BNSF 25th Anniversary unit 6078 enters the four rivers loop at West Paducah, KY
BNSF 25th Anniversary unit 6078 and 9282 bring up the rear of a loaded coal train as DPUs as they head into the loop at four Rivers Terminal at West Paducah, Kentucky on December 29th, 2021.
Four Rivers Marine Terminal (FRT) is owned by SCH Services, LLC, and located at West Paducah, KY at Ohio River mile marker 943. Four Rivers has an annual throughput capacity of 10 MM tons. Illinois Basin and Powder River Basin coals are transferred from railcar to barge here.
According to SCH Services Website: It is primarily designed as a direct train-to-barge transfer terminal, FRT offers its customers an unparalleled combination of access to major waterways and multiple Class I railroads. Our connection to the Paducah and Illinois Railroad gives FRT direct access to the BNSF, CN, and PAL railroads. Considering only the modern Olmsted Lock and Dam separates the terminal from the Mississippi River, FRT presents a unique option for rail-bound shipments destined for both southeastern customers and export through New Orleans. Four Rivers Terminal boasts a double, 150-car rail loop, coupled with a material handling system capable of transloading 4,000 tons of dry bulk material per hour.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 130.
CSX Q503 and K467 head south from Casky Yard at Hopkinsville, Kentucky
A busy moment at CSX Casky yard in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on a cold fringed afternoon as CSX Q503 departs the yard headed south on the Henderson Subdivision on January 7th, 2022, as CSX K467 pulls onto the main behind him at the south end of Casky.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3000, ISO 110.
CSX I025 southbound through the snow at Hopkinsville, Ky
CSXT 979 and 3081 lead the way on I025 (Bedford Park, IL – Moncrief Yard – Jacksonville, FL) as they pass the Hopkinsville Elevator Company at Skyline Drive in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on January 7th, 2022, as they head south on the Henderson Subdivision on a cold and snowy afternoon.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/5000, ISO 110.
CSX K422 waits to head north from Kelly, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision
CSX K442 (Hookers Point – Tampa, FL to Bensenville, IL) a empty ethanol train snakes off into the distance, being led by Norfolk Southern 7607, Union Pacific 3898 and BNSF 6872, waits in the siding at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky for an track inspector to get by, on January 17th, 2022.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 120.
CSX K442 meets I029 at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision
Four of the major railroads are represented here in this shot of northbound empty ethanol train, CSX K442 (Hookers Point – Tampa, FL to Bensenville, IL), being led by Norfolk Southern 7607, Union Pacific 3898 and BNSF 6872, waits in the siding at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky.
Here they meet a southbound hot intermodal, I029, led by CSXT 3472, (59th Street Yard – Chicago, IL to Fairburn, GA) on January 17th, 2022, on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 150.
Canadian National 3035 and Canadian Pacific 8005 head south at West Paducah, KY
Canadian National 3035 and Canadian Pacific 8005 head south with a grain train as they pass a stack of old ties at the north end of Chiles Junction at West Paducah, Kentucky on the CN Bluford Subdivision.
Fellow railfan Ryan Scott and I of SteelRails on Facebook, set out early yesterday morning on January 15th, 2022, and made our way up the Paducah and Louisville Railway line out of Madisonville, Ky in search of the snow front that was headed through the area. Well, all we found in our travels were flurries, but we did catch a variety of railroads during the trip which were CN, CP, BNSF and Progress Rail! All in all, a good trip!
January 17, 2022 – CSX K422 meets I029 at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky
Canadian National A408 passes through the diamonds on CN Centralia Subdivision at Centralia, Illinois
Canadian National A408 passes through the diamonds on CN Centralia Subdivision at Centralia, Illinois as it pulls south into the yard on December 29th, 2021, with Illinois Central units 1005 and 1022 leading the way.
The Centralia Subdivision formerly belonged to the Illinois Central Railroad and was constructed between 1854-1855. The double trackage was added between 1900-1902 and the line runs between Centralia and Cairo, Illinois.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 110.
A busy moment at CSX Casky yard in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on a cold fringed afternoon
A busy moment at CSX Casky yard in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on a cold fringed afternoon as the conductor on loaded ethanol train K627 does a roll-by check from the ground of CSX I026 as their DUP passes his head end and CSX Q503 departs the yard headed south on the Henderson Subdivision on January 7th, 2022.
CSX 503s crew pulled into the yard around 4am in the morning and it was almost 3pm before a new crew was available to continue its run south to Radnor Yard at Nashville, TN. CSX K627 continued behind 503 to its Hookers Point in Tampa, FL, and I026 continued north to Bedford Park, IL on its daily run.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3000, ISO 130.
CSXT 739 leads loaded grain train G419 past the old Louisville and Nashville Depot at Hopkinsville, KY
CSXT 739 leads loaded grain train G419 past the old Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad Depot after our first snowfall of the year on the Henderson Subdivision on January 7th, 2022. The snow which began to fall on the 6th brought a total of 4-6 inches of snow to the region and caused delays on the railroad due to switch problems along the line due to the snow and cold.
According to Wikipedia: “The L &N Railroad Depot in the Hopkinsville Commercial Historic District of Hopkinsville, Kentucky is a historic railroad station on the National Register of Historic Places. It was built by the Louisville & Nashville Railroad in 1892.
The year 1832 saw the first of many attempts to woo a railroad to Hopkinsville. This first attempt was to connect Hopkinsville to Eddyville, Kentucky. In 1868 Hopkinsville finally obtained a railroad station, operated by the Evansville, Henderson, & Nashville Railroad. The Louisville & Nashville Railroad acquired the railroad in 1879.
The Hopkinsville depot is a single-story frame building with a slate roof. It has six rooms: A Ladies Waiting room (the room closest to the street), a General Waiting Room, a Colored Waiting Room, a baggage room (the furthest room from the street), a ticket office (the only room which connected to all three waiting rooms), and a ladies’ restroom. Immediately outsides were warehouses for freight, usually tobacco.
Its last long-distance (passenger) train was the Louisville and Nashville’s Georgian, last operating in 1968.
During its operating years, the Hopkinsville depot was a popular layover spot for those traveling by train. It was the only Louisville & Nashville station between Evansville, Indiana and Nashville, Tennessee where it was legal to drink alcohol. Hopkinsville got the nickname Hop town due to train passengers asking the conductors when they would arrive at Hopkinsville, so they could “hop off and get a drink”.
The Hopkinsville L&N Railroad Depot was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 1, 1975. CSX, which bought out the Louisville & Nashville, still run trains on the tracks next to the depot, but do not stop.”
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3200, ISO 110.
CSX G419, a loaded grain train, southbound at Monarch at Madisonville, Kentucky
CSX G419, a loaded grain train, passes under the Paducah and Louisville Railway, on a 11-degree snowy winters day, as it heads south at the location known as Monarch on the Henderson Subdivision at Madisonville, Kentucky on January 7th, 2022.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3000, ISO 130.
Live – January 7, 2022 – CSX southbound grain train at Monarch, Madisonville, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision.
CSX local J732 comes off the Earlington Cutoff at Mortons Junction at Mortons Gap, KY
CSX local J732 comes off the Earlington Cutoff at Mortons Junction, through the heavy snow that fell on the region on January 6th, 2022, as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision back to Casky Yard in Hopkinsville, KY, with CSXT 100 leading the way.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 150mm, f/5, 1/2000, ISO 110.
Canadian National 8892 and 5725 leads a grain train southbound on the CN Bluford Subdivision
There’s nothing I love more than catching a splash of color in a otherwise gray landscape as Ive done here of Canadian National 8892 and 5725 leads a grain train southbound on the CN Bluford Subdivision, after coming across the Metropolis, Illinois Bridge over the Ohio River on December 29th, 2021, at West Paducah, Kentucky.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/180, ISO 100.
BNSF 25th Anniversary at Chiles Junction, West Paducah, Kentucky
BNSF 25th Anniversary Unit 6078 brings up the rear as the last DPU on a loaded coal train at Chiles Junction in West Paducah, Kentucky as they make their way north on the CN Beardstown Subdivision to the 4 Rivers Coal loop on the Ohio River at West Paducah on December 29th, 2021.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 130.
Canadian National A408 passes through the diamonds on CN Centralia Subdivision at Centralia, Illinois
Canadian National A408 passes through the diamonds on CN Centralia Subdivision at Centralia, Illinois as it pulls south into the yard on December 29th, 2021, with Illinois Central units 1005 and 1022 leading the way.
The Centralia Subdivision formerly belonged to the Illinois Central Railroad and was constructed between 1854-1855. The double trackage was added between 1900-1902 and the line runs between Centralia and Cairo, Illinois.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/730, ISO 100.
Amtrak 391, the Saluki, passes through the Evansville Western Railway/Canadian National diamond at Ashley, IL
Amtrak 391, the Saluki, passes through the Evansville Western Railway/Canadian National diamond as it heads south on the CN Centralia Subdivision at Ashley, Illinois on December 29th, 2021.
According to Wikipedia: Ashley is a city in Washington County, Illinois, United States, and was named after Colonel L. W. Ashley, a railroad division engineer with the Illinois Central Railroad.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 130.
Canadian National 8892 and 5725 lead a southbound grain train at West Paducah, KY
Canadian National 8892 and 5725 lead a grain train southbound on the CN Bluford Subdivision, through the bare forest, after coming across the Metropolis, Illinois Bridge over the Ohio River on December 29th, 2021 at West Paducah, Kentucky.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 140.
LORAM Railgrinder 401 sits south of Princeton, Kentucky on the Paducah and Louisville Railway
LORAM Railgrinder 401 sits south of Princeton, Kentucky on the Paducah and Louisville Railway on a beautiful fall afternoon on November 11th, 2021.
According to Wikipedia: A railgrinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track. Rail grinders were developed to increase the lifespan of the tracks being serviced for rail corrugation. Rail grinding is a process that is done to stop the deformation due to use and friction on railroad tracks by removing deformations and corrosion. Railroad tracks that experience continual use are more likely to experience corrugation and overall wear.
Rail grinders are used to grind the tracks when rail corrugation is present, or before corrugation begins to form on the tracks. Major freight train tracks use rail grinders for track maintenance based on the interval of tonnage, rather than time. Transit systems and subways in major cities continue to use scheduled rail grinding processes to combat the corrugation common to heavily used tracks. Rail-grinding equipment may be mounted on a single self-propelled vehicle or on a dedicated rail-grinding train which, when used on an extensive network, may include crew quarters. The grinding wheels, of which there may be more than 100, are set at controlled angles to restore the track to its correct profile.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 140.
Norfolk Southern railway Savannah & Atlanta 1065 Heritage Unit eastbound at Princeton, IN
Norfolk Southern railway Savannah & Atlanta 1065 Heritage Unit leads NS 167 as it passes through Southern Crossover over the CSX CE&D Subdivision at Princeton, Indiana, on its way east on the NS East-West District on December 3rd, 2021. This unit completes my goal of photographing all the 20 NS Heritage units!
According to the NS Website: Savannah & Atlanta Railway (SR, EMD) began life as the Brinson Railway in 1906, slowly expanding from Savannah toward the Northwest. It was consolidated with other small railroads to become the Savannah & Atlanta in 1917. Central of Georgia bought the S&A in 1951.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 130.