T.G.'s Photography Blog

  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...

Canadian National (CN) 3115 and CN 2830 made some appearances on CSX's Water Level Route across New York in April 2022. I was able to see and photograph the locomotives leading trains Q212-22 and Q212-27 last month. Train Q212 is a daily autorack/intermodal train. The train runs from Frontier Yard in Buffalo, New York, to Oak Island, New Jersey. Between Buffalo and Syracuse Q212's train consists of only autorack cars. At DeWitt Yard in Syracuse the train picks up a set of intermodal cars.  CN 3115 and CN 2830 at DeWitt Yard CN 3115 and Q212-27 are stopped on Track 1 at CP282's eastward absolute signal (EAS). Just like when I caught Q212-22 , Q212-27 stopped on Track 1 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision at  CP282  so that the crew could cut the engines off and run lite into the yard. Depending on congestion in the yard and on the mainlines, Q212 will make this move and leave the autorack cars on Track 1 while picking up the cut of intermodal cars. Running lite,...

 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 w...

UP 4990 - Maplewood, MO Union Pacific (UP) 4990 leads a westbound freight on UP's Jefferson City Subdivision . The train is rounding the curve along Greenwood Boulevard, at Sutton Avenue. From here the train will continue across Missouri toward the Kansas City area. Photo taken on: October 8, 2006, at Maplewood, Missouri.

Autorack car in motion - Kirkwood, MO I decided to play around with some of the motion filters in PhotoShop. This is an old autorack car on display at the Museum of Transportation . I just wanted to see if I could give the image the illusion of the rail car rolling along. Photo taken: August 25, 2012, at Kirkwood, Missouri.

Autoracks - Maplewood, MO Autorack cars on a westbound Union Pacific train enter the curve along Greenwood Blvd., near the Sutton Blvd. crossing, on UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. In the distance one of the signals can be seen for the crossovers at Control Point D007 (mile post 6.9) on the subdivision. The train was only just beginning it trek across the state of Missouri from St. Louis to Kansas City. The Jefferson City Subdivision runs from Gratiot Interlocking, near downtown St. Louis, to River Junction, in Jefferson City, MO. Once the train gets to Jefferson City, MO. it would take UP's Sedalia Subdivision onward to Kansas City. Photo taken: October 18, 2005. Maplewood, Missouri.

BNSF 856 - Gooseneck - Kansas City, MO BNSF 856 leads a train off the Hannibal Bridge, and into the Gooseneck, as another train heads north out of the Gooseneck and onto the Hannibal Bridge. The Gooseneck is a short section of track, with tight curves that leads from the Hannibal Bridge to the West Bottoms . Not seen in the photograph is the Union Pacific's KC Metro Subdivision , which runs under the southern approach to the Hannibal Bridge, next to the Missouri River, about where the third autorack car is on BNSF 856's train. Gooseneck BNSF 856's train is entering the Gooseneck on Main 2 of BNSF's St. Joseph Subdivision, while the other train is on Main 1. The St. Joseph Subdivision's southern end is just ahead of BNSF 856, at the southern end of the Gooseneck. The Gooseneck itself is only about 2,000 feet long, when measuring from the southern end of the Hannibal Bridge to the Interstate 70 overpass to the south of here. The Hannibal Bridge and the ...

UP 5411 - Knox Avenue - St. Louis, MO Union Pacific 5411 sits on the point of an eastbound autorack train at Knox Avenue that is waiting for clearance to proceed east on Union Pacific's Jefferson City Subdivision, toward Grand Interlocking . The train had just gotten the signal to proceed east toward the interlocking. From Grand Interlocking the train would continue on to Gratiot Interlocking, and then across the MacArthur Bridge from Missouri to Illinois. If my memory serves me right, I believe this train was destined for Alton & Southern's Gateway Yard in East St. Louis, Illinois. Photo taken: February 26, 2006. St. Louis, Missouri.

NS 5806 - Brooklyn District - Raymond, IL Norfolk Southern 5806 (an EMD GP38-3) leads an autorack train south on Norfolk Southern's Brooklyn District . This Brooklyn District is a single track mainline with sidings that runs between Decatur, Illinois, to the north, and the St. Louis, Missouri, area to the south. Photo taken: April 30, 2005. Raymond, Illinois.