April 29, 2020 – After working making a drop off at the yard in Princeton, Indiana, Norfolk Southern 8025, Monongahela Heritage Unit, pulls NS 168 (Louisville, KY to St. Louis, MO) west on the NS Southern East-West District toward St. Louis, Mo.
Tech: Nikon D800, Lens: Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/8, 1/1250sec, ISO 360.
April 29, 2020 – Well, for the first time since this pandemic began I left the state today! One of the four remaining Norfolk Southern Heritage Units that I haven’t caught, NS 8025 (Monongahela) was leading NS 168 westbound from Louisville, KY to St. Louis, MO and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.
In this shot I caught him after he passed the signals at East Douglas in Princeton, Indiana as it made its way on the NS Southern East-West District toward St. Louis.
Tech: Nikon D800, Lens: Irex 11mm @ f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO 200.
February 22, 2020 – Indiana Harbor Belt (IHB) 2920 (SD20 backs into the Blue Island Rail Yard at Riverdale, Illinois, past the old control tower, as it works on building a train. From what I find online the unit was built in 1959 and was rebuilt by Illinois Central in 1980 from IC 2010. Then it went to NRE in 2/95, and was leased to IHB 9/96, before being purchased by IHB 6/2007.
According to the IHB Website: The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad is the largest switch carrier in the U.S. with 54 miles of mainline track (24 miles of which is double main track) and 266 miles of additional yard and siding track.
The IHB provides a wide variety of services, including industrial switching with 160 customers, generating 170,000 carloads of business annually. The IHB interchanges daily with 16 other rail carriers in Chicago. A growing fleet of approximately 1,400 freight cars is geared predominately to the steel industry. The industrial traffic base includes 4 of the 5 largest steel producers in the U.S. and a large aluminum processor, oil refineries, corn millers, grain elevators, chemical plants, warehouses, lumber transloading, and bulk transfer operations. IHB’s industrial traffic consists of 38% primary metals, 12% chemicals & petroleum products, 11% food products, 8% scrap iron, 7% coal & coke, 6% whole grain, as well as a variety of other products including lumber, paper, and aggregates. The IHB also operates as an intermediate switch carrier between the 12 trunk-line railroads for traffic interchanged between them in Chicago, generating an additional 475,000 revenue cars.
The IHB main line circles Chicago from near O’Hare to Northwest Indiana and roughly parallels Interstate 294 (Tri-state Expressway) and I-80/94. Its primary yard, Blue Island (a 44 class track hump yard) at Riverdale, IL lies in about the center of the railroad. Other major yards includes Gibson (in Hammond, IN) which only classifies cars of new autos and Michigan Avenue Yard (in East Chicago) which serves the extensive steel plants which accounts for IHB’s primary business. From East Chicago, the IHB operates east for an additional 16 miles on trackage rights to access Burns Harbor, IN and Portage, IN, which includes Indiana’s International Port.
April 4, 2006 – Blast From The Past – CSXT 8584 leads a mixed freight past the signals approaching the southern crossover, where CSX and Norfolk Southern crossover on the CSX CE&D Subdivision, as it heads north through Princeton, Indiana. Jim Pearson Photography
April 4, 2006 – Blast From The Past – Norfolk Southern 9479 leads a mixed freight eastbound as the setting sun produces a golden glow as the train makes its way out of Princeton, Indiana on the NS Southern East District.
February 22, 2020 – Indiana Harbor Belt 4015 and 4017 run alongside CSXT 3429 at Dolton, Illinois on track two as they head west on the Indiana Harbor Belt line headed back toward their Blue Island yard as the CSX autorack continued its move.
February 22, 2020 – Indiana Harbor Belt 4015 and 4017 approach the diamond at Dolton, Illinois on track two as they head west on the Indiana Harbor Belt line where they cross over the Union Pacific Villa Grove Subdivision headed back toward their Blue Island yard.
February 22, 2020 – Indiana Harbor Belt 2920 backs into the Blue Island Rail Yard at Riverdale, IL as IHB 2160 works it’s own job during a cold winters morning as IHB caboose 54 sits waiting to be the shoving platform on its next assignment.
According to the IHB Website: The Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad is the largest switch carrier in the U.S. with 54 miles of mainline track (24 miles of which i… See More
January 23, 2020 – Union Pacific 7760 leads a intermodal as heads westbound on CSX’s St. Louis Subdivision at Terre Haute, Indiana.
January 23, 2020 – CSX Q501 makes its way south under the old L&N coaling tower at Sullivan, Indiana on the CSX CE&D Subdivision with MVPX 1298, an ex-Canadian Pacific Switcher as the trailing unit.
January 30, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) 9013 leads an empty coal train as it waits for a signal to enter the wye for the Indianapolis Subdivision mainline, after leaving the Hoosier Energy Merom Generating Station at Sullivan, Indiana.
January 23, 2020 – CSX Q501 makes its way south through Sullivan, Indiana on the CSX CE&D Subdivision with MVPX 1298, an ex-Canadian Pacific Switcher as the trailing unit.
January 26, 2020 – The Crew on CSX K815 (empty phosphate train) keeps a watchful eye, next to Canadian Pacific Heritage Unit 7011, as CSX autorack train Q217 passes it at Middle King south of Princeton, Indiana as it heads south on CSX’s CE&D Subdivision.
Canadian Pacific Railway No. 7011, is one of several recently released SD70ACu (Rebuilt by Progress Rail in Mayfield, Ky) units delivered in heritage paint with script lettering.
I along with 11 other railfans stood at the crossing on County Road 550 waiting for K815 to continue it’s move south, but after 6+ hours sitting in the siding watching other trains pass, it unfortunately didn’t continue it’s move before it got dark. In fact, last word we heard from the scanner was that the Danville, IL crew was waiting for a crew bus to take them off their train and that another K-train would hook into K815 and take it on to Evansville, Indiana.
Don’t know what the issue with the train was, but there was a lot of speculation and rumors of course, ranging from low priority to engine problems. Some days things just happen! I’m thankful for my 150-600mm lens which allowed me this shot from the road crossing as the train was probably 1/3 of a mile away. This shot was made @ 600mm on my full frame camera and then cropped in Adobe RAW. Many thanks to all the folks that kept us informed on the movement of this unit!
January 23, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) Veterans Unit 4005 sits tied down next to a loaded coal train at Hoosier Energy Merom Generating Station at Sullivan, Indiana along with INRD units 9009 & 9001, while waiting for their next crew.
The Merom Generating Station is a 2-Unit, 1080-MW rated coal-fired power plant located between Merom, Indiana and Sullivan, Indiana. It is owned by Hoosier Energy, a Touchstone Energy cooperative. The plant has been in operation since 1982.
It was announced by the company a few days ago that the plant will be shut down sometime in 2023, affecting the jobs of approximately 185 workers.
According to Indiana Public Media’s website: Hoosier Spokesperson Greg Seiter says the decision is in large part a cost savings move.
“We’re looking at potentially saving our members in excess of $700 million over the next two decades,” he says.
That’s in part because Hoosier Energy won’t be locked into coal, which is more expensive. It can diversify its mix, including using renewable energy sources like solar and wind power.
While it’s a few years off, if you plan to catch the INRD servicing this power plant with coal, you had better do it sooner than later!
January 23, 2020 – Indiana Railroad’s (INRD) 25th Anniversary locomotive 9025 leads the Hiawatha-Palestine turn HWPAT-23 as it crosses the CSX CE&D/INRD diamond at Sullivan, Indiana on it’s return trip north to the INRD Hiawatha Yard at Jasonville, Indiana.
According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Rail Road (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km).
This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham. INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana (site of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center), with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).
October 14, 2019 – The inbound crew on Union Pacific 1989, Denver Rio Grande Heritage Unit, leaves CSX W221-13 at Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana after tying down their train. A new outbound crew will take coke train on south onto the Henderson Subdivision on its way to Georgia. It’s trailing units here are UP 6684 and 7164.
According to Wikipedia: Union Pacific 1989: Serial number 20056723-098, is painted in Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad colors. It was delivered on 24 May 2006, unveiled on June 17, 2006, at a special UP employee event in Denver, Colorado.
It is one of six EMD SD70ACe locomotives that are painted in the liveries of railroads acquired by the Union Pacific. The company says the locomotives “pay homage to those railroads and the generations of men and women who helped to build a great nation and the foundation for our future.”
October 14, 2019 – Union Pacific 1989, Denver Rio Grand Heritage Unit, pulls past a switch at CSX’s Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana, after dropping off a trailing CSXT unit from it’s consist. It is leading a southbound loaded coke train CSX W221-13 on it’s way down the CE&D, Henderson and other Subdivisions in Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee on its way to Georgia. It’s trailing units here are UP 6684 and 7164.
October 14, 2019 – Union Pacific 1989, Rio Grand Heritage Unit, backs into a track at CSX’s Howell Yard to drop off a CSX unit, in Evansville, Indiana. It leading southbound loaded coke train CSX W221-13 on it’s way through the CE&D and Henderson and other Subdivisions through Illinois, Indiana, and Tennessee on its way to Georgia. Not sure why it made its way through our area, but sure glad it did! Thanks to all the folks that gave heads up along the way!!
According to Wikipedia: Union Pacific 1989: Serial number 20056723-098, is painted in Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad colors. It was delivered on 24 May 2006, unveiled on June 17, 2006, at a special UP employee event in Denver, Colorado.
It is one of six EMD SD70ACe locomotives that are painted in the liveries of railroads acquired by the Union Pacific. The company says the locomotives “pay homage to those railroads and the generations of men and women who helped to build a great nation and the foundation for our future.”
October 5, 2019 – A Loaded E319 takes on fuel on Ohio Street, just north of Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana as a Evansville Western Railway crew brings it off their line. Their train it will be tied down in the siding at Harwood, on the Evansville Terminal Subdivision, as it waits for a fresh crew that will take it on north as a N319 (N319 Evansville, IN (EVWR) – Cross, SC). Most coal trains head south from Evansville, but I’m told that some have started going north, bound for the east coast for export overseas. Not sure if they’re being rerouted due to weather or construction.
October 5, 2019 – The conductor on CSX Y106 leans out as he guides the engineer on CSXT 9024 as they prepare to couple up to their empty autorack train at milepost 319.2, at Dogtown, just south of Evansville, Indiana on the Henderson Subdivision. The autorack came up from the south on the Henderson Subdivision to Evansville where this fresh crew ran the power around the train so they could take it on back across the Ohio River to the Texas Line and onto Louisville, Ky.
October 5, 2019 – CSX Q025-04 heads up the viaduct to the bridge over the Ohio River between Rahm, Indiana and Henderson, Kentucky as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision on this beautiful fall morning with a wall of containers and a Geometry Test Car behind the lead units.