October 7, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway crew runs PRX3 south across the bridge at Kentucky Dam with a loaded CSX coal train at Gilbertsville, Ky as it heads for the Calvert City Terminal at Calvert City, Ky with another load as CSXT 63 leads the way.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 100.
October 7, 2020 – A Paducah and Louisville Railway yard job crew uses GMTX 397 switcher to move cars around in at the north end of the yard in Paducah, Ky as a BNSF train waits for a crew with BNSF 2922, HCLX 3881 and 1058 as power.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
May 13, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 2107, leads LV1, a Scotty’s Rock train, south with PAL 2106, 2121 and 2100 trailing, as they roll through the valley at Caneyville, Kentucky, after picking a load of rock cars from Scotty’s Contracting & Stone at Litchfield, bound for their Madisonville operation.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
September 24, 2020 – Paducah & Louisville (PAL) 4512 and Evansville Western 4511 lead a 5,400ft loaded coal train through downtown Calvert City, Kentucky on its way to the Calvert City Loadout.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 100.
September 21, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway University of Kentucky locomotive 2012 and 4503 lead the afternoon Louisville Gas and Electric coal train across the trestle at Big Clifty, Kentucky on its way north to Louisville.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
September 24, 2020 –
September 24, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 2109 and its crew work their yard at Paducah, Kentucky as early signs of fall begin to appear in the trees.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @ 180mm, f/5, 1/1000, ISO 450.
C (PAL) 2109 and its crew work their yard at Paducah, Kentucky as early signs of fall begin to appear in the trees.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 70-300 @ 180mm, f/5, 1/1000, ISO 450.
September 29, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 2109, 2110, 2117 and 2120 lead local WW1 across Interstate 69 at Madisonville, Kentucky as they head to CSX’s Atkinson yard with a lone car today for interchange with CSX after dropping off a long string of cars at their West Yard in Madisonville. From here they will take the junction trackage called East Diamond and head back across the other bridge in the background to Atkinson at Madisonville where they dropped the car and picked up a much longer string of cars for the return trip to Princeton, Ky.
PAL runs this local pretty much M-S from Princeton to Madisonville and there’s another local that runs from Paducah to Princeton to move traffic between those cities with pretty much the same schedule. There’s also another local that runs from Louisville to Paducah and back, but it is normally a night run in both directions. Occasionally I see these trains run also on Sunday, but it’s not the norm.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/800, ISO 200.
September 26, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville 4512 leads empty coal train loop in Nebo, Kentucky, with a tinge of fall foliage beginning to show in the trees.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 200.
September 24, 2020 – Paducah & Louisville (PAL) 4512 and Evansville Western 4511 lead a 5,400ft loaded coal train across Barkley Dam at Grand Rivers, Kentucky on the Cumberland River, as they head for the Calvert City Coal Terminal at Calvert City, Ky.
Barkley Dam construction along with Kentucky Dam formed the Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area by stopping the flow of the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers, forming Lake Barkley and Kentucky Lake respectively and the PAL mainline runs right across the dam.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/320, ISO 100.
September 22, 2020 – On the first day of fall Paducah & Louisville local WW1, led by PAL 2112 crosses of the CSX Henderson Subdivision at the location known as Monarch in Madisonville, Ky.
The local was on its way to CSX’s Atkinson yard to perform interchange work between the PAL and CSX after making their way from the PAL yard at Princeton, Kentucky. Still working on trying to catch two trains at this spot! It will happen!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/140, ISO 100.
September 21, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway University of Kentucky locomotive 2012 leads the afternoon Louisville Gas and Electric coal train as it skirts the downtown area of Central City, Kentucky on its way north to Louisville.
The grassy area below is the general location of the old Illinois Central depot from the days when passenger trains used to service Central City. There used to be an elevator that took the passengers up to the tracks to catch their trains.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
September 10, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville 4518 & 4522 lead PRX1, a loaded coal train, as they depart Warrior Coal at Nebo, Kentucky, headed southbound for the barge loading and blending facility at Calvert City, Ky.
I’ve shot trains coming out of here for well over 15 years now and this is the first time I’m able to get this view thanks to my new camera platform, the DJI Mavic Mini Drone. To say this device has opened up a whole new world of pictures and videos is an understatement!
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Mini Drone, JPG, 4.5mm lens (24mm Equivalent), f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 100.
August 26, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville 2118 heads up the Princeton to Madisonville, Ky local as it heads north through Dawson Springs, Ky to Madisonville to perform interchange work with CSX at Atkinson Yard.
I love shooting spots that have interesting track or other features that help draw the viewer’s eye to the subject of the photograph, such as in this case with the two small S curves just south of the highway 62 overpass. Always look for ways to help your photographs have more impact by looking for these interesting things that can help add interest to your shots.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 460mm, f/8, 1/800, ISO 900.
August 15, 2020 – Canadian National 5485 leads the CN Fulton to Paducah local as it passes the LED signals at CN’s P&I Junction in Paducah, Kentucky after making its drop-off and pickup at the Paducah & Louisville Railway.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 56mm, f/11. 1/500, ISO 220.
August 15, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Salute to Our Veterans unit, 2129 heads up an afternoon local as it works in the industrial area at Calvert City, Kentucky.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 70mm, f/11, 1/500, ISO 250.
June 2, 2020 – It was the dead of night, crickets, frogs and an occasional car passing through the crossing breaking the silence at the Rosewood Crossing, as the moon illuminated the tracks headed out of the south end of the Paducah and Louisville Railway at Paducah, Kentucky toward Mayfield. Moonlight provides a mystical light in my opinion.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mn, f/5, 30 seconds, +2 stops, ISO 640 on a Gitzo Tripod, camera timer, 3 second delay, Mirror Locked up.
June 22, 2020 – Norfolk Southern locomotive 1098 leads empty coal train WYX1 past a string of empty grain cars at the Paducah and Louisville Railway yard at Madisonville, Kentucky as it heads for Warrior Coal Main in Nebo, Ky to pickup a load of coal.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, ISO 400.
June 4, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4504 & 4502 pull a northbound loaded coal train through Cecilia, Kentucky as they head north to the Louisville Gas & Electric plant at Louisville, Ky.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/8, 1/1250, ISO 560.
June 22, 2020 – A fresh Paducah and Louisville Railway crew climbs aboard Norfolk Southern locomotive 1098 at Central City, Kentucky as they prepare to continue to move empty coal train WYX1 on south to Warrior Coal mine, west of Madisonville, Ky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 260mm, f/5.6, 1/1000, ISO 500.
June 26, 2020 – A scene about as timeless as railroading itself, the only thing that has changed is the equipment and people, is a crew change on the railroad. Here the crew on Paducah and Louisville’s LG1 that loaded the coal train at Warrior coal in Nebo, Kentucky does a briefing with the engineer and conductor at West Yard in Madisonville, that will take the train on to the Mill Creek Louisville Gas and Electric plant at Louisville.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/11, 1/1600, ISO 220.