T.G.'s Photography Blog

  NYSW 3014 is eastbound, running light through CP-293 after dropping cars off at Belle Isle in Solvay, NY.   After a bike ride on Tuesday at Onondaga Lake, I heard Z520-10 call the CSX NF dispatcher for permission to shove west across CP-293 from the Geddes Street Lead to the pocket track at Belle Isle to drop a block of interchange cars. I quickly headed over to CP-293 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, which sits on the eastern edge of Belle Isle in Solvay, NY. There, and just in time, I caught NYSW 3014, running light, back through CP-293 after making the drop. Z520 is a New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway interchange job. CSX uses the Z designation for foreign railroad trains. NYSW 3014 is an EMD SD40T-2 "tunnel motor" that was built for the Southern Pacific in 1978. 45 years old and still going.

  CSXT 3206, and five GECX locomotives lead M368 east among the fall foliage at Canastota, NY.   Yesterday, while bike riding, I caught CSX's M368-29 at BeeBe Bridge Road at Canastota, NY. M368 had a group of five GECX locomotives (ex-BNSF) trailing behind CSXT 3206. M368 was photographed as it came around the curve to the west of BeeBe Bridge Road, where the tracks intersect with the old Erie Canal, which is out of sight to the right of the photograph. This location is milepost (MP) QC271 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . The five locomotives are GECX 4528, GECX 4827, GECX 4933, GECX 4851, GECX 4923. A going-away photograph of the five GECX locomotives on M368-29 at BeeBe Bridge Rd. Photograph taken on September 29, 2023.

  CSXT 1976 and CSXT 2626 lead M634 east through the curve west of BeeBe Bridge Rd.   After heading west on M363 earlier this month , CSXT 1976 came back east on M363's counterpart train, M364. M363 and M364 run between Selkirk, NY., and Avon, IN. While bike riding along the old Erie Canal at Canastota, NY., I caught M364 being led by 1976 at BeeBe Bridge Road (MP 271.5 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision). The canal is just out of sight to the right of the rectangular pond in the photograph. The rail line and canal intersect just around the curve, in the background. Looking at old topographic maps from the late 1890s, the rail line and canal have always met here. I'm assuming the rail line at one time crossed over the canal on a bridge, though today, the old canal segments just end on each side of the tracks.  Photograph taken on September 7,  2023, at Canastota, NY.

  CSXT 1976 and CSXT 489 lead M363-01 west on the Rochester Subdivision at Weedsport, NY. CSX's heritage locomotive , CSXT 1976, made an appearance today on Conrail's former Chicago Line. 1976 is leading M363-01 west through Weedsport, NY., at Auto 311 of CSX's Rochester Subdivision. Conrail was formed out of the ashes of many bankrupt and failing eastern railroads, one of the biggest being the Penn Central. In 1973 the Regional Rail Reorganization Act (3R Act) was signed into law, paving the way for Conrail. Under the 3R Act the United States Railway Association (USRA) was tasked with creating and implementing a plan combining rail lines from the eastern railroads. In 1976, the Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory Reform Act was signed into law, which included the USRA's final plan for Conrail. In 1998, with Conrail being a success, the railroad was split up and merged with CSX and Norfolk Southern (NS). Both railroads formed the railroad, Conrail Share