Shortline & Regional Railroads – Jim Pearson Photography

Paducah and Louisville Railway 2118 heads up the morning local on January 28, 2009…

Paducah and Louisville Railway 2118 heads up the morning local on January 28, 2009 as it waits for a MOW crew to arrive at Richland, Kentucky to remove an ice laden tree from the tracks during the 2009 Ice Storm, as people around the state woke to over 2″ of ice covering most of Western Kentucky.

This photo was made from the bottom of my driveway the morning of the ice storm, after I slowly made my way down the driveway to get the photo. At this time, I was still working for the Messenger Newspaper, and it ran on the front page as well on the Associated Press wire services.

It was an interesting time and my home, which is on a hill to the right out of frame, was without power for about 10 days, till I was finally able to get a generator to power the house. Of course, a day later I got the power restored, but the generator has been used several times since then when we lost power!

Tech Info: Nikon D300, JPG, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 1600.

October 22, 2007 – Paducah and Louisville Railway 2111 leads the way as it exits the tunnel at Dawson Springs, Ky

October 22, 2007 – Paducah and Louisville Railway 2111 leads the way as it exits the tunnel at Dawson Springs, Ky as it makes its way south.

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.

Tech Info: Nikon D200, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 48mm, f2.8, 1/500, ISO 400.

A Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad local with Wisconsin & Southern 3870 works the yard at Decatur, Illinois

A Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad local with Wisconsin & Southern 3870 leading the way, works the yard at Decatur, Illinois, on August 24th, 2024.

According to Wikipedia: The Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (reporting mark DREI) is an American regional railroad that is a subsidiary of Watco Companies operating in eastern Illinois and western Indiana.

In January 2018, CSX Transportation announced that it was seeking offers to buy the Decatur Subdivision and the Danville Secondary Subdivision as part of a system-wide sale of low-traffic routes, and in July, Watco, via the DREI, was identified as the winning bidder. Following regulatory approval from the Surface Transportation Board, The DREI began operations on September 9, 2018.

The DREI operates two intersecting routes totaling 126.7 miles (203.9 km)—the former Decatur Subdivision between Montezuma, Indiana and Decatur, Illinois, and the former Danville Subdivision between Terre Haute, Indiana and Olivet, Illinois. It interchanges traffic with CSX, the Eastern Illinois Railroad, the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Canadian National Railway, and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad is headquartered in Decatur, Illinois.

Tech Info: Nikon D810, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 440mm, f/6, 1/1250, ISO 80.

April 2nd, 2014 – Blast from The Past – Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern 6071 (City of Ft. Pierre) at Mortons Gap, Ky

April 2nd, 2014 – Blast from The Past – Looking though my archives I stumbled across this image of Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern 6071 (City of Ft. Pierre) and 6030 leading a mixed freight hauling truck frames behind the power just south of Mortons Gap, Kentucky headed north on the CSX Henderson Subdivision. These frames are hauled by M512 today, so I’m guessing perhaps back then it would have been Q512.

According to eh Global Energy Monitor Wiki website: The Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern Railroad reporting mark is a Class II railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway operating across South Dakota and southern Minnesota in the northern plains of the United States. Portions of the railroad also extend into Wyoming, Nebraska and Iowa.

DM&E began operations on September 5, 1986, over tracks that were spun off from the Chicago and Northwestern Transportation Company in South Dakota and Minnesota. Much of the negotiations were handled by the office of Senator Larry Pressler and his legal counsel Kevin V. Schieffer. After a successful decade of growth for DM&E, Schieffer succeeded J. C. McIntyre as president of the railroad on November 7, 1996. In 1997 DM&E announced plans to build into Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to become the third railroad (after BNSF Railway and Union Pacific Railroad) to tap into the region’s rich coal deposits. The Surface Transportation Board (STB) released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on November 19, 2001; with the final EIS in place and approval from the STB, the railroad has federal authority to construct the project.

DM&E purchased the assets of I&M Rail Link railroad in 2002, renaming it Iowa, Chicago and Eastern Railroad and combining its management and dispatching duties with those of DM&E under the holding company Cedar American Rail Holdings. Schieffer served as president and CEO of Cedar as well as serving as president of DM&E. The combined system directly connects Chicago, Illinois through Iowa to Kansas City, Missouri, Minneapolis-St. Paul and continues as far west as Rapid City, South Dakota. Smaller branches extend into portions of Wisconsin, Wyoming and Nebraska.

In September 2007 it was announced that Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) would acquire the DM&E upon approval by the Surface Transportation Board of the US Department of Transportation. The STB announced its approval of the purchase plan on September 30, 2008, with the official last day of operations for DM&E scheduled for October 30, 2008. The merger is complete as of October 31, 2008

Tech Info: Nikon D100, Nikon 70-300mm @70mm, f/32, 1/400, ISO 800.

Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DERI) local heads east at La Place, Illinois

Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (DERI) local with WAMX 4244, 4134, 5909 and Wisconsin & Southern 3872 leading the way, passes through La Place, Illinois on August 24th, 2024, as they head east to Terre Haute, Indiana (where they interchange with CSX) on the former CSX Danville Subdivision (now the DERI).

According to Wikipedia: The Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad (reporting mark DREI) is an American regional railroad that is a subsidiary of Watco Companies operating in eastern Illinois and western Indiana.

In January 2018, CSX Transportation announced that it was seeking offers to buy the Decatur Subdivision and the Danville Secondary Subdivision as part of a system-wide sale of low-traffic routes, and in July, Watco, via the DREI, was identified as the winning bidder. Following regulatory approval from the Surface Transportation Board, The DREI began operations on September 9, 2018.

The DREI operates two intersecting routes totaling 126.7 miles (203.9 km)—the former Decatur Subdivision between Montezuma, Indiana and Decatur, Illinois, and the former Danville Subdivision between Terre Haute, Indiana and Olivet, Illinois. It interchanges traffic with CSX, the Eastern Illinois Railroad, the Norfolk Southern Railway, the Canadian National Railway, and the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad is headquartered in Decatur, Illinois.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 100.

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The daily Paducah and Louisville Local passes through Richland, Kentucky

The daily Paducah and Louisville Local passes through Richland, Kentucky as it heads south back to Princeton, Ky after performing work at Central City and Atkinson Yard at Madisonville on June 20th, 2024.

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.

he 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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 130.

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Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523 military train crew change at Madisonville, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523 leads an 8,100ft loaded military train as a crew change takes place at West Yard in Madisonville, Kentucky, on May 17th, 2024.

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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 200.

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523, 4142, 2101 and 2104, lead an 8,100ft military train at Gilbertsville, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523, 4142, 2101 and 2104, lead an 8,100ft military train across the Tennessee River at Kentucky Dam at Gilbertsville, Kentucky, on May 17th, 2024.

The crew took the train on to Paducah, Ky where it was tied down for the night. Where it went beyond there I’ve not heard, but in the past BNSF has picked up these moves and took them on west.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 160.

PAL Salute to our Troops engine 2127 sitting in the yard at Princeton, Ky as the southbound military train passes

It’s fairly rare to find a military train move on the Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) through my neck of the woods, but it does happen. I got word from a friend, Lee Taylor, up the line about an 8,100ft loaded military train that was headed southbound from Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

Here I caught the PAL Salute to our Troops engine 2127 sitting in the yard at Princeton, Ky as the southbound military train passed it headed for Paducah, Ky. PAL 2127 was one end of an Operation Lifesaver Trainset that was there.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 110.

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523 leads an 8,100ft loaded military train

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523 leads an 8,100ft loaded military train as they pull south from West Yard after a crew change at Madisonville, Kentucky, on May 17th, 2024.

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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 200.

Paducah and Louisville Railway southbound military train at Kentucky Dam, Gilbertsville, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 4523, 4142, 2101 and 2104, lead an 8,100ft military train across the Tennessee River at Kentucky Dam at Gilbertsville, Kentucky, on May 17th, 2024. I couldn’t ask for a more beautiful day to capture a train here at this location.

The crew took the train on to Paducah, Ky where it was tied down for the night. Where it went beyond there I’ve not heard, but in the past BNSF has picked up these moves and took them on west.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/600, ISO 150.

Paducah and Louisville Railway Military southbound move at Princeton, Ky

It’s fairly rare to find a military train move on the Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) through my neck of the woods, but it does happen. I got word from a friend, Lee Taylor, up the line about an 8,100ft loaded military train that was headed southbound from Ft. Knox, Kentucky.

I caught up with the train and chased it south to Kentucky Dam from West Yard in Madisonville, Kentucky where they had a crew change, on May 17th, 2024.

As luck would have it, I found the PAL Salute to our Troops engine 2127 sitting in the yard at Princeton, Ky as the southbound military train passed it headed for Paducah, Ky. PAL 2127 was one end of an Operation Lifesaver Trainset that was there.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 210.

Paducah and Louisville Railway coal train crossing the wetlands at Sunset from Warrior Coal, Nebo, Ky

April 24, 2024, As many of you know I’ve been working on a landscapes photo challenge I’ve titled 7-Minutes till Sunset, but I fudged on this one again and it was shot at 17 minutes till Sunset, as it was when the train was in the right spot for me.

During this challenge have been photographing a landscape daily from the air at 7 minutes till sunset, but today I caught a loaded Paducah and Louisville Railway coal train crossing the wetlands after picking up a load of coal at Warrior Coal mine, just outside Madisonville, Ky, on April 24th, 2024.

I have been trying to catch a train here at this spot since I began this challenge on the 15th of April and today was the day!

Exposure was for the sun and then I brought up the mid-tones and shadows in the RAW file processing.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/5000, ISO 100.

A Paducah and Louisville Railway track maintenance team works on replacing ties at Richland, Ky

A Paducah and Louisville Railway track maintenance team works on replacing ties as they approach the highway 1337 crossing at Richland, Kentucky, on April 4th, 2024. The team has been making their way north from Dawson Springs for about a week or so and have just now reached the Defect Detector at MP 153.3 on the line, which is right next to my house here in Richland, so I didn’t have to go far to catch this shot!

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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 140.

Paducah and Louisville Railway 4503 brings up the rear as DPU on a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric coal train…

Paducah and Louisville Railway 4503 brings up the rear as DPU on a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric coal train as they pass over south Main Street in Madisonville, Ky, as they head north to the LGE power plant, just outside of Louisville, Ky, on April 3rd, 2024.

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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 240.

Paducah and Louisville Railway 4518 and 4516 lead a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric coal train at Madisonville, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway 4518 and 4516 lead a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric coal train over the CSX Henderson Subdivision at the location called Monarch in Madisonville, Ky, as they head north to the LGE power plant, just outside of Louisville, Ky, on April 3rd, 2024.

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.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/3200, ISO 140.

Paducah and Louisville Railway 3812 leads a loaded ballast train over Clear Creek, Richland, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway 3812 leads a loaded ballast train as they cross over Clear Creek as they work on dropping ballast between Richland and Madisonville, Kentucky on March 12th, 2024.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO 140.

After doing a train swap at Caneyville, Ky the conductor on the northbound Paducah and Louisville…

After doing a train swap at Caneyville, Ky the conductor on the northbound Paducah and Louisville (PAL) Louisville Gas and Electric coal train prepares to throw the switch at the north end of the siding, to continue their move north on February 1st, 2024.

The Louisville crew is taking the loaded train back to their home territory north on the PAL to deliver their load to Louisville Gas and Electric power plant, outside of Louisville, Ky. The Madisonville crew is taking the empty train back south (in the distance) for another load of coal from Warrior Coal Mine.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 370.

Paducah and Louisville Railway 3812 leads a loaded ballast train around Richland, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway 3812 leads a loaded ballast train as they work on dropping ballast between Richland and Madisonville, Kentucky on March 12th, 2024, as spring starts to show in the surrounding area.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/8, 1/2000, ISO 140.

Paducah and Louisville Railway’s University of Louisville locomotive 2013 northbound at Madisonville, Ky

Paducah and Louisville Railway’s University of Louisville locomotive 2013 leads a loaded Louisville Gas and Electric coal train north as it passes over the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Monarch on March 7^th, 2024, at Madisonville, Kentucky as signs of spring are starting to show in the foliage.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/8, 1/800, ISO 210.

Evansville Western Railway locomotive 3837 leads a daily local north from Evansville, Indiana

Evansville Western Railway locomotive 3837 leads a daily local north from Evansville, Indiana as it passes over the William Keck Bypass Road crossing at Mount Vernon, Indiana on March 11th, 2024.

According to Wikipedia: The Evansville Western Railway (reporting mark EVWR) is a Class II (as of 2022) regional railroad operating in the southern Illinois and Indiana region. It is one of three regional railroad subsidiaries owned and operated by P&L Transportation.

Founded in August 2005, the railroad commenced its first operations on January 1, 2006, when P&L Transportation, formerly Four Rivers Transportation, the parent company of both the Evansville Western and Paducah & Louisville railroads, leased 124.5 miles (200.4 km) of mainline track, ties and track equipment between CSX’s Howell Yard in Evansville, Indiana, and the end-of-track at Okawville, Illinois, from CSX Transportation.

This line was once part of the Louisville & Nashville’s former Saint Louis Subdivision route that previously terminated in the metro-area of East St. Louis, Illinois, before being embargoed and slightly shortened under CSX ownership during the fall of 1993. CSX Transportation retains title to the real estate comprising the right of way on which the railroad operates but has leased it to EVWR for an initial period of 20 years.

Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/8, 1/1600, ISO 100.