T.G.'s Photography Blog

   At CP-282, CSXT 3261 is the rear DP on westbound intermodal train I157-05. In the background the Fremont Rd. bridge (1.4 miles to the west) is mostly obscured by the wildfire smoke.   On Tuesday, June 6th, and Wednesday, June 7th, Syracuse, New York, and the surrounding Central New York (CNY) area were blanketed with smoke from wildfires in Nova Scotia and Québec, Canada. Initially, early Tuesday morning, the air just looked to have some moderate haze and smelled of smoke. By midmorning, at times, it was difficult to see structures beyond a mile and the air at times had a yellowish cast to it.  Looking west from the  "Green Bridge" at Minoa, NY. , yellow tinted smoke surrounds CSXT 4090, which is stopped in the distance on the North Drill Track at DeWitt yard.     Compared to some parts of the Eastern US and Canada, the Syracuse area didn't get the worst of it. The Air Quality Index (AQI) considers good air quality to be in the range between 0 to 5...

With some fall colors behind it, P284-18 rounds the curve just to the east of Bridge Street.  AMTK 711 is leading Amtrak Empire Service train 284 east at CP 285 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . 284, known as P284 on CSX, is coming around the curve on Track 2 between CP 286 and CP 285. P284 runs daily from Niagara Falls, New York, to New York City.  Photograph taken on October 18, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

  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.

 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 3066 and CSXT 942 lead I009-14 west on the Departure Yard Lead at DeWitt Yard. While I waited for Amtrak Empire Service train P284 (Niagara Falls, New York, to New York, New York) to come east at DeWitt Yard, CSX intermodal train I009-14 rolled westbound on the Departure Yard Lead. I009 had just arrived at DeWitt Yard and was beginning to work the Departure Yard before continuing on west. Long trains working the Departure Yard often need to occupy part of Track 1 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision at CP285 in order to make their setouts and pickups. Led by AMTK 711, P284-15 rolls east on the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision passing by I009. I009's headend is at CP285. Photographs taken on July 15, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

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.

  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 ...

AMTK 704 leads train P284 east at MP QC298. On a dreary, rainy day, AMTK 704 leads  Empire Service Train  284 east on Track 2 of the Rochester Subdivision, at milepost (MP) QC298. The train is nearing the Pottery Road crossing, which is at MP QC297.76. The block signals in the distance are the automatic 298 block signals between CP296 and  CP300 . Out of sight, and just behind AMTK 704, is the old  New York Central MP 298  marker. Photograph taken on November 18, 2021, near Warners, 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...