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.
August 10, 2020 – Hot Intermodal CSX Q025-10 passes railtrain J012-10 sitting in the siding at Latham as it heads south at Hopkinsville, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision. The rail train was 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.
Using good, strong leading lines in your photos will help draw your viewers eye to the subject of your picture. One of the many photographic mentors in my life told me, when shooting, if something doesn’t contribute to what you want your photo to say, then eliminate it when you shoot by using a different lens, perspective or angle when shooting! Advice I use today in my pictures.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 360mm, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 900.
August 1, 2020 – It’s a hot and steamy summer night as the headlights of CSX Q513 illuminates the tracks at the south end of Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana as it makes a pickup before continues its way south along the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikkor 70-300 @112mm, f/4.8, 1/30, ISO 3,200.
July 17, 2020 – Norfolk Southern 9573 leads a autorack train east as it passes through the cut at Tunnel Hill road overpass, just west of Ramsey, Indiana, on the NS Southern-East District. This cut was constructed to bypass the original tunnel through this area, which I’m told it can still be seen via Google Earth Maps.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/6.3, 1/800, ISO 1100.
August 4, 2020 – Indiana Railroads 9007 leads (SAHW) the Indianapolis to Jasonville, Indiana evening train as it passes over the diamond at Linton, Indiana as it heads south into the setting sun on the Indianapolis Subdivision as it crosses over the INRD Chicago Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 350mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 220.
July 20, 2020 – CSX loaded coal train N040-18 makes its way south through the Red River cut at Adams, Tennessee with CSXT 956 leading the way.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 195mm, f/5.3, 1/320, ISO 220.
August 1, 2020 – French Lick Scenic Railway Engine 465 (GP-9) a EMD GP9 ex SP, with a Northern Pacific-inspired two tone green paint scheme, leads the afternoon passenger train as it passes the old Twin City Lumber Company at French Lick, Indiana on the old Southern Line.
The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates as The French Lick Scenic Railway passenger trains over twenty-five miles of track between French Lick and Jasper, Indiana on the old Monon and Southern tracks.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 110.
August 3, 2020 – I originally set out to catch a local J009, which I’ve never heard of before through here, coming off the Morganfield Branch at Madisonville, Ky with 6,000ft of stored autoracks that was supposedly heading south on the Henderson Subdivision.
When I arrived at my planned shooting location at Mortons Junction in Mortons Gap, Ky my good friend and fellow rail enthusiast, Ricky Bivins came over to the car from his yard work asked if I was chasing the two “Unmolested SD40-2s and if I was then they went through about 10 minutes before!
Well, not being one that doesn’t ask questions when I don’t know the answer for sure, I asked him what he meant by Unmolested and that it wasn’t my original plan. He informed me that they were SD40-2s with their original cabs so I figured I should be able to get to the North end of Kelly siding before he got there and started the trip further south to catch it and then catch the J009 after it got there.
I got there in plenty of time to catch this shot of CSXT 8138 & 8821 leading CSX Q502 south on the main at the north end of Kelly, Ky along with a video clip of this and several other trains here, but not the elusive J009 with the autoracks!
The crew of a empty coal train pulled up into the siding and got off to chat with me and they said dispatch said they were waiting on a J009, so I figured I was going to get a nice meet between them! Well, it turns out the train that showed up was an loaded southbound coal train and after it the empty NB coal received a green!
So, determined to find the missing J009 I headed back north to Crofton, Ky thinking it’d be there in the siding to meet this NB train… nope, nothing, zip, nadda!!
Well, to make a long story short, I made my way back to Mortons Junction and never did find the missing autoracks, even after checking the sidings along the way. I figure it might have still been on the Earlington Cutoff, but decided that it wasn’t meant to be captured by my camera today and gave up! Some days are like that, but I will have a nice video clip of action at Kelly here in the next few days!
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, Irex 11mm, f/4, 1/1600, ISO 200.
August 4, 2020 – Indiana Railroad PAUT1-04 rolls past the Marathon Refinery on the Indianapolis Subdivision at Robinson, Illinois as it heads back to the yard at Palestine, IL after finishing its morning work in the Robinson area.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, Sigma 150-600 @ 185mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 200.
August 1, 2020 – Engine 465 (GP-9) leads the afternoon passenger train as it passes through the Indiana countryside on its way to Gradman Station on the French Lick Scenic Railway.
The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates as The French Lick Scenic Railway passenger trains over twenty-five miles of track between French Lick and Jasper, Indiana on the old Monon and Southern tracks.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 280.
August 1, 2020 – Engine 465 leads the afternoon passenger train as it approaches the Gradman Station on the French Lick Scenic Railway under stormy skies. Despite the COVID19 restrictions the train had a good number of passengers on the train, all wearing masks and separated according the CDC guidelines.
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, Irex 11mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 220.
August 1, 2020 – The conductor on CSX Q513 shines a light on the track ahead from the nose of New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPD) 2005 as it and 2004 are backed into Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana to perform a pickup before continuing its trip on south along the Henderson Subdivision on a wet and cool summer night.
According to a press release from – The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (NOPB), it is in the process of upgrading its locomotive fleet with eight new locomotives to replace aging engines, improve efficiency, and lower overall emissions. Recognizable by their bright blue color, the new locomotives will provide reliable service and support the short-line railroad’s commitment to integrating more sustainable business and operational practices.
The new EPA-classified Tier One locomotives will allow NOPB to reduce its fleet size by 46 percent, from 15 locomotives to eight. Fuel consumption will be reduced by 25 percent, and emission reductions include a 40 percent reduction in nitrous oxide (NOx), which pollutes the ozone layer and creates smog, along with a 50 percent reduction in particulate emissions.
In addition to fuel and emissions savings, the new leasing structure allows NOPB to achieve significant operational and capital savings.
These are two of their new locomotives that are dead-in-tow on Q513 heading south to their new home.
According to Wikipedia: The New Orleans Public Belt Railroad (reporting mark NOPB) is a Class III railroad, and a subsidiary of the Port of New Orleans. It connects with six Class I railroads serving the city, and provides switching and haulage service. It is estimated that one-third of the United States’ east-west rail freight crosses the Mississippi on the Huey P. Long Bridge segment of the railroad.
The impetus for the NOPB came at the start of the 20th century era when multiple railroads terminating locally created both congestion at the Port of New Orleans and safety problems on city streets. The railroad began operation in 1908 with the intention of giving the major railroads “uniform and impartial” access to the port.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikkor 50mm, f/1.4, 1/30, ISO 3,600.
July 17, 2020 – RJ Corman ALCAN train southbound at Midway, Ky with RJC 7116 leading the way as it passes the old Spring Station, under stormy skies, between Jett and Midway, Ky on the Old Road Subdivision. The house at the crossing here used to be the Spring Station depot. The old freight house is to the left and hidden by the trees.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1000.
July 21, 2020 – CSX K815-19 with CP 7021 has it stopped at Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana with a potash train, where it dropped off all its cars, changed crews and picked up a load of mixed freight before continuing it’s run south on the Henderson Subdivision. This was my first catch of one of these units!
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 7020 wears North Atlantic Treaty Organization green, which the Canadian and U.S. armies apply to fighting vehicles and equipment serving in temperate climates.
CP 7021 wears the sand colour that the Canadian and U.S. armies apply to fighting vehicles and equipment serving in arid climates.
CP 7022 wears the grey, red and black colour pattern of modern Canadian and American warships.
CP 7023 wears a two-tone gray paint scheme designed after the livery applied to Canadian and American fighter jets.
CP 6644 wears the camouflage colours applied to Royal Canadian Air Force “Spitfire” fighter planes flown at the Allied invasion of Normandy, France, on June 6, 1944.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 350mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 400.
July 28, 2020 – CSX W024 makes its way through the S curve at Nortonville, Ky, 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 @ 200mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 360.
July 21, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) 9001 leads northbound daily train from Jasonville to Indianapolis, Indiana train (HWSA), with engineer Travis Collins at the controls as it approaches the county road 800, south of Switz City, Indiana. He will meet his southbound counterpart (SAHW) at the north end of the siding in Switz City, where they will trade trains and continue to their respective destinations on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, Sigma 150-600 @ 480mm, f/6, 1/1250, ISO 560.
July 15, 2020 – Progressive Rail Inc. 33 sits idling outside a engine house as it prepares for a day of work at the Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway in Mount Vernon, Illinois.
According to Wikipedia: The Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railway (reporting mark COER) (formerly American Rail Heritage, Ltd. d/b/a Crab Orchard and Egyptian Railroad Company) is a Class III common carrier shortline railroad that operates in the cities of Marion and Herrin in the Southern Illinois region. It is most historically recognized by the FRA for being the last U.S. railroad of any kind to use steam locomotives exclusively in regular revenue freight service up until 1986.
The present-day shortline currently operates a total of 13.5 miles of track across the industrial centers of Williamson County in two separate railroad districts with a fleet of two diesel switcher engines. One line being known as the “Marion District”, which is the railroad’s main working division with roughly 8.5 miles of track; and the other division being the “Herrin District”, which mostly serves the city’s manufacturing industries along a 5-mile stretch of track.
t also has three different interchange points with two Class I railroads. Near their main offices in downtown Marion, the railroad has a junction with Union Pacific’s Marion Subdivision; another interchange is located in the nearby Marion suburb of Bainbridge with BNSF Railway’s Beardstown Subdivision. A second BNSF connection with the same line is also present in the Herrin district. Most of the CO&E Railroad’s revenue freight products primarily consist of coal, lumber, petroleum, grain, steel, paper, chemicals, manufactured goods, and railcar repair service.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/5, 1/640, ISO 100.
July 21, 2020 – A storm moves to the northeast across southern Indiana as signals on the CSX CE&D Subdivision glow at “middle King” siding at Princeton, Indiana after a southbound had just passed through.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/11, 30 seconds, ISO 2000.
July 21, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) 301 and 3001 power the Palestine Utility train 1 (PAUT-1), as it passes through granaries at Palestine, Illinois, on it’s way north back to INRD’s Palestine Yard, after doing its work between the Marathon Refinery in Robinson, Illinois and Palestine on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision.
According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Rail Road (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km).
This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana (site of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center), with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Nikkor 70-300 @ 80mm, f/4.5, 1/1250, ISO 125.