July 28, 2020 – CSX W024 makes its way through switch at Mortons Junction from the Earlington Cutoff, with a loaded rail train with CSXT 4046 (EMD SD40-3) leading long hood forward as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 250mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 360.
August 10, 2020 – CSXT 5479 runs long hood forward on the Henderson Subdivision as it leads railtrain J012-10 toward the siding at Latham, in Hopkinsville, Ky, after dropping rails between the south end of Kelly, Ky, working its way south towards Guthrie, Ky. I’m told there will be a CSX MOW blitz beginning is just under two weeks with a daily work curfew.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 300mm, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 640.
August 10, 2020 – Hot Intermodal CSX Q025-10 passes railtrain J012-10 sitting in the siding at Latham as it heads south at Hopkinsville, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision. The rail train was dropping rails between the south end of Kelly, Ky, working its way south towards Guthrie, Ky. I’m told there will be a CSX MOW blitz beginning is just under two weeks with a daily work curfew.
Using good, strong leading lines in your photos will help draw your viewers eye to the subject of your picture. One of the many photographic mentors in my life told me, when shooting, if something doesn’t contribute to what you want your photo to say, then eliminate it when you shoot by using a different lens, perspective or angle when shooting! Advice I use today in my pictures.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 360mm, f/9, 1/1250, ISO 900.
July 28, 2020 – CSX W024 makes its way through the S curve at Nortonville, Ky, with a loaded rail train with CSXT 4046 (EMD SD40-3) leading long hood forward as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 200mm, f/6.3, 1/1000, ISO 360.
June 6, 2020 – LORAM Railgrinder 403 approaches the Davis Road overpass just south of Mannington, Kentucky, as it heads south to it’s next grinding spot on the Henderson Subdivision, as it’s lights illuminate the right-of-way in the fading daylight.
According to Wikipedia: A rail grinder is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8. 1/160, ISO 3200.
June 17. 2020 – CSX Jewelers work to replace the diamond at Trident, where the Henderson Subdivision, Morganfield Branch and the MH&E branch cross at Madisonville, Kentucky. Much of the two latter branches were shut down within the last year and are now used for storage, but locals and coal trains still use them to some degree. The Henderson subdivision however still sees on average of 20-25 trains a day so this diamond still sees a lot of traffic!
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 with a 1.4 teleconverter @ 700mm, f/13, 1/1600sec, ISO 1800.
June 6, 2020 – LORAM Railgrinder 403 at Mannington, Kentucky, as it south to it’s next grinding spot on the Henderson Subdivision, as the last light of the day begins to fade from the sky.
According to Wikipedia: A rail grinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8. 1/160sec, ISO 3200.
June 6, 2020 – A dazzeling lightshow breaks darkness of the night as the roar of LORAM Railgrinder 403 screaches it’s way through a curve, just south of Crofton, Kentucky, as it grinds it’s way south on the Henderson Subdivision on a hot and muggy spring night.
According to Wikipedia: A railgrinder (or rail grinder) is a maintenance of way vehicle or train used to restore the profile and remove irregularities from worn tracks to extend its life and to improve the ride of trains using the track.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8. 1/125sec, ISO 2500.
July 8, 2010 – A CSX MOW rail train crew works at the dangerous job of picking up old track through downtown Mortons Gap, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech info: Nikon D300, RAW, Nikon 70-300mm @ 300mm, f/7, 1/400 at ISO 500.
August 8, 2009 – During one of my many trips over the years to Summer Rail I caught CSXT 154 & 395 as it led a maintenance of way train, with two switches in gondolas, as it crossed over the Ohio River at Covington, Kentucky as it headed south off the C&O Railroad bridge from Cincinnati, Ohio.
April 20, 2020 – CSXT G213 passes CSXT 6025 heading up Geometry Inspection train W001-20 as they inspect track two, just south of Anaconda at Robards, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision.
On the rear of the trains is the actual track geometry car (also known as a track recording car) which is an automated track inspection vehicle.
It used to test several geometric parameters of the track 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.
It uses a variety of sensors, measuring systems, and data management systems to create a profile of the track being inspected.
April 14, 2020 – CSXT 380 leads empty coal train E013-13 as it passes a weed sprayer crew at CP Romney as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision at Mannington, Ky.
April 14, 2020 – A CSX High Railer leads a weed sprayer truck just past the highway 62 overpass on track 1, as it sprays the right-of-way at Nortonville, Ky, as the pair make their way south on the Henderson Subdivision, while performing their springtime work.
March 31, 2020 – A CSX bridge work crew keeps a watchful eye and sends a friendly wave to the crew of CSX as Q502 crosses over the Craborchard Creek bridge, as CSXT mobile crane 916100 sits idle, as the manifest heads north through their work zone on the Henderson Subdivision at Nortonville, Ky. The crane is an AMERICAN Model 840 Locomotive Crane with a pile driver attached.
The bridge crew is working on installing new pilings for the bridge over Craborchard Creek using the pile driver attached to the crane. I’ll be posting a video on the operation later today if you’re interested in seeing and hearing it work.
Here’s more information on the crane if you’re interested: http://aolcrane.com/pdfs/840850debrochure.pdf
March 25, 2020 – CSXT 4016 runs long nose forward as it heads up CSX J052-25 pulling a loaded ballast train as it works it’s way south at CP Anaconda on the Henderson Subdivision at Robards, Ky.
February 20, 2020 – Two Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) Track Inspectors work their way along the maze of tracks at the intersection of the L at Tower 18 in downtown Chicago, Illinois. The safety of rail traffic everywhere falls on the maintenance of way crews as they inspect the miles of tracks in all kinds of weather!
October 23, 2019 – CSXT 7916 leads loaded ballast train W089 as it pulls onto the Henderson Subdivision main from the siding at the north end of Latham in Hopkinsville, Kentucky as it continues its trip north.
September 22, 2019 – CSX W032-17, with CSXT 4062 a SD40-3 leading, heads north at Sherwood, Tennessee on the Chattanooga Subdivision with a load of MOW equipment.
September 22, 2019 – CSX W032-17, with CSXT 4062 a SD40-3 leading, meets a northbound Q581 at Sherwood, Tennessee, as it heads north on the Chattanooga Subdivision with a load of MOW equipment.
September 22, 2019 – CSX W032-17, with CSXT 4062 a SD40-3 leading, passes the depot at Stevenson, Alabama as it heads north on the Chattanooga Subdivision with a load of MOW equipment.
According to Wikipedia: The Stevenson Railroad Depot and Hotel are a historic train station and hotel in Stevenson, Alabama. They were built circa 1872 as a joint project of the Memphis and Charleston Railroad and the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad, whose lines converged in Stevenson. When the Memphis & Charleston was purchased by the Southern Railway in 1898, the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (who had taken over the N&C in 1880) took sole control of the depot and operated it until 1976.
It was converted into a history museum in 1982. Both buildings are brick with gable roofs and Italianate details. The depot has a central, second-story tower that was added in 1887. The three-story hotel had a lobby, dining room, and kitchen on the first floor and eight large guest rooms on the upper floors. The buildings were listed on the Alabama Register of Landmarks and Heritage in 1975 and the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.
The building is now operated as the Stevenson Railroad Depot Museum and features area railroad and Civil War artifacts
July 15, 2019 – LoRam Badger Ditching machine, DC-2, works along the power siding at the south end of CSX’s Atkinson Yard at Madisonville, Kentucky, as it works its way north on the Henderson Subdivision.
According to the Loram website: The Badger Ditcher is a self-propelled ditch cleaner that is capable of moving 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 ditchers 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.