T.G.'s Photography Blog

 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...

An end-of-train (EOT) device , commonly called a "FRED" (flashing-rear-end-device hangs on the end of a southbound train traveling on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision. For those who may not know, these devices are what replaced railway cabooses. They transmit information about the train, such as air brake pressure, to the locomotive, where the crew can see the information. With the wide openness of the land along the Chester Subdivision in this area photograph can capture both the front and end of the trains here in a single image. Photo taken: November 6, 2005. Chalfin Bridge, Illinois. Photo © Tom Gatermann.

On the point of this tank car train is First Union Rail (FURX) 3042, with an ex-Conrail unit. The train is heading north on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision at Chalfin Bridge, IL . This curve at Chalfin Bridge is a popular spot, at least to me, along the Chester Subdivision, due to the rest of the subdivision being very straight between here and Dupo, IL. (Dupo is approximately twenty-three miles to the north of here). Counting this curve, there are three curves in the rail line between Chalfin Bridge and Dupo. If you take a look at this map at Open Railway Map , you can see that long portions of the Chester Subdivision stretch for miles without a curve. The rail line is also very flat, since it runs through the Mississippi River Valley, through southern Illinois. Update (2019-10-31): First Union Rail was a locomotive and rail car leasing company. In 2015, FURX was purchased by Wells Fargo, and was renamed Wells Fargo Rail. Photo taken: November 12, 2005, at Chalf...

With the light of another fall day coming to a close, an empty BNSF iron ore train sits on Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision, near Chalfin Bridge, IL . The Chester Subdivision is double-tracked, but this northbound train had to wait for three or four other northbound trains to clear the line ahead of it, while a parade of southbound trains passed it on the other track. Once the rail line was cleared ahead this train then proceeded north into the St. Louis railroad gateway. Photo taken: November 6, 2005, near Chalfin Bridge, Illinois.

UP 4685 leads a manifest freight train north on the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision, through the flat farm lands of the Mississippi River plains in Southern Illinois. Photo taken: November 12, 2005, north of Chalfin Bridge, IL.

August 23, 2005. Southeast of Wright, WY. In this image the entire length of a Union Pacific coal train can be seen, as it rolls north on the BNSF's Orin Subdivision in the Powder River Coal Basin. The lead locomotives are just over the slight hump near the two block signals in the far distance. This was taken alongside Hilight Road, somewhere between Hwy 450 and Edwards/Reno Road. Photo © Tom Gatermann

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.

An all box car train rolls north on the Union Pacific's Chester Subdivision. It seems that it is a rare sight to see a train made up entirely of box cars these days, and maybe even rarer to capture the whole train in a single photograph. Photo taken: November 6, 2005, at Valmeyer, Illinois.