My original plan was to chill in Dalton for an hour or two & see whatever comes through as a side trip on the way home from Chattanooga that morning. I pulled into the parking lot by the depot when my friend Brad shared an update that 27W was east of Tallapoosa, GA with EMDX Yellow Slug 7208 in the lead. With that news, I immediately left & started booking it down I-75 towards Atlanta to try & beat it. Thankfully for me, the dispatcher put them in the hole at Temple to let two westbounds through, buying me enough time to get to Austell as he was again going into the hole at Lithia Springs for about 20 minutes to allow the higher priority 226 to slip by them. Upon determining not to try either Austell or Mableton, I went to Bridge since I knew I could get them from either side of the crossing there depending on where the sun was. It just so happened that G98, which is normally G78, was going into the lead for Argos USA right as I got there. I set up to get a few shots of them while I waited for 27W when next thing I know, 27W calls Bridge, allowing me to catch a rather eco-friendly meet as the ECO-set powering G98 was passed by the tier 4 demonstrator unit. The moral of this story... it pays to be at the right place at the right time.
