Ft. Campbell Rail southbound at Rock Bridge Branch, Hopkinsville, KY

Photo 1

United States Army units USAX 6520, 6519 and 1871 head south after picking up a load of equipment from the Ft. Campbell wye in Hopkinsville, KY that was dropped off by CSX on August 9th, 2021, as the train approaches the Rock Bridge Branch bridge, just south of Lovers Lane overpass.

This is a follow-up to my post yesterday where I discussed that my gear just didn’t want to co-operate on this chase! This was my first spot with the drone and as soon as I launched it the DJI Fly app complained that the device (iPhone) was too hot, and performance would be reduced! Well, it’s been an ongoing issue since they updated their software a few weeks ago, so as you can see from these two shots, I didn’t get the drone in place where I wanted it, which is the far end of the bridge, looking back toward the train as it came toward me.

The drone moved so slow a sluggish that I couldn’t get far enough ahead of the train to get the camera into position and so what I got instead are a couple of going away shots of the power instead. Don’t get me wrong, I like both shots that I did get, but neither of them was what I had in mind. I wanted the power with the military loads trailing off into the distance. So, I will revisit this location and try again to get the shot I want!

I just got word this afternoon that there’s another loaded train headed for Hopkinsville for Ft. Campbell, which should arrive sometime tonight. My plan is to head back to this location early in the morning to hopefully get the shot I am looking for as they don’t normally pickup trains from the wye for Ft. Campbell after dark.

Tech Info: Wide Photo: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 110. Tight Photo: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100.

Photo 2