CSXT 3194, Honoring our Law Enforcement Locomotive, leads a loaded coal train into the loop at Calvert City Terminal, next to the Tennessee River, on a beautiful spring day at Calvert City, Kentucky, on May 8th, 2023.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
The late evening light rakes across the landscape as RJ Corman 2649 and 2645 pull Z543 out of Nugent Sand Company in Louisville, Ky, as they head toward downtown with a load of sand bound for Nugent Sand at RJ Corman’s Rupp Yard in Lexington, Ky, for a variety of central Kentucky customers.
The Nugent Sand Co. at Louisville takes a million tons of sand out of the Ohio River each year. Some 400,000 to 600,000 tons of that has been moved by R.J. Corman into the Lexington and surrounding markets each year since the two companies partnered in 2005.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 100.
This week’s Saturday Infrared photo is of CSX X513 headed south off the cutoff at Mortons Junction, onto the Henderson Subdivision on April 12th, 2023 with the 50th Anniversary Operation Lifesaver Locomotive 4569 leading..
According to a CSX press release: CSX unveiled a new OLI rail safety commemorative locomotive in September of 2022, and it was painted at the railroads locomotive shop in Huntington, West Virginia. The CSXT 4568 engine will travel the company’s rail network as a visual reminder for the public to be safe at highway-rail grade crossings and near railroad tracks.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Converted to 720nm B&W IR, Nikon 70-250mm @113mm, f/5, 1/500, ISO 400.
RJ Corman 5361 leads Z545, a train loaded with aluminum ingots towards Louisville, Ky on the CSX LCL Subdivision on May 18th, 2023. This train is also referred to as the ALCAN train and it runs daily between Louisville and Berea, Ky, to and from the Novelis Recycling center at Berea. Alcan used to own the Company and the name most folks use for this train is still “Alcan” even though Novelis bought them out.
The Berea plant is one of the world’s largest plants dedicated to aluminum can recycling, and they process approximately 20 percent of the United States’ used aluminum cans, by melting them down and producing sheet ingots, according to the Novelis website.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 100.
CSXT 7026 leads CSX M352, a loaded autorack train as they street run through downtown LaGrange, Kentucky, headed north on the LCL Subdivision on May 17th, 2023.
According to the Train Aficionado website: CSX runs through La Grange on what is known as the LCL Subdivision. This 101-mile line connects Covington, Kentucky, to Louisville, Kentucky. The railroad tracks run right through the heart of the town literally. The railroad tracks are embedded on the eastbound side of the roadway for the whole stretch of downtown. The trains pass the city business district which includes quaint shops and restaurants.
On average these days about 10 trains pass through here daily.
According to Hidden History of La Grange, Ky by author and local historian Nancy Stearns, LaGrange is known for its trains. It became an important junction for the railroad, with lines going to Frankfort and Cincinnati, and this made the town an important stop for travelers and businesses. The interurban electric rail car made round trips from LaGrange to Louisville daily until automobiles surpassed the interurban in popularity.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
CSX B244, an empty potash train waits in the siding at the north end of Kelly, Kentucky on the CSX Henderson Subdivision, on March 31st, 2023, as loaded coal train passes him on the main headed south. CSX B244 is a fairly new, as-needed potash train off the CP that runs between Chicago, IL and Tampa, FL. The power on this move is CSX 3443, KCS 4728, CP 8933 and CP 8021.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 140.
Digital Photo Art – CSX Intermodal, I028, passes signals at the north end of Latham at Hopkinsville, Ky on April 5th, 2023, as the hot intermodal heads north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision in a light rain.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 450mm, f/6, 1/500, ISO 720.
CSX X513 passes over Gum Lick Trestle, between Crofton and Robards, Ky, with the CSX Operation Lifesaver 50th Anniversary locomotive CSXT 4568 leading, as they make their way south on the Henderson Subdivision on April 12th, 2023.
According to a CSX press release: CSX unveiled a new OLI rail safety commemorative locomotive in September of 2022, and it was painted at the railroads locomotive shop in Huntington, West Virginia. The CSXT 4568 engine will travel the companys rail network as a visual reminder for the public to be safe at highway-rail grade crossings and near railroad tracks.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.
CSX M512 pulls onto track 2 as it heads north from Romney at Nortonville, Ky with an oversized load at Nortonville, Kentucky on April 28th, 2023, on the Henderson Subdivision. The load is a transformer built by Royal Smit Transformers, whose home office is in Nijmegen, Netherlands. Not sure if it was built there or here in the USA.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 200.
CSX M648 heads north under stormy skies with West Coast Express 903, a F59PHI engine as their 3rd unit dead in tow, at Mortons Gap, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision on May 12th, 2023. From the looks of the engine, it is fresh out of the shops somewhere down south and is on its way back north to Canada.
According to masstransit.com 903 is one of Seven locomotives on the West Coast Express that will be refurbished under a project to be paid for by the governments of Canada, British Columbia and TransLink. The Metro Vancouver commuter rail service has been in service since 1995 and sees more than 2.6 million boardings annually.
The project includes refurbishing the engines of six of the seven locomotives to extend their lifespan by 15 years. In addition, all head end power units, which provide heat and lighting to the passenger cars, will be replaced to reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and allow operation of longer trains.
The locomotives will be refurbished one at a time to ensure there is no disruption in service. Once work is complete, each locomotive will be tested, commissioned, and returned to service before work starts on the next locomotive.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 190.
#trainphotography #railroadphotography #trains #railways #dronephotography #trainphotographer #railroadphotographer #jimpearsonphotography #PALtrains #mavic3classic #drones #trainsfromtheair #trainsfromadrone #kentuckytrains #WestCoastExpress
May 13th, 2023 – Episode 19 – Train video from Jim Pearson Photography – In this week’s edited video we catch rail action between Slaughters and Kelly, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision, including at the old L&N Depot at Madisonville, Ky! Enjoy and please Like and Subscribe! Thanks for watching!
CSX M512 with 8 flats of M1 Tanks departs from the north end of Kelly, Ky on April 25th, 2023, on the Henderson Subdivision. The loads behind the tanks are truck frames.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 130.
CSX M512 waits on the main with 8 flats of M1 Tanks as loaded coal train C904 takes the siding at the north end of Kelly, Ky so they can pass each other on April 25th, 2023. M512 was too long at 13,000 plus feet to fit into the siding so they had to wait on the C904 to clear the north end of the siding, before continuing their move on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 130.
Paducah and Louisville Railway University of Kentucky (2012) and University of Louisville (2013) locomotives head up the southbound Louisville Gas and Electric coal train, as the train sets empty on the Main at West Yards at Madisonville, Ky on April 16th, 2023. Here lately they haven’t been loading this train on the weekend, so it sat here till Monday morning, when a fresh crew showed up to move it to the Warrior Coal loop for loading.
These two engines were specially painted to honor each school’s NCAA basketball wins.
According to Wikipedia: The Paducah & Louisville Railway (reporting mark PAL) is a Class II railroad that operates freight service between Paducah and Louisville, Kentucky. The line is located entirely within the Commonwealth of Kentucky.
The 270-mile (430 km) line was purchased from Illinois Central Gulf Railroad in August 1986. The 223-mile (359 km) main route runs between Paducah and Louisville with branch lines from Paducah to Kevil and Mayfield, Kentucky, and another from Cecilia to Elizabethtown, Kentucky. The PAL interchanges with Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) and Canadian National (CN), formerly Illinois Central Railroad, in Paducah. In Madisonville, the line interchanges with CSX Transportation (CSXT).
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 110.
Paducah and Louisville Railway 3809 prepares to depart the north end of the yard at Paducah, Ky, bound for Calvert City, Ky for work in the industrial park on April 21st, 2023.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 240mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 1250.
Canadian National 9611 leads the daily Futon to Paducah local, northbound on the Paducah and Louisville Railway’s (PAL) Maxon Subdivision as they work their way to the PAL yard in Paducah, Ky on April 21st, 2023, to conduct their interchange work.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 150mm, f/5.6, 1/500, ISO 800.
This week’s Saturday Infrared photo is of newly painted and refurbished RJ Corman units 2645 and 2648, along with GMTX 9059, as they sit at Nugent Sand Yard in Louisville, Ky on Saturday afternoon, April 15th, 2023. These first two units were recently acquired by the company from Norfolk Southern and are SD70M locomotives, which are beginning to see road service after coming out of the shops.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Converted to 720nm B&W IR, Nikon 10-24 @10mm, f/9, 1/250, ISO 400.
Union Pacific 6808 and 2659 lead Norfolk Southern 224 off the K&I bridge out of Louisville, Kentucky as they head west over the Ohio River into New Albany, Indiana on the NS Southern East District on April 15th, 2023.
According to Wikipedia: The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge is one of the first multi modal bridges to cross the Ohio River. It is for both railway and common roadway purposes together. By federal, state, and local law railway and streetcar, wagon-way, and pedestrian modes of travel were intended by the City of New Albany, City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, State of Indiana, the United States Congress, and the bridge owners.
The K & I Bridge connects Louisville, Kentucky to New Albany, Indiana. Constructed from 1881 to 1885 by the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company, the original K&I Bridge opened in 1886. It included a single standard gauge track and two wagon ways, allowing wagons and other animal powered vehicles to cross the Ohio River by a method other than ferry for the first time. At the time motorized vehicles were virtually nonexistent.
The K&I Bridge company also owned a ferry boat operation during both the 1st and 2nd bridge; eventually that operation was sold as the bridge’s success largely outmoded boat usage.
In 1910 the bridge company was renamed the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad Co. From 1910 to 1912, a new, heavier bridge was built on new piers just upstream from the original one, after which the old bridge was demolished. The new bridge was double tracked to handle increasingly heavier train and now automobile traffic, eventually receiving the U.S. 31W designation.
The bridge also featured a rotating swing span opening for the passage of ships in high water. The bridge was only opened four times, twice for testing in 1913 and 1915, then in 1916 for the passage of the steamer “Tarascon” and in 1920 for passage of the Australian convict ship “Success”. In 1948 it refused opening of the span for passage of the steamer “Gordon C. Greene” citing inconvenience and costs of cutting power and communication lines, an action for which K&I and LG&E both paid damages to that ship’s company. In 1955 the K&I sought and received permission to permanently tie down the swing span from the Corps of Engineers. In 1952, the creosoted wood block roadways of the second bridge were eliminated and replaced by a steel gridwork roadway.
On February 1, 1979, an overweight dump truck caused a small segment of the steel grate roadway on the bridge to sag about 1 foot (0.30 m). A quick survey promised to reopen the roadway, but automotive traffic was banned thereafter by the railroad.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec, ISO 140.
Union Pacific 6808 and 2659 lead Norfolk Southern 224 over the K&I bridge out of Louisville, Kentucky as they head west over the Ohio River into New Albany, Indiana on the NS Southern East District on April 15th, 2023.
According to Wikipedia: The Kentucky & Indiana Bridge is one of the first multi modal bridges to cross the Ohio River. It is for both railway and common roadway purposes together. By federal, state, and local law railway and streetcar, wagon-way, and pedestrian modes of travel were intended by the City of New Albany, City of Louisville, State of Kentucky, State of Indiana, the United States Congress, and the bridge owners.
The K & I Bridge connects Louisville, Kentucky to New Albany, Indiana. Constructed from 1881 to 1885 by the Kentucky and Indiana Bridge Company, the original K&I Bridge opened in 1886. It included a single standard gauge track and two wagon ways, allowing wagons and other animal powered vehicles to cross the Ohio River by a method other than ferry for the first time. At the time motorized vehicles were virtually nonexistent.
The K&I Bridge company also owned a ferry boat operation during both the 1st and 2nd bridge; eventually that operation was sold as the bridge’s success largely outmoded boat usage.
In 1910 the bridge company was renamed the Kentucky & Indiana Terminal Railroad Co. From 1910 to 1912, a new, heavier bridge was built on new piers just upstream from the original one, after which the old bridge was demolished. The new bridge was double tracked to handle increasingly heavier train and now automobile traffic, eventually receiving the U.S. 31W designation.
The bridge also featured a rotating swing span opening for the passage of ships in high water. The bridge was only opened four times, twice for testing in 1913 and 1915, then in 1916 for the passage of the steamer “Tarascon” and in 1920 for passage of the Australian convict ship “Success”. In 1948 it refused opening of the span for passage of the steamer “Gordon C. Greene” citing inconvenience and costs of cutting power and communication lines, an action for which K&I and LG&E both paid damages to that ship’s company. In 1955 the K&I sought and received permission to permanently tie down the swing span from the Corps of Engineers. In 1952, the creosoted wood block roadways of the second bridge were eliminated and replaced by a steel gridwork roadway.
On February 1, 1979, an overweight dump truck caused a small segment of the steel grate roadway on the bridge to sag about 1 foot (0.30 m). A quick survey promised to reopen the roadway, but automotive traffic was banned thereafter by the railroad.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500 sec, ISO 130.
Newly painted and refurbished RJ Corman units 2645 and 2648, along with GMTX 9059, sit at Nugent Sand Yard in Louisville, Ky on Saturday afternoon, April 15th, 2023. These first two units were recently acquired by the company from Norfolk Southern and are SD70M locomotives, which are beginning to see road service after coming out of the shops.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, ISO 100.
Newly painted and refurbished Canadian Pacific 5798 sits tied down in the Paducah and Louisville Railway Yard in Louisville, Kentucky on April 15th, 2023. The markings under the cab window are SD40-2 DRF-30. Not sure where it was rebuilt and what was done to it however, with the recent merger between the CP and KCS, the road name on this newly painted unit is now incorrect!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000 sec, ISO 130.