August 29, 2020 – Norfolk Southern 9385 leads a loaded grain train past the Premier Cooperative Inc grain elevators at Tolono, Illinois as it heads east on the NS Lafayette District.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/11, 1/800, 1/800, underexposed 1.3 stops (exposed more for the highlights), ISO 100.
August 29, 2020 – Amtrak 393 (The Illini) pulls into the old Illinois Central (IC) Depot in downtown Mattoon, Illinois with 4624 leading the Sunday evening southbound train from Chicago to Carbondale, Illinois as the last bit of sunlight lights up the scene. According to the Amtrak App the train was running out of Chicago at 44% capacity during this COVID-19 days.
According to Wikipedia, The Mattoon station is housed in the former Illinois Central Railroad Depot. The depot was completed in 1918 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001. At its height, the building housed a power plant, mail room, luggage room, and restaurant, in addition to the main hall where passengers waited to board trains. As many as ten trains a day departed the depot in the 1950s.
During 2010, a $3 million restoration project, paid for from a mix of private, state, and federal funding, was undertaken, replacing paint, flooring, and other interior fixtures.
The station currently serves as a stop for the Illini, Saluki, and City of New Orleans passenger trains. The tracks themselves, formerly part of the Illinois Central Railroad, are now owned by the Canadian National Railway (CN). Freight trains run by CN pass through frequently as this is on the CN Champaign Subdivision.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Fuji 18-55mm @ 18mm, f/8, 1/180, ISO 800.
August 26, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville 2118 heads up the Princeton to Madisonville, Ky local as it heads north through Dawson Springs, Ky to Madisonville to perform interchange work with CSX at Atkinson Yard.
I love shooting spots that have interesting track or other features that help draw the viewer’s eye to the subject of the photograph, such as in this case with the two small S curves just south of the highway 62 overpass. Always look for ways to help your photographs have more impact by looking for these interesting things that can help add interest to your shots.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 460mm, f/8, 1/800, ISO 900.
August 17, 2020 – Canadian National 5735, 2138 and Union Pacific 5446 head up CSX K421, a loaded ethanol train, as it makes its way off the Earlington Cutoff at Mortons Junction in Mortons Gap, Kentucky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 210mm, f/8, 1/800, ISO 180.
January 30, 2010 – CSXT #1 passes through Nortonville, Ky on a snowy day as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision with a loaded intermodal.
Tech Info: Full Frame D700, RAW, Nikkor 70-300 @ 80mm, f/16, 1/640, ISO 640.
August 20, 2020 – CSXT 973 leads CSX Q500 north on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky with a mixed freight on track 1.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 250mm, f/11, 1/1250, ISO 800.
August 1, 2020 – Engine 465 leads a afternoon passenger train as it approaches the switch at milepost 74 as it heads for the Gradman Station on the French Lick Scenic Railway through one of many tunnels of trees.
According to their website: The Indiana Railway Museum is a tourist railway located in French Lick, Indiana. The Museum was founded in 1961 in the town of Westport, Indiana where the railroad operated a tourist excursion, utilizing one small locomotive, three passenger cars, and about twenty volunteers. Ridership was estimated at about 500 passengers in 1962. The museum and railway remained in Westport until a move was necessitated in 1971. The organization relocated to Greensburg, Indiana where it operated until 1976 when it again, it changed locations. The Museum was relocated to French Lick in 1978 after an agreement with the Southern Railway Company. They deeded the Museum a total of sixteen miles of track stretching from West Baden, Indiana, approximately one mile north of French Lick, to a small village named Dubois, to the south.
The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates as The French Lick Scenic Railway operating passenger trains over twenty-five miles of this track from French Lick to Jasper.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 550mm, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 450.
July 28, 2020 – CSX W024 makes its way through switch at Mortons Junction from the Earlington Cutoff, with a loaded rail train with CSXT 4046 (EMD SD40-3) leading long hood forward as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 250mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 360.
August 20, 2020 – CSXT 3182 heads up CSX E040-16 as it heads through the cross-over from track 2 to track 1 as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Kentucky. It set on track 2 as it waited for CSX Q025 to pass and its counterpart, loaded coal train N040-20 was also waiting for Q025 on the same track about 1/4 mile away from the cross-over.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 250mm, f/11, 1/1250, ISO 900.
Norfolk Southern 4194 glides downhill as it leads NS 124-31 westbound, with an all Autorack train, as it meets NS 376-01 led by NS 9626, a eastbound mix freight train, across the street from the Taswell Community Church at Taswell, Indiana on the NS Southern-East District.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 195mm, f/5.6, 1/800, ISO 1400.
August 17, 2020 – Canadian National 5735, 2138 and Union Pacific 5446 head up CSX K421, a loaded ethanol train, as it makes its way down the main at the south end of the siding at Slaughters, Kentucky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 150mm, f/7.1, 1/640, ISO 100.
August 17, 2020 – CSXT 5113 leads CSX W992 as it passes the approach lit signals in downtown Earlington, Ky with a load of windmill housings and motors, with a load of grain cars tagged onto the end of its train as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 340mm, f/22, 1/200, ISO 100.
August 13, 2020 – BNSF 5954 leads CSX intermodal Q028-12 (Atlanta, GA – Chicago, IL) as it tops the rise while passing CSX Q647 in the siding at Kelly, Kentucky, as 28 heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 370mm, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 900.
August 15, 2020 – Canadian National 5485 leads the CN Fulton to Paducah local as it passes the LED signals at CN’s P&I Junction in Paducah, Kentucky after making its drop-off and pickup at the Paducah & Louisville Railway.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 56mm, f/11. 1/500, ISO 220.
August 15, 2020 – While out learning to use my new Arsenal Device for my D800, one of the places we stopped was an eagles nest in Grand Rivers, Kentucky. I didn’t use the Arsenal for this shot of a bald eagle taking flight from a dead tree, but it’s a shot that I like and still wanted to share here for your viewing pleasure!
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 with a 1.4 teleconverter, 850mm, f/9, 1/640, ISO 500.
August 15, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Salute to Our Veterans unit, 2129 heads up an afternoon local as it works in the industrial area at Calvert City, Kentucky.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 70mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 250.
August 14, 2020 – CSXT 3060 heads up Q025-14 as it heads south through downtown Mortons Gap, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/8, 1/1250, ISO 250.
August 13, 2020 – BNSF 5954 leads CSX Q028-12 across the diamond at Trident as it heads north with a 10,000+ foot intermodal on the Henderson Subdivision at Madisonville, Ky.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1600.
July 17, 2020 – Norfolk Southern New Jersey Central Lines Heritage Unit 1071 leads NS 172 across the NS/CSX diamond at 4th Street in Louisville, Kentucky as it heads north on the Louisville District.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 280mm, f/5.6, 1/320, ISO 100.
July 21, 2020 – CSX K815-19, with CP 7021, pulls under the signal bridge at the north end of Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana, as it arrives with a loaded phosphate train.
Canadian Pacific unveiled 5 of these specially painted locomotives in November of 2019 on Remembrance Day in Canada and Veterans Day in the U.S. honoring the culture and history of the armed forces. The five Electro-Motive Diesel SD70ACUs will take the message of military pride across the CP system.
CP 7021 wears the sand colour that the Canadian and U.S. armies apply to fighting vehicles and equipment serving in arid climates.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/4.5, 1/500, ISO 2500.
August 10, 2020 – CSXT 5479 runs long hood forward on the Henderson Subdivision as it leads railtrain J012-10 toward the siding at Latham, in Hopkinsville, Ky, after dropping rails between the south end of Kelly, Ky, working its way south towards Guthrie, Ky. I’m told there will be a CSX MOW blitz beginning is just under two weeks with a daily work curfew.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 300mm, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 640.