T.G.'s Photography Blog

 On muggy morning in August 2006, I was exploring along BNSF's Cuba Subdivision in Pacific, Missouri . While out that way, I happened upon one of Loram Technologies' rail grinders working its way east on the Cuba Subdivision. Loram rail grinder RG331 Many companies today offer rail grinding services to the railroad industry. In addition to Loram, Speno, Pandrol Jackson, and Harsco provide the service. But Loram is probably the most well-known of this group. According to an article in Industry Today , Loram was founded in 1954 and got into the rail grinding business back in the 1970s. LMIX RG331 is grinding the rails on BNSF's Cuba Subdivision near MP 32, at Pacific, MO. Rail grinders are essential to maintaining the life of railroad tracks. Over time the profile of the rail head is worn and develops irregulates from contact with train wheels rolling over them. Rail grinding helps to restore the rail's profile and prolongs the life of the rails, as well as the wheels of ...

BNSF 870 BNSF 870, a patched Santa Fe locomotive in the Warbonnet paint scheme, leads a freight train west on BNSF's Cuba Subdivision, at Pacific, Missouri. BNSF 870 was built as Santa Fe (ATSF) 870 in April of 1993. The locomotive is a General Electric built C40-8W. Cuba Subdivision The Cuba Subdivision runs from the western end of BNSF's Lindenwood Yard (milepost 7.2), in St. Louis, Missouri, to Springfield Yard (milepost 239.7), in Springfield, Missouri. The line was formerly owned by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railway, which was merged into the Burlington Northern Railroad. When the Burlington Northern and the Santa Fe railroads merged in 1996, the line became part of the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, which is today named the BNSF Railway. From St. Louis to Springfield, the line runs on a southwesterly directiton, into the Ozark Mountains. It closely follows Interstate 44 between the two cities. Much of the line is hilly and the maximum speed limit on ...