T.G.'s Photography Blog

  AMTK 717 leads P284 east at CP 285, passing the "Thank You Railroaders" sign by DeWitt Yard.    AMTK 717 , painted in the Empire Service paint scheme, leads Amtrak train 284 (P284 on CSX) east at Control Point (CP) 285 on the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. P284 is about to pass the "Thank You Railroaders" sign. CP 285 sits at Bridge Street on the western end of CSX's DeWitt Yard. Photograph taken on October 25, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

  The Lake Shore Limited, with two private rail cars behind the engines, heads east at Savannah, NY.   While driving to see what fall colors remained in Central New York, the timing worked out to photograph Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited at Savannah, New York. I caught the train as it headed east through Control Point (CP) 320 of CSX's Rochester Subdivision. CP 320 is on the eastern edge of Savannah, along the Seneca River . In addition to the train, a group of CSX maintenance of way (MoW) equipment is parked in the siding at CP 320. CSX has had crews working most of October on the Rochester Subdivision.   Today's Lake Shore Limited had the private passenger cars Hollywood Beach and Cimarron River trailing directly behind the Amtrak engines. Hollywood Beach is a former Seaboard Air Line car. Cimarron River is a former Frisco Railroad car. Photograph taken on October 28, 2022.

  CSXT 7235 leads I004-15 under the eastbound signal bridge at CP 286.   While waiting for M364-15 at East Syracuse, New York, I photographed priority intermodal train I004-15 as it passed through Control Point (CP) 286. I004 is on Track 2 and is passing under the signal bridge for the eastward absolute signals (EAS). CP 286 is part of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision and is about half of a mile west of DeWitt Yard.  Photograph taken on October 16, 2022, at East Syracuse, NY.

  CSXT 4568 leads M364-15 through the crossover from Track 1 to Track 2 at CP 286 .   CSX's latest commemorative locomotive, CSXT 4568, led manifest train M364-15 (Avon, Indiana, to Selkirk, New York) through Syracuse on Sunday. The locomotive commemorates Operation Lifesaver's 50th anniversary. CSXT 4568 was painted in the Operation Lifesaver paint scheme at CSX's shops in Huntington, West Virginia. The locomotive is a SD70MAC and was built in 2000 as CSXT 768. CSXT 4568 is eastbound at CP 286 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision at Burnet Street. Photographs taken on October 16, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

  I001 crosses Onondaga Creek at the southern edge of Onondaga Lake.   While bike riding along Onondaga Lake, I heard I001-11 call clear at CP 278 (milepost (MP) QC 278.3), which is at Sullivan, New York, just east of Kirkville, New York. I was at MP QC 292.6, so I went east to the trail along Onondaga Creek, near MP QC 292.0. After an approximately ten-minute wait, I heard I001 call clear at CP 291 (MP QC 291.5). Less than a minute later, the hot-shot intermodal train was rolling west across the creek, which empties into Onondaga Lake on the lake's southern edge. Photograph taken on October 11, 2022.

 In August 2022, I was in Memphis, New York, waiting on M367-23 when I heard Amtrak train P284-23 calling signals. M367 is a westbound manifest train, while P284 is one of Amtrak's eastbound Empire Serice trains. It sounded like they might meet close to Memphis. M367-23 in the distance at CP 300, is westbound on Track 1 of the Rochester Subdivision.   The first train to show up was M367, led by CSXT 343 and CSXT 5450. Above, M367 is passing through CP 300 at Warners, New York. Within a minute, the train was thundering through the quite hamlet of Memphis, New York. M367-23 approaches the Bennetts Corners Road crossing near milepost QC 302.5.   From the west came P284-23, led by AMTK 703 , passing alongside M367-23. Rolling at or near track speed (80 MPH), P284 passed through Memphis quickly. A short time later P284 will be arriving in Syracuse, New York , before continuing on its journey to New York City. P284 passes a string of empty BNSF grain hoppers just west of the c...

  CSXT 3365 leading M364 is about to cross Onondaga Creek.   CSX manifest train M364-25, led by CSXT 3365, is coming around the southern end of Onondaga Lake . The train is about to cross the bridge over Onondaga Creek. The bridge carries two tracks of CSX's busy Syracuse Terminal Subdivision and one track owned by the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railway (NYSW). The NYSW track is the closest track. M364 is on Track 2 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. Photograph taken on September 26, 2022.

  CSXT 3231 and I017 are westbound at Syracuse, NY. CSXT 3231 is leading CSX priority intermodal train I017 west on the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision near milepost (MP) QC 292.5 The train is coming around the curve at the southwestern edge of Onondaga Lake . This photograph was taken from the Empire State Trail bridge that crosses the tracks just north of Hiawatha Boulevard.  Photograph taken on October 6, 2022, at Syracuse, New York.

  CSXT 3294 leads I009 west at Bonta Bridge Road in Brutus, NY.   In early March this year, with winter winding down and the last bit of snow melting away in Central New York, I ventured to Brutus, New York. At Bonta Bridge Road , I caught priority intermodal train I009-10 cruising west on the Rochester Subdivision on its way to from Port Newark, New Jersey, to Bedford Park, Illinois. Beford Park is a suburb of Chicago, Illinois.    This part of Brutus, New York, is referred to as Jordan, New York, which the rear of I009 is still in. However, I009 is stretched across the Onondaga County-Cayuga County line, and the head of I009 is in Brutus, New York, which is in Cayuga County. The county line intersects with Control Point (CP) 308  to the east of Pump Road in the distance. Photograph taken on March 11, 2022, at Brutus, New York.

  I007 sits on the siding at DeWitt Yard, to the east of CP 285.   Intermodal train I007 -17 (North Bergen, New Jersey, to Rose Lake, Illinois) is stopped on the siding at DeWitt Yard, between the Departure Yard Lead (to the north) and Track 1 (to the south) of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . The intermodal cars sitting on Track 1 are part of I157-17. When this photograph was taken, I157's locomotives and some cars they picked up from the Departure Yard were pulling west of CP 285 , in order to shove back on Track 1 and pick up the rest of the train. In the background is the intermodal facility at DeWitt Yard. Photograph taken on September 17, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

A late-summer sunset reflects off the Seneca River at Liverpool, NY. This photograph is looking west across the Seneca River at Liverpool, New York . I captured this sunset last month a little over a week before the official end of summer. The sunset struck me as a sign that summer was almost over, and sure enough the temperature changed on a dime here in Central New York. One day I had the air conditioner running, and the next I had the heat on in case the house got too cold at night.