T.G.'s Photography Blog

CSXT 3191 leads I020-23 eastward through the rain and fog at East Syracuse, NY., on Christmas Eve.  No white Christmas for Syracuse, NY., this year. The closest the area got was rain and fog on Christmas Eve. Here, CSXT 3191 leads priority intermodal train I020 (Bedford Park, IL., to Worchester, MA.) east through rain and fog at East Syracuse, NY. The train is passing through CP-286 of the Syracuse Terminal Subdivision . I020 would cross from Track 2 to the North Runner and head into CSX's DeWitt Yard . Photograph taken on December 24, 2023.

Q621, led by CSXT 3408, comes around the curve along Railroad Street.   In June, CSX manifest train Q621-02 came south on CSX's St. Lawrence Subdivision with CSXT 3408 leading. Q621-02 was the second-to-last Q621 to carry the Q prefix. On June 4, 2022, CSX changed the prefix for manifest trains to M.  Photograph taken on June 3, 2004, at Liverpool, New York.

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 . 

BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 are southbound at the riverfront at Hannibal, MO. After making my way north along BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision from St. Louis, Missouri, I arrived at the subdivision's namesake town of Hannibal, Missouri. From the lookout atop Lovers' Leap, I spotted BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 leading a manifest freight south through the riverfront, along the Mississippi River. BNSF 816 and BNSF 751 with the Mississippi River in the background. In the background are the I-72 bridge and Norfolk Southern's lift bridge. Hannibal, Missouri, has two railroads that run through it. In addition to BNSF, Norfolk Southern's (NS) Springfield-Hannibal District crosses the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois. BNSF's Hannibal Subdivision crosses NS' Springfield-Hannibal District at a diamond crossing on the western side of the lift bridge. Going west from the diamond, the Hannibal District curves through a tunnel and rock-cut to the south before paralleling th...

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.

 After a nine-hour chase from Claremore, Oklahoma, to Kansas City, Missouri, Union Pacific's (UP) steam locomotive 844 arrived at Kansas City in the late afternoon of May 28, 2006. The train arrived at Union Station by way of Kansas City Terminal's (KCT) trackage from Sheffield Tower to Union Station. UP 844's arrival at Union Station UP 844 is westbound on KCT Main 4 between Main St. and Broadway Blvd. Sheffield Tower (also known as Sheffield Junction or Control Point (CP) Sheffield) is where UP's KC Metro Subdivision interchanges with and crosses over the Kansas City Terminal's tracks. As well as some trackage belonging to Kansas City Southern and BNSF. UP's Coffeyville Subdivision ends/begins a few miles to the south of Sheffield, and the KC Metro Subdivision connects it with the KCT tracks. UP 844 and the SCEHT are west bound at KCT milepost 7.0, next to Union Station. The famous Western Auto sign is in the background. From Sheffield Tower, UP 844 pulled th...

 A railroad speeder is a small maintenance of way (MoW) vehicle that is used by track crews and inspectors to quickly move along railroad tracks. The speeder has been largely replaced by high rail vehicles. However, some smaller railroad operations, such as the Georgetown Loop Railroad (GLRR) still use them. Even railroad hobbyists collect and restore  (external link) them for operation. Morning track inspection While driving east on I-70 toward Georgetown, Colorado, my wife and I stopped to take in the view from the Georgetown Overlook Pull-out. As we took in the view of the Rockey Mountains GLRR's MoW speeder came around the loop to the southwest of Devil's Gate Station . Before the day's train excursions, track inspection had to being done. GLRR's speeder pushes a trailer car around the loop located to the southwest of Devil's Gate. Fairmont railroad speeder According to the GLRR's website, the speeder is a Fairmont A4 model, and it originally operated on the...

 On Memorial Day Weekend in 2007, I was in Kansas City, Missouri, visiting friends. While visiting, one of my friends and I ventured out to the West Bottoms of Kansas City for a photography outing. There we happened upon a northbound BNSF train hauling newly built Boeing 737 fuselages. The Boeing 737 fuselages The fuselages on this train are B737 Next Generation (NG) models. The B737 NG was first produced in 1996.  Boeing's 737 fuselages are built at Spirit AeroSystems' (SA) plant in Wichita, Kansas. According to SA's website, the company was founded when Boeing sold its Wichita plant to SA in 2005. SA then continued building fuselages at the plant for Boeing. After the fuselages are built by SA they take a train ride to Boeing's assembly plant at Renton, Washington. Looking south toward the 12th Street viaduc t, as the Boeing train rolls north through the West Bottoms. Route of the fuselages BNSF uses specially modified flatcars, like the ones seen in the photographs h...

After catching train I009-02 with my drone over at Brutus, New York, my youngest and I wound up at the Erie Canal Trail parking lot in Memphis, New York. We wound up there because the youngest fell asleep while driving and experience has shown me that it's best to just let the little one sleep in the car. Experience has also shown me that trains rumbling by at track speed will not wake the little one.  So, while the youngest slept, I waited for a few trains. First up, intermodal train I004-02, led by CSXT 3393 A short time after arriving, I heard CSX train I004-02's crew calling out signals as the train rolled east along CSX's Rochester Subdivision.  A short time before I004-02 arrived, I heard Amtrak's Maple Leaf crew call out a clear at milepost 294. Memphis, New York, is at MP 302.6 . I began to wonder if somehow, I might capture a meeting of the two trains as they passed my location.  Led by CSXT 3393, CSX train I004-02 kicks up a cloud of snow at Memphis, NY. Led...

 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...

 Last Saturday, after catching CSX train X626-18  led by Union Pacific locomotives at Memphis, New York, I caught CSX intermodal train I004-18 further to the east at Warners, New York.  I004-18 eastbound at Warners, NY. CSXT 3087 leading I004-18 east of CP300 at Warners, NY. Above, I004-18 is eastbound on Track 2 of the Rochester Subdivision and is cresting a small hill. This spot is just to the east of control point (CP) 300 (milepost (MP) QC 300.7), near Warners Road. Through the trees and brush on the right side of the photograph you can see a red signal on one of the westbound control point block signals . The westbound signals are about 3,100 feet from me.  The old NYC milepost 300 still stands about 500 feet east of Warners Road. Across the tracks and about 300 feet east of my position is the old New York Central milepost for mile 300. The Rochester Subdivision was once part of the NYC's Water Level Route. The miles on the Rochester Subdivision count up going ...

A few Sundays back, I was over at Memphis, New York , waiting for a train or two. Shortly after arriving, I heard Amtrak's Maple Leaf (train P063) get the okay from the CSX defect detector at milepost 291.9 in Syracuse, New York. Memphis is at milepost 302.6, just under eleven miles away, so it wouldn't be long before the Maple Leaf showed up. Led by AMTK 717, the Maple Leaf rolls west on the Rochester Subdivision at Memphis, NY. Just under ten minutes later, I saw the headlight of AMTK 717, a General Electric P32AC-DM , appear over the tracks just beyond the Warners Road overpass (milepost 300.10) in the far distance. The Maple Leaf was heading west on Track 1 of the CSX Rochester Subdivision and was kicking up a bit of snow as it hustled through town at 77MPH/124KPH. Its next station stop would be Rochester, New York. Then on to the New York cites of DePew, Buffalo, and Niagara Falls. Photograph taken on February 6, 2022, at Memphis, New York.

Recently, CSX and Kansas City Southern (KCS) have been moving some equipment of the 10th Mountain Division back home to Fort Drum, New York. Over the first two weeks of February, five trains carrying military equipment have made their way through the Central New York area. All five of the trains going to Fort Drum have been led by Kansas City Southern and  Kansas City Southern de Mexico  locomotives. Since foreign power on CSX's Rochester Subdivision is rarer now than in the past, I headed out last Wednesday to catch the fourth train. KCSM 4879 & KCS 4053 lead W810-03 at MP 298, at Warners, NY. The trains were reported to be moving equipment back to Fort Drum, from Fort Polk, Louisiana. They traveled over the KCS from Fort Polk, Louisiana, north to Kansas City (KC), Missouri. Then, from KC the trains head east over the KCS to Rose Lake, Illinois, just north of East St. Louis, Illinois . From Rose Lake the trains continued northeast on CSX through Indianapolis, Indiana; ...

 Back in May of 2014, my dad and I followed Canadian National's (reporting mark CN) Centralia Subdivision south through central and southern Illinois. After driving south to Makanda, Illinois, we wound up chasing a manifest freight train, led by CN 2110 and CN 2593, back north to Irvington, Illinois.  CN Centralia Subdivision The Centralia Subdivision runs between Sandoval Junction (milepost 247.2), at Sandoval, Illinois, to the station name of Illinois (milepost 263.1) at Cairo, Illinois. Sandoval is about six miles north of Centralia, and Centralia is about 60 miles due east of St. Louis, Missouri. Cairo is the southernmost town in Illinois and sits at the confluence of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. The Centralia Subdivision was once a part of the Illinois Central Railroad (reporting mark IC) and became part of Canadian National when CN purchased the IC in 1998. The subdivision is part of the CN (ex-IC) mainline running between Chicago, Illinois , to New Orleans, Lo...

Back in April of 2008, I was able to photograph Union Pacific's (UP) heritage locomotive, UP 1995. UP 1995 was leading train MNLAS-22, a manifest train from North Little Rock, Arkansas, to the Alton & Southern's Gateway Yard, in East St. Louis, Illinois. The train originated at North Little Rock on April 22, 2008, and arrived at Gateway Yard on April 23, 2008. UP 1995 and UP 9419 lead train MNLAS-22, north of Fults, IL. I first caught train MNLAS-22 just to the north of Fults, Illinois, as it rolled north on UP's Chester Subdivision. At the location of the photographs above and below the train was about halfway between Fults and Chalfin Bridge, Illinois. The Chester Subdivision runs from Dexter, Missouri, to East St. Louis, Illinois. In Illinois, the line runs across the flat farmland that lies to the east of the Mississippi River. In the photographs taken north of Fults, Illinois, the distance between the spot the photographs were taken to the river bluffs in the backg...