T.G.'s Photography Blog

In this view from Boulder Road, BNSF 9981 is the DP on a northbound empty coal train rolling onto the causeway at Boulder, IL.   BNSF's Beardstown Subdivision, which runs between West Bushnell, Illinois, and Paducah, Kentucky, crosses Carlyle Lake in Southern Illinois on a causeway. The causeway runs between the towns of Boulder, Illinois, and Keyesport, Illinois. Boulder is at the southeastern end of the causeway, and Keyesport is at the northwestern end. Keyesport is at milepost (MP) 104.5, and Boulder is at MP 108.6, approximately. The causeway is about four miles in length. Four bridges along the causeway allow boats to pass under the tracks. BNSF 9731 is the DP on an empty coal train heading north over the southernmost bridge of the causeway. Photograph taken on April 14, 2005, at Boulder, Illinois.

BNSF 9643, in BN's Executive paint scheme, leads a coal train south on the main track near MP 69 at Elsberry, MO. In July 2006, I drove along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, to Hannibal, Missouri. In a span of thirty minutes, I photographed three trains at Elsberry, Missouri. After the feast of southbound trains, I wouldn't see another train until I got to Hannibal, Missouri. BNSF 9393 (SD70ACe) is the DP unit on BNSF 9643's train at Elsberry, MO. The Hannibal Subdivision is a signal-track rail line between St. Louis, Missouri , and Burlington, Iowa. Elsberry, Missouri, is about sixty miles north of St. Louis. The town is at milepost (MP) 68.2 of the Hannibal Subdivision, and the mileposts count up from St. Louis to Burlington.  Between St. Louis and Hannibal, the rail line closely follows Missouri Highway 79. Most of the Hannibal Subdivision north of St. Louis runs across the  flat farmland  that borders the western side of the Mississippi River. ...

On December 2, 2006, St. Louis, Missouri, and much of the surrounding areas were still covered in ice and snow from a winter storm. The previous day I finished up by taking photographs along the Jefferson City Subdivision in Maplewood, Missouri, so I decided to head back there. When I arrived at Maplewood, I found the subdivision was a parking lot due to the double-track subdivision being reduced to a single-track subdivision between Webster Groves, Missouri, and Pacific, Missouri . A distance of about twenty-five miles.  UP 6066 passing a late Kansas City Mule At Maplewood, I found Amtrak's Kansas City Mule, train 311, and Union Pacific train MASNP. Both trains stopped on Track 1, with the KC Mule only a few hundred feet behind MASNP. The block signal for Track 2 at CPD007 in Maplewood was clear for an eastbound train on Track 2, so I set up to capture the train as it came east past the K.C. Mule.  UP 6606 leads a coal train east on Track 2, past a stopped KC Mule at Big Ben...

Two Wednesdays back, I was lucky enough to catch a CSX train with Kansas City Southern locomotives leading a military train through the Central New York region. As luck would have it, I was able to see and photograph another CSX train this past Wednesday with foreign power. This past Wednesday, I caught K684-14 with Illinois Central (AAR reporting mark IC) 2706 and British Columbia Railway (AAR reporting mark BCOL) 4648 on a loaded ethanol tank car train. BCOL is also known as BC Rail. CSX train K684-14 at Memphis, New York Except for a CSX signal maintainer, everything was quite on the railroad when I arrived at my usual spot at the Erie Canal Trail parking lot in Memphis, New York . The signal maintainer was working on the block signals to the west at milepost 303.5 of the Rochester Subdivision. The parking lot is off of Bennetts Corners Road, which is MP 302.54. A CSX signal maintainer's vehicle is parked to the west at the block signals at MP 303.5. I listened as the train...

 Back on October 10th, I headed over to Pottery Road, near Warners, New York, to see if I could catch a train or two on CSX's Rochester Subdivision. After waiting for half an hour or so, I heard a westbound train set off the defect detector at milepost (MP) 291.9, of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. The detector reported no defects, so I knew a train would be approaching from the east soon. Q003-10, led by CSXT 3448 and CSXT 3034 Soon I heard the roar of the train's locomotives in the distance, and then a short time later the crossing gates at Pottery Road came on and the gates came down. Around the curve came CSXT 3448 and CSXT 3034 leading priority intermodal train Q003-10. Q003 is a daily intermodal train that runs from South Kearny, New Jersey, to Bedford Park, Illinois (near Chicago).  Q003-10 rounds the curve, east of Pottery Road. Q003 carries priority domestic intermodal cargo. Today, Q003-10 wasn't losing any time, and was moving fast at Pottery Road (MP 297.76...

Union Pacific 5976 is working as the DPU on this south bound load coal train, which is crossing over the Kaskaskia River on UP's Chester Subdivision. March 3, 2006. South of Modoc, Illinois.

October 23, 2005. Berger, Missouri. Union Pacific 6510 is the distributed power unit (DPU) on a coal train heading east on the UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

August 20, 2005. Kearny, Nebraska. A distributed power unit (DPU) helps push on the end of a west bound Union Pacific train on the UP's Kearny Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

UP 5877 rolls through a "hole" in the flood wall at Modoc, IL. Union Pacific (UP) 5877 is the distributed power unit (DPU) on an empty coal train that is working a coal trans-load facility along the Mississippi River, near Modoc, Illinois. The train was backing out of the loading facility to a small storage yard just outside of the flood wall. A railroad worker was on the ground flagging the crossing as the train rolled through the opening in the flood wall. Photograph taken on February 18, 2012, at Modoc, Illinois.

Union Pacific 7311, the distributed power unit (DPU), brings up the rear of an east bound coal train, along Central Industrial Avenue, on UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. In the background is the skyline of Midtown St. Louis. Photo taken: December 16, 2007. St. Louis, Missouri.

April 8, 2005. Maplewood, Missouri. Seen here on the Jefferson City Subdivision is Union Pacific 6653, which is the distributed power unit on an east bound coal train. The train is passing through the crossovers located on the eastern edge of Maplewood. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

November 10, 2007. Paola, Kansas. BNSF 9921, BNSF 9476, and BNSF 8941 serve as the distributed power units (DPUs) on this southbound loaded coal train. The train is on the BNSF's Fort Scott Subdivision, crossing the Peoria Street crossing. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

November 8, 2007. Gascoande, Missouri. Union Pacific (UP) 8116 works as the distributed power unit (DPU) on this empty coal train heading west on the UP's Jefferson City Subdivision. The train is crossing over the Gasconade River, at Gasconade, MO. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

UP 5617 Parked on the TRRA October 31, 2006. St. Louis, Missouri. Union Pacific 5617 is lone unit on the point of a coal train that is parked on the TRRA's Merchants Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

Over, Under, in the Middle September 23, 2006. Kansas City, Missouri. Union Pacific (UP) 7197 is the distributed power unit on an east bound coal train that is rolling across the Kaw River Bridge approach, above BN Crossing. Above, an auto rack train crosses Kansas City Terminal's flyover at Santa Fe Junction, while below a BNSF coal train rolls south through BN Crossing to BNSF's Fort Scott Subdivision. Photo © Tom Gatermann.