CSXT 3228 leads hot intermodal I026 as they head north over the Red River bridge on the CSX Henderson Subdivision at Adams, TN, on January 9th, 2025.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Classic 3 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 170.
CSX Hot Intermodal I025 southbound at Sulfur Fork Creek, Springfield, TN
CSXT 5213 leads hot intermodal I025 as they head south over the Sulfur Creek bridge at Springfield, TN, on the CSX Henderson Subdivision on their way to their final destination of Jacksonville, FL from Chicago, IL, on January 9th, 2025.
This train usually runs with some autoracks that carry Tesla automobiles for the overseas market, so I’m told.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Classic 3 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/2000, ISO 150.
Tennessee Central 6902 runs around its train at Watertown, TN
This was my first time chasing the Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train from the Tennessee Central Railway Museum (TCRX), which operates out of Nashville, TN, on June 12th, 2021. While it was a hot and muggy day, me and fellow railfan Ryan Scott, of Steelrails, had a great time chasing this train from Nashville to Watertown, TN and back, along the Nashville, and Eastern Railway line.
Here Tennessee Central Railway Museum’s E8 unit, 6902 runs around it’s train at Watertown in preparation for their return trip to Nashville.
According to their website: EMD E8 6902 was built as New York Central 4084 in 1953. This unit would’ve been at the head end of many name trains of the Central’s Great Steel Fleet; including the 20th Century Limited, the Empire State Express, and the Ohio State Limited, among others. The E8 (termed DPA-5e by NYC) would serve in passenger service through the Penn Central merger, and commuter service for New Jersey Transit, before settling down at the New Georgia Railroad in 1992. When the latter operation folded, a museum member purchased this unit for use on the Broadway Dinner Train, which prompted the silver and maroon colors worn today.
Since 1989, TCRM has been running passenger excursions from Nashville to points east such as Lebanon, Watertown, Baxter, Cookeville, and Monterey, Tennessee.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone, RAW, 4.5mm (24mm equivalent lens) f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 100.
Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train at Cherry Valley, TN
Today was my first time chasing the Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train train from the Tennessee Central Railway Museum (TCRX), which operates out of Nashville, TN on June 12th, 2021. While it was a hot and muggy day, myself and fellow railfan Ryan Scott, of Steelrails, had a great time chasing this train from Nashville to Watertown, TN and back, along the Nashville, and Eastern Railway line. Once restoration is complete Nashville Steam’s Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway steam locomotive No. 576 will lead trains along this same route!
Here Louisville and Nashville #405 (GP7 405) lead the Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train through the curve at Cherry Valley, TN as they approach their turn-around point of Watertown, TN on the Nashville & Eastern railway with, L&N’ F7B 715 & 719, plus TCRX E8A 6902 trailing.
According to their website: The Tennessee Central Railway Museum is a volunteer, non-profit organization. Our mission is to preserve, restore, interpret, and operate historic railroad equipment to educate our guests about America’s railroads.
We have a growing collection of historic equipment, but TCRM is much more than a static museum. Our specialty is operating historic trains, providing a unique opportunity to rediscover vintage rail travel through beautiful Middle Tennessee.
Since 1989, TCRM has been running passenger excursions from Nashville to points east such as Lebanon, Watertown, Baxter, Cookeville, and Monterey, Tennessee.
Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train Departs Nashville, TN
The Tennessee Moonshine Sippin’ Excursion Train departs from the Tennessee Central Railway Museum (TCRX), which operates out of Nashville, TN, on June 12th, 2021 with downtown Nashville in the distance. Here we find L&N 405 leading the train as it passes the Nashville & Eastern Railroad where myself and fellow railfan Ryan Scott, of Steelrails, caught our first shots while chasing this train from Nashville to Watertown, TN and back, along the Nashville, and Eastern Railway line.
Once restoration is complete Nashville Steam’s Nashville, Chattanooga & St. Louis Railway steam locomotive No. 576 will lead trains along this same route! The rest of the power in the consist was L&N F7B 715 & 719, plus TCRX E8A 6902 trailing which led on the return trip.
According to their website: The Tennessee Central Railway Museum is a volunteer, non-profit organization. Our mission is to preserve, restore, interpret, and operate historic railroad equipment to educate our guests about America’s railroads.
Since 1989, TCRM has been running passenger excursions from Nashville to points east such as Lebanon, Watertown, Baxter, Cookeville, and Monterey, Tennessee.
CSXT 3401 passes MP211 just north of Adams, Tennessee
CSXT 3401 passes MP211 just north of Adams, Tennessee as it heads south on the CSX Henderson Subdivision on October 22nd, 2024.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 100.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s Southern Railway 630 crosses over the Chickamauga Creek Bridge…
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 crosses over the Chickamauga Creek Bridge as it heads to East Chattanooga, Tennessee, on April 27th, 2024.
According to Wikipedia: Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 “Consolidation” type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr., along with a group of local railway preservationists. They wanted to save steam locomotives and railway equipment for future historical display and use. Today, the museum offers various tourist excursions from stations in Chattanooga and Etowah, Tennessee.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1000, ISO 280.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 departs Grand Junction…
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 departs Grand Junction at West Chattanooga as it heads to East Chattanooga, Tennessee with the daily local, on April 27th, 2024.
According to Wikipedia: Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 “Consolidation” type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr., along with a group of local railway preservationists. They wanted to save steam locomotives and railway equipment for future historical display and use. Today, the museum offers various tourist excursions from stations in Chattanooga and Etowah, Tennessee.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/500, ISO 150.
Pulling out of a siding Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630…
Pulling out of a siding Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 crosses over the CSX W&A Subdivision as it heads to East Chattanooga, Tennessee with a trainload of passengers, on April 27th, 2024.
According to Wikipedia: Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 “Consolidation” type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.
The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum was founded as a chapter of the National Railway Historical Society in 1960 by Paul H. Merriman and Robert M. Soule, Jr., along with a group of local railway preservationists. They wanted to save steam locomotives and railway equipment for future historical display and use. Today, the museum offers various tourist excursions from stations in Chattanooga and Etowah, Tennessee.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 270.
January 28, 2016 – CSX empty tank train K442-27…
January 28, 2016 – CSX empty tank train K442-27 sits in the siding at the north end of Cedar Hill, Tennessee with Norfolk Southern’s Interstate Heritage Unit 8105 in the lead as they wait for a southbound before heading on north on the Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: 1/250 | f/6.3 | ISO 1100 | Lens: Sigma 150-600 @ 600mm with a Nikon D800 shot and processed in RAW.
CSX I128 northbound at Red River Cut, Adams, TN
CSX Intermodal I128 exit the north end of the Red River Cut on September 6th, 2024 as it heads north with CSXT 7032 leading on the CSX Henderson Subdivision.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/240, ISO 150.
A single Norfolk Southern engine lead brings up the rear as DPU on NS 168 at New River, TN
A single Norfolk Southern engine lead brings up the rear as DPU on NS 168 as they make their way across the New River Bridge northbound on the NS CNO&TP (Rathole) Subdivision at New River, Tennessee. On April 29th, 2024.
According to the Historic Bridges website: This bridge is a very large high level deck cantilever truss bridge. It was constructed in 1963 and as such is a late example of its type, but still noteworthy as an uncommon structure type and for its size. Typical of 1960s truss bridges, the bridge still has riveted built-up beams, but v-lacing and lattice are absent in the built-up beams, and truss connections are bolted instead of riveted. It is 1,622.0 Feet (494.4 Meters) long, with 3 Main Span(s) and 6 Approach Span(s) is over 300 feet above the river.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 110.
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 exits Missionary Ridge Tunnel…
Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s steam locomotive Southern Railway 630 exits Missionary Ridge Tunnel as it approaches East Chattanooga, Tennessee with a trainload of passengers, on April 27th, 2024.
According to Wikipedia: Southern Railway 630 is a 2-8-0 “Consolidation” type steam locomotive built in February 1904 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Richmond, Virginia for the Southern Railway as a member of the Ks-1 class. It is currently owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum in Chattanooga, Tennessee where it resides today for use on excursion trains.
According to the Tennessee River Valley Tourism site: Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s passenger trains run on an historic route which includes Missionary Ridge Tunnel, completed in 1858 and on the National Register of Historic Places. The tunnel is the primary reason TVRM runs on the three-mile section of the former Southern Railway. As railroad equipment grew too large to pass through, the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an other wise double-track railroad. Southern Railway abandoned the three-mile portion of the line and built a new section around the end of Missionary Ridge, avoiding the tunnel altogether. TVRM restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel daily.
Tech Info: Nikon D800, Sigma 150-600 @ 370mm, f/6, 1/250, ISO 1100.
Norfolk Southern 4199 leads a northbound autorack train on the NS CNO&TP Third District at Spring City, TN
Norfolk Southern 4199 leads a northbound autorack train on the NS CNO&TP Third District as they pass the old depot in downtown Spring City, Tennessee on April 28th, 2024.
According to https://theclio.com website: The restored railroad depot was built In 1900 by the Queen and Crescent Railroad Company that extended out of Cincinnati Ohio built for the purposes of extending travel and commerce to the south.
In addition to it’s function of providing access to the southern areas of the United States, the Depot eventually became a museum that chronicled the story of a group of female rebels dubbed “The Rhea County Spartans.” During the course of the Civil War these Women Served as spies for the Confederate Army. However they were eventually caught and as a result of their actions they were arrested and sent 54 miles to the Market Street in Chattanooga. It was there that they were forced to swear allegiance to the Union before being sent back home on foot.
Today it houses the Spring City History Museum.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/4000, ISO 160.
CSXT 507 leads loaded coal train C305 as it heads south through the Red River Cut at Adams, TN
CSXT 507 leads loaded coal train C305 as it heads south through the Red River Cut at Adams, Tennessee on the CSX Henderson Subdivision on July 31st, 2024.
This is a still frame grab I did from a video I shot of the train making its way through the cut which will be featured in next Saturday’s Edited video, and I must say I’m really pleased with the results of doing this frame grab. Not that I’ll be doing this as a norm, but there’s times when I want to shoot both, and this gives me a way to accomplish this by just shooting 4k video.
Saturday Infrared photo, we catch loaded coal train C305 at Red River Cut, Adams, TN
In this week’s Saturday Infrared photo, we catch loaded coal train C305 as it heads south through the Red River Cut, at Adams, Tennessee, on July 31st, 2024.
Tech Info: Fuji XT-1, RAW, Converted to 720nm B&W IR, Nikon 10-24mm @ 24mm, f/5.6, 1/60, ISO 200.
Norfolk Southern 229 runs along the Emory River at Harriman, TN
Norfolk Southern 229 runs along the Emory River at Harriman, TN, on the NS CNO&TP (Rathole) as it heads north on April 28th, 2024.
According to American-rails.com, It used to be called the Rathole Division when it was the Southern Railway and is often remembered as a road with relatively flat and tangent main lines due to the region in which it operated. However, the system did feature its share of steep, circuitous main lines such as Saluda Grade in western North Carolina and its famed “Rathole Division” through Kentucky and Tennessee that reached as far north as Cincinnati.
Technically, this stretch of the Southern main line was known as the 2nd District of subsidiary Cincinnati, New Orleans & Texas Pacific (CNO&TP), which was plagued for years by numerous tunnels resulting in its famous nickname by the crews which operated over it.
Over the years the Southern worked to daylight or bypass these obstacles as the route saw significant freight tonnage, a task finally completed during the 1960s. Today, the Rathole remains an important artery in Norfolk Southern’s vast network.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 220.
CSX Chesapeake & Ohio Heritage unit 1869 leads loaded coal train C040 across the Red River Bridge at Adams, TN
CSX Chesapeake & Ohio Heritage unit 1869 as it leads loaded coal train C040 across the Red River Bridge at Adams, Tennessee southbound on the Henderson Subdivision on July 25th, 2024.
According to the CSX Website: A locomotive commemorating the proud history of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway has entered service as the fifth in the CSX heritage series celebrating the lines that came together to form the modern railroad.
Numbered CSX 1869 in honor of the year the C&O was formed in Virginia from several smaller railroads, the newest heritage locomotive sports a custom paint design that includes today’s CSX colors on the front of the engine and transitions to a paint scheme inspired by 1960s era C&O locomotives on the rear two-thirds.
The C&O Railway was a major line among North American freight and passenger railroads for nearly a century before becoming part of the Chessie System in 1972 and eventually merging into the modern CSX. In 1970, the C&O included more than 5,000 route miles of track stretching from Newport News, Virginia, to Chicago and the Great Lakes.
Designed and painted at CSXs locomotive shop in Waycross, Georgia, the C&O unit will join four other commemorative units in revenue service on CSXs 20,000-mile rail network.
The heritage series is reinforcing employee pride in the history of the railroad that continues to move the nation’s economy with safe, reliable, and sustainable rail-based transportation services.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1250, ISO 240.
CSXT 3258 leads CSX I025 through a rock cut near Ridgetop, TN
CSXT 3258 leads CSX I025 through a rock cut between the south end of Bakers Tunnel and Baker Station Road near Ridgetop, Tennessee as they head south on the CSX Henderson Subdivision, on July 25th, 2024.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/1600, ISO 350.
Norfolk Southern 167 makes their way across the New River Bridge at New River, TN
Norfolk Southern 167 makes their way across the New River Bridge under stormy skies as they head southbound on the NS CNO&TP (Rathole) Second District at New River, Tennessee. On April 30th, 2024.
According to the Historic Bridges website: This bridge is a very large high level deck cantilever truss bridge. It was constructed in 1963 and as such is a late example of its type, but still noteworthy as an uncommon structure type and for its size. Typical of 1960s truss bridges, the bridge still has riveted built-up beams, but v-lacing and lattice are absent in the built-up beams, and truss connections are bolted instead of riveted. It is 1,622.0 Feet (494.4 Meters) long, with 3 Main Span(s) and 6 Approach Span(s) is over 300 feet above the river.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/400, ISO 140.
Norfolk Southern engines lead NS 168 NB at New River, TN
A set of Norfolk Southern engines lead NS 168 as they make their way across the New River Bridge northbound on the NS CNO&TP (Rathole) Subdivision at New River, Tennessee. On April 29th, 2024.
According to the Historic Bridges website: This bridge is a very large high level deck cantilever truss bridge. It was constructed in 1963 and as such is a late example of its type, but still noteworthy as an uncommon structure type and for its size. Typical of 1960s truss bridges, the bridge still has riveted built-up beams, but v-lacing and lattice are absent in the built-up beams, and truss connections are bolted instead of riveted. It is 1,622.0 Feet (494.4 Meters) long, with 3 Main Span(s) and 6 Approach Span(s) is over 300 feet above the river.
Tech Info: DJI Mavic 3 Classic Drone, RAW, 22mm, f/2.8, 1/2500, ISO 160.