Rockton & Rion Mikado 31 is seen getting steamed up for a late night freight run as the engineer stands by the locomotive looking ahead down the line

A fixed semaphore stands tall in the faint glow of the 2017 eclipse in totality.

Two Rockton Rion and Western locomotives sit in the sun awaiting next assignment on a sunny Monday afternoon

Rockton & Rion #19 headed for Rockton, SC in July 1965.

Rockton & Rion #19 eastbound near Rion Quarry in July 1965.

Rockton & Rion 2-8-2 No. 19 has just brought cars to interchange with Southern as its Local with RS-3 2052 arrives at Rockton, South Carolina on April 12, 1963. Southern's local has 25 loads of S... (more)

Rockton & Rion 2-8-0 #712, seen here at Rion, SC in this October 1954 view. Photo by Bob Drake, collection of Tom Sink.

Rockton & Rion #19 working a freight train near Rockton, SC || July 1965

Rockton, Rion & Western #19 leaving Rion, SC in the summer of 1965 bound for interchange with the Southern.

Rockton & Rion 2-8-2 #19 sits alongside a 0-4-0T shop switcher in Anderson, SC. [7-65]

Rockton and Rion #19 leading a train between Rion and Anderson Quarry, SC. July 1965.

(Pentax K10D with DA 50-200mm lens)

The SCRM fire protection crew follow Flagg Coal 75 out the short line with a water pump car in tow. Click HERE to see what happen... (more)

Final shot from this series: 2028 pulls the train into the siding at Rion so the fire crew can follow 75 on the run back to Rockton. The all volunteer crew at the SCRM was very friendly and profe... (more)

Following the passenger train back to Rockton is SCMZ 2028 built for the US Army in 1951. Its V-8 567 prime mover makes 800HP.