August 31, 2019 - Norfolk Southern 975 departs Princeton, Indiana with NS 5642 "Training First Responders" unit pulling the Norfolk Southern Safety Train east on the NS Southern-East District at East Junction. According to their website: At Norfolk Southern, safety is our number one priority. Operation Awareness & Response (OAR), was launched in 2015 to educate the public about the economic importance of the safe movement of hazardous materials by rail and to connect emergency first responders in Norfolk Southern communities with information and training resources. The goal of OAR is to strengthen relationships with the first responders across the NS network. Norfolk Southern has been providing safety training for emergency responders through community outreach programs such as TRANSCAER® for years. OAR will build on those efforts focusing on closer relationships with local and state agencies, increased training opportunities (classroom, web-based, and on-line resources), table-tops drills and participation in full-scale exercises, and providing better resources for emergency responders such as the AskRail mobile app that allows and first responders to use their mobile phones to look up commodity and response information on shipments. The OAR program also includes a continued commitment to providing emergency responders high-level training at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) in Pueblo, Co. In April 2016, Norfolk Southern unveiled a brand new safety train, with a dedicated locomotive, specially equipped classroom box cars, and several tanks cars for additional hands-on training along our lines.

Norfolk Southern 975 departs Princeton, Indiana

August 31, 2019 – Norfolk Southern 975 departs Princeton, Indiana with NS 5642 “Training First Responders” unit pulling the Norfolk Southern Safety Train east on the NS Southern-East District at East Junction.

According to their website: At Norfolk Southern, safety is our number one priority. Operation Awareness & Response (OAR), was launched in 2015 to educate the public about the economic importance of the safe movement of hazardous materials by rail and to connect emergency first responders in Norfolk Southern communities with information and training resources.

The goal of OAR is to strengthen relationships with the first responders across the NS network. Norfolk Southern has been providing safety training for emergency responders through community outreach programs such as TRANSCAER® for years. OAR will build on those efforts focusing on closer relationships with local and state agencies, increased training opportunities (classroom, web-based, and on-line resources), table-tops drills and participation in full-scale exercises, and providing better resources for emergency responders such as the AskRail mobile app that allows and first responders to use their mobile phones to look up commodity and response information on shipments.

The OAR program also includes a continued commitment to providing emergency responders high-level training at the Security and Emergency Response Training Center (SERTC) in Pueblo, Co. In April 2016, Norfolk Southern unveiled a brand new safety train, with a dedicated locomotive, specially equipped classroom box cars, and several tanks cars for additional hands-on training along our lines.

August 31, 2019 - I spent the better part of the day waiting for the Norfolk Southern Safety Train to depart from Princeton, Indiana and for me this shot made it all worth it! NS 5642 "Training First Responders" engine pulls the Norfolk Southern Safety Train east from Huntingburg, Indiana as the setting sun begins to drop below the horizon on the NS Southern-East District.

NS 5642 “Training First Responders”

August 31, 2019 – I spent the better part of the day waiting for the Norfolk Southern Safety Train to depart from Princeton, Indiana and for me this shot made it all worth it! NS 5642 “Training First Responders” engine pulls the Norfolk Southern Safety Train east from Huntingburg, Indiana as the setting sun begins to drop below the horizon on the NS Southern-East District.

August 24, 2019 - The Norfolk Southern Safety Train (OAR, Operation Awareness & Response) sits tied down at MP 163 in the Yard at Princeton, Indiana where it waits for its next training class for first responders. It is headed up by NS 5642 the Training First Responders engine. According to the NS OAR Newsletter: Launched in June 2015, the goal of OAR is to educate the public about the economic importance of the safe movement of hazardous materials by rail and to connect emergency first responders in Norfolk Southern communities with information and training resources. The remaining schedule for the safety train for the year is: August 27-29 Princeton, IN September 10-12 Decatur, AL September 17-19 Corinth, MS October 1-3 New Orleans, LA October 8-10 Slidell, LA October 22-24 Savannah, GA November 5-7 Augusta, GA

French Lick and West Baden Trolley 1 passes old glory…

August 24, 2019 – French Lick and West Baden Trolley 1 passes old glory at French Lick, Indiana as it heads for West Baden, IN with its passengers.
According to the French Lick website: Like a lot of the French Lick Resort treasures, the trolley’s history spans many decades, starting in 1903. In 2014, trolley service returned more than 100 years after it was first launched in French Lick and West Baden.

In 1903, the roads were dirt and horse-drawn carriages were the norm. When electric trolley service began, guests could catch the streetcar at the steps of West Baden Springs Hotel and go all the way (a whole mile) into downtown French Lick.

The trolley was a raging success, and in 1916 it set a record for carrying 250,000 people in a single year. At a nickel a ride, that’s over $300,000 in revenue in today’s world. Not bad for what was billed as the “world’s shortest trolley line.”

According to Railway Historian Alan Barnett, the electric cable car offered “ping-pong” service because it was not designed to make turns. When the car reached French Lick, the conductor would physically move the overhead power line around the back, allowing for the return trip to the depot at West Baden.

The advent of the automobile put the brakes on the trolley service in 1919. That is, until Barnett and the folks at the Indiana Railway Museum resurrected the idea in 1987. They were able to find Trolley Car #313 from Portugal, the closest thing they could find to the original 1903 car.

The trolley is making rounds again, thanks to a partnership between the resort and the Indiana Railway Museum. The museum worked with the Indiana Department of Transportation to draw up plans to redo the original track and secured a $200,000 grant.

August 24, 2019 - Indiana Railroad Museum's #4 (Ex Algers, Winslow and Western Railway #4, Built as Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic #103) heads through the crossing at Twin City Lumber Company as it pulls a passenger train south on the French Lick Scenic Railway from French Lick, Indiana. According to their website: The Indiana Railway Museum is a tourist railway located in French Lick, Indiana. The Museum was founded in 1961 in the town of Westport, Indiana where the railroad operated a tourist excursion, utilizing one small locomotive, three passenger cars, and about twenty volunteers. Ridership was estimated at about 500 passengers in 1962. The museum and railway remained in Westport until a move was necessitated in 1971. The organization relocated to Greensburg, Indiana where it operated until 1976 when it again, it changed locations. The Museum was relocated to French Lick in 1978 after an agreement with the Southern Railway Company. They deeded the Museum a total of sixteen miles of track stretching from West Baden, Indiana, approximately one mile north of French Lick, to a small village named Dubois, to the south. The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates as The French Lick Scenic Railway operating passenger trains over twenty-five miles of this track from French Lick to Jasper. Visit them at: http://rhpfrench18.wpengine.com/

Indiana Railroad Museum’s #4 (Ex Algers, Winslow and Western Railway #4)…

August 24, 2019 – Indiana Railroad Museum’s #4 (Ex Algers, Winslow and Western Railway #4, Built as Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic #103) heads through the crossing at Twin City Lumber Company as it pulls a passenger train south on the French Lick Scenic Railway from French Lick, Indiana.

According to their website: The Indiana Railway Museum is a tourist railway located in French Lick, Indiana. The Museum was founded in 1961 in the town of Westport, Indiana where the railroad operated a tourist excursion, utilizing one small locomotive, three passenger cars, and about twenty volunteers. Ridership was estimated at about 500 passengers in 1962.

The museum and railway remained in Westport until a move was necessitated in 1971. The organization relocated to Greensburg, Indiana where it operated until 1976 when it again, it changed locations. The Museum was relocated to French Lick in 1978 after an agreement with the Southern Railway Company.

They deeded the Museum a total of sixteen miles of track stretching from West Baden, Indiana, approximately one mile north of French Lick, to a small village named Dubois, to the south.

The Indiana Railway Museum currently operates as The French Lick Scenic Railway operating passenger trains over twenty-five miles of this track from French Lick to Jasper.

Visit them at: http://rhpfrench18.wpengine.com/

August 10, 2019 - Norfolk Southern empty autorack train 276 passes through the east end of Huntingburg, Indiana as it heads to Princeton, Indiana on the NS Southern-East District to drop off the empty cars for Toyota. Can't tell it from this shot, but the trailing unit is NS Unit 8101, Central of Georgia heritage unit.

Norfolk Southern empty autorack train 276…

August 10, 2019 – Norfolk Southern empty autorack train 276 passes through the east end of Huntingburg, Indiana as it heads to Princeton, Indiana on the NS Southern-East District to drop off the empty cars for Toyota. Can’t tell it from this shot, but the trailing unit is NS Unit 8101, Central of Georgia heritage unit. When shooting your pictures, don’t get hung up on what everyone else considers the “best light or the “correct side.” I always go for what view I feel make the best picture!

July 13, 2019 - Evansville Western 3836 heads up a local as it pulls away from a string of cars at the south end of CSX's Howell Yards as it does it's work in Evansville, Indiana.

Evansville Western 3836 heads up a local…

July 13, 2019 – Evansville Western 3836 heads up a local as it pulls away from a string of cars at the south end of CSX’s Howell Yards as it does it’s work in Evansville, Indiana.

July 13, 2019 - NS 9497 heads up loaded rock train D51 as it makes its way along the Duke Energy's Gibson Power Plant lead to deliver the rock to the plant at East Mt. Carmel, Indiana.

NS 9497 heads up loaded rock train D51…

July 13, 2019 – NS 9497 heads up loaded rock train D51 as it makes its way along the Duke Energy’s Gibson Power Plant lead to deliver the rock to the plant at East Mt. Carmel, Indiana.

WEB-07.13.19 NS 167 EB at East Douglas, Princeton, IN

Norfolk Southern 167 pulls out of the east end…

July 13, 2019 – Norfolk Southern 167 pulls out of the east end of the Princeton, Indiana yard at East Douglas, as it pulled up to County Road 350 where it waited for two westbounds to pass, before it continued east on the NS Southern East District.

WEB-07.13.19 NS 71T loaded coal at East Douglas, Princeton, IN

Norfolk Southern loaded coal train 71T…

July 13, 2019 – Norfolk Southern loaded coal train 71T snakes its way down the grade at East Douglas on the NS Southern-East District at Princeton, Indiana as it heads for Duke Energy at Mt. Carmel, Illinois.

WEB-07.13.19 NS 167 EB at Lyle Station, Princeton, IN

NS 167, led by NS 9412, passes Consolidated Grain and Barge Company…

July 13, 2019 – NS 167, led by NS 9412, passes Consolidated Grain and Barge Company at Lyles Station, MP 157, as it heads east on the NS Southern West District at Lyles Station, Indiana.

According to Wikipedia, Lyles or Lyles Station is an unincorporated community in Patoka Township, Gibson County, Indiana. The community dates from 1849, although its early settlers first arrived in the 1830s, and it was formally named Lyles Station in 1886 to honor Joshua Lyles, a free African American who migrated with his family from Tennessee to Indiana around 1837. Lyles Station is one of Indiana’s early black rural settlements and the only one remaining.

The rural settlement reached its peak in the years between 1880 and 1912, when major structures in the community included the railroad depot, a post office, a lumber mill, two general stores, two churches, and a school. By the turn of the twentieth century,

Lyles Station had fifty-five homes, with a population of more than 800 people. The farming community never fully recovered from the Great Flood of 1913, which destroyed much of the town. Most of its residents left for economic reasons, seeking opportunities for higher paying jobs and additional education in larger cities.

By 1997 approximately fifteen families remained at Lyles Station, nearly all of them descended from the original settlers.

WEB-07.13.19 CSX Q025-13 SB at Howell Yard, Eavansville, IN

CSXT 3294 leads Q025-13 as it heads…

July 13, 2019 – CSXT 3294 leads Q025-13 as it heads through the south end of CSX’s Howell Yard, on its way south along the Henderson Subdivision.

WEB-05.15.19 CSXT 33 at Belknap Siding, Evansville, IN

CSXT 33 heads up an empty coal train…

May 15, 2019 – CSXT 33 heads up an empty coal train as it passes a string a tank cars at Evansville Western’s Belknap Siding, after coming off the Vectren lead from the A.B.Brown Power Plant, outside of Evansville, Indiana. The A. B. Brown Generating Station is a four-unit, 700 megawatt power plant, located on the northern bank of Ohio River, 8 miles east of Mount Vernon, Indiana and 5 miles southwest of Evansville, Indiana just west of the Posey-Vanderburgh County Line and is serviced by CSX via the Evansville Western Railway.