T.G.'s Photography Blog

While out and about today, I heard a CSX "K" train call out over the radio feed. A  "K" train  on CSX is a bulk commodity train, such as a  tank car  train carrying oil or ethanol. When the crew called out for a clear signal, they called out BNSF 5192 as the train's leader. Foreign power (another railroad's locomotive) is fairly rare these days on the CSX Rochester Subdivision due to CSX trying to limit foreign power on the railroad, so I decided to try and catch it. BNSF 5192 leading CSX train K636-12 The youngest and I headed over to Warners, New York, and wound up getting to the Herman Road crossing just as the headlight of BNSF 5192 was just beyond the bridge in the background. Within a few minutes, K636-12 rolled east on Track 2 of the Rochester Subdivision. This stretch of track is between milepost (MP) QC299 and MP QC300. K636 is a loaded ethanol train that runs from Bensenville, Illinois, to Linden, New Jersey. The train is handed off to CSX from Ca

 Today the Syracuse, New York, area got hit with a lake effect snowstorm. After the first wave of snow seemed to be over, I thought that the Lake Shore Limited (LSL) would look great kicking up the snow on the ground. I decided to head over toward Warners and Memphis, New York, to try and catch LSL on the Rochester Subdivision. I wound up at Memphis, New York , about fifteen minutes before the LSL arrived. AMTK 112 and the Lake Shore Limited kick up snow at Memphis, NY. I heard the defect detector (DD) at milepost (MP) QC 313.7 go off, and about seven to eight minutes later the LSL, led by AMTK 112 and AMTK 172 came roaring through Memphis kicking up a cloud of freshly fallen snow.  After arriving forty minutes late into Rochester, New York, the LSL was trying its best to make up time.  The Lake Shore Limited rolls over the defect detector at Memphis, NY. Within a few seconds the LSL had passed over the DD at Memphis (MP QC 302.6) and was rolling on toward its next stop at Syracuse, N

Early on December 22, 2021, the Syracuse, New York, area had snow flurries falling, heavily at times. There wasn't much snow accumulating on the ground, but there were enough flurries falling that I thought they would make for an interesting photograph with a train. I017 at CP280 My youngest and I went to Kirksville, New York, and as I drove east on Saintsville Road I saw the headlight of priority intermodal train I017-22. The train was to the east of the Kirksville Road North crossing, which is a half of a mile east of Control Point (CP) 280 . I parked along Saintsville Road to the west of CP280, located at milepost QC280.5, and took my photograph. I017, with CSXT 833 and CSXT 473, rolls east on Track 2 at CP280. Train I017 runs daily from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Bedford Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. With CSXT 833 and CSXT 473 leading, plus mid-train distributed power unit (DPU) CSXT 3130,  I017  wasn't losing any time as it rolled west on Track 2 of the STS. CSXT

While out running errands the 22nd, of last month, I happened to drive through Solvay, New York. As I crossed the Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) tracks at Bridge Street, I saw that a switch job was working the Solvay Yard to the east. FGLK 2304 FGLK 2304 works at Solvay Yard, near Bridge Street. Working the yard today as FGLK 2304, a General Electric (GE) B23-7 . It was built as Southern Railway (SOU) 4016, in 1981. The locomotive was originally built with a high nose, but it was later rebuilt with a low nose. The locomotive has a remote-control system. The antenna for the remote system is visible on the front of the locomotive.  FGLK 2304 works on the south lead track at the western end of the yard. The railway yard at Solvay is the railroad's eastern terminus. The FGLK's main line is the old New York Central's (NYC) Auburn Branch. The Auburn Branch was originally NYC's main line before the Water Level Route was built to the north of it. After the Water Level Route was bu