September 8, 2017 – BNSF 9221 leads a loaded coal train down grade alongside Norfolk Southern DeButts Yard in Chattanooga, TN as it heads west on the Chattanooga Terminal.
BNSF 9221 leads a loaded coal train…
Southern 4501 at Missionary Ridge Tunnel, Chattanooga, TN
September 10, 2017 – A gentle cool breeze and birds can be heard in the surrounding trees until till the shrill of a steam whistle and sounds of an approaching locomotive breaks the quietness as it approaches the west end of Missionary Ridge Tunnel.
Next thing you know, it has covered the 900 feet and then Southern Railway steam locomotive 4501 breaks out of the east side of the tunnel as it heads to Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s East Chattanooga station and shops, with a train load of passengers, during the 2017 Railfest.
Completed in 1858 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 and the single-track tunnel became a traffic jam for an otherwise 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. The museum restored rails through the tunnel in 1971 and continues to use the pre-Civil War Tunnel on a daily basis.
Southern diesels 2594, 3170 at the Chickamauga Creek bridge, Chattanooga, TN
September 9, 2017 – Southern diesels 2594, 3170 and 5000 (not pictured) move east across the Chickamauga Creek bridge at the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum, as they are positioned in place for a night photoshoot during the museum’s 2017 Railfest in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
This was the first night rail photoshoot that I have participated in, other than my own that is, and really had a fun time! Casey Thomason, with the NS Railroad did a wonderful time lighting the event for us and a big shout out to the museum for putting it on! Hope to see more events like it in the future!
This shot actually was a 30 second long exposure. The two engines sat on the bridge just long enough into the exposure before they started to move forward, giving me just a tad of motion blur. Wasn’t planned on my part at all, but I’m very happy with the results! Sometimes life just works that way!
Southern 630 & 4501 at bridge during Railfest, Chattanooga, TN
September 9, 2017 – Southern 630 and 4501 pull and empty passenger train over the bridge just outside the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum at Chattanooga, Tennessee during the first morning of the museum’s 2017 Railfest.
Southern 4501 & 630 at shops, Chattanooga, TN
September 8, 2017 – It’s the afternoon before Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s railfest in Chattanooga, Tennessee and we find the crews busy getting steam engines 4501 and 630 ready for the next days festivities!
Southbound Norfolk Southern on the Tenbridge, Chattanooga, TN
September 7, 2017- My first chilly night in Chattanooga, TN I found myself with several fellow railfans on the banks of the Tennessee River, photographing this mixed freight southbound as it headed across the Tenbridge, on the CNO&TP 3rd District of NS’s Central Division. It runs from Chattanooga, TN to Harriman, TN.SB NS on the Tenbridge, Chattanooga, TN
CSX Q029-23 SB at Red River Cut, Adams, TN
August 23, 2017 – Kansas City Southern 4771 leads CSX Q029-23 (Chicago, IL-Atlanta, GA) through the cut just south of the Red River bridge at Adams, Tennessee, with BNSF 4980 trailing, as it heads south on the Henderson Subdivision. I like most of us seem not to shoot as many verticals of trains, or many other subjects these days. The computer monitors and TV’s have conditioned us too much to the horizontal format! I for one plan to do better! After all, it doesn’t take much to turn the camera!CSX Q029-23 SB at Red River Cut, Adams, TN
September 9, 2016 – A Music City Star commuter train, Nashville, Tn
September 9, 2016 – A Music City Star commuter train with engine 121 (F40PH), sits along the river front in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, from the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge.