Morning sunrise on the Henderson Subdivision I'm really not much of an early morning person unless I'm up to meet a friend to spend a day railfanning, but scenes like this have got me thinking I may get up early more often to catch the early morning and late evening light. I know it's there and it's golden it's just kinda hard to get up and out the door!! On this day, February 19th, 2021, I was headed down to Guthrie, Ky to link up with fellow railfan Cooper Smith to spend a day railfanning the Henderson Subdivision in the snow. I was watching this sunrise develop as I made my way south when I pulled over to a crossing just north of Trenton, Kentucky to catch this waiting on a train photo. It's not always about the train when you're trackside so always keep an eye out for other shots that might tell the story of railroading. Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-20mm DX lens @ 20mm f/4.5, 1/800, ISO 180 -0.7 Exp. Comp (helps with the highlights).

Morning sunrise on the Henderson Subdivision

I’m really not much of an early morning person unless I’m up to meet a friend to spend a day railfanning, but scenes like this have got me thinking I may get up early more often to catch the early morning and late evening light. I know it’s there and it’s golden it’s just kinda hard to get up and out the door!!

On this day, February 19th, 2021, I was headed down to Guthrie, Ky to link up with fellow railfan Cooper Smith to spend a day railfanning the Henderson Subdivision in the snow.

I was watching this sunrise develop as I made my way south when I pulled over to a crossing just north of Trenton, Kentucky to catch this waiting on a train photo. It’s not always about the train when you’re trackside so always keep an eye out for other shots that might tell the story of railroading.

Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-20mm DX lens @ 20mm f/4.5, 1/800, ISO 180 -0.7 Exp. Comp (helps with the highlights).

Southbound military move waiting at sunset I got a heads up on this military move from a fellow railfan and friend Travis Collins as CSX W809 headed south from up in Indiana around 10am on February 20th, 2021 on the CSX CE&D Subdivision. I kept up with its movement through southern Indiana via Facebook and fellow railfans that were out along the lines and tracked its progress in spits and starts along the way where it head to wait for higher priority trains that were moving north. After stopping at Howell yard in Evansville, Indiana it finally made its way onto the CSX Henderson Subdivision after taking on fuel and making a crew change at Howell, but by this time those of us waiting for it to make its appearance were starting to worry that we'd lose our light before it made it to where 7 of us railfans were waiting for it at Mortons Junction in Mortons Gap, Kentucky. That's where they put it on the cutoff that bypasses Madisonville and Earlington where it sat behind a loaded coal train to wait for hot intermodal Q028 and an empty coal drag to pass on the main at the junction. Finally the loaded coal train headed south and I knew the military move would be next and I decided to move on down to the south end of Nortonville where I hoped I would get some light on the train as by this time it was just about sunset. Here we find the train where it finally crawled to a stop just south of Nortonville with CSXT 5473 and 3348 leading the 5,000+ load of military vehicles elephant style to wait for another northbound Q648. This meet worked really well for my shot since the train came to a full stop and I was able to shoot with a slow shutterspeed to keep my ISO and noise down from the low light scene as the last rays of light swept across the valley! Patience pays off in the long run! Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 100.

Southbound military move waiting at sunset

I got a heads up on this military move from a fellow railfan and friend Travis Collins as CSX W809 headed south from up in Indiana around 10am on February 20th, 2021 on the CSX CE&D Subdivision.

I kept up with its movement through southern Indiana via Facebook and fellow railfans that were out along the lines and tracked its progress in spits and starts along the way where it head to wait for higher priority trains that were moving north.

After stopping at Howell yard in Evansville, Indiana it finally made its way onto the CSX Henderson Subdivision after taking on fuel and making a crew change at Howell, but by this time those of us waiting for it to make its appearance were starting to worry that we’d lose our light before it made it to where 7 of us railfans were waiting for it at Mortons Junction in Mortons Gap, Kentucky.

That’s where they put it on the cutoff that bypasses Madisonville and Earlington where it sat behind a loaded coal train to wait for hot intermodal Q028 and an empty coal drag to pass on the main at the junction.

Finally the loaded coal train headed south and I knew the military move would be next and I decided to move on down to the south end of Nortonville where I hoped I would get some light on the train as by this time it was just about sunset.

Here we find the train where it finally crawled to a stop just south of Nortonville with CSXT 5473 and 3348 leading the 5,000+ load of military vehicles elephant style to wait for another northbound Q648. This meet worked really well for my shot since the train came to a full stop and I was able to shoot with a slow shutterspeed to keep my ISO and noise down from the low light scene as the last rays of light swept across the valley!

Patience pays off in the long run!

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 100.