May 2, 2018 – Day 184 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Ballerina Elaina – My niece Ashley shares a moment with her daughter Elaina before heading off for her ballet class. When photographing parents and kids together try to capture natural moments that occur between them.
May 3, 2018 – CSX K814, with CP locomotives 8824, 8769 and 8946, (New Whales, FL – Chicago, IL) Phosphate train, meets southbound CSX Q025-03 at the north end of the siding at Crofton, Ky as it waits to continue it’s move north on the Henderson Subdivision under stormy skies. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad #cprailroad #canadianpacific
May 1, 2018 – Day 183 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Hugs and Kisses – Damion tries his best to get away from his little sister who wants to give him hugs and kisses after his participation in his kindergarten classes performance this evening at his school. He loves his sister to the moon and back, but hugs and kisses from his sister in public and at school, not happening if he can help it! Capture the moments between siblings, they make for great memories!
May 3, 2018 – Stormy skies loom over CSX X573-02 as it heads south at Kelly, Ky with a lash-up of CSXT 314, 404, 9046, 5014, 684, 673, 669 and 672. The train was rerouted onto the Henderson Subdivision due to a derailment on the Mainline Sub at Lebanon, Ky. The 5014 and last 4 locomotives are 600 series engines (AC60CWs) and have been sold off by CSX and are on their way to Progress Rail. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad
April 30, 2018 – Day 182 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Getting beat – Damion jumps yet another of my checkers as we wait for his sister to get out of ballet class this afternoon.
April 26, 2018 – CSXT 4074 heads under the New Salem Loop bridge with local J732-26 as it makes its way north at Nortonville, Ky on track 2 up the Henderson Subdivision as it heads for Atkinson Yard in Madisonville, Ky. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad
April 29, 2018 – Day 181 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Damion and Wolfie – All of us had a favorite toy growing up, even if we don’t remember today what it was. Damion is no exception! Hands down, his favorite is “Wolfie.”
April 28, 2018 – For the second time in a week we find a Norfolk Southern Heritage unit on a CSX freight on the Henderson Subdivision. Today CSX Q589-28 (Avon, IN – Wauhatchie, TN.) has the NS 1074 Lackawanna Heritage Unit trailing as the second unit, as it snakes its way up the viaduct at Rahm, Indiana. – #jimstrainphotos #indinarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
April 28, 2018 – Day 180 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Tanks – While out chasing trains with a fellow photographer Ryan Scott we came across several good black and white photos, but this one took the prize!! The light reflecting off the shinny tanks at the Mead-Johnson Plant at Evansville, Indiana and the repetition of the tanks make this shot!
April 28, 2018 – For the second time in a week we find a Norfolk Southern Heritage unit on a CSX freight on the Henderson Subdivision. Today CSX Q589-28 (Avon, IN – Wauhatchie, TN.) has the NS 1074 Lackawanna Heritage Unit trailing as the second unit, as it snakes its way up the viaduct at Rahm, Indiana. – #jimstrainphotos #indinarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad #nsrailway #nsheritageunit
April 25, 2018 – CSX construction of converting the sidings at Romney and Nortonville, Ky together to form a new approximately file mile two track main from Mannington through Nortonville, Ky is open for business. The construction, which was started in 2017, has created three new control points on the Henderson Subdivision line. The first is Romney which is at the crossing on Mcintosh road, north of Mannington, Ky. The second is located just south of the Church Street overpass in Nortonville, Ky and is called Nortonville. This is where the cross-over is located. The last point is called Oak Hill and it is located a little past where the old North End of the Nortonville siding was located.
April 27, 2018 – A LoRam Ballast Cleaner works between Nortonville and Romney on track 1 as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
April 27, 2018 – A LoRam Ballast Cleaner fills the air with dust as it rounds a curve at Nortonville, Ky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision on track 1.
According to Wikipedia: A ballast cleaner (also known as an undercutter) is a machine that specializes in cleaning the railway track ballast (gravel, blue stone or other aggregate) of impurities.
Over time, ballast becomes worn, and loses its angularity, becoming rounded. This hinders the tessellation of pieces of ballast with one another, and thus reduces its effectiveness. Fine pieces of granite, like sand, are also created by attrition, known simply as “fines”. Combined with water in the ballast, these fines stick together, making the ballast like a lump of concrete. This hinders both track drainage and the flexibility of the ballast to constrain the track as it moves under traffic.
Ballast cleaning removes this worn ballast, screens it and replaces the “dirty” worn ballast with fresh ballast. The advantage of ballast cleaning is that it can be done by an on-track machine without removing the rail and sleepers, and it is therefore cheaper than a total excavation.
A cutter bar runs beneath sleeper level excavating all of the ballast under the sleepers to a specified, variable depth. A conveyor then moves the ballast into the cleaner, where it gets forced through a mesh by a shaking chamber. Pieces of ballast which are smaller than the mesh size fall through and are rejected, those that are bigger than the mesh are returned to the track along with fresh ballast. Some ballast cleaners have both ballast and spoil wagons attached to it, to which the materials are fed by a series of conveyor belts. Others simply undercut the ballast, and allow for a work train to come through to dump fresh ballast. This process can be done in short possessions, meaning that track life can be considerably extended with the minimum of disruption.
April 27, 2018 – Day 179 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Jump – Under the watchful eye of his instructor Damion and his fellow Little Warriors run through some jumping drills during Karate practice this afternoon. Another use of leading lines! They’re everywhere!!
April 26, 2018 – CSX Q500-26 pulls north with Norfolk Southern’s 911 Honoring First Responders engine trailing the consist as it heads north on track 2 on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad
April 26, 2018 – Day 178 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Tracks – Today’s photo is from one of my favorite pastimes, photographing railroads and the trains that run on them. They always make for good, strong shots with leading lines that draw your eye into the photo! A technique that will help make your own photos stronger.
April 23, 2018 – CSX Q026-24 passes the new crossovers at the new Nortonville as it approaches the Church Street overpass as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky with CSXT 5253 leading. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad
April 23, 2018 – CSX Intermodal Q029 crosses over from main 2 to main 1 at Nortonville as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision in preparation of a meet with it’s northbound counterpoint Q028 at Romney at Nortonville, Ky. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #csx #csxrailroad
April 25, 2018 – Day 177 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – UP – Looking up can always provide some interesting views! For today’s picture I stood inside a power transmission tower and pointed my iPhone to the sky! Look for different angles to shoot your photos as it can help add impact to your pictures! Of course it helps to have interesting shapes and angles as well!
April 24, 2018 – Day 176 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Jordan – My nephew Jordan is always good for a great picture! He’s such a cut up and loves life!! Unless things aren’t going his way, as with most 3-year olds! LOL Photos of your young ones making faces and being kids are one of the treasures you’ll cherish in the years to come. Make sure you capture them!
April 23, 2018 – Day 175 – iPhone 7 Plus Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Evening Light – I pass this scene pretty much every time I drive home or head to town from my home. Today the light was simply breathtaking, and I had to stop and capture it! I utilized the video mode to capture this photograph, so I could use the full capability of my iPhone 7 Plus sensor.