CSXT 776 leads loaded coal train C895, (Gibson county coal (Princeton, IN) – Newport News, VA (for export), north after passing under the steam era coaling temple at Sullivan, Indiana on December 18th, 2023, in the early morning light on the CSX CE&D Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 480mm, f/6, 1/500, ISO 280.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 476 departs Silverton, Colorado, on October 17th, 2023, as they head back toward Durango with a freight train, as part of their annual photography charter.
According to Wikipedia: The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 120.
Steam Railroading Institute’s 25-ton switcher “Mighty Mouse” diesel sits on the turntable at Owosso, Michigan, as it waits to begin a day of work at Owosso, Michigan on December 16th, 2023.
According to their website, built in the 1940’s by General Electric in Erie, Pennsylvania, this type of locomotive was used in light switching at industrial plants and elevators. The locomotive was last used by an elevator at Shelby, Ohio before being purchased by the Steam Railroading Institute at an auction in 2008. It is the primary switching locomotive in the museum’s yard, and for pulling the 1225 onto the turntable when not under steam. “Mighty Mouse” gets its nickname from a previously added decal on the hood of the locomotive.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @ 10mm, f/3.5, 1/160, ISO 12,800.
Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 1225 pulls off the turntable at Owosso, Michigan, as it prepares for a day of pulling the North Pole Express to Ashley, Michigan on December 16th, 2023.
According to their website, Pere Marquette 1225, the largest and most impressive piece in the Steam Railroading Institute’s collection, is one of the largest operating steam locomotives in Michigan. The 1225 was built in October of 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Pere Marquette Railway. It’s part of the National Register of Historic Structures and is renowned for its role in the 2004 Warner Brothers Christmas Classic, THE POLAR EXPRESS™. 1225’s blueprints were used as the prototype for the locomotive image as well as its sounds to bring the train in the animated film to life!
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @ 10mm, f/3.5, 1/320, ISO 90.
Digital Photo Art – Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 1225 as it sits at Ashley, Michigan while pulling the North Pole Express between Owosso and Ashley, Michigan, along the Great Lakes Railroad.
According to their website, Pere Marquette 1225, the largest and most impressive piece in the Steam Railroading Institute’s collection, is one of the largest operating steam locomotives in Michigan. The 1225 was built in October of 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Pere Marquette Railway. It’s part of the National Register of Historic Structures and is renowned for its role in the 2004 Warner Brothers Christmas Classic, THE POLAR EXPRESS™. 1225’s blueprints were used as the prototype for the locomotive image as well as its sounds to bring the train in the animated film to life!
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 70mm, f/4.5, 1/1000, ISO 320.
They say what you do on New Year’s Day you’ll do all year long and so good friend and fellow railfan, Ryan Scott and I hit the road in southern Indiana this morning at 7am and headed north to Vincennes, Indiana to see if we couldn’t catch anything moving.
This shot is of CSX L364 heading east over the Wabash River on the CSX Illinois Subdivision, after they dropped off some grain cars at Bridgeport, Illinois on January 1st, 2024. I’ve been trying for several years to catch something crossing over the river here and today was the day!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 120.
This is another shot from my New Year’s Day trip to Vincennes, Indiana of CSX L364-01 dropping off three flats loaded with steel at Wabash Steel Company along the Wabash River, along the CSX River Branch on January 1st, 2024.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 100.
An early morning view of Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 1225 as it sits on the turntable at Owosso, Michigan. It was being serviced by crews before it backed up to the ash pit in preparation for another day of pulling the North Pole Express between Owosso and Ashley, Michigan, along the Great Lakes Railroad on December 17th, 2023.
According to their website, Pere Marquette 1225, the largest and most impressive piece in the Steam Railroading Institute’s collection, is one of the largest operating steam locomotives in Michigan. The 1225 was built in October of 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Pere Marquette Railway. It’s part of the National Register of Historic Structures and is renowned for its role in the 2004 Warner Brothers Christmas Classic, THE POLAR EXPRESS™. 1225’s blueprints were used as the prototype for the locomotive image as well as its sounds to bring the train in the animated film to life!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/10, ISO 610.
Denver and Rio Grande Western double header steam locomotives 473 and 493 pass the depot at Silverton, CO, on October 18th, 2023, as they head into downtown to drop off their passengers.
According to Wikipedia: The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
Denver and Rio Grande Western steam locomotive 476 leads a daily passenger train as they pull around Granite Point, just outside of Rockwood, Colorado, as they head to Silverton, CO, on October 15th, 2023.
According to Wikipedia: The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.
CSXT 790 and 335 lead CSX M513 as it meets the CSX 1973 Chessie Heritage Unit in the siding at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky, as it leads CSX B211, a loaded potash train, on December 22, 2023, on the Henderson Subdivision.
The Chessie Heritage unit was leading an interesting lash up of one other CSX unit and 3 Norfolk Southern Units. If you check out my Saturday Edited video from this morning (episode 52) you’ll find a couple video clips of this train making its way north.
According to Wikipedia: The three railroads that would make up the Chessie System had been closely related since the 1960s. C&O had acquired controlling interest in B&O in 1962, and the two had jointly controlled WM since 1967.
Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated under the Chessie name from 1973 to 1987.
On November 1, 1980, Chessie System merged with Seaboard Coastline Industries to form CSX Corporation. Initially, the three Chessie System railroads continued to operate separately, even after Seaboard’s six Family Lines System railroads were merged into the Seaboard System Railroad on December 29, 1982. That began to change in 1983, when the WM was merged into the B&O. The Chessie image continued to be applied to new and re-painted equipment until July 1, 1986, when CSXT introduced its own paint scheme. In April 1987, the B&O was merged into the C&O. In August 1987, C&O merged into CSX Transportation, a 1986 renaming of the Seaboard System Railroad, and the Chessie System name was retired.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 110.
This week’s Saturday Infrared photo is of Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad 168 as it climbs upgrade just outside of Osier, Colorado, on a recent photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 20th, 2023.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Converted to 720nm B&W IR, Nikon 10-24 @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/1250, ISO 400.
On this last Saturday for 2023 we watch trains in southern Indiana and Western Kentucky, with a mix of power including CSX and Norfolk Southern along with the CSX Chessie Heritage Unit leading a Phosphate train thrown into the mix. Enjoy and please like, share, and subscribe, and thanks for watching!
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 488 approaches the End of Standard Gauge crossing as it arrives back at Antonito, Colorado with a passenger train from Osier, Colorado, on October 19th, 2023.
According to their website: the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. At 64-miles in length, it is the longest, the highest and most authentic steam railroad in North America, traveling through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountain West.
Owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, the train crosses state borders 11 times, zigzagging along canyon walls, burrowing through two tunnels, and steaming over 137-foot Cascade Trestle. All trains steam along through deep forests of aspens and evergreens, across high plains filled with wildflowers, and through a rocky gorge of remarkable geologic formations. Deer, antelope, elk, fox, eagles and even bear are frequently spotted on this family friendly, off-the grid adventure.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 250mm, f/5.6, 1/320, ISO 64.
Denver and Rio Grande Western 473 and 493 pull out of the yard to hook up to the first daily passenger train of the day for their run between Durango and Silverton, Colorado, on October 18th, 2023.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/4.5, 1/1000, ISO 64.
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge steam locomotive D&RGW 473 and 476 sit at Silverton, Colorado in the early morning of October 17th, 2023. They were running on the line as a K-28 100th Anniversary Special between Silverton and Durango, Colorado and here the crews are getting their trains ready for another day of running the photo charter special.
According to Wikipedia: The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3200, ISO 160.
An early morning top-down view of Steam Railroading Institute’s Pere Marquette 1225 as it sits on the turntable at Owosso, Michigan. It was being serviced by crews before it backed up to the ash pit in preparation for another day of pulling the North Pole Express between Owosso and Ashley, Michigan, along the Great Lakes Railroad.
According to their website, Pere Marquette 1225, the largest and most impressive piece in the Steam Railroading Institute’s collection, is one of the largest operating steam locomotives in Michigan. The 1225 was built in October of 1941 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Pere Marquette Railway. It’s part of the National Register of Historic Structures and is renowned for its role in the 2004 Warner Brothers Christmas Classic, THE POLAR EXPRESS™. 1225’s blueprints were used as the prototype for the locomotive image as well as its sounds to bring the train in the animated film to life!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/10, ISO 620.
Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge steam locomotive D&RGW 473 leads a K-28 100th Anniversary Special with D&RGW 476 as a mid-train helper as they pass the wye at Elk Park, on their way to Silverton, Colorado on October 16th, 2023.
According to Wikipedia: The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
The glow of the morning sun illuminates the behind Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 as makes its way through the Lava Curve with a freight train on the way to Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
According to their website: the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. At 64-miles in length, it is the longest, the highest and most authentic steam railroad in North America, traveling through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountain West.
Owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, the train crosses state borders 11 times, zigzagging along canyon walls, burrowing through two tunnels, and steaming over 137-foot Cascade Trestle. All trains steam along through deep forests of aspens and evergreens, across high plains filled with wildflowers, and through a rocky gorge of remarkable geologic formations. Deer, antelope, elk, fox, eagles and even bear are frequently spotted on this family friendly, off-the grid adventure.
According to History Colorado Website: Built in 1903 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Engine No. 463 is one of only two remaining locomotives of the K-27 series originally built for and operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
The K-27 series was a departure from the design most prevalent on Colorado’s narrow-gauge lines, resulting in a locomotive with one and one-half times more power. The arrival of this series marked a significant turning point in the operation of the D&RGW’s narrow gauge lines that was to remain in effect until the end of Class I narrow gauge steam locomotion in 1968. The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad restored the engine to operating condition.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/100, ISO 320.
Digital Photo Art – CSX Conrail Heritage Unit, CSXT 1976 leads M512 as it pulls north at Kelly, Kentucky on November 9th, 2023, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision on an overcast fall evening.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 210.
Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad steam locomotive D&RGW 463 as it passes through the curve headed up to the Lava Water Tank at sunrise, between Antonito and Osier, Colorado, during a photo charter by Dak Dillon Photography on October 19th, 2023.
According to their website: the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad is a National Historic Landmark. At 64-miles in length, it is the longest, the highest and most authentic steam railroad in North America, traveling through some of the most spectacular scenery in the Rocky Mountain West.
Owned by the states of Colorado and New Mexico, the train crosses state borders 11 times, zigzagging along canyon walls, burrowing through two tunnels, and steaming over 137-foot Cascade Trestle. All trains steam along through deep forests of aspens and evergreens, across high plains filled with wildflowers, and through a rocky gorge of remarkable geologic formations. Deer, antelope, elk, fox, eagles and even bear are frequently spotted on this family friendly, off-the grid adventure.
According to History Colorado Website: Built in 1903 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of Philadelphia, Engine No. 463 is one of only two remaining locomotives of the K-27 series originally built for and operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.
The K-27 series was a departure from the design most prevalent on Colorado’s narrow-gauge lines, resulting in a locomotive with one and one-half times more power. The arrival of this series marked a significant turning point in the operation of the D&RGW’s narrow gauge lines that was to remain in effect until the end of Class I narrow gauge steam locomotion in 1968. The Friends of the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad restored the engine to operating condition.
Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @ 80mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO 100.