BNSF 7902 leads a loaded intermodal through the famous “Sullivan’s Curve”…


September 27, 2011 – BNSF 7902 leads a loaded intermodal through the famous “Sullivan’s Curve” as it heads north up the Cajon Pass in southern California.

“Sullivans Curve is where the Union Pacific Palmdale Cutoff, and the BNSF mains 1 and 2 curve in a large horseshoe curve directly next to some large, rather impressive, rock formations. Promotional photos taken at this curve for the Santa Fe in the 1930’s through the 1950’s by photographer Herb Sullivan were fantastic, and made famous by their composition. The curve that he used so frequently was named in his honor, and rightfully so.”

BNSF Freight northbound in Cajon Pass, CA


September 27, 2011 – The sun begins to dip in the sky as a loaded BNSF freight train heads north up the grade in the Cajon Pass in southern California, approaching the Summit of the pass as BNSF 7726 leads the way. Shooting directly into the sun can cause many exposure issues, but if you get it right it can make for some spectacular photographs.

I shot this as a RAW file on a Nikon D700 Full Frame Camera and exposed more for the sun, but made sure I still had enough exposure in the midtones by checking my histogram.

By doing this I was able to bring the highlights down in RAW to bring the sun more in line with the rest of the photo and also used a gradient filter to help control the brightness of the sky. I also opened up the shadows in RAW to bring out the detail my sensor captured there, resulting is this final scene.

BNSF in Cajon Pass with 4 different paint schemes, Cajon, CA

June 19, 2006 – A complete mashup of BNSF power, with different paint schemes, move a mixed freight train southbound down the Cajon Pass in southern California with a couple helpers on the rear, in this view from the famous train watching spot called Hill 582.

BNSF 6397 at Paducah and Louisville Railway yard, Paducah, Ky

August 15, 2017 – A BNSF empty coal train pulls past the tower in the Paducah and Louisville Railway yard at Paducah, Ky as it pulls through the yard where it tied down after unloading its train at Calvert City Loadout. The overhead track is the CN line.

BNSF 7145 and 4116 lead CSX hot intermodal Q028-23

September 23, 2017 – BNSF 7145 and 4116 lead CSX hot intermodal Q028-23 as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision at Henderson, Ky. I got a heads up from fellow railfan Ricky Bivins about this train heading through Mortons Gap, Ky, which is about 8 miles from my home in Richland. By the time I finally got ahead of it to where I could setup and get this shot I had to travel about 45 miles north of Mortons Gap to Henderson in order to do so. Good thing it was I-69 all the way as it showed up shortly after I got there!

BNSF 9221 leads a loaded coal train…

September 8, 2017 – BNSF 9221 leads a loaded coal train down grade alongside Norfolk Southern DeButts Yard in Chattanooga, TN as it heads west on the Chattanooga Terminal.

ex-BNSF Units at PAL Yard, Paducah, Ky

September 2, 2017 – Well, today was my day for catching long strings of power! Not only did I catch the Paducah and Louisville Railway local between Madisonville and Paducah, Ky, but when I got to the PAL Yard at Paducah I found this string of ex-BNSF units destined for Progress Rail. There’s 13 of them in all and I couldn’t get a shot where I could read all their numbers.

CSX Q101-15 heads south under the coaling tower at Sullivan, IN

August 16, 2017 – As dusk begins to fall, BNSF 4477 and NS 8554 lead intermodal train CSX Q101-15 (Chicago, IL-Savannah, GA), south underneath the old C&EI coaling tower, which was built in 1941 to service steam locomotives, as it headed south on CSX’s CE&D Subdivision at Sullivan, Indiana! Of the three CSX trains I caught under this tower today and only one of the trains had any CSX power and it was trailing. Thought it was a bit unusual!

CSX Q028-16 northbound at Sullivan, Indiana

August 16, 2017 – BNSF 7608 and 7643 were a great surprise when I found them leading CSX Q028-16 as it popped out underneath the old coaling tower as it headed north on CSX’s CE&D Subdivision at Sullivan, Indiana!

Good friend and fellow railfan Ryan Scott and I headed up to this spot late in the afternoon hoping to catch some traffic under this tower that was built in 1941 to service steam locomotives with coal during their runs. Another friend, Ryan Collins had posted a picture from here earlier in the week and I knew I wanted to catch a few photos from here so I made the two hour trip north and picked up Ryan along the way.

When we got there we were listening to the scanner and became concerned that we wouldn’t get much before it got dark because Q645 had broken a knuckle and went into emergency a bit further to the north and they didn’t have one on their engine. Plus Q101 was behind them and we knew 28 was heading toward them.

Both the southbounds were in a siding and Q028 had a knuckle on their train so they pulled on up to where the conductor on 645 was waiting and dropped off the knuckle. Of course they had to replace the knuckle and make sure all the cars on their 10,000+ foot train were still upright before 28 could continue past them.

I thought sure we weren’t going to catch any southbounds before we lost all of our light at the coaling tower, but we were fortunate that the railfan God shined upon us and we caught both of them before it got too dark! I’ll post the other two photos over the next few days!

We also were fortunate enough to catch some Indiana Railroad action while we were waiting as well! Those will be coming over the next few days as well! A totally great afternoon/evening trackside!!!

Looking for CSXT 323!!!

August 15, 2017 – This morning about 10am CSXT 323 leading, with the L&N Herald on it, passed my house in Richland, Ky headed south toward Calvert City Loadout. I didn’t have time to give chase so I figured I give it enough time to get there and start its way around the loop.

So I headed down about 1pm, following the Paducah and Louisville line which the train takes to Calvert City, Ky. I checked Princeton Yard to make sure it wasn’t there and it wasn’t so I headed on down to the loadout.

When I arrived I was pleasantly surprised to find this empty BNSF train getting ready to depart toward Paducah, Ky. There was another train in the loop and so I figured the CSX train had already started around and decided to head down to the Paducah and Louisville Yard and get some shots of the BNSF train there, as it would take awhile for CSXT 323 get get back around the loop where I wanted to shoot it.

Well, I got the shots at Paducah I wanted, plus a few others that I’ll share over the next few days, and headed back to Calvert City, as I figured I had given the train there enough time for the engine to move around the loop where I could photograph it.

Well, I arrived back and a train was right where I figured it would be, but it wasn’t CSX, but a loaded P&L coal train from Warrior Coal in Madisonville! So, now I’m still trying to figure out where they put the CSX train as I checked all the accessible sidings between Princeton and Calvert City. So, I’m guessing they put it into the siding at Dawson Springs, Ky as I didn’t stop there and check of course. You can’t see the head end of a train in the siding there anyway as it’s about 1/2 mile from any crossing and around a curve.

Some days just don’t go as planned! LOL Still got a few nice shots and stopped for some great BBQ on the way home! Maybe I’ll get lucky and catch it tomorrow on its way back north!

BNSF 8564 sits as the DPU on the end of a loaded coal train at CN-PAL Junction

May 30, 2017 – BNSF 8564 sits as the DPU on the end of a loaded coal train as it sits in the siding at CN-PAL Junction in Paducah, Ky. The two facing lights are restricting signals into the yard limits. Top head will display a flashing head when lined straight through and the bottom head will display a flashing red when lined into the sidings.

BNSF coal train at Calvert City, Ky

May 30, 2017 – I spent a good part of my birthday trackside yesterday roaming around between Calvert City and Paducah, Ky! This shot is of a BNSF coal train as it finishes unloading at Calvert City, Ky with engines 5980, 9228 and it’s DPU was 9175.

CSX Q586-8 with BNSF power and Q515-08 with UP power meet at Slaughters, Ky

May 8, 2017 – A friend gave a heads-up about CSX 323, the engine with the L&N logo on it headed south, so I set out to see if I couldn’t catch it. Didn’t happen, but I did catch this meet between CSX Q586-8 with BNSF power and Q515-08 with UP power, at the north end of the sliding in Slaughters, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision. It works that way sometimes, setting out to capture one thing and finding another!