Random Ramblings

The old Kentucky Central, now part of CSX, has always intrigued me. The line has just as much history as its neighbor 20 miles east, the CNO&TP. Since moving to Berea, I’ve had a lot more chances to check out the old tunnels and/or shoot CSX. This afternoon was no different. What had planned to be a relaxing afternoon at home turned into a quick trip out to get a shot of a southbound CSX train. A quick check of the ATCS showed me that the train wasn’t too far away. I decided to try and hike up the ridge opposite Tunnel 15 and get a shot.

I had arrived at Brush Creek and not heard anything out of the southbound. This allowed me a little time to explore photo angles on that ridge. However, I did not have the necessary tools (a machete) to clear out a path. I decided on a lower shot that would also include the bridge. The clouds were starting to roll in and I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get the shot. Q905 practically snuck up on me, and I would have missed it had I not moved to a different location. The horn sounded of foreign power, but much to my surprise, there was a road slug leading the train. The chase would definitely be on.

I figured I might be able to beat the train to Hazel Patch, and I ended up beating it to Livingston. However, luck would not be on my side. A work crew on Crooked Hill caused the train to get tied up and the clouds rolled in. I managed to get a few shots of the train at Hazel Patch once it got underway again, but they didn’t turn out well. With nothing else running, I headed on home. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time. Until then, I hope everyone enjoys the photo and thanks for looking!

Alternate Title: No, officer, I’m not Middle Eastern

Originally, I had planned to try for a few more fall color shots this past weekend.  However, a few storms last week pretty much blew away what color was left.  That left me with plan B.  Plan B was to meet up with Emmett and Carmon this past Saturday.  Berea’s trick or treat was on Saturday, and I wanted to take Noah trick or treating. I went out shooting on Sunday instead.

I had heard from Emmett that NS was in the process of replacing the old searchlight signals at Millidgeville, KY (a few miles south of Danville) with the new “Darth Vader” type.  I wanted to get a few shots of those searchlights before they are gone forever.  Also, a check on the JREB.org NS forum revealed that train 25J had left Austell, GA with a leased SD60 on the point.  This information gave me three goals for the day: 1.) Get shots at Millidgeville.  2.) Get some shots of 25J  3.) Since it was Halloween, it would be only fitting to shoot a BNSF pumpkin leading a train.

175 and 40A had been calling signals and running close together for about 15 minutes before I arrived in Danville.  175 was refueling, and had a BNSF warbonnet leading (still in good paint, at that).  40A was pulling up behind them, and I made note of their “noisy” radio.  Many times, a noisy radio means that there will be EMD power leading.

I took a quick shot of the warbonnet, and then headed south.  A stop at Bowen yielded a tied down coal train, and the signals cleared for a northbound.  My first thought was that the train parked on #2 would make a nice depth of field shot with the signals.

A few minutes later, 216 passed.  I heard 175 getting ready to leave Danville, so I headed down the road.  I passed on the shot at Millidgeville for 175, and thought Palm was a better place to catch it.  The light was perfect.

I had already planned on shooting 40A at Kings Mountain, so I that’s where I headed to next.  175 was just heavy enough for me to beat them up the hill, and I caught one more shot of it tackling the grade at Kings Mountain.

40A was close behind 175, and after hearing North End telling 196 that they’d be at Kings Mountain for 175 and 40A, I figured I wouldn’t have to wait long.  However, one of 40A’s trailing units died and it was a painfully slow climb uphill for them. The residents of Kings Mountain and other folks who passed by me while I was waiting for the train probably wondered why there was some crazy fool with a camera on the 501 bridge (more on this later).  40A finally popped around the curve and joyful noise was filling the air as a leased SD60 was working hard to pull the train up the grade.

I hadn’t planned on going any farther south than Kings Mountain because I was waiting on that 25J.  This changed as I heard that 40A would be getting an engine from 25A at Waynesburg. Here’s the power getting ready to couple back up to the train.

I wanted one more shot as the train left Waynesburg, but 25A was heading north and blocking the view.  Another tango foxtrot at the hands of NS.

A few more southbounds converged on Danville, and 168 was coming north.  They eventually stopped at Palm for two southbounds.  161 left Danville and I decided to get the shot at Millidgeville with the signals.

I went back to Palm just to see what the power was on 168.  En route, I heard 25J at Kings Mountain.  I was thinking about heading west if those two trains got out of Danville before the light went away.  At the same time, 223 was leaving Danville.  I couldn’t find a suitable location to shoot.  I had already gotten 175 at Palm, and since 223 would be going to #2 at Palm, that shot was out of the question.  The CP at South Fork was already in shadows by this time, but the shot would have looked good in decent light.

I also tried to find a suitable location for 25J.  Northbounds are dang near impossible to shoot at this time of the year. It would be going west, so I could always try my luck that way…or not.  168 left Palm, but there was no room at the inn for 25J.  A 376 stopped at Faulkner Road, no crew called for 25J, and the coal train parked at Bowen could only mean one thing: They would be at Palm for an indeterminate amount of time.  The break in action allowed me to get something to eat.

It sounded like 117 was getting close to leaving Danville, so I looked for a place to shoot it.  While waiting at Moreland, I got a visit from the Lincoln County Sheriff, who informed that I “had the railroad all worried” and then wanted to know if I was shooting photos for a school project (I get asked that a lot for some reason).  He never said what I did to get the railroad all worried.  He didn’t run me off either.  He passed by me earlier at Waynesburg and just kept on going, so the “having the railroad all worried” bit doesn’t really convince me.  And 117?  I shot them at Millidgeville.  This marked my first experience with shooting RAW.

I probably should have stayed at Millidgeville for 295, but I decided to go back to Palm, even though I knew the shot would totally suck. But it was a GE anyway. 25J finally got away from Palm, after meeting 295 and I tried to shoot them at Moreland, but failed. My shot was an epic failure, so it will never see the light of day…not on this website at least. There was hope that 25J would leave Danville quickly, but the dreaded words, “tie it down” came through on the radio. This train wouldn’t go anywhere for a while.

I watched 124 go by Bowen, and 215 was sitting at Junction City waiting for them to clear. 215 left town in a hurry, and with three big engines, had no trouble getting up to track speed by the time they passed Bowen.

I went back to Danville after this, and saw 197 and 168 at Perryville St., refueling. 168 had a nice EMD trio, and the light was still fairly decent. I tried to shoot them at Harrodsburg, but my shot sucked, so it will never see the light of day. At this time, headed back home, but not before stopping at Faulkner Rd. to get a shot of 375 with one of the Operation Lifesaver Dash 9s on the point.

I hope everyone enjoys, and thanks for looking!

On October 9, I set out for the CNO&TP Second District in hopes of capturing some fall colors.  The weather had been extremely dry since August and any color that might be seen wouldn’t be around for long.  Leaving my house at 7:30 a.m., I headed south with a quick stop at the Hardee’s drive thru in Mount Vernon for breakfast. Arrival in Somerset yielded a very quiet radio.  I figured traffic would pick up after a while and headed across the state line to get into position for the southbound parades that I have grown accustomed to.

I heard a few northbounds on the radio, including a 282 at Parkers Lake and then a 25A that had gone into emergency at Winfield. I could have waited for it to start moving again and get a picture, but there aren’t many places to shoot northbounds at this time of the year. So I kept heading south.  I stopped at New River to wait for something to move, but the only thing I heard on the radio was the south end dispatcher talking to the aforementioned 25A.

The radio was still pretty quiet as I kept heading south.  I finally heard some chatter near Oakdale where 117 was giving a locomotive to 168.  This was being done at the north end of the yard, but I was able to get a shot of 117′s train at the south end.  In this era of endless wide cab GE’s, it was nice to see something different, even if it still was a GE.  117 was now being led by a long hood forward, standard cab Dash 8.

I hung around Oakdale for a bit, seeing if anything might be moving one way or the other.  No dice.  The only thing I heard was a 161 switching cars on the other side of the mountain.  I could have easily gone down to Harriman and gotten a shot of them.  Could’ve, should’ve, would’ve…didn’t.  It was probably another Dash 9, anyway.  I headed back north again.

It was almost noon by this point, and as I headed back north, I began to think that this day was akin to shooting CSX (yes, I know that’s blasphemy, but I really don’t care).  Another hour passed and I was just hoping for anything to move, even if it had GE power (yes, I know that’s blasphemy as well).  FINALLY, I heard 48A coming across single track and over that really annoying detector at MP 186.

I figured the best location to shoot that would show a little bit of fall color and give me a shot slightly better than a wedgie would be at Bear Creek with the old coal tipple.  Here’s 48A in all its mediocre glory!

2010 has been the year of leased power on NS, and 48A had leased ex-Soo Line SD60 as the second unit.

I tried to beat the train to New River, since the light was still good for a halfway decent shot.  However, those 35 mph speed limits and a few Tennessee Highway Patrol cars prevented me from doing so.  It didn’t sound like anything would be moving again for a while, so I stopped for some lunch. I was still thinking that this day was akin to shooting CSX.

Another place to get some halfway decent color was at Mountain View.  A 177 had snuck up on me while I was waiting for my lunch of greasy fish from Long John Silver’s.  I went ahead and parked close to the bridge at Mountain View and let that 177 pass on by. At the same time, 27W had pulled up to Robbins and stopped, waiting on that 177 and another 177 running about 15 minutes behind the first.  It was a little confusing at first, but both trains were calling signals as 177.  Here’s that second 177 (which normally would have probably run as an M77) in all its mediocre glory at Mountain View.

As 177 passed, I headed back to New River for a shot of 27W. Even though it’s a long hike back to the bridge, I was still able to make it.  Of course, this train would have the only EMD leader of the day.

The traffic was really starting to pick up, and I picked up 229 on the radio.  Earlier, I had stopped at Sunbright to see how good the colors were there.  The colors there were actually the best I had seen, so I headed back to Sunbright to shoot 229.  229 arrives, and believe it or not, it was being led by a Dash 9.  Luckily, the color added a little something.

There was a 224 that passed just a few minutes after 229.  I figured I would follow it back north and start making my way home, hopefully with another shot or two.  The light was starting to go away, and I was running out of places to shoot.  Burnside was out of the question since I couldn’t beat 224 there, and the 223 I heard on the radio was already by Tateville.  I decided to try my hand at a glint shot of 223 at Parkers Lake.  I was actually hoping for a consist of GE’s on this train (more blasphemy) since they would probably be smoking profusely while pulling the grade.  NS did not disappoint, and I was actually very pleased with my shot.

I headed home after this shot.  The light was almost completely gone and there wasn’t much else running out there.  Maybe next time I’ll have better luck.  Until then, I hope y’all enjoy and thanks for looking!

A second consecutive weekend in Louisa, KY saw me heading out across the Big Sandy again and checking out the action on NS.  The previous weekend yielded the two photos of 44A that are in the previous post.  I crossed the river and headed south along the N&W Kenova District.  Searching on Google Maps allowed me to find some of the backroads that followed the tracks.  No sooner than I hit the backroads, an intermodal train sneaked up on me. Here recently, that’s how my luck has gone.

I searched for a few photo locations and found a few that might have been suitable.  All I needed was a train.  Somehow, an eastbound grain train sneaked up on me, and I barely had enough time to shoot a picture.  My results?  A lame cloudy day wedgie shot of an NS Dash 9.  How many more of those do I need?  I deleted it before it ever saw the light of day.  I was in for a pleasant surprise, however.

One of the roads I had taken parallels the tracks and then veers off to the left to go around a mountain.  When the road comes back and joins the tracks, there is a place to turn.  Turing right and thinking it was just a gravel road to nowhere, I was surprised to find not only N&W tunnel 7, but a parallel bore.  This immediately piqued my interest, and I didn’t care if I saw anymore trains that day.

I found a few places where double track appeared to have been pulled up.  Later research discovered that this line was built in the early 1900s to bypass N&W’s Twelve Pole Main to Kenova, via Wayne, WV.  It was built as a double track main, and opened for traffic in 1904.  The Twelve Pole line was still used in the early 30s, mainly for empty coal trains heading eastbound.  Due to the steep grades and sharp curves, N&W abandoned the Twelve Pole line in favor of the low grade Big Sandy line. The Big Sandy Line was almost completely double tracked in the mid 1920s, save for a few areas.  Parallel bores were constructed at tunnels 5 and 7, while at tunnel 6, N&W decided to follow the river a bit more.  Double track was pulled up in this area in the mid 1950s, leaving tunnels 5, 6, and 7 quiet.

And now for the photos… (links will open in a new window)

Hope y’all enjoy, and thanks for looking!

Here are a few photos from earlier this year. I haven’t had much time to write a full report, so feel free to enjoy these without the witty commentary that usually accompanies my photos.  Photo links will open in a new window.

CSX Q540-18 at Hazel Patch, KY.

NS 44A at Fort Gay, WV.

44A again at Grey Eagle, WV