Virtual Railfan

06/18/2026

There you have it, two trains at once from Ed Painter's front yard in Cohutta, Georgia! The rarity of this moment has only occurred one other time in the past decade. Incredible!

Watch this camera here: https://virtualrailfan.com/location-detail/cohutta,-georgia

06/18/2026

We're seeing a lot of confusion about our latest location in Ed Painter's House in Cohutta, Georgia.

We previously posted a video of intermodal train 29F on the "I Line," aka the Cohutta District, which runs between Cleveland, Tennessee, and Cohutta, about 14 miles in length. It sees between 6 and 10 trains annually. Sometimes, it will be 3 to 4 months in between trains, and they typically go through at 0 Dark 30. Until 2016-ish, the I Line saw between 5 and 10 daily trains when all those Georgia Power plants still burned coal, but now it is utilized for MOW moves between Knoxville and Atlanta.

Some viewers asked: "Why install a camera on such a sparsely used rail line?" Well, those folks did not read the entire post, which mentioned that Ed's property is located between the I and H Lines, with the latter being Norfolk Southern's Chattanooga to Atlanta mainline (aka "The Atlanta North End"). The H Line sees approximately 30 daily freights and is the same NS mainline that crosses CSX at CP Hair in Dalton, Georgia, where we have another camera set up thanks to our friends at Visit Dalton.

To illustrate a better picture of the two lines and how they bracket Ed's property, Delay In Block Productions has allowed us to share this incredible drone clip, recorded on July 14, 2024, which shows ballast train 95z on the I Line in perfect light while 18E, a northbound, was climbing the hill on the other side of Ed's property on the H Line.

This is about as rare as it gets, folks, and surprisingly—it happened AGAIN tonight, with rerouted southbound manifest 103 taking the I Line while southbound manifest 369 also charged south toward Dalton. We'll be sharing that clip from our PTZ camera tomorrow, so for now, enjoy this incredible aerial view of Ed Painter's property in Cohutta, Georgia.

You can also watch trains live from Cohutta by clicking here:
https://virtualrailfan.com/location-detail/cohutta,-georgia

06/18/2026

Amtrak's 250th unit arrives at King Street Station in Seattle, Washington.

06/17/2026

GRAB BAG SPECIAL: "Hot Wheels" in Jesup, Georgia.

06/17/2026

This is as rare as it gets!

Here's a clip of Norfolk Southern's hottest intermodal freight, 29F, rerouted down the Cohutta District (I Line) as a result of a recent derailment in Morgan County, Tennessee, along the CNO&TP mainline. The Cohutta District sees roughly 10-12 trains annually, only used for MOW moves and reroutes like this one. Before 2015, it saw approximately 6-10 daily freights, mostly coal trains.

Watch trains live from our latest location by clicking here: https://virtualrailfan.com/location-detail/cohutta,-georgia

06/17/2026

Surprise! Cohutta, Georgia, has joined our network!

The Town of Cohutta, Georgia, is located just south of the Tennessee border on two historic Norfolk Southern Railway lines: the busy H Line between Atlanta and Chattanooga, and the much quieter I Line to Cleveland. Together, they reflect nearly 200 years of Southern railroad history.

The I Line began in 1836 with the chartering of the Hiwassee Railroad Company, one of Tennessee’s earliest railroad efforts. After early financial failure, it was reorganized as the East Tennessee & Georgia Railroad, which completed service between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dalton, Georgia, by 1855, and built a key connection to Chattanooga, linking East Tennessee with Atlanta.

During the American Civil War, the I Line was heavily damaged but later rebuilt and expanded. In 1869, it merged into the East Tennessee, Virginia & Georgia Railway, which made the Cohutta route a major mainline between Atlanta and Bristol via Knoxville.

In 1882–1883, an 11-mile cutoff from Ooltewah, Tennessee, to Cohutta shortened the route by over 15 miles, which became the modern H Line. Under Southern Railway, the I Line was once a major freight corridor, handling about 25 trains per day in the 1980s, much of it Appalachian coal traffic.

Traffic declined sharply in the 2000s and 2010s due to reduced coal demand and energy shifts toward natural gas. By around 2015, regular I Line service largely ended. Today, it sees only occasional Maintenance of Way moves and re-routes whenever there's a major derailment in the area. Meanwhile, the H Line remains heavily used with about 30 daily trains, including intermodal, manifest, and coal trains.

Recently, Cohutta has become well-known for Ed Painter’s home on the north side of town. The Southern Living-style home was built in 2015 and is situated between both Norfolk Southern mainlines. Learn more about Ed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3kG4GtxpZU

Our live train camera in Cohutta, Georgia, is available now exclusively to VirtualRailfan.com and YouTube Channel Members. Beginning next Friday, June 26th, it will be available as a free preview on YouTube until Friday, July 3rd.

Click here to start watching now: https://virtualrailfan.com/location-detail/cohutta,-georgia

​Not a member? Take advantage of our introductory offer of just $5.99/month and $74.99/year for the VirtualRailfan.com platform, which has been extended through Tuesday, June 30, 2026. After that, membership pricing will become $8.99/month and $99.99/year through our platform.

Click here to join now: https://virtualrailfan.com/location-detail/cohutta,-georgia

06/17/2026

We’re dropping a pretty sweet surprise new location today at 3 PM Eastern! Stay tuned…

06/16/2026

Just wow!

I haven't posted in a bit as I have been traveling. It wasn't really a train trip per se but I was able to work in a few shots on various mornings in addition to a couple of full days along the way. One such day was March 13 when I spent the day between Livingston & Laurel, MT. I headed west at daybreak from Laurel with the hopes I might see these two units which had been running on the ML/LM trains. I had checked Laurel in the morning and didn't see the pair anywhere so I was hopeful I would catch them on the road somewhere. The ML had been on duty at 2130 the night before in Helena so I expected to see them not too far out of Laurel. However they needed to be re-crewed in Livingston not sure what happened, perhaps it was the locomotive crane on the rear of this short 14 car train, but grateful nonetheless. I caught them coming out of Livingston and followed to Laurel. Seen here west of Big Timber along the Yellowstone with the Crazy Mountains providing the impressive backdrop. 3.13.21

06/16/2026

Power on the move in Wichita, Kansas at the Great Plains Transportation Museum

06/15/2026

CLIP OF THE DAY: Military train headed north through Jesup, Georgia