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A 📷 taken by me + Camera Raw +ps
The minaret, framed by a majestic ornamental arch, rises elegantly in the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque, located in Muscat, the capital of Oman. Its slender design, with arches and geometric openings, allows light and air to flow, giving it a sense of lightness.

The stone, intricately carved with calligraphic details and Islamic motifs, enhances the architectural richness of the mosque, highlighting the harmony between the minaret and its surroundings.

Tags:   sva1969 Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque Muscat Oman Islamic architecture minaret art carved stone spirituality heritage architectural detail

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In a rare occurrence a dash 8 lead yesterday’s westbound Amtrak Cardinal. Here dash 8 #519 is seen leading 51 through Moss Run, VA. The trailing charger had mechanical issues on the eastbound trip from Chicago so the dash 8 was placed on the head end and was kept for the westbound run back to Chicago.
2-9-2025

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After getting up at 4 AM at the Hotel in Staunton we find, 16T as it enters the double track portion of the H line that where trains will meet in between CP Pkin and CP Vesuvius. From here they will go to Shenandoah for work. This would conclude the last day and train on the H Line over a 4 day span after we chased him to Warren.

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I always love the symmetry of unit trains so snapped this one of the solid train of tanks and processed it in black and white for a Monochrome Monday offering.

CSXT train B762 has 96 empty tanks and two spacers trailing a pair of Gevos curling west parallel to US Route 20 at about MP 119.5 on modern day CSXT's Berkshire Subdivision, the former Boston and Albany Railroad mainline. This train originated at the Port of Providence at the Shell tank farm on the Providence and Worcester Railroad then was handed off to CSXT for furtherance west to Chicagoland and interchange to CPKC.

The Western Railroad of Massachusetts opened this segment of railroad for business in 1841, and pushing two centuries later the route not only survives but reigns supreme as the busiest and only Class 1 trunk line into New England. The Boston and Albany Railroad was formed in 1870 when the companies to the east and west were merged into one railroad linking its two namesake cities. Despite being leased by the New York Central in 1900 the B&A name survived for another half century. The NYC itself would become the Penn Central in 1968 and the line would pass to Conrail in 1976 and become the property of its current owner, CSXT, in 1999.

Huntington, Massachusetts
Thursday January 3, 2025

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The Denver & Rio Grande Western rostered a trio of home-built snow spreaders. Rio Grande 044 was built at Denver in 1941, using the steel under frame D&RGW flat car 17409, adding a double sheathed car body.

044 is pictured stopped in front of the cafe and depot in Thistle, Utah, circa 1962. It was about to make a run down the 132 mile Marysvale Branch in Central Utah. Photo by Vern Jeffers of Springville, Utah, James Belmont Collection.

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