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A Helm Leasing SD40M-2 leads a northbound on CSX's River Sub at Ridgefield Park. Standard cab EMDs and leased power was still fairly common on CSX road trains in the early to mid-2000s. 6520 had a long history with CSX and its predecessors. It was built in October 1971 as Seaboard Coast Line SD45 2044 and would eventually work for Clinchfield, Family Lines, Seaboard System and finally CSX before being sold off...only to return in lease service, rebuilt as an SD40M-2 but externally still very much an SD45.
HLCX 6520 SD40M-2 (ex-SCL 2044, CRR 3631, SBD 8944 SD45)
A messed up set of power leading A408 from Kirk Yard South past one of the many still remaining old grain elevators on the IC mainline. Can’t go wrong with this consist whatsoever!
L-CHI105 making it’s run to BNSF Galesburg Yard as they cross the Kankakee River at Lorenzo. This train featured a BN & BNSF SD40-2, HLCX GP38-2, & an ATSF SD40-2.
One of the ex-SD45-2 locos on the Northtown premises goes about its menial, daily task with a row of colorful on-lookers.
HLCX 1521 switches boxcars at WestRock on the Central Midland Railway in Chesterfield, MO, near the small local airport.
CSX Q609 has the last SD40 on class I railroads in the previous HLCX scheme on the point, as he thunders through Bryceville, Fl, during his long westbound trip.
The silence that rests among the trees of Wisconsin's Southern Kettle Moraine Forest, is momentarily disrupted while Wisconsin & Southern's Janesville bound freight ambles through the last of the autumnal color.
Three EMD variants lead Tuesday’s L-CHI105 train West through the Illinois countryside on the BNSF. Conveniently this BNSF 3167 is right at home here on the former Santa Fe Transcon. It’s still great that you can get an ATSF painted GP50 on home rails. Don’t take it for granted, that’s for sure!
The biweekly Tshiuetin "Express" mixed train snakes its way along the Moisie River, just north of Sept-ÃŽles on 6/30/2025.
TSH operates passenger service over QNS&L's Wacouna Subdivision to Emeril Jct, where the train splits off to the remote town of Shefferville, NL on the former QNS&L Menihek Subdivision.
In addition to passenger service, the railroad operates a once per week mixed freight train to the QNS&L interchange, in addition to a handful of iron ore trains to the reopened mining operations in Shefferville.
The railroad operates an eclectic mix of rolling stock and locomotives, with a FURX GP38-2, 3 F40PH's, 2 HLCX SD40-2's, and two GP40-2LW's rebuilt to GP38-2LW specs. Passenger equipment consists of a mix of exAmtrak and VIA equipment.
On day two of my trip I caught the early morning north bound, as the train slowly made its way north.
Tshiuetin Rail Transportation
Train: FURX 5536 North
6/30/2025
Sept-ÃŽles, Quebec
QNS&L Wacouna Subdivision
CSX L542 is at Cartersville, Georgia just before taking a right turn onto the K&A, the well known HLCX 6341 does the honors in June 2015.
A Wisconsin & Southern train of 75 grain empties bound for the Prairie Subdivision heads across Lake Monona in Madison, Wisconsin on July 18, 2022.
Burlington Northern, BN SD40-2 7130 -HLCX SD40M-3 6079. It was a sub-zero morning freezing the heavy fog on everything it covered, we catch an early morning eastbound along the Mississippi River at Gears Ferry, Illinois. December 12, 1998. Jack D Kuiphoff © photo
#7130, built as BN #7130. 1/1979
#6079, built as MP SD40 #762. 1/1970
USSC #6324 (SP 6854), HLCX #6341 (SP 8436), and WRIX #50 (SP/DRGW 5412) lead the eastbound "Sebring Turn" across the Caloosahatchee at Moorehaven, FL in golden light on the last day of March 2025.
Having just released into service after being inspected by Alstom personnel, this amazing looking GP40-2, built as SSW 7252 is doing it's first revenue trip on Ferrovalle as it leads the classic TMXBAR on it's way down from the quarry.
That K5LA on top of the cab sounded godly! Nice to have something else besides P3's and K3LA's on the FTVM roster.
Cuautitlan, EdoMex.
Engineer Rivera has his flag flying as DREI train 101 slips across the Illinois landscape near Murdock, IL. Leading the 7 car train to Paris was FURX 5514 and HLCX 4212.
US Sugar's Ft. Pierce turn begins its journey east with HLCX 6341 on the point. The 25 car train consists of 1 hopper from Calcium Silicate Corp., 8 tank cars from the Sugar Cane Growers Co-op, and 16 hopers from the US Sugar Clewiston mill. All these cars are bound for the FEC for interchange to NS in Jacksonville.
Wisconsin & Southern's Janesville bound freight has arrived Janesville and is approaching Five Points as they prepare to enter the yard. After sorting out some freight, the train will be readied for it's run to BRC's Clearing Yard in the evening. The trailing unit is SD40-3 4223 fresh out of the paint shop at Horicon and will be set out at Janesville.
WSOR T4H
HLCX 6334, WAMX 4172,4223
Janesville, WI.
August 8, 2017
HLCX #9041 leads a freight with two Union Pacific motos assisting out of Catawba, South Carolina on the CSX Hamlet, NC to Atlanta main line.
She was built as Cheapeake & Ohio SD40 7450 in 1966. With the formation of CSX, she took the number CSXT 8401. CSX later sold her to Morrison-Knudsen who rebuit the locomotive to SD40M-2 as MPI 9041. Helms Leasing then bought her.
Her current disposition is unknown. The last photograph I can find is from 2008.
HLCX 6313 and WAMX 4185 lead the Saturday T004H at Rubicon five years ago. This job was held down by DDT and RAR for most of 2018 making them a familiar sight.
Change is inevitable, but in the moment, it's hard to envision what the future might hold. HLCX 6313 arrived in August of 2017. It left briefly in early 2020, only to come back later that year. WAMX 4185 would also leave the roster in early 2020 as a trade for dyno-equipped WAMX 4197. PTC would be added to 10 SD40s starting in the Autumn of 2018. But it wasn't until August of 2019 when CN mandated it's use for WSOR trains, eliminating the chance of seeing 6313 from leading T004H. By May of 2021, former UP 60Ms arrived, and would eventually displace the 40s from this run. Finally, DDT and RAR no longer work for the WSOR, with RAR going to Amtrak in the first half of 2022.
The only time I ever ventured into the West Toronto diamond. Eastbound #926 is rolling across the diamond with empty autoracks from Windsor.
Trailing unit HLCX 6210 is still wearing its BCOL paint where it was #742, it started life as Kennecott Copper 107. It later wore a solid maroonish red paint scheme for Helm.
This area is much changed now with the building of a flyover eliminating the diamond.
Lots to like here. An exceptionally green SD40-2 (HLCX 7179) leads CEFX 2785 with a quad pack of Amtrak F40’s in Philadelphia, PA in 2005.
Greys Ferry Bridge over Schuylkill River Phil PA 07/06/2005 HLCX 7179. No photographer listed. H.Goodbread collection
BCRail C40-8M-4623 & HLCX lease unit SD40M-2-6500 are arriving with a S/B freight, most likely Fourth Class #26, due here at 1250, only eight minutes late.
CSX Q386 with a BN painted HLCX SD40-2 heads east under the ex NYC 413 Automatic in Corfu, NY. At the time of this photo new signals are laying on the ground next to it.
NS 3519 reverses back into the yard after making a long poke past the MFA elevator on the D99 local at Wentzville, Missouri. NS 3519 is former SLSF 954 and then BN/BNSF/HLCX 6844.
HLCX 6313, an SD40-2 on lease to the Wisconsin & Southern, sits as two WSOR jobs switch in Madison Yard on a cold January morning.
HLCX SD40-2 #8169, and CSX SD70MAC #752, GP38-2 #2746, and SD40-2 #8815 haul a 147 car Q402 northbound on the River Sub, crossing the Doodletown Bight trestle at Bear Mountain, NY on April 29, 2006. Scan from a Fuji Provia 100F
With their delivery on the other side of Northtown complete, a UP powerset heads back to East Minneapolis off the North Runner. The nice array of colors that accumulated in the T-Yard months ago still hang on.
BNSF local L CHI105 is chasing the sunset and a string of westbounds as the set of 4 axles grind through Mazon running restricting signals. I know I might be in the minority here, but bright clean leasers and a mixed rainbow consist of primarily vintage motors really get me excited, and this consist was most excellent in glorious late day sun. Now, the minor complaint would be to have the nice clean Warbonnet leading, but I digress.
Mazon, IL
2019.08.21
Wisconsin & Southern train T007 rolls westbound on the Prairie Subdivision at Cross Plains, Wisconsin on September 11, 2019. HLCX 6305 passes over the site of one of several washouts sustained during the flooding in the Summer of 2018.
The Terminal Railroad (TRRA) T101 heads down the so-called "river side" enroute from Norfolk Southern's Luther yard to TRRA's Madison yard. In minutes, the crew will get a signal at East Grand Avenue in north St. Louis, MO and cross the Mississippi river via Merchants Bridge. The HLCX power is temporarily pinch-hitting for the more-common SD60Is or GP38-3s.