The AutoArtery
View allAll Photos Tagged Curran
After sleeping through the train's mid-day arrival to Decatur, a recrew and timely check of the area's ATCS allowed me to follow the train west of Springfield. With the sun shifted to the north side of the tracks, the normal shot at Curran was not doable to my satisfaction. I think plan B worked just fine.
The Voltz Yard in Kansas City, MO, to Oakwood Yard in Detroit, MI, Roadrailer blast under the old CNW St. louis line at Curran, about 10 miles west of Springfield. A lone BNSF unit works hard to keep all the trailers moving east. Train 258 is charging hard about 15 miles behind them and would be block by block once they got east of Springfield. We came for the Roadrailers and were happy to get one on our weekend getaway.
Roadrailer equipment was retire in August 2024.
While driving back to Springfield I heard the NS dispatcher tell #398 that they had to meet a train at Iles. I couldn't make out the symbol, but it definitely wasn't #255 or M45. So I pulled into Curran and waited. Eventually, this #121 rack train showed up with an ex-Conrail SD60I on the point. I don't know if this was just a one-off, or if NS is extending #121 west to either Moberly or Kansas City.
NS 6740 - SD60I
NS 255 rolls west thru Curran, IL, near Springfield, passing underneath the former CNW trestle. This is supposed to be one of the final Triple Crown RoadRailer trains to run the NS system.
Thanks to ATCS Monitor I was able to get west of town just in time to catch the #256 Roadrailer make a fine sight ducking under the old C&NW bridge at Curran.
NS 7556
Livestock feed train 48K heads west thru Curran with two pairs of UP and NS units. NS seems to be mixing up the train symbols on these feed trains as of late.
UP 5917
UP 6047
NS 9857
NS 2640
Conductor Jeff Vineyard looks puzzled to see me all sprawled out on the ground for a low-angle shot as D31 ducks under the old C&NW bridge at Curran. Today's train has a rare 1982 "merger" lashup of ex-N&W SD40-2 6096 and ex-Southern SD40-2 3221. Both SD40-2's have had new low noses and Admiral cabs installed, but both units carry the same road numbers that they were originally delivered with back in the 1970's. And, both loco's are still looking absolutely fantastic.
NS 6096 (built March 1975)
NS 3221 (built September 1973)
#145 rolls the high cars west at Curran in glorious June evening light. I'll take a UP leader over a Dash 9 any day.
UP 8133
NS 9450
Today marked the final run of NS 256, the eastbound empty RoadRailer from Kansas City to Detroit. NS marked the occasion by supplying the 8100, the Nickel Plate Road heritage unit, to lead the final move of the 256. These RoadRailer trains have been part of NS since the formation of Triple Crown in 1986 thanks to the 1978 revival of the RoadRailer concept by the Bi-Modal Company (later renamed to RoadRailer and purchased by Wabash National). It's a sad day to see the final eastbound, but it at least went out with a bang - nice power choice, making good time, and suffering no mechanical issues as so many other of these trains have in recent months. The huge crowd of railfans sure helped make the day a bigger event.
Lots is being said and will be said about the messiness of todays 256 chase misadventures. Rumours of major accidents, near misses, and dangerous maneuvers to get ahead for the next photo. Still, despite the general messiness of the day, it was nice to see a big sendoff for the RoadRailer. We have just one more of them to run tomorrow, and and who knows how that'll go. For my part, anyway, I'm just glad I got to see and capture these last trains.
At Curran, a last minute huge gathering of railfans captured the NS8100 absolutely flying under the long abandoned CNW trackage. This was my first and last time shooting a RoadRailer here, and I only made it with seconds to spare. Close call, one of just many this crazy day...
Rack train #121 thunders thru Curran 19 minutes behind 33J. In the next hour or so, four westbounds will meet three eastbounds at Chapin, Arnold, and New Berlin. D33 and D31 will go in the hole together at Chapin, 33J at Arnold, and #121 at New Berlin for eastbounds #398, 22J, and 29M.
NS 9654
NS 9608
A Curran-bound D79 passes under the westbound signal bridge at Hazel Dell. The crew will spot this 50 car train at Curran, then head back to Decatur engines light. A gravy job for sure, unlike the D01 called later that night to pull and spot Griggsville.
NS 9889
NS 7699
22040 passing Currans between Farranfore and Gortatlea with the 1705hrs Heuston - Tralee, 30 June 2021
#145 races west thru the small hamlet of Curran with a relatively clean UP GEVO on the point.
UP 8133
NS 9450
The D33 local arrives in Curran, Illinois after getting run around by 256 at Bates. The crew will grab the empty phosphoric acid tank car off the Brandt Fertilizer track, then head east to Springfield to run around their train at West End Siding and return west to Bluffs.
Tuesday appears to be the appointed day of the week for D33 to make this side trip, assuming that Brandt Fertilizer has any cars to be spotted or pulled.
NS 5315 - GP38-2 (still sublettered "PRR")
Old C&NW Bridge - Curran, IL
September 22, 2020
After a couple quick moves to double their train together, hang the EOT, and make an air test, D79's engineer is taking 'em "outside" to the high iron at Curran.
NS 9349
NS 9330
Blue-Green Algae collecting against the dam walls at Cairn Curran. The green caught my eye and looks great on camera but the smell was pretty bad so I quickly moved away!
ISO 200 | 1/400 sec | f/7.1 | 7mm
33J rolls west under the old C&NW bridge at Curran with a DC GEVO and two UP SD70ACe's.
NS 7617
UP 8598
UP 8937
#255 speeds west under the C&NW bridge at Curran on a cloudy Sunday afternoon.
NS 7614 - ES44DC
NS 8404 - Dash 8-40CW
Thanks to everyone for commenting here! That term 'negative space' i never realised existed, but thats what i was trying, to make the sky the subject and the windmill the foreground anti-subject. Getting a warm tone was difficult, Casey did an edit on this to bring out the definition of the clouds but it add a massive halo famous of those over tonemapped HDR shots. If not for that i would have kept her version as the colour and tone was so much better