A BNSF mixed freight on the overpass for the Front Range Subdivision, passes over a westbound UP train westbound coming out of the yard at Cheyenne, Wyoming, on the Laramie Subdivision on the morning of March 18th, 2023.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @150mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 320.
BNSF 6872 heads up a train as they head out of the yard toward Santa Fe Junction on June 16th, 2023, at Kansas City, MO.
Santa Fe Junction sees on average over 100 trains a day and it hosts the double decked railroad (ATSF Double Deck Railroad) bridge that crosses the Kansas River into Missouri, a triple crossing. The junction is partly in Missouri and Kansas and sees BNSF, UP, KCT, Amtrak, KCS, NS and CP traffic, from what I saw during my visit.
The tracks through the junction have been reduced or changed around over the years, but the area remains one of Kansas Citys Busiest locations.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @600mm, f/6.3, 1/560, ISO 800.
BNSF 9808 and 8843, lead a mixed freight as they pickup a string of lumber cars at Deer Lodge, Montana, on June 26th, 2023, before continuing north on the Copper City Subdivision.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 100.
On June 28th, 2023, I tried to count the locomotives stored at the BNSF Donkey Creek Yard at Rozel, Wyoming in the two lines of locomotives from this picture, but there’s too many and seem to go on forever. The trains on the far left are coal trains, loaded and empty, waiting on crews.
According to news reports I found online, this yard was scheduled to close June 5th, 2022, affecting 38 jobs, but from what I could see there were people working in the yard, so Im not sure if that happened or not. The reported layoff was due to the tough market for coal. It has been a bit over a year and perhaps things have changed since then.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 100.
A westbound BNSF intermodal passes the old depot at Chillicothe, Illinois as the light of day begins to fade on the Chillicothe Subdivision on June 30th, 2023.
According to Wikipedia: Chillicothe was an Amtrak stop in Chillicothe, Illinois; a suburb of Peoria. The station was a stop on the Southwest Chief between Chicago Union Station and Los Angeles Union Station before the alignment was changed to go via Burlington Northern Santa Fe’s Mendota Subdivision in 1996.
Amtrak service at Chillicothe began on May 1, 1971, with the Chicago-Houston Texas Chief, a service previously run by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway. This route was renamed the Lone Star in 1974 and discontinued in 1979.
For most of Amtrak’s first quarter-century, it was Peoria’s only link to the national rail system. The short-lived Prairie Marksman ran to East Peoria in 1980 and 1981.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/15, ISO 120.
BNSF 9808 and 8843, lead a mixed freight past the Community Evangelical Free Church (Depot Church) at Deer Lodge, Montana, on June 26th, 2023, as it heads north after completing a pickup at one of the local industries in Deer Lodge. The depot used to belong to the Milwaukee Road and saw passenger service until sometime in 1964.
According to the waymarking.com website:
“Deer Lodge was the division headquarters for the Milwaukee Road (MILW), officially known as the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, until their demise in 1980. Here, the MILW was electrified until June 15, 1974, when the conversion to diesel-electric locomotives retired all the line’s electric locomotives. At one time Deer Lodge was the site of large railroad yards, shops, and a roundhouse. The roadbed and many of the bridges are still intact across Montana, with BNSF trains passing by daily during the week.
On what was known as the Pacific Extension, which extended the MILW lines in the Midwest to the Pacific Ocean, this station would have been built about 1907 or 1908. The 2,300-mile-long extension was built in 1906-1909. One of the premiere passenger trains ever to run on this continent, the Olympian Hiawatha, stopped here until it was discontinued in May of 1961, ostensibly for lack of passenger traffic. It turned out that ridership was still showing respectable numbers, but the train was unprofitable, nonetheless. Replacement trains continued to make Deer Lodge a stop until 1964, when the western terminus of passenger service was pulled back to Aberdeen, South Dakota.
Though we can’t say what, or who, occupied the station in the interim, it is today home to the Community Evangelical Free Church. Here in Deer Lodge, you can actually see what used to run by. About half a mile south on Main Street is an outdoor museum of railway vehicles, with a couple of old MILW engines and a caboose on display.”
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 110.
A loaded BNSF loaded coal train passes the siding at Dawson Springs, Kentucky as it heads south on the Paducah and Louisville Railway from Warrior coal mine loop at Madisonville, Ky on May 1st, 2023.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 130.
Saturday Infrared photo of An empty BNSF 4 Rivers empty coal train heads north on April 21st, 2023, on the UP Marion/BNSF Beardstown Subdivision at Goreville, Illinois approaching the Side Street overpass.
Tech Info: Fuji XT1 converted to 720nm, Nikon 10-24 @ 16mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO 400.
An empty BNSF 4 Rivers empty coal train passes over the bridge next to the Southern Illinois Stone Company as it heads north on April 21st, 2023, on the UP Marion/BNSF Beardstown Subdivision at Goreville, Illinois, under stormy skies.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/240 sec, ISO 120.
BNSF 5050 leads the BNSF local as pulls out of P&I Junction in Paducah, Kentucky after making its drop-off and pickup at the Paducah & Louisville Railway on November 23rd, 2022.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1500, ISO 140, -.3 stop.
BNSF 8211 and NS 1075 bring up the rear of a loaded Norfolk Southern coal train as it heads north on the Paducah and Louisville Railway line at Madisonville, Kentucky on January 24th, 2023. The line and train is crossing over the location referred to as Monarch on the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Madisonville.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 140.
My Railroad Photography as Art
My niece Kelly R Gates has nominated me to share my artwork for 10 days and to nominate another artist to do the same. My take on this challenge is to create what I consider photographic Art pieces from some of my railroad photography.
Now, I realize there are now AI programs out there these days that can create just about any type of art pieces for you with just words, but as most of you know I’m a visual person and all the pieces I post over the next 10 days will be created in Photoshop by me from photographs I have shot, not with AI Software.
I know that this type of art isn’t for everyone, but I do like to get outside the box and my comfort zone from time to time, as I think it’s good for my creative eye. I’d appreciate your constructive thoughts and comments!
For today’s digital photographic art piece, I’ve selected this shot from September 4, 2019 – A BNSF local works on picking up cars at BNSF’s Rices Point Yard in Duluth, Minnesota.
On Day 6 I nominate fellow railfan photographer Travis Dewitz to share his art (whatever type he wants to share) ~ I know he has plenty as he hopefully joins in on the 10-day art challenge!!!!
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @550mm, f/7.1, 1/500, ISO 640, Available for purchase in my store at https://pixels.com/featured/digital-art-bnsf-6353-leads-coal-train-jim-pearson.html
Day 5 of 10 – Photography/Art Challenge
My Railroad Photography as Art
My niece Kelly R Gates has nominated me to share my artwork for 10 days and to nominate another artist to do the same. My take on this challenge is to create what I consider photographic Art pieces from some of my railroad photography.
Now, I realize there are now AI programs out there these days that can create just about any type of art pieces for you with just words, but as most of you know I’m a visual person and all the pieces I post over the next 10 days will be created in Photoshop by me from photographs I have shot, not with AI Software.
I know that this type of art isn’t for everyone, but I do like to get outside the box and my comfort zone from time to time, as I think it’s good for my creative eye. I’d appreciate your constructive thoughts and comments!
For today’s digital photographic art piece, I’ve selected this shot from September 4, 2019 – A BNSF local works on picking up cars at BNSF’s Rices Point Yard in Duluth, Minnesota.
On Day 5 I nominate fellow railfan photographer Fredrick Simon to share his art (whatever type he wants to share) ~ I know he has plenty as he hopefully joins in on the 10-day art challenge!!!!
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @600mm, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 1000, Available for purchase in my store at https://fineartamerica.com/featured/a-digital-art-piece-a-bnsf-local-works-rice-yard-jim-pearson.html
In this week’s Saturday Infrared view, we catch an eastbound, with 4 BNSF units leading, as it heads away from downtown Kansas City, Missouri past the famous Santa Fe Junction on June 29th, 2022.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Converted to 720nm B&W IR, Nikon 10-24 @ 16mm, f/4, 1/250, ISO 200.
BNSF 9073 leads B207, a loaded phosphate train headed for Cicero, IL (BNSF) from Mulberry, FL, as it heads north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision through Mortons Gap, Kentucky on November 17th, 2022.
Tech Info: iPhone 14 Pro, 6.9 (24mm) Lens, f/1.8, 1/222, ISO 64.
BNSF 9073 leads B207, a loaded phosphate train headed for Cicero, IL (BNSF) from Mulberry, FL, as it heads north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision through Mortons Gap, Kentucky on November 17th, 2022.
Tech Info: iPhone 14 Pro, 6.9 (24mm) Lens, f/1.8, 1/222, ISO 64.
Still in green and black paint, BNSF 2749 heads up a string of power as it sits at BNSF Argentine Yard at Kansas City, Kansas, on June 30th, 2022 while waiting for its next assignment.
According to Wikipedia: The Argentine Yard is a BNSF Railway marshalling yard in Kansas City, Kansas. With 60 tracks and an area of about 2miles, it is the largest marshalling yard in the BNSF network. It lies between the Kansas River to the north and the eponymous Argentine borough of Kansas City, Kansas, to the south, about six miles west of downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
Argentine Yard is one of several major rail yards in the Kansas City metropolitan area operated by the Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and Kansas City Southern, in addition to BNSF. The Kansas City metropolitan area is the largest railroad hub in the United States in terms of freight volume; more than 300 freight trains reach or leave the metropolitan region every day (2016).
The tracks through the junction have been reduced or changed around over the years, but the area remains one of KC’s Busiest locations.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 110.
BNSF 7298 heads up 5 units with a manifest train as they pass over the diamonds at Santa Fe Junction on June 30th, 2022.
Santa Fe Junction sees on average over 100 trains a day and it hosts the double decked railroad (ATSF Double Deck Railroad) bridge that crosses the Kansas River into Missouri, a triple crossing. The junction is partly in Missouri and Kansas and sees BNSF, UP, KCT, Amtrak, KCS, NS and CP traffic, from what I saw during my visit.
The tracks through the junction have been reduced or changed around over the years, but the area remains one of KCs Busiest locations.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 120.
An eastbound BNSF Intermodal heads toward downtown Kansas City, Missouri on the Kansas Highline at Santa Fe Junction on June 29th, 2022 as the sun begins to cast long shadows and rich golden light from the sunset.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100.
What could be better than the light at dusk and five beautiful BNSF units leading a northbound loaded potash and empty ethanol combined train? Well, actually I can think of a lot of things, but still a nice picture!
I first caught this CSX B207 as it headed across the CR Drawbridge in downtown Nashville, Tennessee as it began its trip north on July 12th, 2022. That was about 4pm in the afternoon and I had no idea Id catch up with it as it was about 5:30 before I left town, and traffic was pretty congested all the way to Clarksville, TN! But here I was, ahead of it at Mortons Gap, KY almost 4 hours later, on the Henderson Subdivision, getting this nice light shot at 7pm! There was also two CSX units on it as mid train DPUs.
The power was: BNSF 3687, 8028, 4397, 6714, 5992 leading with CSXT 3430 and 3387 as mid train DPUs. Actually, they were also heading up the empty ethanol train.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 10-24 @ 10mm, f/4, 1/320, ISO 1100.
Union Pacific 8897 brings up rear as DPU on a grain train as it heads across Santa Fe Junction on the Kansas City Terminal Railroad (KCT) High Line, while BNSF 7767 and 3947 lead a westbound train past Tower #3 on June 30th, 2022.
Santa Fe Junction sees on average over 100 trains a day and it hosts the double decked railroad (ATSF Double Deck Railroad) bridge that crosses the Kansas River into Missouri, a triple crossing in addition to Tower 3, which is used by maintenance of way these days. The junction is partly in Missouri and Kansas and sees BNSF, UP, KCT, Amtrak, KCS, NS and CP traffic, from what I saw during my visit.
The Kansas City Terminal Railway Company (KCT) is a Class III railroad located in Kansas City, Missouri and Kansas City, Kansas. KCT serves as a terminal railroad for its five Class I railroad owners (Union Pacific, BNSF, Kansas City Southern, Norfolk Southern and Canadian Pacific). Amtrak also operates over the KCT providing passenger service to and from Union Station. Currently the second largest rail hub in the United States, KCT owns and dispatches 95 miles of track spanning Missouri and Kansas.
According to the website railfanguides.us Santa Fe Junction Interlocking is easily the busiest location for trains in Kansas City and trains from any of the five railroads which jointly own KCT can be seen here. Tower #3 was closed in 1969 when a central dispatching center replaced it and all the other towers KCT had at the time.
The black bridge is KCTs double deck, double track crossing of the Kansas River. The odd-looking silver towers on the bridge are lift mechanisms to raise the bridge in the event of flooding and are not connected most of the time. The upper deck line was primarily used by passenger trains from UP and Rock Island, moving to and from Kansas through the KC Union Station. Today primarily freight trains use this bridge.
The tracks through the junction have been reduced or changed around over the years, but the area remains one of KCs Busiest locations.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 100.