CSXT 4758 leads W008 with two FRA inspection cars, DOTX 218 and DOTX 220 as they pass the grain facility at Hopkinsville, Kentucky on the CSX Henderson Subdivision, on November 20th, 2024.

From what I can find on the FRA Website, DOTX-218 is a Gage Restraint Measurement Vehicle and DOTX-220 Track Geometry Car.

DOTX 218 Gage Restraint Measurement System (GRMS) vehicle procured in May 2004, is a state-of-the-art deployable GRMS vehicle which utilizes a 5th split railroad axle to laterally load the head of both adjacent rails of railroad track in order to measure rail motion under a combined vertical and later load for the detection of weak ties and fasteners. It has a unique suspension system which maintains alignment and apply continuous loads perpendicular to the rails regardless of the roll, pitch or vertical movement of the carbody on its suspension, or the curvature of the track; lifts and lowers split axle for testing and stowage; and orients split axle so that wheels are tangent to rails as track curvature varies.

DOTX 220 measures track geometry parameters, i.e., track gage, alignment, track surface (cross level, warp, profile) and calculate limiting train speed in curves. Fully equipped with non-contact sensors, the TGMS computes track geometry parameters at speeds of up to 125 miles per hour. Data can be processed to 200 miles per hour.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/5, 1/3200, ISO 100.

The sun has set, and dusk has arrived over the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Crofton, Kentucky on July 19th, 2024, and a parade of track working equipment, and men have began working their way south through town during the first week of a three-week work curfew on the line. CSX has been running most of their trains during daylight hours to allow track workers to replace ties, crossings and other types of maintenance work on the subdivision.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/15, ISO 140, -2.0 exposure compensation for the highlights.

CSX G366 pulls northbound approaching Anaconda at Robards, Kentucky on July 5th, 2024, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision. G366 is normally just an empty grain train, here it was hauling a long string of maintenance of way equipment which will be used in an upcoming CSX work curfew that is scheduled to begin on the subdivision in the next week or so.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 150.

A Loram Badger Ditcher Machine, DC-2, heads north out of the siding at Crofton, Kentucky as W055-13, on April 12th, 2024, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision.

According to their website: Loram’s Badger Ditcher is a self-propelled ditch cleaner that can move 1,000 tons of material every hour, excavating at up to 22 feet from the center of the track. The Loram ditch cleaner creates a properly sloped ditch that intercepts and diverts water away from the track. The ditcher’s high-speed, high-performance ditching wheel digs in and picks up mud and water. As the wheel digs the ditch, water begins to flow.

The Badger Ditcher helps manage, remedy, and prevent the damaging effects from a host of penetrating water sources, including direct precipitation, groundwater migration, springs and trapped water, saturation, and seepage. Ditch maintenance best practices using the Badger Ditcher lets railroads improve vital drainage for the subgrade, lower the water table, control run-off, and promote free flow from the ballast section that can extend the effective duration of undercutting and ballast cleaning cycles.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 240.

A Loram Badger Ditcher Machine, DC-2, heads north past Arklow at Madisonville, Kentucky, as W055-13, on April 12th, 2024, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision.

According to their website: Loram’s Badger Ditcher is a self-propelled ditch cleaner that can move 1,000 tons of material every hour, excavating at up to 22 feet from the center of the track. The Loram ditch cleaner creates a properly sloped ditch that intercepts and diverts water away from the track. The ditcher’s high-speed, high-performance ditching wheel digs in and picks up mud and water. As the wheel digs the ditch, water begins to flow.

The Badger Ditcher helps manage, remedy, and prevent the damaging effects from a host of penetrating water sources, including direct precipitation, groundwater migration, springs and trapped water, saturation, and seepage. Ditch maintenance best practices using the Badger Ditcher lets railroads improve vital drainage for the subgrade, lower the water table, control run-off, and promote free flow from the ballast section that can extend the effective duration of undercutting and ballast cleaning cycles.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 150.

CSXT 119 leads W016, a loaded rail train, through downtown Mortons Gap, Kentucky on August 25th, 2023, as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 120.

CSX 8882 leads rail train W010 as it passes the old Louisville and Nashville Railroad Depot at Madisonville, Kentucky on April 17th, 2023, as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision.

This depot was originally dedicated in 1929 and last saw passenger service about 1968 when L&N built an office at Atkinson Yard in Madisonville and the passenger train service was moved to that location. Currently the station is owned by the city of Madisonville and houses one of the hubs of the Kentucky Innovation Stations, which helps courageous entrepreneurs, creative business founders, high-growth startups, working on their own success stories.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600 sec, ISO 170.

CSXT 5398 leads Geometry Train W001 through the signals at the south end of Kelly siding at they inspect their way south on the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Kelly, Ky on April 5th, 2023.

A track geometry train is a track inspection train on a rail transport system used to test several parameters of the track geometry without obstructing normal railroad operations. Some of the parameters generally measured include position, curvature, alignment of the track, smoothness, and the cross level of the two rails. The cars use a variety of sensors, measuring systems, and data management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 180.

LoRam shoulder ballast cleaner SBC-2401 kicks up a dust storm as it makes its way north on the CSX Henderson Cuttoff through the beautiful spring countryside of Mortons Gap, Kentucky on May 10th, 2022, as it moves slowly along cleaning the ballast on both sides of the rails.

Shoulder ballast cleaning consists of removing ballast at the end of the ties, screening the ballast, and discarding fines and fouling material and restoring the good ballast to the shoulder. Integrated scarifiers break open end of tie mud pockets, removes fines, and restores ballast voids in the shoulders and under the tie ends and release damaging trapped water.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2S Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 130.