RJ Corman Wye Work at Woodburn, Ky

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.

CSX K443 southbound at Hopkinsville, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision

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 on the move!

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.

CSXT 5461 Seaboard System Railroad sticker unit works at Bowling Green, Ky

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.

Heading south at Poorhouse

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 Q512-09 south at Mortons Gap, Ky with 7 units

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.

CSX Q512 with 7 units waiting to head north at Slaughters, Ky

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!

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.

Signs of Spring at the Paducah and Louisville Railway as CN heads to Fulton, Ky!

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!

CSX W809 waits with its military load at Nortonville, Ky

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 northbound on the CSX Henderson Subdivision

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.

CSX Q513-26 with two interesting moves

Its 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 its 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.

#trainphotography #railroadphotography #trains #railways #dronephotography #jimpearsonphotography

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800 & 1/1250, ISO 100.

CSX Q513-26 with two interesting moves #2

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.

CSX Q513-26 with two interesting moves #1

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.

Canadian National leads CSX K813 south out of Mortons Gap, Ky

With only a few days away from the first day of spring, Canadian National 2314 leads CSX K813 out of Mortons Gap, Ky, with an empty potash train, under gloomy and cold skies on March 18th, 2021, as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 200.

X marks the spot on the Henderson Subdivision

I keep returning to this spot called Monarch, where the CSX Henderson Subdivision crosses under the Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL), attempting to catch a shot with traffic on both lines, here in Madisonville, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision.

There was a PAL train in the neighborhood when I put the drone over Monarch on March 16th, 2021, catching this shot of CSX Q500 as it headed north, however the PAL local didnt pass until much later. Ive found over the years that persistence pays off in the long run, so I continue to revisit this spot, waiting for the right moves to appear!

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 200.

Traffic flowing again after a dispatcher’s nightmare

Looking at this photograph of hot intermodal CSX Q026 passing a tied down CSX W017 rail train just north of the yard at Guthrie, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision, you wouldnt know what transpired over 7 hours before their arrivals here! Well, heres what happened!

On March 20th, 2021 at approximately 9am CSX Q513 (12,000+ feet long) was about halfway through Adams, Tennessee when their train ripped a coupler completely out of a refrigerated car about 2/3 through their train and went into full emergency, which ended up causing a major problem on the Henderson Subdivision!

Since the train separated on the main, nothing could get around it and before it was over all four hot intermodals on the Henderson Subdivision, Q029, Q025, Q026 and Q028, were now delayed, as were many other trains, including this rail train as a result!

They finally figured out a plan that worked where the power from Q029 was brought up from Guthrie, Ky and hooked onto the rear of Q513 to hold the last 1/3 of Q513 in place.

Q513 then pulled the front 2/3 of their train south into the siding at Cedar Hill, Tennessee where a bracket was welded onto the reefer car, to hold the EOT device, as a new coupler couldnt be installed due to the damage.

The power on Q513 then pulled away from its train at Cedar Hill, where it went out the south end of the siding and back north on the main to pickup the rest of its train.

They then brought the rest of Q513 back to Cedar Hill where they backed into the siding and hooked onto the rest of their train. By this time the crew was now out of time and they the train down, till a fresh crew showed up later to take it on south.

Finally, Q029, Q025 and loaded a loaded coal train went on south where Q026 and Q028 were waiting to come north, and the railroad got to moving again!

As a result of all this, the rail train, which sat at the south end of Trenton, Ky for all this time, ended up being brought on up to Guthrie where their train was also tied down just short of the crossing at Park Street.

The crew was sent to a hotel and Im not sure if its because they ran out of time or if the dispatcher didnt want a slow speed train (30mp train and 10mph through turnouts and sidings) on the line as everything had been backing up for six hours!

Just another day on the railroad!!

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 100.

Northbound across the CR Drawbridge on the Cumberland River at Nashville, TN

CSXT 7779, a rebuilt C40-8 and Canadian Pacific 7027, a rebuilt SD70ACU, pull north across the CR Drawbridge as it departs Nashville, Tennessee on the Nashville Terminal Subdivision with empty ethanol train K442 on March 19th, 2021.

I saw for the first time today where this bridge was open for barge traffic on the Cumberland River and I never knew that it is now a swing bridge! I guess at some point in time it was converted, and the name CR Drawbridge was kept. It was built in 1916 by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and I’m not sure when it was changed to a swing bridge. Perhaps someone out there can provide information on this conversion in the comments!

I did find an interesting video from 2016 where the bridge was rehabilitated by PCL Construction that I’ll share in the comments for those that are interested. I’m not sure if this is when it was changed from a draw to a swing bridge or not.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 100.

CSX MOW train northbound at Monarch, Madisonville, Ky

CSXT 8060 leads CSX W035, a loaded Maintenance of Way train, under the Paducah and Louisville Railway at Monarch as it heads north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Madisonville, Kentucky on March 13th, 2021 under winter cloudy skies.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.

Running from the Law on the CSX Henderson Subdivision

Well, that’s what they call it when the train crew is getting close to being out of crew time, based on the laws that govern how long they can work. When they get to this point, they’re trying to get to a spot they can do a crew change or tie their train down.

A good friend Charles Lavender gave me a heads up that this W035 was northbound with loaded Maintenance of Way train coming out of Goodlettsville, TN on March 13th, 2021.

I was still at home when I got the word and at least 30 minutes from Casky Yard in Hopkinsville, Kentucky where I planned on catching it. There were also unconfirmed reports that they would tie the train down at Casky as well.

Well, I got to the first exit for Hopkinsville when I got word from another fellow railfan, Steve Miller, that the train had already cleared the yard and was continuing north, which had me changing to my second spot at Kelly, Kentucky.

This train was flying, partly because they were running out of time and also, because hot intermodal CSX Q028 was hot on his tail!!

As I launched the drone and found my spot in the sky, dark clouds and the light band prefect between them and the ground helped add drama to the scene!!, I knew I had my favorite shot for this train! All in all, a hectic and rushed chase, but I was able to get my drone at three different locations and still able to do a live video of the move north at Crofton, Kentucky.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 100.

CSX Heading southbound into the light!

CSX Q025 heads southbound (railroad south, but more southeast) towards the rays of early morning light, at Henderson, Kentucky, after crossing the Ohio River bridge on the CSX Henderson Subdivision with CSXT 3184 leading the way.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.

CSX Q025 Southbound over the Ohio River Floodwaters

This is a shot that I’ve been wanting to get even before I started flying a drone! A shot of a train passing over the floodwaters from the Ohio River as it heads across the river at Henderson, Kentucky coming out of Evansville, Indiana. This is a shot that one could only get with a john boat in the past and I neither had one or knew anyone with one, so this has always been a dream shot for me!

With the partly cloudy skies I was worried that I wouldn’t have sunlight for the shot, but as you can see with the broken clouds on March 10th, 2021, they parted enough for this dramatic lighting as CSX hot intermodal Q025-10 made its way up the viaduct to the bridge over the Ohio River heading south into Henderson, Ky on the CSX Henderson Subdivision.

The scene as far as the eye can see here is normally farmers fields, but today it was an extension of the Ohio River as it was right at 37 feet as the train passed over it.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/640, ISO 100.

Southbound hot intermodal at Sulfur Creek, Springfield, TN

Just a week before the ground here was covered with snow and the temperature was in the teens, a huge difference on March 3rd, 2021 here at the Sulfur Fork bridge just north of Springfield, Tennessee where the day was beautiful and the temperature hovering around 70 degrees!

Here we find CSXT 276 and 904 leading hot intermodal Q029-02 as they head south over the Sulfur Creek bridge on the CSX Henderson Subdivision as they make their way to their final destination of Jacksonville, FL from Chicago, IL.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.