July 17, 2020 – RJ Corman 7116 moves at a snails pace as it leads the empty ALCAN train southbound through downtown Frankfort, Kentucky on its way to Tri-Arrows Aluminum in Brea, Kentucky to pickup another load of aluminum ingots.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Nikkor 70-300 @ 75mm, f/5.6, 1/4000, ISO 220.
June 18, 2020 – Engineer Travis Collins heads southbound on the Indiana Railroad with engine 9004 leading, after meeting and trading trains with the northbound INRD 9005, at the north end of BLS Siding at Switz City, Indiana as the last light of day fades from the sky.
Tech Info: Full Frame Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8, 1/125, ISO 2,500.
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.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) engineer, Travis Collins, on HWSA-18 (Hiawatha, Jasonville, IN – Senate Ave, Indianapolis, IN) passes the signal at the south end of Latta, as it passes their main line around INRD Hiawatha Yard at Jasonville, Indiana. Their yard used to be owned by Canadian Pacific and was called Latta yard at that time.
According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Rail Road (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles. This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham.
INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana (site of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center), with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad (LIRC).
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 240mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 500.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Southern Railway 3385 heads through a cut of trees with the daily local as it heads into Switz City, Indiana where it will interchange with the Indiana Railroad. (Note: Train was over a mile away, running at 10mph and I was at a crossing when image was shot.)
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/6.3, 1/500, ISO 500.
June 18, 2020 – After a 3 hour wait for maintenance-of-way to clear up, the crew of a southbound Indiana Railroad train (SAHW-18) from Indianapolis, with engine 9005 leading, rolls across the bridge over the White River at Elliston, Indiana at dusk to meet it’s northbound counterpart at Switz City, Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 2,500.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) engineer, Travis Collis, heads across the INRD Chicago Subdivision Diamond at Linton, Indiana with his train, as he heads north with HWSA-18 on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, -3 f/stops (exposed for the highlights and processed for the shadows), ISO 100.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) engineer, Travis Collis, swings the stop sign to the Indiana Southern Railroad track at the diamond in Switz City, Indiana, as he makes his way north with his train, INRD HWSA-18, to the north end of the BLS Siding at Switz City, to meet it’s counterpart SAHW-18 coming from Indianapolis.
This is the point where the crew from each train will swap out and the Indy train will return there, whereas Collins train will make a run to Palestine, Illinois before returning to the Hiawatha Yard in Jasonville, Indiana on the Indianapolis Subdivision.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 360mm, f/6.3, 1/1250, ISO 140.
June 18, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (INRD) 9004 leads SAHW-18 (Switz City, IN – Hiawatha, IN), as engineer Travis Collins keeps a watchful eye as he passes through the diamond over the Indiana Southern Railroad at Switz City, Indiana, as he heads north on the INRD Indianapolis Subdivision, as the last light of the day fades from the sky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Nikon 50mm @ 1.4, 1/125, ISO 6,400, Car head lights for lighting.
June 13, 2020 – Indiana Railroad (HWPAT-13, Hiawatha to Palestine) 9007 (SD90) pulls north across the 1910 bridge over the Wabash River, engines light, out of Palestine, Illinois after dropping off its southbound train with INRD 9011 in trail. According to Wikipedia: The Indiana Rail Road (reporting mark INRD) is a United States Class II railroad, originally operating over former Illinois Central Railroad trackage from Newton, Illinois, to Indianapolis, Indiana, a distance of 155 miles (249 km).
This line, now known as the Indiana Rail Road’s Indianapolis Subdivision, comprises most of the former IC line from Indianapolis to Effingham, Illinois; Illinois Central successor Canadian National Railway retains the portion from Newton to Effingham.
INRD also owns a former Milwaukee Road line from Terre Haute, Indiana, to Burns City, Indiana (site of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center), with trackage rights extending to Chicago, Illinois. INRD serves Louisville, Kentucky, and the Port of Indiana on the Ohio River at Jeffersonville, Indiana, through a haulage agreement with the Louisville & Indiana Railroad.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600mm @ 600, f/13, 1/800sec, ISO 500.
June 4, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 3800, 2100 and 2121 pull about 30 loaded Scotty’s Rock through Cecilia, Kentucky as they head north to Scotty’s rock yard in Vine Grove, Ky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 24-70 @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/800sec, ISO 1400.
June 4, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 3800, 2100 and 2121 pull about 30 loaded Scotty’s Rock cars upgrade at Summit, Kentucky as they head north to Scotty’s rock yard in Vine Grove, Ky.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, f/5.6, 1/640sec, ISO 270.
June 4, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 3800, 2100 and 2121 lead Scotty’s Rock train across the trestle at Big Clifty, Kentucky as they head north to their rock yard in Vine Grove, Ky with loaded rock cars. This is the highest trestle on the PAL railway.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm, f/22, 1/800sec, 5 stops underexposed (exposed for the highlights so the sun wouldn’t blow out completely), ISO 100. The smaller f/stop also gives the nice starburst on the sun!
May 27, 2020 – Not a real clear shot of it, but today I found White Pass 3003, one of six new locomotives for the White Pass & Yukon Route, attached to an old switcher at National Railway Equipment Company in Mount Vernon, Ill.
According to CBCNEWS, the Scenic railway out of Skagway, Alaska, is replacing their 50-year-old locomotives with these new units.
“The White Pass & Yukon Route scenic railway runs every summer on the 110-kilometre historic route between Skagway and Carcross, Yukon.
The new locomotives will replace the railway’s aging fleet of locomotives from the 1960s. They’re built by National Railway Equipment Company in Mount Vernon, Ill.”
I’d love to catch this power move when it happens, so if anyone knows when it’ll happen I’d love a heads up!
For me the old switcher is just as interesting as it has, what appears to be, Chinese writing on the voltage plate under the right light. Anyone know anything about it? I wasn’t able to get a good side shot of it while I was there, so I don’t have a number.
May 8, 2020 – The late afternoon sunlight rakes across sand tower area at MG Rail (MGRI) as locomotive 2002 sits at their engine house in Jeffersonville, Indiana.
The shortline is owned and operated by Consolidated Grain and Barge (CG&B). It operates within the Clark Maritime Center, near Jeffersonville, Indiana. MGRI switches out several industries within the Maritime center and stages them at connections to CSX and Louisville & Indiana.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @340mm, f/7.6, 1/1600 sec at ISO 720.
May 15, 2020 – The crew of West Tennessee Railroad (WTNN) Fulton Turn (T92) sit on a rise at as it waits for permission to cross the WTNN/CSX Diamond southbound at Milan, Tennessee with 5543 and 4071 as power.
According to their website: The West Tennessee Railroad began in 1984 on a portion of the former Mobile & Ohio Railroad main line between Jackson and Kenton, Tennessee. In 2001, the WTNN expanded operations, acquiring operating rights over the former ICG line between Corinth, Mississippi and Fulton, Kentucky.
WTNN operates on a daily basis and has interchanges with CSX, KCS, NS, and CN. Car storage and transloading services are provided in several convenient areas along the WTNN line.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 lens @ 370mm, 1/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 280.
May 13, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway 1998, University of Kentucky engine, leads a Scotty’s Rock train on LV1, with PAL 2100 and 2121 trailing, as it heads south through Central City, Kentucky.
Tech Info:Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 210mm, 1/500 sec, f/5.6, ISO 220.
May 13, 2020 – For me, some photos just need to be black and white like this one of Paducah and Louisville Railway 1998, University of Kentucky engine, as it leads a Scotty’s Rock train through a tunnel of trees, as it approaches the Ky 70 crossing just south of Madisonville, Ky.
Tech Info:Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 350mm, 1/320 sec, f/5.6, ISO 350.
May 15, 2020 – Today I spent trackside with fellow railfan Cooper Smith, where he navigated me through some of his favorite spots in west Tennessee. I’d been here before back on New Years Day, but only caught 1 train moving on the trip. Today was a lot different as just about everywhere we went, a train showed up shortly after we got there!
One of our goals was to catch the West Tennessee Railroad (WTNN) working somewhere in the area and we found their Fulton Turn (T92) crossing the WTNN/CSX Diamond at Milan, Tennessee as 5543 and 4071 lead the way south back to their yard at Jackson, TN past the old diamond sitting in the grass. A good day trackside and a big shout out to those that provided train updates and locations!
According to their website: The West Tennessee Railroad began in 1984 on a portion of the former Mobile & Ohio Railroad main line between Jackson and Kenton, Tennessee. In 2001, the WTNN expanded operations, acquiring operating rights over the former ICG line between Corinth, Mississippi and Fulton, Kentucky.
WTNN operates on a daily basis and has interchanges with CSX, KCS, NS, and CN. Car storage and transloading services are provided in several convenient areas along the WTNN line.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, RAW, Irex 11mm lens, 1/800 sec, f/11, ISO 125.
May 13, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway 1998, University of Kentucky engine, leads a Scotty’s Rock train as it rounds a curve in the valley south of Caneyville, Ky on LV1 with PAL 2100 and 2121 trailing, bound for Madisonville, Ky
Tech Info:Nikon D800, RAW, Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm, 1/500 sec, f/6.3, ISO 560.
May 13, 2020 – Paducah and Louisville Railway (PAL) 1998, University of Kentucky engine, leads a Scotty’s Rock train south on LV1 with PAL 2100 and 2121 trailing.
The pull at this point is a hard one as they work upgrade out of Litchfield, Kentucky after picking a load of rock cars from Scotty’s Contracting & Stone at Litchfield, bound for their Madisonville operation.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Fuji 18-55mm @ 18mm, 1/1000 sec, f/2.8, ISO 250.