T.G.'s Photography Blog

BNSF 4779 leads a grain train north under I-255, on the Chester Subdivision at CP D009.   Back in 2006 it was common to see BNSF trackage rights trains on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision . I'm not sure if it is still the case today, as I've been away from the St. Louis area for many years now. Above, BNSF 4779 is leading this northbound grain train at Control Point (CP) D009 at Columbia, Illinois. A short while later, the train passes under CP D006's old Missouri Pacific cantilever signal bridges at UP's Dupo Yard. BNSF 4779 passes under the cantilever signal bridges at CPD006, at Dupo Yard. Photographs taken on July 23, 2006, at Columbia, IL., and Dupo, IL.

BNSF 8029 and BNSF 7788 lead CSX train G103-17 east on Track 2 at CP286 at East Syracuse, NY.   BNSF 8029 and BNSF 7788 are the locomotives on CSX grain train G103-17, an eastbound loaded grain train heading to Ayer, Massachusetts. BNSF handed the train off to CSX at Cicero, Illinois, near Chicago, Illinois. Over three days, G103 made its way from Illinois to New York. I caught the train as it rolled eastbound at CP286 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision in East Syracuse, New York. Photograph taken on June 20, 2022, at East Syracuse, New York.

  A trio of Union Pacific locomotives, led by 8909, lead a grain train through the cemetery. Union Pacific (UP) 8909, UP 8125, and an unknown UP locomotive are on the point of a northbound CSX grain train at Nashville Nation Cemetery. The train is passing under the Walton Lane overpass , which is on the southern edge of the cemetery.  The rail line here is CSX's Nashville Terminal Subdivision, and it runs through the middle of the national cemetery, on a slightly tilted north-south axis. The cemetery is located in the city of Madison, Tennessee, on the northern edge of Nashville. The subdivision connects to CSX's Henderson Subdivision and CSX's Main Line Subdivision a few miles north of the cemetery. Trains to and from the Chicago area use the Henderson Subdivision, while trains heading to or coming from Louisville, Kentucky, and Cincinnati, Ohio use the Main Line subdivision. Photograph taken on April 1, 2016 at Madison, TN.

UP 8404 at Chalfin Bridge, IL UP 8404 (an EMD SD70ACe) leads a grain train north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Milepost 26, in the flat farm lands of the Mississippi River valley in Southern Illinois. The train is between Chalfin Bridge, Illinois, to the south, and Valmeyer, Illinois, to the north. Chester Subdivision The Chester Subdivision runs between Valley Junction (Milepost 0) in East. St. Louis, Illinois, to Charleston Junction (Milepost 171.9) in Dexter, Missouri. Much of the rail line in Illinois runs through a wide open and flat landscape, which often allows for showing the entirety of the trains running on the line. For a point of reference in regards to distance in this photograph, the white tower to the left of the train is about two miles (3.2 km) away.  Photo taken: August 13, 2006, just north of Chalfin Bridge, Illinois.

BNSF 7826 is on the point of a parked grain train sitting next to State Street, on which a tumbleweed is slowly rolling down. These tracks are owned by the Terminal Railroad Association (TRRA), and are just north of the TRRA's Madison Yard. Behind BNSF 7826 is an ex-Santa Fe Warbonnet painted locomotive. Here is another image of this same train a bit more from the side showing the ex-Santa Fe locomotive. Photo taken on: November 25, 2011, at Madison, Illinois.

BNSF 7826 - Madison, IL A grain train, lead by BNSF 7826 and an unknown BNSF unit (in a rapidly fading Santa Fe Warbonnet paint scheme), is seen here sitting along State Street. The train is sitting on TRRA tracks, just north of TRRA's Madison Yard. Here is another image of this same train, taken from a an almost-straight-on perspective. Photo taken on: November 25, 2011, at Madison, Illinois.

Union Pacific 5561 waits on UP's Springfield Subdivision , near S. 19th Street, with the Gateway Arch in the background. The train was waiting for clearance to proceed east to Valley Junction , where it would take an interchange track and roll onto the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision to head south.Valley Junction is a major junction in the St. Louis area. Photo taken: November 3, 2006. East St. Louis, Illinois.

An end of train (EOT) device (commonly called a FRED) hangs on the end of a  CSX grain train, as the train rolls south on the Henderson Subdivision at Adams, TN. Photo taken: May 1, 2011, at Adams, Tennessee.

May 1, 2011. Adams, Tennessee. On a wet and cloudy Sunday morning, CSXT 8160 and CSXT 7864 lead a grain train south on CSX's Henderson Subdivision, just outside Adams, Tennessee.

BNSF 4669 Using trackage rights, BNSF 4669 leads leads a BNSF grain train north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision . The train has just crossed over the Kaskaskia River , to the south, and is rolling past the Flinton Station Road crossing. The train is heading toward the St. Louis rail gateway. Flinton Station is approximately fifty miles, by rail, from the St. Louis area. Photograph taken: March 3, 2006, at Modoc, Illinois.

KCS 2016 - UP KC Metro Subdivision Kansas City Southern 2016 (a GE AC44CW) leads a train of covered hoppers west on Union Pacific's KC Metro Subdivision , as a BNSF freight train rolls across the southern approach to the Hannibal Bridge . In the background is the ASB (Amour-Swift-Burlington) Bridge which is also a railroad bridge. Both the Hannibal Bridge and the ASB Bridge cross over the Missouri River between Kansas City, Missouri, and North Kansas City, Missouri. Both bridges are owned by the BNSF Railway. The ASB Bridge is a lift-span bridge, while the Hannibal Bridge is a swing-span bridge. Photo taken: May 26, 2004. Kansas City, Missouri.

UP 5087 - Birmingham Junction - Birmingham, MO Early on a rainy morning, Union Pacific 5087 and a Norfolk Southern locomotive lead a covered hopper train north past the block signals on the joint Union Pacific-Illinois, Chicago, & Eastern (formerly I&M Rail Link) mainline at Birmingham Junction . The train had crossed over the Missouri River on the Trueman Lift Bridge shortly before this photograph was taken. The top of the bridge can be seen far back in the distance. The train is nearing the diamond crossings with the joint BNSF-Norfolk Southern main line . The Joint Line Today, this line is jointly operated by Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific. Canadian Pacific took over the Illinois, Chicago, and Eastern (IC&E) Railroad in 2008. The IC&E Railroad purchased the I&M Rail Link in 2002, and the I&M Rail Link had purchased it from the Canadian Pacific in 1997. Therefore, Canadian Pacific's ownership of this line has come full circle. Photo taken:...