SimRacin14's Railfanning/Road Trip thread

Since I don't want to start eleventy billion(not a real number) threads on every single trip I take,I figure it's a better idea to start a single thread for everything I photograph. Hope this is ok with everyone,I'll try to update it often.

 

8/30/10
I had Monday off from work,and seeing how it'd be a four day stretch before my next day off(and hopefully vacation!),I decided I'd go railfanning for the day. I also needed to get prepared for roasting out in hot weather all day seeing as I'm due to head out to another race on Labor Day over in Illinois. My scanner had some activity on it just before I left the house,so I hurried on over to what seems like my favorite spot on CSX's Main Line Subdivision, Glendale.


Q275-30 was the first southbound through.

Q211-30 came through about a half-hour or so later. Typically this was an afternoon train,but it's been moved over to a morning run the past week or so.

My plan had been to sit in Glendale for most of the day,just to take it easy on me and my truck(it's due for maintenance) , but after a quick trip down to Bonnieville(about 10 miles south of Glendale) and back,I heard activity over on the Paducah & Louisville. It turned out that LG130 had already departed Kosmosdale and was heading south. Typically this train runs in the late afternoon,making the lighting very tricky. However they had stopped at milepost 49 due to the doors on the bottom of a hopper hanging open,fortunately the hopper was empty. After they got going again,I headed down to Big Clifty(MP 61) in hopes of catching them. When I arrived in Big Clifty,I got another pleasant surprise, LG230 was heading north,and it was waiting at the siding for LG130 to enter. Typically these runs happen after dark,so to luck into two runs was very nice.

LG130 had three big SD90s on the point:

PAL has four of them,total,I think.

I attempted to film a meet between the two trains but wasn't able to get in the right spot,as LG130 crossed my camera's frame before LG230 got there. I headed back north to Cecilia to wait on LG230.

It arrived after a brief wait:

Six engines on the front,and two on the rear.

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lp4cJ-BubyY

 

LG230 again

LG230 had a few of the oddball paint schemes on the PAL.

One is GMTX 2628

The other is PAL 2129.

I still haven't lucked into getting their UofL paint scheme yet.

J768 rolled through Glendale just as I arrived in town, so I was unable to catch it. After getting something to drink,I headed back to Glendale to wait some more. Eventually Q220 came north,and Q235 came south.



Q574 also came north,much later than its usual noon-time run through Glendale.

After Q574 came through,I heard some more activity on the PAL. I headed over to Cecilia once again. No later than 30 seconds after I arrived, a southbound coal train came rolling through,but I had no time to set up my cameras,unfortunately. After heading back to Glendale,and missing Q201 in the process,I went home. Still wasn't a bad day,but I found out that Q573 had one of CSX's Diversity in Motion paint schemes on it,though it rolled through Glendale well after sunset.

When I head over to Illinois on Labor Day weekend,I have a few cabooses in mind I'd like to get,and I will try to take a lap or two around the big locomotive facility in Mount Vernon(I say lap because it appears that public roads circle the place)...so hopefully I'll have some more interesting photos shortly.

 

That is what I did with the Out & About thread. I use it for my railfanning adventures outside of my home state. It seems to work pretty good. BTW - Great shots!!

Ben

 

Spent most of Labor Day weekend in Southern Illinois, went to the Du Quoin State Fair to take photos at the ARCA race:


Also did a "lap" around the locomotive facility in Mount Vernon. I was going to get my friend to take pictures with my camera(I was doing the driving), but he took them with his instead, so I'll have to wait a few days before I can get them and post them here. Saw quite a few NREX locomotives, a few odd ball items, CSX #8679 in Conrail paint and a former L&N hopper.

On the way home from the race Sunday I photographed the caboose and depot in Grayville,IL


Illinois Central #9445

Grayville,IL Depot

 

Finally got my pics up from Mount Vernon from a few weeks ago.


A switcher at the National Locomotive Works in Mount Vernon.

Several old engines sitting at the shops.

CSX #8679, former Conrail. With the repaints going on, I wonder if this will be one of the last few ex-Con's out there, even though it has been retired.

Another NREX engine.

 

There were quite a few of these sitting at the shops in Mount Vernon.

While this hopper belongs to SIRX, there's no doubt who the former owner is.

Ex L&N depot in Mount Vernon. Milepost 407.8 on the line between Evansville,IN and East St. Louis,IL. Formerly part of L&N's Evansville Division.

 

Before I get to posting two recent roadtrips, I'd like to first mention that I finally caught the Paducah & Louisville Railroad's other university unit, #3801, after four attempts last week and over a year's worth of trying:

I guess putting 240 miles on my truck for this is a bit worth it.

Huntington,WV Roadtrip - 11/13/2010
​

Saturday I decided to check out Huntington,WV and the surrounding area, as I know it's got a nice amount of railroad activity and some interesting stuff to see.

On my way over on I-64, I stopped at Olive Hill,KY, and photographed the caboose there:

I also managed to get the former depot. The C&O Railroad used to run through here, but the tracks are long gone.

 

After leaving Olive Hill, I made it to Kenova,WV and managed to watch a CSX grain train with brand new grain hoppers roll under the NS trestle, I did not take photos however.

I made my way to Huntington, with my first stop being for a passenger car along the RoW that I saw. Erie #400 sits near some CSX offices in Huntington(something I noticed after I left):



I did a quick ride along CSX's Dead Line in Huntington, but an empty hopper train blocked my view and kept me from taking any pictures of any of the locomotives sitting along the line.I did however spot a few more passenger cars sitting near the road and took a few photos of them.

First up, CSX #306:

Second, "Braddock Inn":

 

Third was New York Central #38:


After getting away from CSX trackage, I decided to try and track down a small park in Huntington. Despite the fact that it was closed, I still got a few "over the fence" shots.
CSX 903961:

C&O #1308:

C&O #90665:

Hopefully a return trip in the future will allow me to get better shots of these.

 

After leaving the park, I knew there was one more steam engine and passenger car in Huntington for me to get. I knew they were near the Riverfront and a bridge over the River, so I did some looking and managed to find them with no directions and a bit of searching. The place where they are located was having some sort of event, which made it hard for me to get decent shots with cars parked everywhere and people running around.

Baltimore & Ohio Passenger Car "Collis Huntington"

Elk River Lumber & Coal #10 Steam Engine:


I left Huntington after that, since I wanted to check out Catlettsburg,Ashland,Raceland & Russell over in Kentucky.

I found the depot & a caboose along the tracks in Catlettsburg first.

Depot:

Sign:

 

C&O Caboose #3238 in Catlettsburg:


After leaving Catlettsburg I followed U.S. 23 north, catching several trains along the way but I was unable to photograph them due to distance/obstructions in the way.

I did however catch AK Steel Switcher #1216 sitting idle, and tried to find a spot to photograph it with the fewest obstructions in the way:

 

"Conrail Twilight" 11/14/2010

Ex-Conrail units are getting harder and harder to find as time goes on...admittedly 11 years is a pretty long time to still have unpainted units, as a friend tells me, Conrail had their ex-PC,EW units all repainted by 1983(seven years after merger), and NS had painted their N&W and Southern units over in just nine years. As of this post, there are currently just 22 units in CR blue on CSX, and about 150 more on Norfolk Southern. The number has dropped substantially for the CSX owned ex-Conrail units this year, as at least 20 of them have been repainted this year alone.

A friend texted me Saturday night(11/13) and told me that CSX #7326 was making its way north from Florida to Louisville on Q210, after completing this run it would likely go onto Cincinnati and then over to Huntington for a repaint. I debated on going over to the tracks on Sunday, but hadn't made up my mind. After my usual activity of watching the morning's Formula 1 race, I texted my friend and asked him if he'd seen or heard anything while he was in Louisville. He told me the train with the Conrail unit had passed Bowling Green 45 minutes prior, putting it near Elizabethtown, and that another autorack train, Q220, had a pair of Union Pacific units leading. With the knowledge of that, I figured an afternoon outing by the tracks was definitely worth it. Leaving home, I knew I had to make my way north towards Louisville to have any chance whatsoever at getting a shot at these trains. One of those typical "Sunday drivers" deterred me from taking my usual route along the tracks on my way up to Louisville(KY 61 off of KY 245). I made quick time to Brooks,KY via interstate, and then headed up to "Park", which sits at the south end of Osborn Yard. Lighting wasn't good for any northbounds, but I figured this spot was my best option anywhere. A few minutes later my friend stopped by, and we waited for a train to show up. First up was Q220, with the pair of UP units:

Figuring we had some time to kill, my friend and I decided to go get something to eat from nearby restaurants. I stopped at a nearby Wendy's, he drove further out to another restaurant. Arriving at Wendy's, I saw the place was crowded, and hoped I could get my food in time to be back for that northbound. My friend, who was still on the road, texted me to let me know that Q244, a Texas Subdivision train, was leaving Osborn Yard, with ex-LMS CSX #7919 leading! I quickly changed my order to "to-go" and headed for the door. Fortunately the resturant I stopped at was along a road that crossed the "Texas" about a mile north of my location. Arriving trackside, I had only a minute to spare before Q244 showed up, CSX 7919 on the point:

That gave me two Conrail units for the day...assuming I could get the one I originally came for..... After leaving the "Texas" Sub, I made my way back through traffic and met my friend back at "Park" in Fairdale(suburb of Louisville). Q574 was coming, which we found odd, as our initial report told us Q210 was just ahead of Q574. Figuring my luck wasn't too shabby so far, I made a joke to my friend about how amusing it'd be if this train also had a Conrail unit. Q574 rounds the curve...and the second unit trailing is.... another ex-Conrail unit!



The chance to catch three CSX ex-Conrail units this day in age?!? Unheard of!
​

 

After doing a bit of research on our cell phones, my friend and I determined that Q210 had been behind Q574, and a decent bit at that, since it was reported at Gallatin,TN when Q574(which was confused with Q210) was reported by Bowling Green,KY. With an estimated hour/hour and a half to kill, my friend and I decided we'd check out the north end of Osborn Yard at FX Tower and Hiawatha Avenue since Q207 was coming into Louisville from Cincinnati, and we would also get a chance at taking some roster shots of CSX #7303 once Q574 pulled up to Hiawatha Avenue for a re-crew.

Upon arriving at Hiawatha/FX, Q502 held Main #1 while Q574 pulled up behind it, momentarily blocking our views of the former Conrail unit. My friend and I kept a lookout for Q207, which appeared off in the distance heading our way. As it got closer, my friend and I noticed the nose of the lead engine was blue. Could it be? A third Conrail unit?!?

It was! CSX #7374 was on the point of Q207, giving me a third Conrail unit for the day, four total if I could get the last unit.


After Q207 entered Osborn Yard, Q502 departed for Cincinnati, allowing me to get a few shots of CSX #7303, with its old Conrail number still partially showing:


After getting our pictures, my friend and I had a decision to make. Q511 was entering Louisville off the LIRC in Indiana, and Q235 was preparing to head south out of Louisville. Having spent about an hour at the north end already, my friend and I decided to head south, knowing that Q210 would be held up briefly at Bardstown Junction(north end of double track)by Q235 heading south.

We made it back down to Park in time to catch Q235 leaving, and I caught it rolling past the signals:

 

I followed Q235 south, knowing I didn't have too much time left in the afternoon before having to head to work, and I also had to decide where to catch Q210 when it came. I decided upon Highway 44 in Shepherdsville as my place to catch Q210. Q235 met Q210 at Bardstown Junction, and shortly after, Q210 came north. I wish I'd stood in a different spot to catch Q210 coming towards me, but I got some decent shots of #7326 trailing, at least:




I was pretty impressed with my luck for the afternoon. Four ex-Conrail units plus a pair of Union Pacific units wasn't too bad of a haul. With just 22 units on CSX in Conrail paint, and that number is going down on a constant basis, this is probably the last time I'll be able to catch multiple units in the old Conrail blue paint.

- Jeff

 

I've seen a few Wheeling & Lake Erie units when I go up to Toledo for ARCA races... haven't photographed any, I'm not sure other drivers on the interstate would like that.

 

What a great trip and pictures too! Thanks for sharing.

Ben

 

"2nd Annual Thanksgiving Day Caboose Hunt"

I've made it a new tradition recently to go looking for cabooses on Thanksgiving Day, since I have a family member who has to work that day and we usually celebrate the holiday on Saturday instead. Last year I went into central Kentucky and western Kentucky in two days, this time I did Tennessee.

The weather on Thanksgiving Day didn't look like it was going to cooperate with me...

Ridgetop,TN (unknown heritage)


Next stop was Gallatin,TN where I caught this CSX caboose that is still used in local service. I also caught CSX #2801 as well.

On my way to Hartsville,TN for another caboose, I found this one by the road that wasn't on my map. It's Tennessee Central #9831.