T.G.'s Photography Blog

CSXT 3461 leads I017-21 west on Track 2 at Auto 280. Auto 280 sits along Saintsville Rd. in Kirkville, NY. I017 is a priority intermodal train that passes through the Syracuse, New York, area on its journey from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Bedford Park, Illinois. The train doesn't stop to work at DeWitt Yard in Syracuse, and often uses Track 2 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision to bypass the congestion of trains entering or leaving DeWitt Yard via Track 1. DeWitt Yard is two miles to the west (to the left) of Auto 280 and CP 280 . 

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.

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,...

  At milepost 280.5 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision (STS) is control point (CP) 280 and the automatic (auto) 280 block signals. CP 280 is a semi control point and only controls Track 4. Track 1 and Track 2 are governed by auto block signals. The block signals for CP 280 and Auto 280 sit along Saintsville Road, about half a mile west of the North Kirkville Road crossing (MP280.7) in Kirkville, New York. What is a control point?   CPs are locations on a railroad where a railroad dispatcher's instructions are remotely sent to the CP to control train movements. The signaling system's logic implements the dispatcher's instructions in the field and determines what aspects the control point signals show. These instructions set a train's route and give instructions to the crew, such as the permissible speed. An automatic/intermediate block signal is different because they are only governed by track conditions within the automatic signal's block of track and the n...

Priority intermodal train I001 is a once-a-week train that runs from North Bergen, New Jersey, to Bedford Park, Illinois. I001 and its counterpart I002 are probably the highest priority trains on CSX, due to them carry high priority UPS trailers and containers. I001-29 at CP280 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision Last Tuesday, I was at Kirkville, New York, to see what the view of CP280 was like from Brewer Road. Shortly after arriving at where Brewer Road dead-ends at the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, I saw the crossing lights at North Kirkville Road begin to flash. Looking to the east, beyond the crossing, I saw the headlight of CSXT 3185 peaking above the crest of the small hill near the crossing. I001-29 wasn't wasting any time as it hustled west on Track 2 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, doing close to fifty miles per hour.  Looking east, from Brewer Rd., as I001-29 splits the automatic signals for Track 2 and Track 1. CP280 is a "semi" control point. The onl...

 The American Robin has become much more visible over the last month now that the spring thaw is well underway. I've seen many flitting about from tree branch to tree branch in the forest behind my house . As well as scurrying around on the lawn foraging for food. While, I haven't been able to capture a photograph of one yet near my home, I did manage to capture some photographs of a robin while over in Kirkville, New York, earlier this week. American Robin While I was in Kirkville, New York, photographing trains , I happened upon this robin perched in a nearby tree eating what looks to be a small flower or flower bud from a sumac seed head (thanks, to Jim, for his comment below identifying the sumac seed). Cornell University's All About Birds website states that in the fall and winter robins eat a lot of fruit and seeds. In the warmer months the robins forage for worms in the ground. An American Robin perched in a tree at Kirkville, NY. According to the All About Birds we...

 CSX Q561 is a manifest freight train that originates at Selkirk, New York, and terminates at Cincinnati, Ohio. During the train's journey, it stops in Syracuse, New York, to work at DeWitt Yard.  CSXT 524 leading Q561-29 at CP280 and Auto 280 Control point (CP) 280 sits at milepost (MP) 280.5 of CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, along Saintsville Road in Kirkville, New York. The CP is about a half of a mile west of North Kirkville Road. The subdivision here has three tracks. Track 2 is the southernmost track, Track 1 is the middle track, and Track 4 is the northernmost track. Track 4 is the only track controlled by a CP signal. The block signals for tracks 1 and 2 are intermediate/automatic signals. The CP signal is constantly lit, and the automatic signals are approach lit when a train enters the block. CSXT 524, CSXT 5439, CSXT 9010, CSXT 9051, CSXT 7790, and CSXT 9039 on Q561-29 at CP280/Auto 280.  Q561-29 was heading west on Track 4, which leads directly into DeWi...

 Yesterday, the youngest and I went to Kirkville, New York, to catch a couple of trains on CSX's Syracuse Terminal Subdivision (STS). After photographing Amtrak train P284 from alongside Saintsville Road, we headed to Brewer Road, where it dead-ends at the tracks on the north side. KCSM on B725-23 at Auto 280 As we drove down Brewer Road toward Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, loaded ethanol train B725-23 rolled east in front of us. B725-23 was interesting because it had Canadian Pacific (CP) 8947 leading and Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) 4763 as the end-of-train DP unit. B725-23 was handed off to CSX from CP at Bensenville, Illinois. Its destination is Sewaren, New Jersey. I honestly thought that B725-23 was long gone from the Syracuse, New York area and that I had missed it. KCSM 4763 is the end-of-train DP unit on B725-23 at Auto 280/CP280 of the STS. Having missed the lead CP unit, I quickly grabbed my camera and set it up to capture KCSM 4763 as it passed through the A...

Early on December 22, 2021, the Syracuse, New York, area had snow flurries falling, heavily at times. There wasn't much snow accumulating on the ground, but there were enough flurries falling that I thought they would make for an interesting photograph with a train. I017 at Auto 280 My youngest and I went to Kirksville, New York, and as I drove east on Saintsville Road, I saw the headlight of priority intermodal train I017-22. The train was to the east of the Kirksville Road North crossing, which is a half of a mile east of Automatic 280/Control Point (CP) 280  (milepost 280.5). CP280 is a semi-CP. That means that only some of the tracks are governed by the CP. Tracks 1 and 2 are controlled by Automatic block signals. I017, with CSXT 833 and CSXT 473, rolls east on Track 2 through Auto 280, next to CP280. Train I017 runs daily from Worcester, Massachusetts, to Bedford Park, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. With CSXT 833 and CSXT 473 leading, plus mid-train distributed power unit...

CSXT 3152 leading Q363-07 along Saintsville Road, nearing Auto 280/CP 280.  CSXT 3152 leads manifest freight train Q363-07 west along Saintsville Road, at Kirkville, New York. Q363-07 is eastbound on Track 2 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision, nearing Auto 280/CP280 (milepost (MP) QC280.5). The train is two miles from CSX's DeWitt Yard. The eastern edge of DeWitt Yard  is at MP QC282.5. In the distance a van waits at the Kirkville Road North railroad crossing, which is just east of MP QC280. Q363 is a daily manifest train that originates in Selkirk, New York, and its destination is Avon, Indiana. This train doesn't stop to work DeWitt Yard, but from what I've read online, it does stop to work Frontier Yard, in Buffalo, New York; CSX's yard in Ashtabula, Ohio; Collinwood Yard, in Cleveland, Ohio; the yard at Crestline, Ohio. Photograph taken on November 7, 2021, at Kirkville, New York.