. Also whoever is responsible for safe operations will be looking very carefully at any time speed recordings. That's IMHO.

[@midwestsirens]

I find it cool how they ended at exactly the same time!

[@ferminbf2224]

and the same speed too....

[@YokoSquib]

No one is shorter. You can see at the beginning

[@MarloSoBalJr]

By only two freight carriages. Still a magnificent moment.

[@davechupp7922]

It appears to go faster only because it was on the inside curve.

[@BNSF_7777_Productions]

Same here! That’s crazy

[@midwesticrailfan1000]

I remember watching this video in 2013 and 7 years later, this catch is still insane to watch! This shot is a railfans dream and it never gets old and I love it!

[@regular-joe]

So, what was the surprise that the description tells us to watch for at the end? 😶

[@geoffmackley]

Same !

[@whammy3323]

I think I've watched this 26,325 times and it hasn't gotten old yet

[@thefateofslate9095]

I'm 100% certain the engineers place bets on stuff like this😂

[@straightto8]

The Fate of Slate Had a situation where I was leaving second on a all stop local, a buddy had the express train that skipped half the stops I had to make. He got into San Jose from San Francisco before me, I fact passed me going north at Santa Clara, I still had to stop in San Nose, discharge passengers, change ends and do air test. The dispatcher, a friend said he was running me up the #2, Grandpa, my buddy was on the #1 as there was no other southbound traffic that evening. My buddy had a good 10 minutes on me, but I caught up with, and passed him waving as I went by. When I got into SF, I secured my train, changed ends and we were walking to our cars from the depot when Grandpa comes around the final curve into SF, I grabbed the conductors radio and asked him “what took you so long”, lol. To this day, it’s been 15yrs, that story still gets told. So we sorta joke about who’s the faster engineer, I don’t run trains anymore, but the stories live on. I was on a light power move, we were running side by side with a UP local, recall my conductor handing the UP engineer a bag of donuts we bought earlier up the line when we stopped for donuts.

[@missle75]

Hi📣📣📣📣😐😐📣📣📣📣📣📣

[@djtodd3]

They race for pink slips. How do I know? My dad and I were railfanning at Fostoria about 20 years ago and over the scanner we heard one engineer ask the other if they wanted to race for pink slips. They were both stopped waiting for a CSX train to clear the diamond, so they had started from a dead stop.

[@machinistmikethetinkerer4827]

You just KNOW they were talkin...

[@itsraid_bitchez8084]

When the time's right of course we do

[@trainlover1234]

Iv never seen 2 trains side by side until today . this is amazing

[@sasikanth5177]

i think u are on mars

[@JimHerbertOutdoors]

Imagine how much traffic wouldn't have to stop at crossings if trains traveled side by side and doubled the shipment it would cut down a lot of time sitting at gates

[@sub2pewdiepienowunsubt-ser119]

I have, in cities:skylines

[@sub2pewdiepienowunsubt-ser119]

But, yeah

[@juniorthird7952]

I've seen them side by side but not going in the same direction.

[@protosheep]

Those horns were absolutely BEAUTIFUL

[@MatthewSmith-cv7op]

That’s really good dispatching here. I’m guessing the dispatcher knew both trains were about the same lengths and decided to run them side-by-side so it would minimize delays for the westbounds.

[@IntersetllarElyese]

Bro needs millions in raises for this lol

[@beeble2003]

Huh? If you want to run trains both eastbound and westbound, you minimize delay by using one track for eastbound and one for westbound. Running two eastbounds in parallel blocks both lines and means you can't run any westbound trains at all. Running two eastbounds one behind the other blocks only one line and allows as many westbound trains as you want to run on the other line.

[@MatthewSmith-cv7op]

But what if there are no westbounds nearby? Silly to hold one eastbound and wait and clear.

[@MegaBrokenstar]

@@beeble2003you’re assuming this track is doubled along its whole length, and it probably isn’t. Most likely these tracks either merge or fork a few miles down the line. Not too many mainlines are multi-track along the full length these days. Running these trains side-by-side and then either single-file or separating them along different lines allows this section to become clear at roughly the same time the first of these two trains clears it, reducing some other train’s wait.

[@beeble2003]

@@MegaBrokenstar Good point, but I don't think that works, either. Suppose that trains are running at V miles per hour, and have to be kept D miles apart when they're on the same track. Suppose the trains are on the same track. After the first train exits the double track, we have to wait for the second train to cover D miles plus its own length before the double track is clear. The train is traveling at V mph throughout that time. Now, suppose the trains are running parallel. At the end of the double track, one of them has to stop. It then has to wait for the moving train to travel D miles to establish the safety gap before it can even start. Then, the waiting train begins to accelerate from a standstill. In contrast, if it had been running behind the first train, it would have been travelling at full speed from that point. So parallel running takes longer to clear the double track than running one behind the other.

[@Millenniumforce]

This was a powerful video. One of the best I have seen yet!! Great Catch

[@domin8r12]

After 9 years no one has replied?

[@neobig1grs295]

Why theres a union Pacific here?

[@domin8r12]

@@neobig1grs295 foreign power

[@210MichiganRails]

Hi millenniumforce!

[@210MichiganRails]

@@domin8r12 now 1 person replied.

[@Millenniumforce]

I am in love!! The ending looked so romantic of two trains going into the distance together. LOL

[@draganasselin8602]

Millenniumforce omg

[@Jackieism]

Lmao

[@Brtt4849]

O.o stupid stupid stupid orange

[@dioniciothomas5716]

It looked super romantic

[@dioniciothomas5716]

Even the 2 red flashing on the back of them is romantic

[@bhaktibhandari7379]

When the client orders same day delivery at 11:59 pm!! 🤣

[@CentralPennRailProductions]

Lol!

[@louisjriversjr9093]

And they both get there at the same time.

[@HTrailfan11]

This video is the video that got me into trains and shaped my childhood.

[@cletusspuckler2243]

I played the video with my computer hooked to an hifi amplifier ( max output power 100 watts ) , turned up at half level.... it was like the trains were rolling through my home 😊😊

[@guillaume85260]

xD

[@wkwk3632]

Cletus Spuckler Cool

[@RelMCProgram]

Your neighbours must've been horrified.

[@Thegooderstuffs]

@Syrian Hamster yes you should, for science

[@ns_guy5149]

I listen to this everyday and night I live by near a railroad track

[@RailfanTubeNetwork]

I've watched this a million times over the years and it still blows me away! I've caught races before. I've even caught two trains with the lead units side-by-side as one diverged onto another track. But I've never caught one at this speed. This is just so epic!

[@Crazyguys17778]

Safety is ignored......Railways should Employ a special incharge in Rear of the trajn.

[@ericgarner6175]

My grandfather who just passed took me to this crossing a few times to see the trains come by. Kind of cool to see it on a KZbin vid. Also cool to see the trains doing that

[@CartersTrains]

This is literally my dream. I loved the messy sound of the two horns at the same time. Amazing video!

[@cincybus8744]

THIS IS A RAILFAN DREAM

[@trainproductions8100]

Yep

[@heyitshuttz3705]

So true

[@charleshax]

A railfan’s wet dream would be this but with steam locomotives

[@targusmack2302]

Why does it feel like one engineer looked at the other guy and yelled DRAG RACE!!

[@trainfan1206]

he probably did and dispatch approved

[@timrattenbury4768]

Well they do have a few thousand hp

[@wakecountyproductions]

tim rattenbury A few thousand? One only has 8800 hp😂😂

[@timrattenbury4768]

@@wakecountyproductions is that not the usage of a few thousand 8800

[@wakecountyproductions]

tim rattenbury That’s over a few lol

[@iankravitz5723]

Imagine this: You're Wile E Coyote, you've broken your ankle, and you're midway between the two tracks, then at 0:21 you see that!

[@Steve-xf4uv]

I've watched this a dozen times; never seen anything like this in person. Awesome !!

[@mr_doggard]

When your mom opens up the ice cream and you gotta beat you sibling to it

[@fastcsx1412]

unit lol

[@dylanlellis8657]

Unit that's soooo funny LOL

[@KandiKlover]

Just derail them, aka trip.

[@blxck_ivy9663]

Wow XD

[@TriceRail]

your sibling also has 3 locomotives and a shorter train.

[@chaosdemonwolf1]

Now.THAT......was worth the watch. Well captured, Well done

[@OldsVistaCruiser]

I prefer medium rare! (Steak jokes aside, epic video)

[@trainsmusicandmore877]

OldsVistaCruiser I would avoid making a pun, but the steaks are high

[@trainproductions8100]

You are so correct

[@pilotmanpaul]

Many years later, this is still golden. Still pretty much one of the most awesome thing to be uploaded to KZbin.

[@Grainexpress]

I’m watching this again almost 8 years later and still hands down the best train vid on KZbin. Even the Big Boy takes a back seat to this one!

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

Certainly, this is the coolest train videos on the web!

[@mikeytrains1]

Delay In Block Productions Isn't it where there is bad track that was possibly Penn Central track?Since during the Downfall of PCRR,They had 349 derailments from bad track,and some pretty fucked up tracks..I saw your video of this line.

[@DelayInBlockProductions]

My video is not of this line.

[@mikeytrains1]

Delay In Block Productions Ah.Which one is?(Not talking about the Maumee and Western)

[@NSfan44]

this is the NS Harrisburg line

[@edgarpueblapumas4892]

México =-O =-O =-O ;-) ;-) Edgar puebla

[@WerewolvesRSexi]

What are the odds of the end of both trains being even when passing the camera.

[@jckgoldness]

And what are the odds that the train on the inside was ahead? It would have been ruined it the outside engine passed first and we didn't get to look at the second one :)

[@sub2pewdiepienowunsubt-ser119]

@@jckgoldness huh?

[@sub2pewdiepienowunsubt-ser119]

Ikr?

[@armageddon1981]

I'm a UP conductor and this is a race to see who'll get to tie up first😂😂😂

[@drewcarr1]

Still one of the best train videos on KZbin...and 20 years from now it still will be one of the top 10.. awesome video!!!

[@gothicskull13]

I bet the ground rumbled that day

[@tedcartwright3183]

What an absolute unbelievable catch !! How lucky can you be? That has to be like one in a million. Positively fantastic !!! Man, I would pay for that one !

[@dptrpt]

still one of the greatest train videos on YT

[@shawnpowell5876]

That was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING to see on here and had to be mind blowing up close! You couldn't have bet on that ever happening again! Running the same speed and when the last car went by it was exactly lined up to the last one on the other side! Thanks for sharing this video and I've had to watch it again out of AMAZEMENT!

[@truckerkevthepaidtourist]

One engineer says to other Pardon Me But Do You Have Any GREY POUPON?? lets see how old you railfanners are..

[@kirsjones6934]

Bahahaha lol

[@sfcretired1166]

Definitely old enough to remember that ad. Further, present deponent sayeth not!!

[@koryclarke1991]

Trucker Kev The Paid Tourist lol

[@ethanhatcher5533]

18 years old and I know the add from Wayne’s World

[@sub2pewdiepienowunsubt-ser119]

I'm only 10, and I don't know that one

[@illxtra]

This never gets old.

[@CS1973AMC]

i love how the 2 NS trains parallel runs next to each other. nice catch. 😀

[@silly_cartoonlover]

Haha the train horns interrupted the radio speaking XD

[@maxrailroad]

Awesome catch! I love the horn entourage at 0:24! They even ended at the same spot!

[@multimapping8303]

Great god, that made a big smile on my face appear!

[@willshepherd4544]

To the guy who said this 4 years ago.... it still does in 2020.... oh, by the way, 2020 is an absolute shit show, so take another route when you get here.

[@JakeGuitarMusic]

RIP to anyone that would want to try and beat those trains. That’s why we need train crossing lights, bells, and gates and also TRAIN HORNS!!

[@Zay-lh4om]

Jake Mastronardi we somebody did

[@Zay-lh4om]

A lady got mad and ran from the police and she hit a train and the other train was coming and she survived with 2 broken wrists

[@nynjrailvideos7198]

What's really amazing is that the last cars on each train were almost perfectly aligned with each other.

[@hybry4419]

wow, that was a lot of train.

[@viccisicci3247]

Yes. Lots of train indeed

[@112Ishaan]

Hybry 4 lot of wagons)

[@TheHighRoad1748]

That's what she said.

[@ROTE]

Spoor 112 OV we call them train cars here in the US, NOT WAGONS

[@SouthJerseyRailProductions]

@@ROTE lol

[@jaymorrissey7072]

One of the best rail vids anywhere. Thanx for sharing.

[@victormioduszewski4729]

Seven years later I still love watching this...😄👍✌🌴

[@briang6040]

That is too awesome! The power from one train moving that fast and shaking the ground is one thing, but two! Wow!!

[@Videostosnoreto]

That's like NASCAR for railfans. Awesome freaking video!

[@braaandon5716]

Arkangel Productions NASCAR!!!!!!!! Kejeisjsjfbdoekfjxjosndbdkejdbdisndifjidjdidifkejd NASCAR NASCAR NASCAR!!!!!!

[@ROTE]

NSCAR

[@TrainsAreReallyCool]

NASTRAIN

[@emmanuelsavage4538]

Two NS trains in a cool battle, the railroad's emblem says it all!

[@rayvaul3539]

This is so worth listening to a thousand times! I wonder if there’s more just like this...

[@reidselby2569]

Still fun to watch even after 9 years. A classic !

[@JakeWolf00]

Awesome horn battle!

[@wlalevee]

Great Job! Love how almost identical they were side by side which rarely happens and the defect detectors are practically simultaneous! Great stuff!!

[@seanriley1603]

Wayne What are the defect detectors? I’ve seen that mentioned in other comments. Does that make the horns synced up?

[@OliversElevators]

Sean Riley the defect detectors can be heard at the start of the video over the radio saying “Norfolk Southern milepost 79.9...” and then announcing the track number and if the train has any defects. A defect detector checks the train for any defects or problems as it goes past it and reports them over the railway’s radio. You can hear it say “no defects”, although the second one is harder to hear over the extremely loud horns. They don’t have anything to do with the train horns, they just check the train for defects and reports any problems it finds.

[@azharhasan519]

٣😴😡😅😢😢😞😝😛😝😙😙😀😀😀😀😀😚

[@azharhasan519]

lion

[@rickdj]

That has to be the catch of a lifetime for a rail fan! I can't even imagine having a meetup like both of those side by side! And almost exactly the same in length and duration as far as the amount of cars! Only thing that would have made it slightly the little bit better was if both of the engines were exactly side by side almost as if they were drag racing! But as both of them ended, it looked like they were both side by side at the end so I guess one end of the spectrum versus the other 😊😊 Most likely a once in a lifetime experience! Glad you were there and thank you for sharing :-)

[@nitroexsplosion]

Watching the two of those trains ride off into the forest line gave me the feeling of two friends riding off to parts unknown. Majestic.

[@TheACman42]

Wow, that is totally amazing!!!!!!!!! Two NS hotshot intermodals racing eachother both with flashing ditchlights show, how wonderful!!!!!

[@humyunfuadrahman624]

Need For Speed-train edition (2016)

[@tibbers3755]

Id put a pre order in so fucking fast

[@amtraker8171]

Forza horizon train editon

[@tamikamcfarlane1073]

Asphalt in train edition

[@wakecountyproductions]

ProjectTrains

[@kmoney2334]

Gran Turismo Trains

[@RenaissancePeopleNYC]

That is THE most amazing railroad video I ever saw and I've seen a LOT! GREAT STUFF!!!!!

[@TrainsAreReallyCool]

This has to be one of the coolest train videos on the internet.

[@keithmurray2576]

Boy it's gotta feel like an earth quake with those two mammoths running through at the same time haha.

[@ferminbf2224]

it's amazing to see those 2 in the same direction at once

[@thepowerfulwolfspirit.2581]

0:16, When your mom brings home pizza and you try to beat your sibling for the first slice.

[@davidlalone2286]

Love trains... This video is the bomb! Love it... Watched it... Will watch it again... AWESOME!

[@TheNWClassA1218]

Very nice!!! I love that horn battle with the 2 NS intermodals racing and with the UP SD70ACe on one train!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@larryrwendelljr4465]

Dang! Even tie at end, Excellent capture! :o)

[@drider613]

that is one of the best train shots i have seen in a long time! GREAT JOB!!!!

[@zachwheeler9846]

Wow, listen to all that noise those two trains are making. They both look like they're racing each other. A spectacular sight!

[@howielane8406]

I still after all this time, come back to watch this great video capture.

[@UNKNOWNUSER-jg3qd]

The rear ends were perfectly lined up. Does that mean the engines were pacing each other?

[@MBTAMoreRailfan]

probably not. they aren’t quite the same length. But definitely close

[@xyzxyz9310]

At first the second train appeared to be going a bit faster as they came around the corner. It's possible the engineer in both trains adjusted the speeds of their engines to match each other. Very cool either way.

[@NorthlandTrains]

That is AWESOME!

[@rubenvillanueva8635]

Excellent!, great view of them coming out of that slight curve!

[@tractorsmachinesro1405]

Absolute great rail therapy....Thanks for sharing

[@itzcherrodbrofam4051]

This was a great catch brother no doubt and they even ended together. WTH, good stuff man

[@RODALCO2007]

Brilliant video. Those are massive trains. Thanks for uploading.

[@bigbadmay5012]

Holy crap that is awesome. Great video. I've always been fascinated with trains

[@jackkreacherr9339]

That was frickin awesome. I love NS, and seeing these beasts like that... mmm. Awesome.

[@Ricky40369]

Oh my goods-ness. Extremely cool!

[@touchgameplay]

hard to imagine the damage caused if a truck been stuck on the crossroads which you see on many of the videos on youtube,

[@goober239]

Your nightmare came true! There was a lady here who got mad at her parents, ran from police, and ran into an oncoming train. The police weren't able to get her out of the damaged car fast enough, and the train on the second track slammed into what was left of the car. She survived with a broken wrist.

[@CaptainJustice166]

Same

[@ronfogartyfogarty9362]

001 002 behind the bus what bus behind the truck what truck I heard that joke a thousand times now thanks for reminding me lol

[@KandiKlover]

I was just thinking it would've been cool to see a tractor trailer or a car get double smashed lmao.

[@402SCH1992]

I dont know if both of them were texting, as what train drivers always do while driving. Which explain why they never fucking stop on time when someone like a truck is on the track.

[@BrendanTheRailfan]

Awesome train race. I remembered watching this when I was a little kid.

[@michaelwashington2682]

Have never seen that before. didn't think it was possible especially going that speed. Cool!

[@bkriegel95]

They nearly start simultaneously and they end simultaneously! The race was neck and neck!

[@TracksideSFL]

coolest thing ive seen to date!!

[@Omari1125]

When two competitive brothers get a job in the railroad industry.

[@fhowland]

Drag race! This is one of the coolest train vids I’ve seen on KZbin!! I got goosebumps.

[@billsalvey]

that was epic..never seen that happen before.

[@bluedorissmith6352]

awesome! respect! we have NOTHING like that in UK

[@WimsicleStranger]

Lucky! You can get stuck behind these things for at least ten minutes here in the US. I wish there were more train racers out there, it'd be nice.

[@dirtyfartbomb9908]

bluedoris smith UK trains are very... Elegant? If that can be the right term

[@DAViDD767]

at least yall have high speed rail which is lacking in the USA

[@samuelhumphreys7712]

supertruckerdave1979 true 😂😂😂

[@wakecountyproductions]

DAViD well the Acela and CHSR is faster than their high speed locomotives (no offense UK)

[@jleveille2]

thanks for this video heart pounding action. one of the best train videos around nice work

[@smartguyray3372]

Loved this! It took me back to my childhood

[@starrywarz]

I love this video, super awesome catch!

[@IrishModelRail]

Incredible footage!!

[@Brendon_up1995]

This is sick! I’d kill for a race like this. Epic video

[@davidrea6149]

Definitely the coolest train video ever, I would have had goosebumps and would talked about it for weeks.👍👍👍😎

[@AmtrakTBL]

That is the coolest thing ever!!!!!!!!!!!

[@Shane-Singleton]

Nice catch! Norfolk Southern getting it done. I see them often at the Intermodal yard in Wylie Tx. I always look over at their side track that parallels Hwy 78 to see what kind of motive power they have waiting. Usually NS Dash 9's and some KCS southern belles. Not sure which ones though as they're partially obscured behind trees a few acres away. :(

[@IbbyP]

Man, this is cool. Lucky you picked that one up. Don’t see that very often, and thanks for sharing.

[@davidcoleman958]

Wow what an awesome video! Back before PSR and NS ran a lot more trains!

[@Nitsujy12345]

I can't believe the timing! The race itself it great, but how in the heck did it end up with the last car on both next to eachother?

[@Island_Line_Rail_Productions]

+Nitsujy12345 & the ETD both flashing..looked really cool!

[@michaeleaton9296]

Nitsujy12345 dont know though but its awesome

[@itmcbhpbgf.6374]

looks like they were battling it with not just horns & speed, but also with lights as well...!!

[@robk1310]

Wow!!! Pretty neat. That was almost too much stimulation LOL 🤣😂

[@elvisbest3213]

This video never never gets old love it

[@TrainSimUSA]

A personal favorite of mine.

[@MartinAsleep]

A very very very very very very very very long train race!!!

[@mackenziezimmerer7926]

This is hands down the best railroads video ever!!!

[@n8ax459]

Pretty cool stuff . I used to haul piggyback trailers and was always proud I was the guy hauling those loads from the factories to the U.P. and S.P. yards here in Sparks NV. Cool. Video