T.G.'s Photography Blog

A CSX welder works on a switch frog on the eastern side of DeWitt Yard.   On Tuesday, I came across a CSX welder repairing a switch frog on the eastern side of DeWitt Yard. The switch is where a track from Track 1 at CP282 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision merges into the end of Track 4 and leads to the Departure Lead. Trains entering DeWitt Yard that needed to work the Departure Yard were entering via CP283 to the west.

BNSF 8029 and BNSF 7788 lead CSX train G103-17 east on Track 2 at CP286 at East Syracuse, NY.   BNSF 8029 and BNSF 7788 are the locomotives on CSX grain train G103-17, an eastbound loaded grain train heading to Ayer, Massachusetts. BNSF handed the train off to CSX at Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago, Illinois. Over three days, G103 made its way from Illinois to New York. I caught the train as it rolled eastbound at CP286 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision in East Syracuse, New York. Photograph taken on June 20, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 are southbound at the riverfront at Hannibal, MO. After making my way north along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, I arrived at the subdivision's namesake town of Hannibal, Missouri. From the lookout atop Lovers' Leap, I spotted BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 leading a manifest freight south through the riverfront, along the Mississippi River. BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 with the Mississippi River in the background. In the background are the I-72 bridge and Norfolk Southern's lift bridge. Hannibal, Missouri, has two railroads that run through it. In addition to BNSF, Norfolk Southern's (NS) Springfield-Hannibal District crosses the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois. BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision crosses NS' Springfield-Hannibal District at a diamond crossing on the western side of the lift bridge. Going west from the diamond, the Hannibal District curves through a tunnel and rock-cut to the south before paralleling th...

  Control Point (CP) 286 sits at milepost (MP) 286.6 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . CP 286 is just west of CSX's DeWitt Yard in East Syracuse, New York. In conjunction with CP 285 , CP 286 controls movements on the STS into and out of DeWitt Yard. The CP controls movements on mainline tracks 1 and 2, North Runner , Inbound Lead, Track 7, and Track 8.  CSXT 39 and CN 2838 lead M367-07 west on the North Runner. The Inbound Lead, next to North Runner, diverges from Track 1 here.   The eastern end of CP286 is east of the Burnet Avenue overpass and sits along Carr Street. The track arrangement, from south to north, is Track 2, Track 1, Inbound Lead, and North Runner. The westbound absolute signals (WAS) are next to the former Pandrol Jackson/Speno rail services facility, which was a former NYC engine servicing facility. The Inbound Lead diverges from Track 1 and runs east between the North Runner and Track 1 to DeWitt Yard.  Priority intermodal train I001-07 is ...

P284-17, led by AMTK 714, is eastbound along Saintsville Rd. at Kirkville, NY. The train is on Track 2 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision nearing Auto 280 .   Amtrak's Empire Service train P284 runs between Niagara Falls, New York, and New York City. P284 runs daily, making stops in the New York cities and towns of, Buffalo, Depew, Rochester, Syracuse, Utica, Amsterdam, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Hudson, Rhincliff, Poughkeepsie, Croton-on-Hudson, and Yonkers. Photograph taken on May 17, 2022, at Kirkville, New York.

  Q560 is a daily manifest train that originates at CSX's Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati, Ohio, and travels to its final destination at Selkirk Yard in Selkirk, New York. Earlier this month, I came across CSX Q560 -02 with Canadian National (CN) 2838 and CSXT 39 on the point at DeWitt Yard waiting for a new crew. CN 2838 and CSXT 39 are on the head end of a crewless Q560-02 sitting on the North Runner at DeWitt Yard.   Q560-02 sat on the east end of the North Runner at DeWitt Yard in Minoa, New York. The train had arrived at DeWitt Yard in the early morning, after passing through Fairport, New York, at 03:35 AM. Depending on traffic, trains generally take an hour and a half to cover the distance between Fairport and Syracuse. A westward view of the east end of DeWitt Yard from North Main Street. Q560-02 is on the North Runner, next to the Local Yard Lead.   The day I caught Q560-02 was the day that CSX implemented the new "M" prefix for manifest train symbols. Any train or...

In December 2006, at the east end of BNSF's Lindenwood Yard, I found a trio of locomotives that piqued my interest. The trio featured BNSF 643 (an ex-Santa Fe Warbonnet), BNSF 6934 (an SD40-2), and Wisconsin Central (WC) 3026, the heritage map anniversary locomotive. BNSF 643 is the lead locomotive on an eastbound/northbound manifest train at Lindenwood Yard. BNSF 643 (a C44-9W) was built in 1994 for the Atchison Topeka and Santa Fe Railway (ATSF) as ATSF 643. The locomotive was patched sometime after the Burlington Northern (BN) and Santa Fe merger. As of November 2019, BNSF 643 was still wearing its Warbonnet paint scheme , even though it was considerably more worn and faded. BNSF 643, BNSF 6934, and WC 3026 are eastbound along the River des Peres, at Sublette Ave. Built as ATSF 5191 in 1981 by Electromotive Division, BNSF 6943 was renumbered and repainted sometime after the BNSF-SF merger. The locomotive is an SD40-2, which is one of EMD's most popular freight locomotives ...

BNSF 9643, in BN's Executive paint scheme, leads a coal train south on the main track near MP 69 at Elsberry, MO. In July 2006, I drove along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, to Hannibal, Missouri. In a span of thirty minutes, I photographed three trains at Elsberry, Missouri. After the feast of southbound trains, I wouldn't see another train until I got to Hannibal, Missouri. BNSF 9393 (SD70ACe) is the DP unit on BNSF 9643's train at Elsberry, MO. The Hannibal Subdivision is a signal-track rail line between St. Louis, Missouri , and Burlington, Iowa. Elsberry, Missouri, is about sixty miles north of St. Louis. The town is at milepost (MP) 68.2 of the Hannibal Subdivision, and the mileposts count up from St. Louis to Burlington.  Between St. Louis and Hannibal, the rail line closely follows Missouri Highway 79. Most of the Hannibal Subdivision north of St. Louis runs across the  flat farmland  that borders the western side of the Mississippi River. ...

  Usually, when I catch I009 working at DeWitt Yard, the train is working on either the Departure Yard Lead or the controlled siding on the south side of the yard, to the north of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. Last Friday, I spotted I009-09 working the Departure Yard using the South Runner and Middle Connection track. DeWitt Yard's South Runner I009 shoves back on the South Runner and Middle Connection track into the Departure Yard.   The Souther Runner at DeWitt Yard runs lengthwise through the middle of the yard. It has the name South Runner because it runs south of the North Runner. South Runner runs between the New Lead at CP285 on the western end of the yard, and the eastern end of the Classification Yard, near the Yard Tower. The Middle Connection runs between the South Runner and the Departure Yard Lead on the east side of the I-481 overpass. CSXT 980 and CSXT 3417 are on the point of I009-09 on the South Runner. In the background is the intermodal facility and Mo...

CSXT 451 and CSXT 8907 leads M620 west on the North Runner at DeWitt Yard. M620 will head west to CP291, then head north on the St. Lawrence Subdivision.   Trains M620 and M621 are a pair of daily trains that run between Massena, New York, and Selkirk, New York, by way of Syracuse, New York. Prior to midnight on June 4, 2022, the two trains were symbolled Q620 and Q621. M620 and M621 are the only regularly scheduled through-freight trains on CSX's St. Lawrence Subdivision between Syracuse, New York, and Massena. M620 is the westbound-northbound train, and M621 is the southbound-eastbound train. The two trains are classified as manifest freight trains, but often carry a block of intermodal cars .  CSXT 3345 and CSXT 7021 lead M621 east on Track 1 of the STS at CP285. In the background, M620 is westbound. Aside from being daily trains, there is no schedule for the two trains' arrival and departure at DeWitt Yard. I've seen and heard these two trains arrive at, and depart, Syr...

  When I arrived at DeWitt Yard's western end, CSX train M367-07 was sitting on the North Runner . It was led by BNSF 7268 and CSXT 941. The orange pumpkin was a nice splash of vibrant color and a change of pace from the standard CSX blue here.  M367-07 at DeWitt Yard BNSF 7268 & CSXT 941 sit on the head end of a stopped M367-07 on the North Runner at DeWitt Yard.   Train M367 is the new symbol that took effect at midnight on June 4, 2022, and replaced the old train symbol Q367 . This prefix symbol change is another that CSX has implemented over the last nine months. The "M" stands for manifest. M367, like Q367 was, is a daily manifest freight train that originates at CSX's Selkirk Yard in Selkirk, New York. The train's final destination is Chicago, Illinois. Along the way, M367 stops at DeWitt Yard to set out and pick up freight cars. According to a friend, if you don't hear the crew call out the train's symbol, a common way to identify M367 is if you...

 Control Point (CP) 285 sits along CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision (STS) on the western end of DeWitt Yard. This end of the almost three-and-a-half-mile long yard is in East Syracuse, New York. The CP, along with CP286, controls trains on the STS, as well as trains entering and departing DeWitt Yard. A trio of CSX locomotives, including CSXT 6479, enter DeWitt Yard via the New Lead, next to MP 286. CP285, officially, per a 2004 CSX timetable, is at milepost (MP) QC 286 of the STS. Close to the center of CP285, the New York Central (NYC) concrete milepost 286 still stands on the south side of the tracks at the Bridge Street overpass. East end of CP285 CSXT 452 & CSXT 76 lead ethanol train B725-03 east on Track 2, past intermodal train I169-03 on the Departure Yard Lead.   The east side of the CP is east of Bridge Street, along East 1st Street, at MP QC 285.97, per one of the relay/control cabins. This end of the CP controls trains heading west on Track 1 and Track 2 of ...

  After catching train B727 at Memphis, New York, my youngest and I headed to Syracuse, New York, to catch CSX train Q621. Q621 was coming south on the St. Lawrence Subdivision towards Control Point (CP) 291, where it would then go east on the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. Q621 at CP291 CP291 has a wye interchange between the St. Lawrence Subdivision and the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . The CP sits on the northeast side of Destiny USA Mall. Interstate 81 (I-81) crosses over the northeastern edge of CP291, and the Syracuse Amtrak station is just northeast of I-81. The Syracuse Terminal Subdivision runs on a northeast-southwest alignment at the southern end of Onondaga Lake. The St. Lawrence Subdivision runs on a north-south alignment on the eastern side of the lake. With Onondaga Lake in the background, CSXT 891 leads Q621 onto the east leg of CP291's wye. The train will soon pass under I-81 and then pass by the Amtrak station. Train Q621  (as of June 4, 2022, M621) is a s...

  CSXT 2430 is a SD40-2 built by Electro-Motive Division (EMD) in March 1974. Built for the Louisville and Nashville Railroad (L&N), it became part of CSX through a series of mergers. After the L&N, the locomotive became Seaboard System (SBD) 1259 before becoming SBD 8163 and then CSXT 8163. CSXT 2430 is forty-eight years old but is still going strong and even features a few upgrades since being built.   CSXT 2430 works a cut of intermodal cars on the Departure Yard Lead at DeWitt Yard.   The SD40-2 series was designed and built for hauling trains over the mainline. Built from 1972 to 1989, it was one of EMD's best-selling locomotives. However, newer and more fuel-efficient locomotive designs have caused many SD40-2s to get sent to the scrapper or to serve a secondary use, such as switching duties in rail yards. The front of CSXT 2430.   CSX 2430 features a few upgrades since being built. One new feature is a remote-control system, allowing the locomotive's ...

  B727 is a loaded ethanol train that runs from Bensenville, Illinois, to Linden, New Jersey. The train is handed off from Canadian Pacific (CP) to CSX at Bensenville. Often ethanol trains like B727 continue with their run-through power . Other times the receiving railroad will swap out the delivering railroad's locomotive power for their own.  B727-30 at Memphis, NY. From the air, CP 9366 and & CP 8633 lead B727-30 east at the defect detector (MP 302.6) in Memphis, NY.   I saw this train pass by Virtual Railfan's cameras at Fairport, New York, just after 8 AM Wednesday. By the time I got out the door, I was sure I had missed my opportunity to photograph it. Luck was on my side, though not the train's crew. B727-30 stopped to allow Amtrak's Empire Service train P284 to pass it near milepost (MP) 313. Then, when B727 went to start moving again, the lead engine's prime mover wouldn't start. Talking with CSX's mechanical department in Jacksonville, Flori...

  CSXT 4554 was the lead the locomotive on CSX train Q212-16 last week on Tuesday. My youngest and I were over in Minoa, New York, and saw the train from the Green Bridge. We came upon Q212-16 as the crew was preparing to cut the locomotives from the train and run into DeWitt Yard to pick up a cut of intermodal cars. CSXT 4554, an EMD SD70MAC CSXT 4554 and Q212-17 sit on Track 1 at CP282.   CSXT 4554 is an EMD SD70MAC. The locomotive was built and delivered to CSX in January 2000 as CSXT 754. According to the Conrail Historical Society, the SD70MAC weighs 415,000 pounds and has a 4,000-horsepower rating. In late 2007, the locomotive got renumbered as CSXT 4554, due to CSX receiving a General Electric ES44AC-H numbered as CSXT 754.  Autorack train Q212-17 at DeWitt Yard Looking west at CSXT 4554 on the point of Q212-17. Q212 is stopped on Trk. 1 at CP282. To the right, the end of I009 is westbound on Add-A-Block.   Q212 runs daily from Buffalo, New York, to...