CSX K650 makes its way past the north end of the siding at Kelly, Kentucky as CN 5759, BCRAIL 4646 and CN 5618 lead the way on May 12th, 2021 on the Henderson Subdivision with a load of ethanol.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
CSXT 5419 heads up work train J056 as it heads south across the bridge on the Tennessee River at New Johnsonville, Tennessee on the CSX Bruceton Subdivision.
This railroad bridge crosses over the Tennessee River at New Johnsonville, TN and connects Humpreys and Benton Counties and runs next to the Hickman Lockhart Memorial highway Bridge. It is a multiple through truss bridge with vertical lift section for barge traffic, was built in 1945, and still in use.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 100.
Paducah and Louisville Railways specialty painted University of Kentucky unit 2012 leads a loaded coal train through the unloading pit at Calvert City Terminal as it prepares to unload its coal on May 7th, 2021 at Calvert City, Kentucky.
Calvert City Terminal is located at Mile 14 on the lower Tennessee River, near its confluence with the Ohio River, Calvert City Terminal is strategically located on the Paducah and Louisville Railroad in a large industrial park at Calvert City, Kentucky. This central location provides ready access to BNSF, CNIC, UP, NS, and CSX railroads, as well as the Tennessee, Cumberland, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100.
CSX Q533, with CSXT 3319 and 833 leading, pull past CSXT Operation Red Block Caboose 900068 (Cross Tracks Safely), after dropping a string of 27 cars off in the yard at New Johnsonville, Tennessee on the CSX Bruceton Subdivision during its daily run between Nashville and Memphis, TN.
According to the CSX Website: Operation RedBlock is CSX’s Drug and Alcohol Peer Prevention Program that is a union-initiated, management-supported program that uses peer involvement to prevent employee use of alcohol and/or drugs while on duty or subject to call. More than 3,000 operating employees at CSX are trained as prevention committee volunteers. Volunteers initiate activities and projects designed to educate co-workers about Operation RedBlock.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 100.
The American Duchess, a river cruise paddle-wheeler owned and operated by American Queen Steamboat Company passes under southbound Canadian National U72481-05 on the bridge over the Ohio River between Metropolis, IL and West Paducah, KY. U72481-05 is carrying a load of Iron ore from Keenan, MN to Convent, LA on the CN Bluford Subdivision.
According to Wikipedia: The American Duchess is a river cruise paddle-wheeler owned and operated by American Queen Steamboat Company (AQSC). It is the third addition to their fleet and is advertised as being the most luxurious option of the line’s vessels. The riverboat’s itineraries include routes on the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, Cumberland, and Illinois Rivers.
Before it was American Duchess, this vessel was originally designed and built for Isle of Capri Casinos as a casino boat named Bettendorf Capri.
After going land-based, Isle of Capri sold the paddle-wheeler to AQSC in 2016. On October 16, 2016, Bettendorf locals gathered on the levee to give their farewell to the 21-year-old casino boat and watched her pull off the riverbank to sail south to undergo her reconstruction.
Contracted to Bollinger Shipyards in Morgan City, Louisiana, the vessel would be gutted, remodeled, and relaunched as a river cruise liner the following year. The conversion from a casino boat to an overnight passenger vessel involved the removal of over 1,000 slot machine bases and 1,200 steel chairs, the construction of new dividing walls to form 83 passenger cabins, the addition of a crew hold, a completely new interior layout and design, modifications to propulsion and a new exterior paint job.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 100.
CSX Q647 rolls past the head end of CSX K442 at the north end of the siding at Rankin, Kentucky as it makes its way south on the Henderson Subdivision on May 7th, 2021 where it prepares to pass Progress Rail 7205 (SD70ACe-T4), trailing behind Canadian Pacific 9736.
According to Wikipedia: Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products, and diesel engines for the rail industry.
The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail. Electro-Motive Diesel traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, a designer and marketer of gasoline-electric self-propelled rail cars founded in 1922 and later renamed Electro-Motive Company.
In 1930, General Motors purchased Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. and in 1941 expanded EMC’s realm to locomotive engine manufacturing as Electro-Motive Division.
In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, which formed Electro-Motive Diesel to facilitate the purchase. In 2010, Progress Rail completed the purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar, Berkshire, and others.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100.
We get trains on the CSX Henderson Subdivision from time to time that haul windmill motors and housings, but this is the first I can recall being led by a Canadian National and Union Pacific locomotive!
It was early morning on May 4th, 2021 when I first heard that this train was finally making its way up the Henderson Subdivision from Nashville, Tennessee. I found this out after I had already committed to going to Evansville, Indiana to chase CSX W992-28, the high and wide move that was tied down at Harwood Siding in Evansville.
Well, after getting there and sitting waiting for a crew (it had been there more than 12hrs) I decided if I wanted a chance to catch a shot and video of W986 that I needed to head back south.
Of course, I did catch the high and wide move the next day and if you haven’t already you can see a shot of it on any of my sites and a video will be coming soon, but back to W986.
I had planned to catch this train at Rahm where it comes across the Ohio river into Evansville, but with the weather and darkening skies I decided not to chance missing it where I could get a shot with my drone, so I made my way to the north end of Anaconda at Robards, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision and caught it heading south there with CN 2852 leading.
As you can tell from the photo the light was fading fast and the train was moving fast! I didnt have time to do much more than get the drone up and in position before the train hit this spot. If I had gotten there a bit earlier, I probably would have boosted my ISO a little, to up the shutter speed, but actually I think I like the little bit of motion blur on the lead unit as it gives a feeling of speed! Details below on the Tech stuff!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/80, ISO 100.
When you’re running at 25 mph and only 5 mph through switches, it pretty much takes forever to get anywhere as with CSX W992-28 as it heads south across the Red River trestle at Adams, Tennessee on the CSX Henderson Subdivision with CSXT #9 leading on May 5th, 2021. It left Evansville, Indiana around midnight and ended up tying down at Courtland, TN where it covered 125 miles in about 12 hours.
Based on past moves this looks like another GE generator that is bound for Florida. Still trying to find out and will add it to the caption once I do.
This was an Emmert International train move with CSXT #9 as power and BBCX 1002 as the trailing manned caboose with what appeared to be a steam generator of some sort that was being hauled on their BBCX1000 Schnabel Railcar.
According to the Emmert International website: “Emmert International’s BBCX1000 Schnabel Railcar is specifically designed to carry heavy (up to 1 million pounds) and oversized loads in such a way that the load itself makes up part of the car. The load is suspended between the two ends of the cars by lifting arms; the lifting arms are connected to a pivot above an assembly of pivots and frames that carry the weight of the load and the lifting arm.”
For loads not designed to be part of the car Emmert International’s BBCX1000 is equipped with a deck designed to carry the loads in standard configuration up to 836,000 pounds. Customized decks can be manufactured to increase the overall payload weight.
Emmert International’s BBCX1000 is equipped with hydraulic equipment that will either lift the load vertically or horizontally shift the load while in transit to clear obstructions along the cars route.
With 20 axles (ten for each half) containing four trucks connected by a complex system of span bolsters its tare (unloaded) weight without deck is 424,000 lbs. The BBCX1000’s empty car length is 115′ 10″ with a maximum length with the loading deck at 168′ 9″. Maximum vertical load shifting ability is 14″ and the maximum horizontal load shifting ability is 22″. The heavy-duty AAR railcar mechanical designation is LS.
Emmert Internationals BBCX1000 Schnabel Railcar is accompanied by the BBCX 1002 Caboose and BBCX1003 flat car that carries the deck when not in service. The
BBCX1000 is pulled by special train service and requires 2 operators who control the BBCX 1000 railcar ride in the caboose.
I’ll be posting a video on this move in a few days on my YouTube Channel and here on Facebook, once I get it edited.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 200.
Ohio River Scenic Railway BUGX 1752 (EMD FP9A) leads the last train of the day, on May 1st, 2021, as it approaches the Indiana 66 crossing at Troy, Indiana as they begin their reverse move back downtown, where their passengers will be allowed to disembark for a walk around the riverfront and downtown. Afterwards they reboarded the train for the return trip to Tell City, IN.
BUGX 1752 is an ex-CN Rebuilt EMD that is leased now by the Ohio River Scenic Railway from Dieselmotive Company of Northern California. It is a former Canadian National FP9A unit, which was recently sold by Pioneer RailCorp affiliate Keokuk Junction Railway to Dieselmotive and has become one of their lease units.
Ohio River Scenic Railway is headquartered out of Tell City, Indiana and they run through Perry and Spencer Counties in southern Indiana on the weekends. For more and updated information visit their website at https://www.ohiorivertrain.com/ and take a ride behind this beautiful locomotive!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
Paducah and Louisville Railway 4516 and 2012 lead a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric (LG1) loaded coal train through the cut just north of Rosine, Kentucky as it makes its way toward Louisville on April 14th, 2021.
According to Wikipedia: The Paducah & Louisville Railway is a Class II railroad that operates freight service between Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky. The line is located entirely within the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The 270-mile line was purchased from Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in August 1986.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/160, ISO 100.
Fellow railfan Cooper Smith and I really lucked out when we railfanned the RJ Corman Memphis line on April 14th, 2021. We caught the northbound RJC MR25 at South Union, Kentucky and chased it up to the RJ Corman Distribution Center at Woodburn, Ky.
After dropping their power on the wye and pulling one unit off they moved it on north and I got this shot of it just passing the switch before it was put in the track on the right! The train on the left then came out on the main and backed down on the main to pickup the cars and it continued north to Bowling Green, Ky.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.
A fellow railfan Frank Knight sent me a heads up on this train as it passed through Henderson, Ky early this morning on April 22nd, 2021 and here we find it passing the old Louisville and Nashville Depot in downtown Hopkinsville, Kentucky with BNSF 5202 and KCS 4677 leading a loaded ethanol train south.
I tried catching this train at the south end of Slaughters, Hanson and at Nortonville, but ended up arriving at each of my spots as the train was passing through them! It seemed like every traffic light was red and every car that drove 10mph under the speed limit was between me and my next spot!! It happens sometimes and while I didn’t get the shots I wanted at each of those locations, I did at several others! Sometimes you must be persistent!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.
BUGX 1752, a former Canadian National FP9A unit, which was recently sold by Pioneer RailCorp affiliate Keokuk Junction Railway, trails as the last unit on Norfolk Southern Railways train 167 as it sits at “Smoot” just west of Princeton, Indiana on April 21st, 2021, waiting to meet two eastbound trains on the NS Southern East/West District.
The unit was on the final leg of its journey to a new home at the Ohio River Scenic Railway in Tell City, Indiana, where it will power their tourist line trains that runs through Perry and Spencer Counties in southern Indiana.
This was without a doubt the longest and shortest chase I’ve done in a long time!
I started from my home in Richland, KY to travel to Princeton, IN to meet up with fellow railfan Ryan Scott to catch this train. Well, after the 1.5hr drive and hoping I hadn’t missed it, I finally linked up with Ryan, who had been sitting a couple hours west of Princeton, waiting to catch it also!
Well, needless to say, we were worried that we’d missed it somehow as it was last reported around Centralia, IL at 8am and the trip to Princeton normally takes a couple hours and by the time I linked up with Ryan it had been close to 4!
Ryan jumped in with me (I like to drive) and we decided to head west looking for the train and low and behold, we found it in the siding at Smoot, just west of town!
Well, it sat there for two west bounds before it headed into the yard for a crew change at Ohio Street. After the crew change, they had to do their work, where they dropped off one engine, picked up three more and then two exceptionally long stings of cars! Needless to say, it was 6pm before they finished their work, moved to East Junction where they where they had to wait for two more west bounds!! A total of 6 hours to move about 6 miles, but finally they made their way out of town to Huntingburg where they dropped of the FP9A unit for a local to take it to Tell City. Some days railfanning is like this!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 100.
On April 14th, 2021, my self and fellow railfan Cooper Smith spent the day chasing trains on the RJ Corman Memphis Line, the Paducah and Louisville Railway and the CSX Mainline Subdivision, when we I caught this shot of CSX Q587 working out of the south end of the CSX Memphis Junction Yard at Bowling Green, Kentucky on the CSX Mainline Subdivision.
This unit carries the Seaboard System Railroad sticker, which is one of the many railroads CSXT has absorbed over the years. I along with many others wish CSXT would go a bit further like many other railroads and would paint some of their units in the roads theyve acquired over the years.
I havent really railfanned the Memphis line a lot over the years, despite it being only about 1.5 hours from my home, but with the success from this trip that will probably change! In fact, this circuit proved to be so well, I think itll become a frequent one in my railfanning.
The Mainline subdivision runs from Nashville, TN, to Louisville, KY. The RJ Corman Memphis Line runs from Cumberland City, TN and Bowling Green, KY and the Paducah and Louisville Railway runs between Paducah and Louisville, Ky.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.
CSXT 970 leads Q503 southbound on April 9th, 2021, on a beautiful spring afternoon, as it heads through the location on the Henderson Subdivision that is called Poorhouse by the railroad crews. The name stems back to the days when the poorhouse for the community of Madisonville, Kentucky used to be close to this location in the days of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.
CSX Q512 with another string of seven locomotives that had GMTX 2141 and 2133 trailing as the last units, make their way downgrade from Mortons Junction at Mortons Gap, Kentucky on April 8th, 2021 as they head south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Q512 was running on this beautiful spring day with CSXT 5312, 711, 4329, 8851, 4226, GMTX 2133, 2141 as power and was 10,590 feet long. I didn’t really notice, but I’m fairly sure the last 4 units weren’t running. The loads behind the power are truck frames.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.
I was sitting at a local restaurant here in Madisonville, Ky with several other rail friends where we had just ordered our lunch when I got the first notice from another friend that CSX Q512 was headed north on the Henderson Subdivision with 7 locomotives! At the time it was passing the signals at Oak Hill, just south of Mortons Gap, Ky on April 6th, 2021!
Of course, I really didnt expect to catch it as I felt it would probably pass by when we were in the middle of our meal and pretty much resigned myself to missing this move. Next, I got a phone call about the move from another friend and then a message from another friend that it was passing through Mortons Gap, and still one more that it was at Earlington!
Well, my meal arrived, and I didnt wolf it down, but did get it finished (Over easy eggs, Hash Browns and Bacon with wheat toast) and bid farewell to the others and decided to see if I could catch it. I even thought about flying from the parking lot down to Monarch, which was about ½ mile away, but when I stepped out the door at the restaurant (Swaggy Ps) there was the head end of the power passing just across the street in the tree line! Luck was on my side!!!
I was able to get on I-69 at Madisonville and get far enough ahead of the train, running with CSXT 305, 3357, 78, GMTX 2158, 2160, 2156, and ARNX 3045! Of course, only the CSX units were under power as the others were dead in tow.
I was able to get shots with the drone from the south end of Slaughters, Ky where it took the siding to wait for Q503! This gave me plenty of time to get to the north end of the siding and capture this shot, in beautiful light, of the entire consist of power!
Sometimes things just come together!
With signs of spring in the trees, Canadian National Fulton to Paducah (FUPU) turn heads over the Paducah and Louisville Railway yard as it heads back to Fulton, Ky after making its drop-off and pick-up at Paducah, Ky.
I’ve been trying to catch this shot ever since I got my first drone and it finally happened today, April 3rd, 2021st while myself and fellow railfan Ryan Scott spent the day chasing trains around Paducah and Fulton, Ky! While we didn’t get a lot of trains, what we did catch was nice and you’ll see more in the days to come!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
The crew on southbound military train W809 waits just north of the signals at Romney on March 30th, 2021 as they chat with a member of a track crew that is welding on the switch here on the CSX Henderson Subdivision, out of frame to the left.
Not only are they waiting for the track crew, but they were also waiting on the arrival of hot intermodal, CSX Q025, which will be coming from the north around the curve in the distance, which was still several miles away.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
Canadian National 3246, 2235, 2518, 2605 and 2293 lead an empty ethanol tank train on March 25th, 2021, after passing the location called Romney, on the CSX Henderson subdivision as it heads north at Nortonville, Ky.
Unit trains of one type or another are some of my favorite trains to photograph and video and when you throw into the mix foreign power on top of that and it makes me want to chase all day long!! I just love the uniformity of the cars, like snakes winding their way along the landscape.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.
It’s not very often that I catch a train that has two interesting moves at the same time, but March 26th, 2021 was one of those days when I caught CSX Q513 heading south on the Henderson Subdivision!
Up front behind the first engine was a GMTX 192 switcher (ex-Kansas City Southern Unit) passing through Mortons Junction at Mortons Gap, Ky, which Im told is headed for St. Marys Railroad Company, located in St. Marys, Georgia.
On the rear of the train was Mid-America Railcar Leasing (MRLX) 1226, which appears to be an ex-Amtrak baggage car that I’m also told is headed for the Georgia coastal railway at St. Marys, Georgia. Im also told that it will be converted to a gift shop for their excursion trains. Here it’s passing through the crossing at the north end of the siding at Kelly, Ky, behind the DPU on the rear of the train as they head south on the Henderson Subdivision.
St. Marys Railroad (reporting marks SM) is a standard gauge, Class III, common carrier railroad based out of St. Marys, Georgia. Interchange is made with the First Coast Railroad in Kingsland, Georgia and gives customers easy access to Jacksonville, Florida railroads CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern Railway and Florida East Coast Railway.
Mid America Railcar Leasing is a limited liability company that leases private passenger railroad cars, most of which can be pulled on the end of Amtrak trains.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800 & 1/1250, ISO 100.