June 6, 2018 – As the last light of dusk fades from the sky…


June 6, 2018 – As the last light of dusk fades from the sky, Indiana Southern Railroad 3052 leads local PL-2 south through Elberfeld, Indiana as it heads to Evansville for interchange work with CSX.

According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Southern Railroad (reporting mark ISRR) is a short line or Class III railroad operating in the United States state of Indiana. It began operations in 1992 as a RailTex property, and was acquired by RailAmerica in 2000. RailAmerica was itself acquired by Genesee & Wyoming in December 2012.

Indiana Southern Railroad operates 176 miles of track from Indianapolis to Evansville. From Mars Hill (a neighborhood on the southwest side of Indianapolis) southwest through Martinsville and Spencer to Bee Hunter in Greene County, the ISRR runs on tracks that once made up the majority of the former Indianapolis & Vincennes Branch of the Pennsylvania Railroad. State Route 67 parallels the ISRR along much of this section. From Bee Hunter to Elnora, the ISRR has trackage rights over the Indiana Rail Road. ISRR tracks resume from Elnora through Petersburg before terminating in Evansville, IN along the former New York Central’s Evansville & Indianapolis Branch.

The railroad’s traffic comes mainly from coal and grain products, including corn and soybeans. The ISRR hauled around 70,000 carloads in 2008. It also is supplying coal to the Edwardsport power plant since 2012. There are around 2 trains per week supplying it with coal and carrying byproducts from the plant. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #isrr #indianasouthernrailroad

June 6, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 167 (Granite City, IL-Louisville, KY) crests the hill…

June 6, 2018 – Norfolk Southern 167 (Granite City, IL-Louisville, KY) crests the hill leading up to the west end of Hatfield Junction with several flats of CAT Dozers, as it heads east on the NS Southern-East District at Oakland City, Indiana with NS 9237 leading the way, as the last light of the day begins to fade. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway

June 9, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099 is illuminated from behind…

June 9, 2018 – Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099 is illuminated from behind by a coal train working behind it at the NS Yard in Princeton Indiana as a light fog rolls through the area.

While I usually try to shoot my night photographs using a tripod with a low ISO, this shot was a handheld one, shot with a Nikon D800, using a 50mm f/1.4 lens at 1/160th at ISO 4,000. The bright red light comes from the FRED (flashing rear-end device) on the end of another train.

When shooting handheld with a high ISO like this at night, I find I get best results if I shoot at my widest f/stop and keep the camera on fast frame rate. Also, brace yourself, take a deep breath, let it out about halfway, hold it an then fire the shutter. Of course a stationary subject helps as well, but blurs can work as well if you have to go with a slower shutterspeed. Give it a try either way! If you don’t shoot, you won’t have anything for sure and the more you do it, the better you’ll get with shooting at night. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #norfolksouthernrailway #heritageunits

June 9, 2018 – I spent the day railfanning with good friend Ryan Scott…

June 9, 2018 – I spent the day railfanning with good friend Ryan Scott between Princeton, Indiana and La Grange, Ky and this is perhaps my favorite shot from the trip, which was one of the last shots of the day!

Here we find a crew getting NS Heritage 8099, Southern Unit, ready for pickup by an, Duke Energy coal train, at the NS Yard Office in Princeton, Indiana, after storms passed through the area.

We got lots of great photographs, which you’ll see over the days to come and also met-up with several fellow railfans in person that we’ve been friends with on Facebook for sometime! A big shout out to Javid Beykzadeh for helping with our journey around Louisville and La Grange and other fellow railfans Adam Hill, Erik Landrum, Josh Kellerman that were at La Grange, Ky when we all caught the CSX Q231-08 with BNSF 791 Warbonnet street running through there. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #nsrailway #norfolksouthern #nsheritageunit

Norfolk Southern Railway’s Geometry Train “The Brick” at Huntingburg, Indiana

June 6, 2018 – The warm light of the setting sun illuminates the scene, at the eastern end of the yard at Huntingburg, Indiana, as westbound Autorack NS 276 passes Norfolk Southern Railway’s Geometry Train platform #38, commonly known as “The Brick” as it tests the siding.

Light from the bottom of the cars on the geometry train take a digital profile of the track which is used for maintenance and upgrades.

The NS Research platform 38 “The Brick” was rebuilt using the frame and trucks of former NS/NW EMD SD40 1620. It contains sensing and measuring equipment to record track geometry and rail profile (rail wear), as well as the power supply for itself and NS Research car. The Research 36 car contains the recording and processing equipment for the data supplied by NS 38. Here it’s being pulled by NS 9272 as it does its testing on the NS Southern-East District. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #norfolksouthernrailway

May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 pulls past a barn at the Monticello Railway Museum…

May 18, 2018 – Southern Steam engine 401 pulls past a barn at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois, as the day draws to a close on the Southern Rail Production’s Photo Charter event, as it heads into the shops area. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum

May 18, 2018 – A scene out of the past, the engineer on Southern Steam engine 401…

May 18, 2018 – A scene out of the past, the engineer on Southern Steam engine 401 prepares to pickup a set of train orders at Stair Tower at the Monticello Railway Museum, in Monticello, Illinois as another member looks on during Southern Rail Production’s night photography event.

The Monticello Railway Museum, is an all-volunteer organization in central Illinois with an operational railroad main line yard open to the public.

The museum offers train rides on Saturdays and Sundays from May through October, regardless of weather conditions, as well as a number of special events throughout the year. – #jimstrainphotos #illinoisrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #southern401 #southernsteam #steamtrain #southernrailproductions #monticellorailwaymuseum

Southern 401 at Nelson Crossing…

May 17, 2018 – Southern 401 sits beside the Nelson Crossing Station at the Monticello, Illinois Railway Museum during the Southern Rail Productions night photo session.

CSX 0501-18 NB with Norfolk Southern 911 at Henderson, Ky

April 19, 2018 – CSX Q501-18 (Chicago to Nashville) had Norfolk Southern’s 911 unit, Honoring First Responders, as it passed under the signals at the south end of Henderson, Ky on its way south on the Henderson Subdivision. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #ns #nsrailway #nsheritageunit

EVWR empty coal waits to depart Sitran Dock at West Franklin, IN

April 4. 2018 – A Evansville Western Railway empty coal train sits at the SITRAN Coal transfer facility, in the golden glow of the setting sun. In the background putting out all the steam is the  Green Plains Bioenergy plant at West Franklin, Indiana. The Sitran Terminal was commissioned in April 2012 and is owned by Foresight Energy. It is capable of receiving up to 150 car trains from mines originating on the EVWR, NS, CSX and BN Railroads via the Evansville Western Railroad. The facility can store 1 million tons of coal. – #jimstrainphotos #indianarailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #evwr #evwrrailway #coaltrain

Amtrak 391 Conductor at Carbondale, IL

February 24, 2018 – The rain pours from the sky as the conductor from Amtrak 391, The Saluki, stands beside his train at Carbondale, Illinois after arriving from Chicago via the CN Centralia Subdivision. One of the hardest things about shooting in the rain or other bad weather is just getting out the door! Many times it’s really worth it though! I always keep a golf umbrella in my SUV for times like this!

CSX Q647-26 SB on Viaduct at Rahm, Indiana

December 26, 2017 – A frigid cold wind blows across the flatland’s as CSX Q647-26 heads south up the viaduct at Rahm, Indiana as the last light of the day fades on the Henderson Subdivision.

CTA State-Lake L Station, Chicago, IL

December 7, 2017 – It’s a cold and windy winter’s night as a CTA train pulls into the State/Lake Street “L” station in Downtown Chicago, Illinois as bundled up workers begin their commute home from the downtown area.

CSX E013-04 SB from Warrior Coal, Madisonville, Ky

November 7, 2017 – Light is about gone and so is the fall foliage, as loaded CSX E013-04 (Warrior Coal – Palatka, FL) heads down the grade, as it departs Warrior Coal, heading south back to the Morganfield Branch and onto Madisonville, Ky. At Atkinson Yard they’ll pickup a fresh crew that’s waiting to take the train on south on the Henderson Subdivision to Palatka, FL as N013-04.