June 22, 2020 – Norfolk Southern T4 locomotive 1098 leads empty coal train WYX1 through the pouring rain as it pulls up a hill as it heads south on the Paducah and Louisville Railway at Milepost 135, south of Bremen, Kentucky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 5000.
June 16, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville loaded coal train PNX2 heads down the Warrior Coal lead after picking up a load of coal at the Warrior loadout at Nebo, Kentucky with 4518 leading the way.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 550mm, f/13, 1/1600sec, ISO 1000.
March 10, 2020 – CSXT 3066 leads CSX loaded coal train N320 south on the Henderson Subdivision Cutoff at MP HC 271.6, south of Madisonville, Ky. The trackage to the left leads to a switch that used to be for what was called the Grapevine Loadout, a spot where there was a temple where coal trucks used to haul coal to for loading onto L&N coal trains.
February 8, 2020 – BNSF 6353 & CN 2126 lead a northbound empty coal train, 7,400ft (135 car), with BNSF 5997 as the trailing DPU. Here it makes it’s way north through the valley approaching Caneyville, Kentucky where it will meet up with a fresh crew to take the train on to Louisville.
February 8, 2020 – The engineer from Paducah, Ky, on BNSF 6353, steps down from a northbound empty coal train, at Caneyville, Kentucky as he and the conductor prepare to turn the train over to a Louisville Crew for the rest of the trip to Louisville on the Paducah and Louisville Railway.
February 8, 2020 – BNSF 6353 & CN 2126 lead a northbound empty coal train, 7,400ft (135 car), with BNSF 5997 as the trailing DPU. Here it makes it’s way north through the valley approaching Caneyville, Kentucky where it will meet up with a fresh crew to take the train on to Louisville.
February 8, 2020 – BNSF 6365 & CN 2126 lead a northbound empty coal train, 7,400ft (135 car), with BNSF 5997 as the trailing DPU. Here it approaches the KY 1245 overpass at the cut just north of Rockport, Kentucky on the Paducah and Louisville Railway.
January 29, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4516 & 2012 head up a northbound loaded Louisville Gas & Electric Coal train as it pulls out of the siding at Pond River, at Madisonville, Ky. Behind it sits a PAL Local waits patiently for it to clear.
January 29, 2020 – Paducah & Louisville Railway 4516 and 2012 (UK engine) lead a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric Coal train through the cut approaching the KY-70 overpass at Bremen, Kentucky as they head north.
January 23, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) Veterans Unit 4005 sits tied down next to a loaded coal train at Hoosier Energy Merom Generating Station at Sullivan, Indiana along with INRD units 9009 & 9001, while waiting for their next crew.
The Merom Generating Station is a 2-Unit, 1080-MW rated coal-fired power plant located between Merom, Indiana and Sullivan, Indiana. It is owned by Hoosier Energy, a Touchstone Energy cooperative. The plant has been in operation since 1982.
It was announced by the company a few days ago that the plant will be shut down sometime in 2023, affecting the jobs of approximately 185 workers.
According to Indiana Public Media’s website: Hoosier Spokesperson Greg Seiter says the decision is in large part a cost savings move.
“We’re looking at potentially saving our members in excess of $700 million over the next two decades,” he says.
That’s in part because Hoosier Energy won’t be locked into coal, which is more expensive. It can diversify its mix, including using renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
While it’s a few years off, if you plan to catch the INRD servicing this power plant with coal, you had better do it sooner than later!
January 9, 2020 – CSXT 3096 leads loaded coal train N307 as it passes the signals at the RR location known as poorhouse, as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision at Madisonville, Ky.
This location got it’s name from the L&N Railroad days when the Hopkins County Poorhouse stood near here.
According to the Kentucky Historic Institutions website: In 1910 there were more than 84 thousand paupe… See More
November 1, 2019 – Loaded Coal Train CSX N020-31 (Evansville, IN to Wildwood, FL) passes the signals at Oak Hill, as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision at Little Valley, Ky.
October 23, 2019 – A crewmember from loaded coal train CSX N013 waves at the engineer on northbound Intermodal CSX Q028 as they meet at Nortonville, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision as he performs a roll by inspection.
October 8, 2019 – A northbound empty coal train CSX E319 meets southbound hot intermodal CSX Q025 at Nortonville, Kentucky as they both make their way along the Henderson Subdivision.
October 5, 2019 – A Loaded E319 takes on fuel on Ohio Street, just north of Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana as a Evansville Western Railway crew brings it off their line. Their train it will be tied down in the siding at Harwood, on the Evansville Terminal Subdivision, as it waits for a fresh crew that will take it on north as a N319 (N319 Evansville, IN (EVWR) – Cross, SC). Most coal trains head south from Evansville, but I’m told that some have started going north, bound for the east coast for export overseas. Not sure if they’re being rerouted due to weather or construction.
October 8, 2019 – CSX Loaded grain train G307 takes the siding at the north end of Crofton, Kentucky as it passes empty coal train CSX E302 sitting on the main as they both work their way along the Henderson Subdivision.
October 8, 2019 – With just a hint of fall color in the background, empty coal train CSX E319 glides onto the Earlington Cutoff at Mortons Junction in Mortons Gap, Kentucky as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.
September 28, 2019 – CSX empty coal train E321 passes MP 253 as it heads up the grade at the south signals at Crofton, Ky on its way north on the Henderson Subdivision.
September 20, 2019 – CSX empty coal train E303 heads across the liftbridge at Bridgeport, Alabama as it heads north over the Tennessee River on the Chattanooga Subdivision. From what I can find on the web, “The original span was a swing type drawbridge constructed in 1852 by the Nashville & Chattanooga RR. That structure was replaced in 1890 by another swing type by successor line Louisville & Nashville. Current span was completed in 1981. The central lift section was taken from another bridge that had been abandoned on an L&N line at Danville, TN. It was dismantled, shipped to this site, and reassembled in place.”
September 22, 2019 – The early morning sunlight bathes the nose of BNSF 5749 as it makes its way past NS DeButts Yard at Chattanooga, Tennessee with a loaded coal train as it heads along the CNO&TP Third District.
According to Wikipedia: The Cincinnati, New Orleans and Texas Pacific Railway (abbreviated: CNO&TP; (reporting mark CNTP)) is a railroad that runs from Cincinnati, Ohio, south to Chattanooga, Tennessee, forming part of the Norfolk Southern Railway system.
The physical assets of the road were initially financed by the city of Cincinnati in the 1870s, and are still owned by the city. It is the only such long-distance railway owned by a municipality in the United States. The CNO&TP continues to lease that property and operates one rail line, the Cincinnati Southern Railway, between Cincinnati and Chattanooga.
September 4, 2019 – A loaded BNSF coal train navigates the loop at the Superior Midwest Energy Terminal along the St. Louis Bay, at the mouth of the St. Louis River (Lake Superior) in Superior, Wisconsin.