About the site

This site was originally started using posts from my old Google+ profile. I was able to export the Google+ posts and import them into this blog just before Google+ was shut down in early 2019. Many of the posts on this site are still in a social media format, rather than a blog format, due to the way this site was started. This is why you will see some posts that have hashtags and very short descriptions in them. Slowly, things like that will go away as I clean the posts up.

Before I started posting on Google+, I ran my own webserver and website, running off of my home's Internet connection. If you used to follow my photography on that old website, The Web Yard (hosted at gatermannt.homeip.net), this site is its replacement.  If you choose, you can follow me by subscribing in a number of ways. You can also contact me via email.

Updated: 2022-02-25

All images/photographs are copyrighted © by Tom Gatermann. All rights reserved. Contact me. Subscribe.

Popular Posts

The "Green Bridge" over CP282 and the east side of DeWitt Yard

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The "Green Bridge" is a nickname for a pedestrian bridge in Minoa, New York. The bridge crosses over the eastern edge of CSX's DeWitt Yard and Syracuse Terminal Subdivision between North Main Street and South Main Street. There is no road crossing connecting the two streets, so the bridge allows pedestrians to cross safely over the tracks. It also gives railfans access to safely watch and photograph train movements on the eastern end of DeWitt Yard.  The "Green Bridge" at CP282 Looking at the north access ramp, as an ex-Wisconsin Central boxcar on train Q626-06 begins to roll under the Green Bridge. The Green Bridge earned its nickname because it is painted green. Though these days, the green color is faded, and reddish-brown rust seems to be more prominent. The bridge crosses directly over the top of control point (CP) 282 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. The bridge is a popular railfan hangout, even though the bridge can make photography difficult.
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CSXT 589 - Nashville National Cemetery - Madison, TN

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CSXT 589 and CSXT 7906 at Madison, TN CSXT 589 and CSXT 7906 are leading a CSX intermodal train south on CSX's Nashville Terminal Subdivision, through Nashville National Cemetery. Below, double-stack containers in well cars , on the train led by CSXT 589, cross over a short tunnel that carries a road between the two sides of Nashville National Cemetery. The Nashville Terminal Subdivision runs right through the middle of the national cemetery , on a slightly angled north-south axis. The rail line, which was here before the cemetery was founded, was originally owned by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Double stack cars at Madison, TN Nashville Terminal Subdivision The Nashville Terminal Subdivision (NTS) is a busy, double-track rail line. Both CSX's Henderson Subdivision and CSX's Mainline Subdivision feed into the Nashville Terminal Subdivision on its northern end in Madison, Tennessee. The Nashville Terminal Subdivision starts north of the ceme
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A tour of Union Pacific's De Soto carshop

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 Back in June of 2008, Union Pacific's (UP) Desoto carshop had an open house, so my dad and I headed down to DeSoto, Missouri, to take a tour of the facility. De Soto carshop The settlement of the De Soto area dates back to 1803, and the town of De Soto was later incorporated in 1869. The town's website says that the St. Louis & Iron Mountain and Southern Railroad (StLIM&S) came to the De Soto area in 1859 and built a depot for the town. However, Union Pacific's (UP) website states the railroad came to De Soto in 1857. Perhaps the two-year difference is due to when the railroad was first being built at De Soto and when it was completed. The first carshop was built by the StLIM&S Railway in 1865.  Later the StLIM&S was merged into the Missouri Pacific Railroad , which continued to expand and use the carshop. A tool chest at the UP carshop in Desoto, MO.  Today, the carshop and De Soto Subdivision, which the carshop sits along, are part of UP, which merged wit
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UP Big Boy 4006 - National Museum of Transportation

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UP Big Boy X4006 - Kirkwood, MO While I have not managed to see Union Pacific Big Boy 4014, the newly restored and running Big Boy steam locomotive, I have managed to see and photograph two other Big Boy locomotives on static display. One of the two is Union Pacific Big Boy 4006, which is on display at the National Museum of Transportation in Kirkwood, Missouri. Kirkwood, is a suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Front of UP Big Boy X4006 - Kirkwood, MO About Union Pacific Big Boy 4006 Union Pacific 4006 was built by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) in September 1941. In total, Alco built twenty-five Big Boys for the Union Pacific Railroad, with the first ones being delivered in 1941. The locomotives have a wheel arrangement of 4-8-8-4, and are articulated type steam locomotives. This means that the two sets of eight driving wheels move separately from each other, allowing the steam locomotives to navigate tighter radius curves. Overall, the locomotives and thei
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RSM Newsprint Train - Illinois Terminal Highline Bridge

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In the spring of 2004, I came across Railroad Switching Service of Missouri's (RSM) newsprint train, which delivered boxcars of newsprint to the St. Louis Post Dispatch in downtown St. Louis. This switching operation utilized the Illinois Terminal's (ITS) former Highline Bridge in North St. Louis, as well as the former ITS subway tunnel under the northern edge of downtown. I was lucky to come across this operation and capture the few images that I did because a few months after I took these images, the delivery of newsprint to the St. Louis Post Dispatch ended in June 2004. I was able to photograph the newsprint delivery operation on a couple of different days, but the following photographs are from only one of those days. RSM 2020 South of Branch Street In the first image, above, RSM 2020 (sometimes referred to as RSSM 2020) shoves a pair of empty boxcars south from Branch Street. The crew would set out the empty boxcars at the southern end of this small rail yard, a
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