December 21, 2019 – Paducah and Louisville Railway’s Salute to Our Veterans GP40-2 runs long nose forward as it crosses the bridge at Kentucky Dam at Gilbertsville, Kentucky pulling a CSX loaded coal train over the Tennessee river. They were headed south to Calvert City Terminal with their loaded train when they passed my house in Richland, Kentucky and it was very unusual to see the lash-up this way so I had to give chase!! A nice early Christmas present for me!!
December 20, 2019 – RJ Corman’s Cumberland City turn local prepares to cross the bridge over the Cumberland River as it makes it’s return trip northbound on the Memphis Line at Clarksville, Tennessee with RJC 3801 and 3837 leading with their long noses forward elephant style for their return trip to Guthrie, Ky.
It is a Swing through truss bridge and was constructed in 1891 by the Pencoyd Bridge & Construction Company for the Nashville, Chattanooga, and St. Louis Railway. It is still an operating bridge on the river and sees at most two trains a day, but most days only one. Trains head to Cumberland City, TN (SB) usually around 9:30am CST and return north on average about 2:30-3:30pm CST.
December 20, 2019 – RJ Corman’s Cumberland City turn local prepares to enter Palmyra Railroad Tunnel as it makes it’s return trip northbound on the Memphis Line at Palmyra, Tennessee with RJC 3801 and 3837 leading with their long noses forward elephant style for their return trip to Guthrie, Ky.
Palmyra is a very small town southwest of Clarksville, TN and from what I can find the tunnel is about 800-1000 ft. long.
The Memphis line follows the Cumberland River between Clarksville and Cumberland City and here at Palmyra, there is a large bluff overlooking the river which required a tunnel to be blasted through it.
The line was originally built by the Memphis, Clarksville & Louisville Railroad (MC& L) which eventually became part of L&N.
December 20, 2019 – The RJ Corman Cumberland City Turn is reflected in a small pond as it crosses over Dunlop Road as it continues its move north on the Memphis Line after making a pickup at Letica Plastics in Clarksville, Tennessee. A big shout out to fellow railfan Cooper Smith for showing me this line today between Guthrie, Ky and Cumberland City, TN!
September 9, 2019 – Burlington Junction Railway 1517 works a string of refrigerated reefers at the Americold plant in Rochelle, Illinois on the City of Rochelle Railroad.
According to Wikipedia: “The Burlington Junction Railway (reporting mark BJRY) is a Class III short line railroad which was chartered in 1985. Originally operating on the southernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway mainline in Burlington, Iowa after abandonment by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it provides short freight hauling, switching operations, locomotive repair, and transloading services, the latter currently handling over 3,000 carloads a year. Typical commodity types transported include chemicals and fertilizer.”
The BJRY operation in Rochelle is more sophisticated than most. First of all, the track is owned by the City of Rochelle Railroad. Second of all, it interchanges with UP as well as BNSF. It has enough track capacity to handle unit trains. It does not provide intermodal service because UP has its Global Three intermodal yard on the other side of town.
September 19, 2019 – The sun begins to set over the Paducah and Louisville Railway at the crossing from West Yard in Madisonville, Ky as we approach the first day of fall.
September 10, 2019 – Decatur & Eastern Illinois Railroad 3896 and 4210 approaches heads toward the crossing at 1st Street at Terre Haute, Indiana as it heads onto the Danville Secondary Subdivision with a mixed freight.
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 Secondary 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 Paris, Illinois.
September 9, 2019 – Lights reflect off the side of refrigerated reefers as Burlington Junction Railway 1517 works on picking up and dropping off cars at the Americold plant in Rochelle, Illinois on the City of Rochelle Railroad.
According to Wikipedia: “The Burlington Junction Railway (reporting mark BJRY) is a Class III short line railroad which was chartered in 1985. Originally operating on the southernmost 3 miles (4.8 km) of the former Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway mainline in Burlington, Iowa after abandonment by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad, it provides short freight hauling, switching operations, locomotive repair, and transloading services, the latter currently handling over 3,000 carloads a year. Typical commodity types transported include chemicals and fertilizer.”
The BJRY operation in Rochelle is more sophisticated than most. First of all, the track is owned by the City of Rochelle Railroad. Second of all, it interchanges with UP as well as BNSF. It has enough track capacity to handle unit trains. It does not provide intermodal service because UP has its Global 3 intermodal yard on the other side of town.
August 24, 2019 – RJ Corman 7697 spots a string of empty autoracks in the Toyota Yard at Princeton, Indiana. The poles to the left are for lights for operating after dark.
July 23, 2019 – The engineer on Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 12 talks with a member of his crew as they drop cars at the L&C yard in Richburg, South Carolina. Please feel free to share!!
July 23, 2019 – Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 14 heads through Richburg, South Carolina, with LC 2829 leading the way.heading east. Please feel free to share!!
According to Wikipedia: The Lancaster and Chester Railroad or L&C (reporting mark LC) is a railway headquartered in Lancaster, South Carolina. The original 29-mile route connects Lancaster in Lancaster
July 13, 2019 – Evansville Western 3836 heads up a local as it pulls away from a string of cars at the south end of CSX’s Howell Yards as it does it’s work in Evansville, Indiana.
July 23, 2019 – Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 14 crosses over the Catawba River as it heads east at Fort Lawn, South Carolina, under stormy skies with LC 2829, 9630 and 9548 leading the way. Please feel free to share!!
According to Wikipedia: The Lancaster and Chester Railroad or L&C (reporting mark LC) is a railway headquartered in Lancaster, South Carolina. The original 29-mile route connects Lancaster in Lancaster County with Chester in Chester County. The line’s nickname is The Springmaid Line, which refers to its original purpose of connecting the plants of the Springs Mills company.
July 26, 2019 – Lhoist North America locomotive 3043 and several other units sit tied down at their Underground mine operation in Crab Orchard, Tennessee.
According to the Web: Lhoist North America of Tennessee, which also operates under the name Franklin Industrial Minerals, is located in Crab Orchard, Tennessee. This organization primarily operates in the Crushed and Broken Limestone business / industry within the Mining and Quarrying of Nonmetallic Minerals, Except Fuels sector.
July 23, 2019 – Lancaster and Chester Railroad switcher 2369 heads up train 16 as it works at dropping and picking up cars at the Carolina Poly Inc., facility in Chester, SC.
July 26, 2019 – After a week of visiting family and railfanning in NC, SC and TN I’m finally back home in Kentucky. On the return trip yesterday I stopped by in hopes of catching the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad running at Canton, North Carolina, but like many short lines they weren’t moving at all since it was a Saturday. However, I was able to catch this nice shot of WAMX 3943 and several other of their locomotives sitting in the yard. I’ll have to make a trip back during the week and get some photos of them in operation! Thanks to John DeVasto for recommending this shortline! I’ve passed here many times over the years and have never stopped.
According to their website: Receiving its name from the Blue Ridge Mountains which overlook this scenic North Carolina railroad, the Blue Ridge Southern Railroad (BLU) was Watco’s first property located in the state of North Carolina beginning in 2014. The BLU operates 92 miles of track, consisting of three branch lines that feed into Norfolk Southern’s terminal in Asheville, North Carolina: the T-Line to the west of Asheville, the W-Line to the south, and the TR-Line, which branches off the W-Line. The BLU primarily ships commodities such as wood chips, paper, plastics, cement, coal, and products used in the manufacture of Epsom Salt.
July 23, 2019 – Lancaster and Chester Railroad train 14, with 2829 leading, picks up their eastbound loads at the yard in Richburg, South Carolina as train 12, with 7092 leading, waits in the siding so it can begin its return westbound move.
June 26, 2019 – Well, after searching for about two hours along the Nashville and Eastern railroad between and around Gordonsville and Cookeville, Tennessee I didn’t luck out and find a single train out working. I was able to catch this view of Carthage Junction at Gordonsville however, so it wasn’t a wasted trip! Photo was shot from a crossing. To the left goes into Gordonsville and the right towards Cookeville.
May 15, 2019 – Evansville Western Railway local, with 3840 leading, passes the CountryMark Co-Op LLP Refinery area at Mount Vernon, Indiana as works its way to their small yard just past the refinery.
January 21, 2019 – A Paducah and Louisville railway local passes over Bradley Sisk Road Road as it heads south at Richland, Ky on a cold winters eve with PAL3808, 2107 and 2106 as power. – #jimstrainphotos #kentuckyrailroads #trains #nikond800 #railroad #railroads #train #railways #railway #pal #palrailway
January 17, 2019 – Pioneer Lines PREX 806 and 1614 sit idle in the yard at the Indiana Southwestern Railway at their Harwood Yard in Evansville, Indiana.
According to Wikipeda: Indiana Southwestern Railway (reporting mark ISW) is a subsidiary of Pioneer Railcorp, operator of several short-line railroad companies. The ISW is a Class III railroad, and operated on 17 miles of track from Evansville, Indiana, northward to Cynthiana, Indiana. That track is currently out of service but switching still occurs in ISWs yard and surrounding industries.
The line was originally operated as part of an Illinois Central Railroad line that ran all the way to Newton, Illinois. Illinois Central sold off the line south of Browns, Illinois, to Indiana Hi-Rail Corporation; the line went through a succession of operators, all of which had to contend with the lines ancient bridge over the Wabash River near Grayville, Illinois. The bridge suffered damage from floods on more than one occasion, and one span finally collapsed completely around 1999.
Pioneer bought the line and its Evansville shops in 2000 from the Evansville Terminal Railway. However, when Pioneer stopped shipping grain, the track had to be dismantled and salvaged at the close of 2011. Only the small stretch from the interchange northwest of Evansville to just north of their yard is still used, a distance of about 4 miles.
The dates back to 1881 as part of the Evansville and Peoria Railroad, which then became part of the Peoria, Decatur & Evansville Railway through a series of purchases. The PD&E became part of Illinois Central in 1900. The ISW is currently the only remaining in-service segment of the PD&E south of Mattoon, Illinois.