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.
CSXT 7005 leads Q025-17 past a crew working…
April 17, 2020 – CSXT 7005 leads Q025-17 past a crew working on a switch at Anaconda, south of Robards, Ky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision with a stack train.
In case you’re wondering about the “Begin OS sign,” from what I find on the web it is an old time term used by telegraph operators and train dispatchers to indicate that a train has passed a particular location on a subdivision. “OS” means “on sheet” referring to the fact that the train dispatcher has recorded train movement on the train sheet he maintained each 24 hour period. It also means Originating Station, the first station on each subdivision from which a train is authorized to occupy the main track.
It was a hot, dry day as a Piggyback with BNSF 5232 leading…
June 23, 2006 – Blast From The Past – It was a hot, dry day as a Piggyback with BNSF 5232 leading headed east, meeting a Mixed freight headed up by BNSF 4438 waiting to head west toward Bakersfield, in horseshoe curve in the valley at Caliente, California as they made their way through the Tehachapi Mountains on the UP Mojave Subdivision.
A CSX High Railer leads a weed sprayer truck…
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.
BNSF 5971 leads a loaded coal train off the Buford Subdivision…
October 22, 2007 – Blast From The Past – BNSF 5971 leads a loaded coal train off the Buford Subdivision at Chiles Junction in West Paducah, Kentucky as it prepares to head down the Paducah and Louisville Railway bound for the coal Terminal at Calvert City, Kentucky.
BNSF 2819 heads past the old interlocking tower at Shattuc, Illinois
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – BNSF 2819 heads past the old interlocking tower at Shattuc, Illinois on BNSF’s Beardstown Subdivision as it crosses over the Illinois Subdivision.
From what I gather from the web, CSX closed the Illinois Subdivision through here at one point and used it for car storage, but then I find references to the line being used now by The Prairie Line, a shortline out of O’Fallon, IL (I’m now told the shortline hasn’t materialized yet). BNSF still owns and uses the Bardstown Sub. I’m also told that the diamond was removed in 2019, at least temporarily.
In the past this tower controlled the movements of trains on the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy railroad along with the B&O Railroad. It was closed sometime in the 1980’s and from what I can find on the web it was torn down in late 2014. I’ve also found reports where it was bought by a collector and moved. Whichever is correct, this picture isn’t to be replicated again today since the tower is now gone.
If you’d like to read a great piece on the tower, check out this article on The Trackside Photographer by Tom Gatermann, who visited the tower the same year as me.
http://thetracksidephotographer.com/tag/shattuc-tower/
Photograph the towers when and where you can as they continue to disappear from the railroad landscape.
The conductor on a Union Pacific freight walks past the American Flag…
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – The conductor on a Union Pacific freight walks past the American Flag on his engine in the yard at Salem, Illinois.
According to the Union Pacific Website: When we added the flag to our locomotives more than a decade ago – at the suggestion of an employee after 9/11 – we followed the tradition of having the Union (the blue field of stars) lead the way, such that on the right-hand side of the vehicle (“passenger side”), the flag would appear reversed.
Further, the flag was painted to convey the motion of forward movement as if it were billowing with the speed of the locomotive. Having the Union forward on both sides is the overwhelming choice anytime the flag is portrayed on a transport vehicle, from NASA space shuttles to Air Force One.
Union Pacific 3961 pulls to a stop at the UP yard office in Salem, Illinois
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – Union Pacific 3961 pulls to a stop at the UP yard office in Salem, Illinois, with its intermodal train, on the Salem Subdivision as a loaded manifest with ex-Conrail 8339 leading waits for it to pass.
CN 5699 leads a southbound autorack south past the depot at Effingham, Illinois
May 1, 2005 – Blast From The Past – CN 5699 leads a southbound autorack south past the depot at Effingham, Illinois as it prepares to cross the CSX/CN Diamond at the CN Champaign and St. Louis Line Subdivisions.
CSXT 961 leads empty potash train K815…
April 5, 2020 – CSXT 961 leads empty potash train K815 south out of Mortons Gap, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision on a beautiful spring morning.
Blast From The Past – Paducah and Louisville Railway locomotives, 2105, 2102, 3804, 3808, 8507…
September 29, 2010 – Blast From The Past – Paducah and Louisville Railway locomotives, 2105, 2102, 3804, 3808, 8507 lead a northbound loaded Louisville Gas & Electric coal train across the trestle at Big Clifty, Kentucky against the setting sun. It also had PAL 2120, 2117 and 1999 bringing up the rear as DPUs.
Paducah and Louisville Railway 2111 exits tunnel at Dawson Springs, Ky
October 22, 2007 – Paducah and Louisville Railway 2111 leads the way as it exits the tunnel at Dawson Springs, Ky headed southbound towards Paducah.
Blast From The Past – BNSF 5294, 8732, 158 and 7334…
June 19, 2006 – Blast From The Past – BNSF 5294, 8732, 158 and 7334, each in a different paint scheme, make for a rainbow of colors as the lead a manifest down the Cajon Pass in southern California.
CSXT 8584 leads a mixed freight…
April 4, 2006 – Blast From The Past – CSXT 8584 leads a mixed freight past the signals approaching the southern crossover, where CSX and Norfolk Southern crossover on the CSX CE&D Subdivision, as it heads north through Princeton, Indiana. Jim Pearson Photography
BNSF 4620 leads a mixed freight through the Tehachapi mountains…
June 24, 2006 – Blast From The Past – BNSF 4620 leads a mixed freight through the Tehachapi mountains after passing through tunnel 10 on the Mojave Subdivision, headed east toward Tehachapi, California.
Amtrak ending #56 leads the Southwest Chief west at Cajon Junction, CA
June 24, 2006 – Blast From The Past – Amtrak locomotive #56, leads the Southwest Chief as it passes the signals at MP 604 as it heads west to Los Angeles through the Cajon Pass in southern California at Cajon Junction, CA.
Union Pacific 2365 struggles past CP Canyon…
June 21, 2006 – Blast From The Past – It’s 9:45 in the morning as Union Pacific 2365 struggles past CP Canyon as it heads east up the Cajon Pass in southern California with a loaded manifest.The pass is one of the busiest rail areas in southern California.
CSXT 522 pulls uphill as it leads CSX Q502 north…
April 5, 2020 – CSXT 522 pulls uphill as it leads CSX Q502 north at Earlington, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision on Palm Sunday, on it’s daily run between Nashville, TN and Chicago, IL.
Norfolk Southern 9479 leads a mixed freight…
April 4, 2006 – Blast From The Past – Norfolk Southern 9479 leads a mixed freight eastbound as the setting sun produces a golden glow as the train makes its way out of Princeton, Indiana on the NS Southern East District.
A pair of E8s, with 5711 leading…
July 31, 2004- Blast From The Past – A pair of E8s, with 5711 leading, in beautiful Pennsylvania RR maroon and gold paint pulled a private car passenger train between Philadelphia and Dennison, Ohio during the Dennison Railroad Museum’s 2004 Railfest. Here it is just East of Morgan Run headed away from Dennison.
The event was in cooperation with the Ohio Central Railroad, as the museum celebrated its 15th Anniversary. It was billed as the largest railroad heritage event of 2004.
It ran from July 30 to August 1, 2004. Many of the locomotives featured during the event were owned by the Ohio Central Railroad. The Ohio Central at that time provided full-time freight railroad services and also offered passenger excursions powered by vintage equipment. Not sure if this is still the case or not.
Blast From The Past – BNSF 4194 leads a train…
June 23, 2006 – Blast From The Past – BNSF 4194 leads a train of reefers northbound after coming through the Tehachapi Loop as it heads north on Union Pacific’s Mojave Subdivision, just north of milepost 352.