CSX Chesapeake & Ohio Heritage unit 1869 leads hot intermodal, CSX I026, as it crosses over Gum Lick Trestle, at Kelly, Kentucky as it heads north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision.

According to the CSX Website: A locomotive commemorating the proud history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway has entered service as the fifth in the CSX heritage series celebrating the lines that came together to form the modern railroad.

Numbered CSX 1869 in honor of the year the C&O was formed in Virginia from several smaller railroads, the newest heritage locomotive sports a custom paint design that includes today’s CSX colors on the front of the engine and transitions to a paint scheme inspired by 1960s era C&O locomotives on the rear two-thirds.

The C&O Railway was a major line among North American freight and passenger railroads for nearly a century before becoming part of the Chessie System in 1972 and eventually merging into the modern CSX. In 1970, the C&O included more than 5,000 route miles of track stretching from Newport News, Virginia, to Chicago and the Great Lakes.

Designed and painted at CSX’s locomotive shop in Waycross, Georgia, the C&O unit will join four other commemorative units in revenue service on CSX’s 20,000-mile rail network.

The heritage series is reinforcing employee pride in the history of the railroad that continues to move the nation’s economy with safe, reliable, and sustainable rail-based transportation services.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 170.