WEB-07.23.19 L&C Railway Crossing Catawba River at Fort Lawn, SC

Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 14 crosses over…

July 23, 2019 – Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 14 crosses over the Catawba River as it heads east at Fort Lawn, South Carolina, under stormy skies with LC 2829, 9630 and 9548 leading the way. Please feel free to share!!

According to Wikipedia: The Lancaster and Chester Railroad or L&C (reporting mark LC) is a railway headquartered in Lancaster, South Carolina. The original 29-mile route connects Lancaster in Lancaster County with Chester in Chester County. The line’s nickname is The Springmaid Line, which refers to its original purpose of connecting the plants of the Springs Mills company.

July 25, 2019 - A Charlotte Area Transit System Blue line LYNX train heads downgrade as it approaches the 25th Street Station in Charlotte, North Carolina as it heads uptown. According to Wikipedia... The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 19.3-mile (31.1 km) line goes from its northern terminus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in University City through NoDa, Uptown, and South End then paralleling South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits. There are 26 stations in the system, the light rail portion of which carries an average of over 23,200 passenger trips every day. It is the first major rapid rail service of any kind in North Carolina, and began operating seventy years after the previous Charlotte streetcar system was disbanded in 1938, in favor of motorized bus transit. It opened on November 24, 2007 between I-485/South Boulevard and 7th Street as the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System. Fares were not collected as part of the opening celebration. Regular service with fare collection commenced the next day.

Charlotte Area Transit System Blue line LYNX train…

July 25, 2019 – A Charlotte Area Transit System Blue line LYNX train heads downgrade as it approaches the 25th Street Station in Charlotte, North Carolina as it heads uptown.

According to Wikipedia… The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 19.3-mile (31.1 km) line goes from its northern terminus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in University City through NoDa, Uptown, and South End then paralleling South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits.

There are 26 stations in the system, the light rail portion of which carries an average of over 23,200 passenger trips every day. It is the first major rapid rail service of any kind in North Carolina, and began operating seventy years after the previous Charlotte streetcar system was disbanded in 1938, in favor of motorized bus transit.

It opened on November 24, 2007 between I-485/South Boulevard and 7th Street as the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System. Fares were not collected as part of the opening celebration. Regular service with fare collection commenced the next day.

Lhoist North America locomotive 3043…

July 26, 2019 – Lhoist North America locomotive 3043 and several other units sit tied down at their Underground mine operation in Crab Orchard, Tennessee. 

According to the Web: Lhoist North America of Tennessee, which also operates under the name Franklin Industrial Minerals, is located in Crab Orchard, Tennessee. This organization primarily operates in the Crushed and Broken Limestone business / industry within the Mining and Quarrying of Nonmetallic Minerals, Except Fuels sector.

July 25, 2019 - Another long exposure photograph from uptown Charlotte, North Carolina of a steel sculpture called "Spiral Odyssey" against the city skyline. According to the Qcitymetro website: The Sculpture is a stunning tribute to native son Romare Bearden by Richard Hunt. The name “Spiral Odyssey” is a triple tribute. It honors Bearden, the master collage maker who co-founded the New York group Spiral in 1963 to encourage African-American artists. It refers to Homer’s “Odyssey,” which Bearden explored multiple times in his work. And it hints at the two-decade friendship between Bearden and Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt. The piece can be called abstract, but your mind shapes bits of it into figures: the ship’s body, its billowing sail (or is that a wave?), perhaps a leaping dolphin. Hunt crafted slender arcs of steel so that light falling on them appears to ripple, like a current passing across water.

Another long exposure photograph from uptown Charlotte, North Carolina

July 25, 2019 – Another long exposure photograph from uptown Charlotte, North Carolina of a steel sculpture called “Spiral Odyssey” against the city skyline.

According to the Qcitymetro website: The Sculpture is a stunning tribute to native son Romare Bearden by Richard Hunt.

The name “Spiral Odyssey” is a triple tribute. It honors Bearden, the master collage maker who co-founded the New York group Spiral in 1963 to encourage African-American artists. It refers to Homer’s “Odyssey,” which Bearden explored multiple times in his work. And it hints at the two-decade friendship between Bearden and Chicago sculptor Richard Hunt.

The piece can be called abstract, but your mind shapes bits of it into figures: the ship’s body, its billowing sail (or is that a wave?), perhaps a leaping dolphin. Hunt crafted slender arcs of steel so that light falling on them appears to ripple, like a current passing across water.

July 26, 2019 - After a week of visiting family and railfanning in NC, SC and TN I'm finally back home in Kentucky. On the return trip yesterday I stopped by in hopes of catching the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad running at Canton, North Carolina, but like many short lines they weren't moving at all since it was a Saturday. However, I was able to catch this nice shot of WAMX 3943 and several other of their locomotives sitting in the yard. I'll have to make a trip back during the week and get some photos of them in operation! According to their website: Receiving its name from the Blue Ridge Mountains which overlook this scenic North Carolina railroad, the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (BLU) was Watco’s first property located in the state of North Carolina beginning in 2014. The BLU operates 92 miles of track, consisting of three branch lines that feed into Norfolk Southern’s terminal in Asheville, North Carolina: the T-Line to the west of Asheville, the W-Line to the south, and the TR-Line, which branches off the W-Line. The BLU primarily ships commodities such as wood chips, paper, plastics, cement, coal, and products used in the manufacture of Epsom Salt.

Blue Ridge Southern Railroad…

July 26, 2019 – After a week of visiting family and railfanning in NC, SC and TN I’m finally back home in Kentucky. On the return trip yesterday I stopped by in hopes of catching the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad running at Canton, North Carolina, but like many short lines they weren’t moving at all since it was a Saturday. However, I was able to catch this nice shot of WAMX 3943 and several other of their locomotives sitting in the yard. I’ll have to make a trip back during the week and get some photos of them in operation! Thanks to John DeVasto for recommending this shortline! I’ve passed here many times over the years and have never stopped.

According to their website: Receiving its name from the Blue Ridge Mountains which overlook this scenic North Carolina railroad, the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (BLU) was Watco’s first property located in the state of North Carolina beginning in 2014. The BLU operates 92 miles of track, consisting of three branch lines that feed into Norfolk Southern’s terminal in Asheville, North Carolina: the T-Line to the west of Asheville, the W-Line to the south, and the TR-Line, which branches off the W-Line. The BLU primarily ships commodities such as wood chips, paper, plastics, cement, coal, and products used in the manufacture of Epsom Salt.

WEB-07.24.19 CSX Q583 NB on Monroe Sub NB at Waxhaw, SC

CSX Q583 passes the signals at the north end of Waxhaw…

July 24, 2019 – CSX Q583 passes the signals at the north end of Waxhaw, North Carolina as it heads north on the Monroe Subdivision with CSXT 3184 leading the way. A big shout out to everyone that helped me find spots, heads up on trains, suggestions on places to photograph them. This includes, Travis Mackey, Burt Wayne Black, John DeVasto and all the others! I’ll be posting other shots from locations you all suggested for a couple weeks!!!

WEB-07.25.19 CATS LYNX arriving at 25th Street, Charolette, NC

Charlotte Area Transit System Blue line train…

July 25, 2019 – A Charlotte Area Transit System Blue line train approaches the 25th Street Station in Charlotte, North Carolina.

According to Wikipedia… The Lynx Blue Line is a light rail line in Charlotte, North Carolina. The 19.3-mile (31.1 km) line goes from its northern terminus at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in University City through NoDa, Uptown, and South End then paralleling South Boulevard to its southern terminus just north of Interstate 485 at the Pineville city limits. There are 26 stations in the system, the light rail portion of which carries an average of over 23,200 passenger trips every day. It is the first major rapid rail service of any kind in North Carolina, and began operating seventy years after the previous Charlotte streetcar system was disbanded in 1938, in favor of motorized bus transit. It opened on November 24, 2007 between I-485/South Boulevard and 7th Street as the first rail line of the Charlotte Area Transit System. Fares were not collected as part of the opening celebration. Regular service with fare collection commenced the next day.

WEB-07.25.19 The Firebird 1, Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, Charlotte, NC

Devotees call her “Firebird,” “Disco Chicken,” even “Big Bird”

July 25, 2019 – Devotees call her “Firebird,” “Disco Chicken,” even “Big Bird” but her proper name is “Le Grand Oiseau de Feu Sur l’Arche,” or “The Large Bird of Fire on the Arch.” I captured this Long Exposure view of her late last night outside the Bechtler Museum of Modern Art in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina.