June 18, 2020 – After a 3 hour wait for maintenance-of-way to clear up, the crew of a southbound Indiana Railroad train (SAHW-18) from Indianapolis, with engine 9005 leading, rolls across the bridge over the White River at Elliston, Indiana at dusk to meet it’s northbound counterpart at Switz City, Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2,500.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) engineer, Travis Collis, heads across the INRD Chicago Subdivision Diamond at Linton, Indiana with his train, as he heads north with HWSA-18 on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, -3 f/stops (exposed for the highlights and processed for the shadows), ISO 100.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) engineer, Travis Collis, swings the stop sign to the Indiana Southern Railroad track at the diamond in Switz City, Indiana, as he makes his way north with his train, INRD HWSA-18, to the north end of the BLS Siding at Switz City, to meet it’s counterpart SAHW-18 coming from Indianapolis.
This is the point where the crew from each train will swap out and the Indy train will return there, whereas Collins train will make a run to Palestine, Illinois before returning to the Hiawatha Yard in Jasonville, Indiana on the Indianapolis Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 360mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 140.
June 18, 2020 – After a 3 hour wait for maintenance-of-way to clear up, the crew of a southbound Indiana Railroad train from Indianapolis (INRD) with engine 9005 leading, meets and does their job briefing with northbound INRD 9004 and INRD’s 25th Anniversary engine 9025 trailing, at the north end of BLS Siding at Switz City, Indiana, to trade off trains at dusk.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 50mm @ 1.4, 1/320, ISO 2,500,
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) 9004 leads SAHW-18 (Switz City, IN – Hiawatha, IN), as engineer Travis Collins keeps a watchful eye as he passes through the diamond over the Indiana Southern Railroad at Switz City, Indiana, as he heads north on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision, as the last light of the day fades from the sky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 50mm @ 1.4, 1/125, ISO 6,400, Car head lights for lighting.
June 13, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (HWPAT-13, Hiawatha to Palestine) 9007 (SD90) pulls north across the 1910 bridge over the Wabash River, engines light, out of Palestine, Illinois after dropping off its southbound train with INRD 9011 in trail. 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.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 600, f/13, 1/800sec, ISO 500.
June 13, 2020 – Coal dust from a fresh load of coal forms a cloud above the loaded cars as the “Sonic Bonnet,” Norfolk Southern 4001, brings up the rear of a West Bound train on the main at Lyles Station Siding, as it heads to Duke Energy in Mt. Carmel, Illinois on the NS Southern West District in the late afternoon sun.
Wikipedia: NS 4000 and 4001 were painted in a blue, gold and white scheme and have been called “The Sonic Bonnets”, due to their similarities to the eponymous character from Sonic the Hedgehog. NS 4002 and 4003 were painted in black, tuscan red, gray, and white scheme, while NS 4004 and 4005 were painted in black, blue, gray, and white scheme. The tuscan and blue “manes” on these four units are indicative of their rebuilding at the Roanoke and Juniata locomotive shops respectively. All of these units have DC to AC Waveform lettering underneath the cab windows.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, F/6.3, 1/3200, ISO 800.
May 27, 2020 – Norfolk Southern Blue Swoosh 4001 leads an empty coal train into the loop at Alliance Coal under stormy skies over Princeton, Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/4, 1/640sec, ISO 100.
May 27, 2020 – A CSXT Geometry Car rounds St. James Curve at Haubstadt, Indiana as it heads north on the CSX CE&D Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 400mm, f/6, 1/640sec, ISO 400.
May 8, 2020 – The late afternoon sunlight rakes across sand tower area at MG Rail (MGRI) as locomotive 2002 sits at their engine house in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The shortline is owned and operated by Consolidated Grain and Barge (CG&B). It operates within the Clark Maritime Center, near Jeffersonville, Indiana. MGRI switches out several industries within the Maritime center and stages them at connections to CSX and Louisville & Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @340mm, f/7.6, 1/1600 sec at ISO 720.
May 8, 2020 – Louisville and Indiana Railroad Honoring Our Veterans units 3001 & 3002 bask in the late evening light outside the shops at Jeffersonville, Indiana.
According to Wikipedia and the Internet: The Louisville and Indiana Railroad is a Class III railroad that operates freight service between Indianapolis, Indiana and Louisville, Kentucky, with a major yard and maintenance shop in Jeffersonville, Indiana. It is owned by Anacostia Rail Holdings. The 106-mile line was purchased from Conrail in March 1994.
The logo on the units were designed by Tyler Hardin and depicts silhouettes of three soldiers from different eras against a backdrop of the American flag. The design, framed by the LIRC keystone, includes five stars for the branches of the service and the legend “Honoring Our Veterans.” A soldier in the center wears a contemporary helmet, flanked by a pair of soldiers, one wearing a World War I-era “Doughboy” helmet and the other an M1 helmet from World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
The locomotives are 3,000 h.p. SD40-2 units numbered 3001 and 3002, and were repainted during a recent upgrade at Metro East Industries Inc. in Fairview Heights, Ill., a suburb of St. Louis. The units are leased from CIT Rail.
May 8, 2020 – The late afternoon sunlight rakes across the shop area at MG Rail (MGRI) as locomotives 2002, 2001 and 700 sit next to their engine house in Jeffersonville, Indiana. I had never heard of this shortline, but thankfully good friend Ryan Scott of SteelRails has and navigated us to MG’s yard just before crews took two of the engines out of the yard with loaded hoppers for interchange work.
The shortline is owned and operated by Consolidated Grain and Barge (CG&B). It operates within the Clark Maritime Center, near Jeffersonville, Indiana. MGRI switches out several industries within the Maritime center and stages them at connections to CSX and Louisville & Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @210mm, f/1.7, 1/1600 sec at ISO 900.
April 29, 2020 – Norfolk Southern 8025, Monongahela Heritage Unit, leads NS 168 (Louisville, KY to St. Louis, MO) across the Wabash River bridge at Mt. Carmel, Illinois as it heads west on the NS Southern East-West District toward St. Louis.
Tech: Nikon D800, Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 450mm, f/8, 1/1250 sec, ISO 640.
April 29, 2020 – Norfolk Southern 8025, Monongahela Heritage Unit, leads NS 168 (Louisville, KY to St. Louis, MO) as it heads down the curve approaching the crossing on County Road 150 at Princeton, Indiana as it heads west on the NS Southern East-West District toward St. Louis.
Tech: Nikon D800, Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 180mm, f/9, 1/1000sec, ISO 400.
April 29, 2020 – Norfolk Southern 8025, Monongahela Heritage Unit, leads NS 168 (Louisville, KY to St. Louis, MO) as passes through Hatfield Junction, east of Oakland City, Indiana, as it heads west on the NS Southern East-West District.
In 2012, Norfolk Southern celebrated 30 years of being formed, and painted 20 new locomotives in predecessor schemes to honor its heritage. GE ES44AC #8025 was painted into the Monongahela scheme.
According to Wikipedia: The Monongahela Railway (reporting mark MGA) was a coal-hauling short line railroad in Pennsylvania and West Virginia in the United States. It was jointly controlled originally by the Pennsylvania Railroad, New York Central subsidiary Pittsburgh and Lake Erie Railroad, and the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, with NYC and PRR later succeeded by Penn Central Transportation. The company operated its own line until it was merged into Conrail on May 1, 1993.
Conrail would be bought in 1998 by Norfolk Southern and CSX. Eleven GE Class B23-7Rs (sometimes referred to as Super 7s), the Monongahela’s final locomotive fleet numbered 2300-2310, were renumbered 2030-2040 by Conrail, then divided between NS and CSX when they operationally took over Conrail operations in 1999.
Tech: Nikon D800, Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 390mm, f/9, 1/1000 sec, ISO 560.
April 28, 2020 – As the late afternoon light rakes across the scene we find the crew on CSX Q513 getting ready to do a roll by inspection on CSX Q028 as it heads north end of the siding at Hazelton, Indiana on the CE&D Subdivision on a beautiful spring day.
April 28, 2020 – As the late afternoon light rakes across the scene we find the crew on CSX Q513 getting ready to do a roll by inspection on CSX Q028 as it heads north end of the siding at Hazelton, Indiana on the CE&D Subdivision on a beautiful spring day.
Tech: Nikon D800, Sigma 24-70 at 36mm, f/5, 1/800 @ ISO 125 in RAW.
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