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 ...

 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...

 While waiting for train I001-02 at the "Green Bridge," on the eastern edge of DeWitt Yard, in Minoa, New York, I spotted CSXT 4089 and another unknown CSX locomotive switching in the Local Yard. The fall colors along DeWitt Yard were at about their peak it seemed and made for a nice background to CSXT 4089. CSXT 4089 switches at the Local Yard in DeWitt Yard. While CSXT 4089 was switching, there was track work happing close by. It looked like rail replacement work was being done on one of the two stub tracks on the eastern end of the yard. These tracks are, I believe, for switching work at the yard. Track maintenance machines sit on the North Drill Lead at DeWitt Yard. Photographs taken on November 2, 2021, at Minoa, New York.