June 6, 2020 – LORAM Railgrinder 403 approaches the Davis Road overpass just south of Mannington, Kentucky, as it heads south to it’s next grinding spot on the Henderson Subdivision, as it’s lights illuminate the right-of-way in the fading daylight.

According to Wikipedia: A rail grinder is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track.

Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8. 1/160, ISO 3200.

June 17. 2020 – CSX Jewelers work to replace the diamond at Trident, where the Henderson Subdivision, Morganfield Branch and the MH&E branch cross at Madisonville, Kentucky. Much of the two latter branches were shut down within the last year and are now used for storage, but locals and coal trains still use them to some degree. The Henderson subdivision however still sees on average of 20-25 trains a day so this diamond still sees a lot of traffic!

Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 with a 1.4 teleconverter @ 700mm, f/13, 1/1600sec, ISO 1800.

June 6, 2020 – LORAM Railgrinder 403 at Mannington, Kentucky, as it south to it’s next grinding spot on the Henderson Subdivision, as the last light of the day begins to fade from the sky.

According to Wikipedia: A rail grinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track.

Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8. 1/160sec, ISO 3200.

July 8, 2010 – A CSX MOW rail train crew works at the dangerous job of picking up old track through downtown Mortons Gap, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision.

Tech info: Nikon D300, RAW, Nikon 70-300mm @ 300mm, f/7, 1/400 at ISO 500.

April 20, 2020 – CSXT G213 passes CSXT 6025 heading up Geometry Inspection train W001-20 as they inspect track two, just south of Anaconda at Robards, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision.

On the rear of the trains is the actual track geometry car (also known as a track recording car) which is an automated track inspection vehicle.

It used to test several geometric parameters of the track without obstructing normal railroad operations. Some of the parameters generally measured include position, curvature, alignment of the track, smoothness, and the cross level of the two rails.

It uses a variety of sensors, measuring systems, and data management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected.

April 14, 2020 – CSXT 380 leads empty coal train E013-13 as it passes a weed sprayer crew at CP Romney as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision at Mannington, Ky.

April 14, 2020 – A CSX High Railer leads a weed sprayer truck just past the highway 62 overpass on track 1, as it sprays the right-of-way at Nortonville, Ky, as the pair make their way south on the Henderson Subdivision, while performing their springtime work.

March 31, 2020 – A CSX bridge work crew keeps a watchful eye and sends a friendly wave to the crew of CSX as Q502 crosses over the Craborchard Creek bridge, as CSXT mobile crane 916100 sits idle, as the manifest heads north through their work zone on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky. The crane is an AMERICAN Model 840 Locomotive Crane with a pile driver attached.

The bridge crew is working on installing new pilings for the bridge over Craborchard Creek using the pile driver attached to the crane. I’ll be posting a video on the operation later today if you’re interested in seeing and hearing it work.

Here’s more information on the crane if you’re interested: http://aolcrane.com/pdfs/840850debrochure.pdf

March 25, 2020 – CSXT 4016 runs long nose forward as it heads up CSX J052-25 pulling a loaded ballast train as it works it’s way south at CP Anaconda on the Henderson Subdivision at Robards, Ky.

October 23, 2019 – CSXT 7916 leads loaded ballast train W089 as it pulls onto the Henderson Subdivision main from the siding at the north end of Latham in Hopkinsville, Kentucky as it continues its trip north.

July 3, 2019 – CSX W001-03 Track Inspection Geometry Train heads south on the Henderson Subdivision at Oak Hiil, between Nortonville, and Mortons Gap, Kentucky with the Florence, Columbus and a Track Geometry Car.

According to Wikipedia: A track geometry car (also known as a track recording car) is an automated track inspection vehicle on a rail transport system used to test several geometric parameters of the track without obstructing normal railroad operations.

Some of the parameters generally measured include position, curvature, alignment of the track, smoothness, and the crosslevel of the two rails. The cars use a variety of sensors, measuring systems, and data management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected.

July 3, 2019 – CSX W001-03 Track Inspection Geometry Train heads south on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Kentucky with the Florence, Columbus and a Track Geometry Car.

According to Wikipedia: A track geometry car (also known as a track recording car) is an automated track inspection vehicle on a rail transport system used to test several geometric parameters of the track without obstructing normal railroad operations. Some of the parameters generally measured include position, curvature, alignment of the track, smoothness, and the crosslevel of the two rails.

The cars use a variety of sensors, measuring systems, and data management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected.

May 8, 2019 – Things don’t always go as planned, do they!! Today I ended up with this nice shot showing two CSX Welders repairing a section of track on the cutoff at Mortons Junction on the Henderson Subdivision at Mortons Gap, Ky. Don’t get me wrong, I like the shot, but it’s not the one I planned.

Let me backup just a little. The bridge over the tracks at Nortonville, Ky has been out of service sincesince last year and they finally opened it back up so I decided to head there to do a live video of a southbound train going through the nice S curve there. After setting at the location for almost two hours with no traffic, other than a track inspector, I had to head back to Madisonville. 

I passed through Mortons Gap to check the signal incase there was a northbound coming behind me when I found these two guys hard at work repairing a section of rail. I passed them by as I was running late to pick up one of my nieces from preschool and low and behold I encounter a southbound coal train at the next crossing on the main!

Well, I whip around and head back to the junction with just enough time to spare before the head end power on the train prepared to pass the workers! A good 24mm shot with the train trailing off and the workers waving to the crew as the train pulled into the sweet spot for the picture and I started shooting away… with no card in the camera! 

It happens to all of us!! I thought sure I had put it back, but obviously not! Now, the card was in the car, so if I had stopped in the first place to photograph them working, I would have realized it and put the card in and probably got the shot I wanted! So for me the moral of this story is, don’t pass up a shot! If you see one and it catches your eye then it’s worth exploring! Plus, you might have time to stick a card in before your secondary subject arrives! 

After doing this for over 40 years you’d think I’d learn a thing or two! Keep clicking folks and always make sure when you head out that there’s a card in your camera!! LOL