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 . 

  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...

 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...

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...

With a bit of snow still on the ground from a late-November snowfall, I went to Kirkville, New York, to see what the railroad action was like . There I photographed CSX trains Q363-29 and Q368-27 on the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . CSXT 3013 leading Q363-29 CSXT 3013 leading Q363-29 west at Kirkville, NY. CSXT 822 leading Q368-27After arriving, I saw Q368-27 working on Track 4 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. I also noticed the control point (CP) signals at CP280 were on. Usually, the signals for Tracks 1 and Track 2 are not on when only a train is working on Track 4. Soon a headlight far to the east appeared, and a few minutes later train Q363-29 , led by CSXT 3013, came west on Track 1, passing alongside Q368-27. Train Q363 runs daily from Selkirk, New York, to Avon, Indiana.  CSXT 822 leads Q368 east on Track 4 at CP280 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision. Photographs taken on November 29, 2021, at Kirkville, New  York. After Q363-29 was gone, I went further e...

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.