T.G.'s Photography Blog

We've had snow almost continuously on the ground here in the Syracuse area since just after New Year's. The snow has melted off a bit at times, but new snow always seems to fall. The day before I took this photograph a significant amount of the snow on the ground had melted off so that one could actually see the grass in places. However, that was short lived, and more snow fell overnight and the next morning.  Looking north over the forest behind my house. With a break in the snowfall and some sunshine breaking through the clouds, I set up my drone to practice using it some more and capture the forest behind my house again. As I was sending the drone up, the sky clouded up again and snow started falling. I quickly snapped a few shots and brought the drone back down to the ground. The river seen through the trees on the left side is the Seneca River. Photograph taken on February 18, 2022, near Syracuse, New York.

 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 ...

Foreign locomotive power on CSX trains seems to have increased recently. For a short period of time last year CSX was removing as much foreign power as it could to save on repaying horsepower hours to other railroads. Over the past couple of months CSX trains on the Rochester Subdivision have had foreign power from other railroads, including BC Rail (a Candian National operated railroad), BNSF , Canadian National (CN), Canadian Pacific, Illinois Central (IC, and CN owned), Kansas City Southern , and Union Pacific (UP). Previously, for a few months CSX was pulling foreign power and replacing it with its own locomotives. X626-18 at Memphis, NY. UP 6024 is on the point of CSX train X626-18 at Memphis, NY. This past Saturday I was lucky and caught CSX train X626-18 being led by UP 6024 and UP 7834. I caught X626 as it rolled east at 40MPH on Track 2 of the CSX Rochester Subdivision, at Memphis, New York. The "X" designation means this is an extra section of train Q626 . I got th...

On Saturday, parts of the Western and Central New York regions had a snow squall blow through. The squall came through from the west to the east and only lasted about ten to fifteen minutes. It brought white-out conditions and wind gusts up to 40MPH. It hit the Syracuse area just before 10AM EST. Typical snow falling at the start of the snow squall. The snow squall started out with what I would call typical snow fall for the area. However, within minutes of the snow starting to fall the squall brought white-out conditions. The tree line of the forest is fifty feet from my vantage point. According to the National Weather Service, a snow squall is an intense snowstorm with high wind gusts that is much shorter in duration than a blizzard. They are often accompanied by a sudden drop in temperature which can cause the snow to freeze, leading to dangerous driving conditions. The snow and winds were so intense during this snow squall that the visibility of the forest behind my house, which ...

Two Wednesdays back, I was lucky enough to catch a CSX train with Kansas City Southern locomotives leading a military train through the Central New York region. As luck would have it, I was able to see and photograph another CSX train this past Wednesday with foreign power. This past Wednesday, I caught K684-14 with Illinois Central (AAR reporting mark IC) 2706 and British Columbia Railway (AAR reporting mark BCOL) 4648 on a loaded ethanol tank car train. BCOL is also known as BC Rail. CSX train K684-14 at Memphis, New York Except for a CSX signal maintainer, everything was quite on the railroad when I arrived at my usual spot at the Erie Canal Trail parking lot in Memphis, New York . The signal maintainer was working on the block signals to the west at milepost 303.5 of the Rochester Subdivision. The parking lot is off of Bennetts Corners Road, which is MP 302.54. A CSX signal maintainer's vehicle is parked to the west at the block signals at MP 303.5. I listened as the train...