T.G.'s Photography Blog

After catching train I009-02 with my drone over at Brutus, New York, my youngest and I wound up at the Erie Canal Trail parking lot in Memphis, New York. We wound up there because the youngest fell asleep while driving and experience has shown me that it's best to just let the little one sleep in the car. Experience has also shown me that trains rumbling by at track speed will not wake the little one.  So, while the youngest slept, I waited for a few trains. First up, intermodal train I004-02, led by CSXT 3393 A short time after arriving, I heard CSX train I004-02's crew calling out signals as the train rolled east along CSX's Rochester Subdivision.  A short time before I004-02 arrived, I heard Amtrak's Maple Leaf crew call out a clear at milepost 294. Memphis, New York, is at MP 302.6 . I began to wonder if somehow, I might capture a meeting of the two trains as they passed my location.  Led by CSXT 3393, CSX train I004-02 kicks up a cloud of snow at Memphis, NY. Led...

A few Sundays back, I was over at Memphis, New York , waiting for a train or two. Shortly after arriving, I heard Amtrak's Maple Leaf (train P063) get the okay from the CSX defect detector at milepost 291.9 in Syracuse, New York. Memphis is at milepost 302.6, just under eleven miles away, so it wouldn't be long before the Maple Leaf showed up. Led by AMTK 717, the Maple Leaf rolls west on the Rochester Subdivision at Memphis, NY. Just under ten minutes later, I saw the headlight of AMTK 717, a General Electric P32AC-DM , appear over the tracks just beyond the Warners Road overpass (milepost 300.10) in the far distance. The Maple Leaf was heading west on Track 1 of the CSX Rochester Subdivision and was kicking up a bit of snow as it hustled through town at 77MPH/124KPH. Its next station stop would be Rochester, New York. Then on to the New York cites of DePew, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls. Photograph taken on February 6, 2022, at Memphis, New York.

The CSX Syracuse Terminal Subdivision   The Syracuse Terminal Subdivision was formed from the western end of the CSX Mohawk Subdivision in January 2011. The Syracuse Terminal Subdivision starts at Control Point (CP) 263 (milepost QC 263.8) in Oneida, New York. It then goes west to CP296 (MP QC 296.8) at Airport Road, to the west of Solvay, New York. The Mohawk Subdivision now ends at the westbound absolute signals (WAS) of CP263, since CP263 is part of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. On the western end, the STS meets the CSX Rochester Subdivision and ends at the westbound absolute signals. CP296 is part of the Rochester Subdivision. Both the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision and the Rochester Subdivision are controlled by CSX's NF dispatcher in Jacksonville, Florida. Auto 280/CP280 On October 2, 2021, I caught AMTK 711 leading train P063 at Auto 280/CP280 (MP QC 280.5), along the three-track segment of the subdivision. Auto 280/CP280 sits along Saintsville Road in Kirkville, New Yo...