View allAll Photos Tagged LEADS
BNSF 8547 leads a sister ACe south through the S-curve just south of Monument, CO.
A few years ago, the ever-expanding housing development in the background did not exist, and up until late last year, the giant UPS distribution center did not exist off frame to my immediate right. Ah, progress...
CREX 1522 leads potash train B730, as they head over to Courtnay Bay in Saint John, New Brunswick to set off their potash loads. They will return to Moncton lite power a few hours later. This is a nice spot for some extra light to make the shot possible.
November 11, 2018.
CP 6069 leads 3 other standard cab EMDs on a freshly loaded Herzog train from Swansea as they drop rocks on the Windermere Subdivision heading north out of Fort Steele.
Norfolk Southern SD40-2 leads an empty Delaware & Hudson salt train out of East Binghamton, NY yard at "BD" while a coal train sporting Pittsburgh & Lake Erie power waits for it's turn to get through what JJ Young Jr, called "Malfunction Junction".
43054 leads 91122 with the new OHLE test train enroute to Peterbourgh to do a test / calibration run on the ECML prior to being used for testing the new 25kv electrification on the MML the power cars are required as need to get up to to 125mph to do the testing
BNSF 8502 leads a southbound coal load at Greenland, CO on Dec 21, 2025. The land you see is preserved from development, the only area in Douglas County with this much open space.
The road that leads to the Vallejo House in Sonoma is seen here in golden resplendence. It's not exactly the road referenced in the title though. The Golden Road to Unlimited Devotion was the first song on the Grateful Dead's first album. The song was an attempt to capture the hippie scene in Haight Ashbury during the summer of love (1967). It invited everyone to "come and join the party every day." Don't ask me why I mention it here.
Happy U.S. Thanksgiving everyone. Don't eat too much.
Here's the tune:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqDjA3DqbcM
Sonoma CA
Our street leads into the forest. To a small gate. Behind the gate is a pile of dead branches, which probably serves as hideout for the hunters. There are signs of wild boars along the way that leads further into the forest. It is allowed for us to walk there, because the path is a connection to the city of Beaumont-le-Roger. The picture is taken with ISO 12800.
B&P 3101 leads GW1 as it begins to work up the grade in Warsaw, NY. There are a couple of old box cars stored on either side of the old station. The siding they are on is no longer connected to the main track, and I assume they are for MOW storage. Compare to this view from 40 years ago: www.flickr.com/photos/85501582@N03/35340784925/in/album-7...
Colas Rail Freight 70805 leads the 6E92 0634 Oxwellmains Lafarge Colas to Seaham Harbour Colas Rail past Newcaste.
CSX SD40-2's #8367 & #8199 bring a CWR train southbound through rural north Georgia at Crandall on CSX's K&A Etowah Subdivision. After walking back to my truck along the road I was greeted by a couple curious locals but ended up with a bag full of fresh pecans that were harvested that morning, thanks Clarence!
C&O 2765 leads a special from Orrville, OH to Pittsburgh, PA at CP43 in West Pittsburgh, PA on August 22, 1993. The NKP 765 was dressed and lettered specially for these runs. There was no chance of even attempting to chase this between New Castle and Pittsburgh, so I just picked a spot and waited for it. The train did stop at New Castle Yard, so there was always the opportunity to catch it there and then somewhere out on the road.
CN 2405 leads P&W 66N south past the Home Gas Siding in Uxbridge, MA on the Providence Main line on the morning of December 26, 2015 on what was arguably probably one of the best consists sent by NS on the 66N Ethanol Trains that terminated at the Port of Providence.
NCVA #504 (former FEC) leads the daily Nucor turn between Boykins, VA and the Nucor mill along the Chowan River near Ahoskie. The train is seen passing through one of the many farms that dot the landscape in eastern North Carolina.
Rail Operations Group (ROG) 37608 'Andromeda' leads Greater Anglia 'FLIRTs' 755416 and 755401 past Waterbeach, 5P37 1416 from Cambridge T.&R.S.M.D. to Norwich C.Pt. T.&R.S.M.D.
37901 leads 37418 through Bessacarr Junction with 6Z37 1255 Doncaster Up Decoy to Derby RTC. I was a bit late getting here after being on nights so never even had chance to get my steps out. Not the brightest image but its the first time I've photted 901 since October 1998!
24th October 2022.
MILW #32A leads the Gourmet Express back towards Minneapolis after making its stop in Glencoe, Minnesota. Built in April of 1956 as MILW #202A, the #32A was donated to Friends of the 261 by WSOR in 2019 and was beautifully repainted into orange/maroon to match the rest of the passenger car fleet.
On the path that leads to nowhere, I have sometimes found my soul.
-- Corinne Roosevelt Robinson
While visiting Big Sky Montana back in 2015 we were told by a park ranger at Yellowstone NP where the grizzly bears were taken if they became too curious with or had interactions with stupid people doing stupid things in the park. Having seen and photographed my first Black bear in the park the day before…in a crowd of 50 other tourists’ shoulder to shoulder, my desire to see and capture a grizzly was off the charts!
The next morning a friend and I jumped in the car and headed to the truly in the middle of nowhere location provided by the ranger. For miles and miles, there were no fences, power lines, chem trails…no sign at all of what time period we were in. The timing of our quest was perfect as an early morning passing shower ignited a faint sweet smell to the cleanest of air…truly heaven on earth! The granting of a double rainbow was just sensory overload!
Looking down into the stream below, I noticed a beautiful granite bolder just below the surface of the storm’s runoff. In an example set by my mother since childhood, I climbed in and collected the rock to take home to provide a physical piece to the memory of a special place and time.
Today this rock is in our yard. Even though it’s been 10 years, I can still smell that sweet Montana post storm, morning air every time I see it.
66505 leads 90048 and 90041 at Thurston working the diverted 4L97 04.57 Trafford Park F.L.T. - Felixstowe North F.L.T on Saturday 4 February 2023.
A BNSF AC44 leads Z-WSPNBY West through Mazon, IL. You don’t always see the BNSF AC44’s hauling stacks. They’re almost always in coal service.
P32AC-DM 231 leads train 857 north for Poughkeepsie seen here at Oscawana Island in Cortlandt, NY. This locomotive is owned by the Connecticut Department of Transportation as part of the Metro-North pool and still wears the New Haven "McGinnis" scheme. Until the advent of the CT Rail service this was the official paint scheme for all CDOT owned units. Unfortunately these P32s in Metro-North service are all the only units that still remain in this classy livery.
A colorful locomotive consist leads Burlington Northern Santa Fe HKCKPAS westbound through Rock Creek between Bonita and Clinton, Montana, over MRL’s Third Subdivision on October 15, 2000. MRL No. 301, a former Clinchfield/CSX SD45-2 leads the train. Trailing are BN SD60M No. 9214, BNSF GP39M No. 2876, former Santa Fe SD45-2 No. 6471 and GE B40-8 No. 8616. The empty grade between the train and the Clark Fork is Milwaukee Road’s Pacific Extension right-of-way. For 35 years until 2018, Rock Creek was popular in some circles for its annual ‘Testicle Festival’ known as ‘Testy Fest’ each summer at the Rock Creek Lodge, that featured a wild celebration surrounding music, beer and consumption of ‘Rocky Mountain Oysters.’ Their advertising once stated, “You’ll have a ball! If you miss it, you’re nuts!”
An SD50 in DRGW paint leads UP Train MPRPB 23, and is seen here blasting out of Dexter, MO on the UP Chester Sub. after making a crew change at North Dexter.
By this time the former Rio Grande SD50's were singing their swan song on the UP. This one was hostled onto the head end of the train a day before in South Pekin, IL by my good friend Dave Sanderbeck after the Dash-8 in the back of the consist came up lame. That mostly SP painted SD40T-2 trailing was a nice touch as well. These units aren't far from home here, as this is former Cotton Belt Trackage.
This particular DRGW SD50 only made a couple more revenue moves before being retired and sold less than 3 weeks later. To catch one on the point and a tunnel motor trailing was certainly worth the effort on Dave's part.
I'd also shot this train in Dupo, IL almost 24 hours before and 165 miles up the track. That would have put this train's average speed for the preceding day around 6.9 MPH. This was back when the word "velocity" was still heard in the UPRR vernacular, and at one time they were pretty proud of the number. You almost never hear it spoken today at any railroad. It's too embarrassing to even mention.
UP 9859 was built in 9-1984 as DRGW 5515, builder and frame number 847022-15. It was patched to 9859 on 9-18-2002, and retired along with 16 siblings on 6-15-07 upon expiration of lease and sold to Progress Rail. They were collected at Metro East Industries in East St. Louis, IL, a handful were sold to short lines, and I presume the rest were scrapped, including this one.
Locomotives: UP 9859, LTEX 8231, UP 9457
5-25-07
Dexter, MO
UP 9073 leads an eastbound stack train grinding uphill through the S curves near Newkirk, NM. To the left can be seen historic Route 66, which parallels this former joint Rock Island/Cotton Belt line between Tucumcari and Santa Rosa.
2606 leads a colourful stack downgrade at Creston Junction. Completing the consist are 8992 and Norfolk Souther 9365. My understanding is that Union Pacific have recently acquired a few former Norfolk and Southern locomotives.
BNSF 8447 leads a southbound coal train through Greenland, CO on Main 1.
Not sure the last time that old GMC truck or John Deere tractor have run and/or moved, but they're still here at the Historic Allis Ranch.
Canadian National C40-8M #2410 leads Norfolk Southern train #291 out of Atlanta bound for Jacksonville on Independence Day 2014.
UP 2371 leads UP train MPRPBV-10 southbound thru Columbia, IL, just outside of Dupo, IL, on the UP Chester Sub. Having waited over 7 hours for this thing to finally show up, it's good to see a nice result and that the lead power didn't change on the way here.
BNSF #558 leads the Y NTW1501 (BNCP) transfer east to Canadian Pacific's St. Paul Yard on the morning of December 2nd, 2022. This veteran GE B40-8W was built in November 1990 as part of an 83-unit order for the Santa Fe Railway. Following the merger in 1996, the fleet was absorbed by BNSF where many -8's found a new home and continued to earn their keep on the active roster.
With over 32 years of service, it's interesting to reflect on the ATSF’s original purposes of this locomotive: speed and high-priority freight - a stark comparison to the local/yard service these rolling pieces of railroad history have been captive to since the late 2000s. Nevertheless, for its age, the 558 isn't looking too worse for wear.
Freightliner 66555 leads an empty CWR train past Little Downham, working the 6Y90 0955 Westerfield to Whitemoor Yard L.D.C Gbrf engineers.
LSL 47712 leads 5Z48 Carlisle - Crewe H.S. past Shap Wells with 47805 in a lucky sun spell on January 19th, 2023. Pole shot.
CSXT 1869 leads train M218 (Selkirk to Philadelphia Greenwich Yard unit auto racks) out of the south portal of the 2640 ft long tunnel into a light rain after passing beneath the plain inside the United States Miltary Academy at West Point, which is also the oldest continuously occupied military post in the nation. Situated at MP 47.2 besides modern day CSXT's busy River Sub mainline the first West Shore train passed through this bore on June 4, 1883.
The Gothic stone portal of the tunnel blends in with the imposing crenellated parapets of Thayer Hall which rises above, the creation of which was the result of a 1903 design competition to improve and expand the Academy at West Point. The successful design proposal, won by Cram, Goodhue, and Ferguson, created Thayer Hall as a riding arena, the largest masonry indoor riding facility in the world, at that time. By the end of the Second World War, horse and mounted Calvary training was obsolete and no longer relevant to the mission of West Point. Between 1955 and 1959, the riding hall was repurposed to house 350,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories, assembly spaces and academic offices.
It is named for Sylvanus Thayer, the 33rd graduate of the academy in 1808 who was commissioned in the Corps of Engineers. In the War of 1812 he commanded the defense of Norfolk, VA and built the installations to defend the port. After studying and touring Europe he returned in 1817 and was made the 5th Superintendent of the Academy by President James Monroe, a post he held for 16 years in which time he created the first college of engineering in the United States.
United States Miltary Academy West Point
Highlands, New York
Saturday May 31, 2025
E656-294 leads a train of museum equipment north towards Messina where some of it will head back to the mainland. The equipment was used the day before on a pair of excursion trains from Catania. I had stayed in Catania the night before and was hoping the equipment would go north the next night and when I got to the station sure enough they were shunting the train together. The problem was that it would be a long wait for the next train for me to get to my desired photo spot. Thinking surprisingly quickly I checked the bus schedule and saw indeed, there was a bus leaving in just a few minutes. I arrived at my spot in Letojanni and amazingly the heavy cloud cover cleared off right before the train. I think this was the only time I was disappointed to see a E656 on the trip as I was hoping the trailing E646 would lead. However the E656 will likely soon be scrap metal while the 646 should be safe. Note, I removed alot of graffiti from the front of the loco, it was tempting to paint back the FS logos that have been missing for atleast a year but thats too much fakery.
BNSF 7495 leads an empty grain train east at Thorp, WA along the winding Yakima River. In the background below the Basalt cliffs is the location of the former Milwaukee Road which traveled along the opposite bank of the Yakima. As the second to arrive in the area the Milwaukee Road had the less desirable side necessitating a few tunnels in this immediate area. It must have been quite the experience in the day.
Utah 5003 leads a Kyle eastbound on its rumored final run. It was rumored that once the train arrived in Phillipsburg Kansas the 5003 would go to the shop and be pulled from service. The train had made it further east than expected but I was able to make a mad dash to intercept for a single photo op. After a 45 minute drive punching through a thunderstorm I was able to shoot the 5003 at Breton Kansas splitting the ex Rock Island searchlight signals with the storm behind. With occasion documented I repeated the drive and still made it to work with a couple minutes to spare. However, as fate would have it a grade crossing incident elsewhere on the railroad would require the 5003 to continue on. At the time of this posting it is still in service but its days are numbered.
RCPE 3431 leads three other SD40-2s west into Garvin, MN on RCPE's thrice weekly Mankato to Aurora train. The four Dash 2s are working the 95 car westbound up to track speed after leaving CP trackage a few miles back.
This RCPE crew would go on duty at Mankato in the morning and 5 1/2 hours later would depart west. After a three hour run to Tracy the crew was starting to run out of time, so they highballed a pick up and continued west to Elkton, SD to tie up. Always nice when this train runs through Tracy, but the days are getting much shorter as we approach fall. Still got a few shots west of Tracy on the evening of August 22, 2017. Can't complain about the shorter days though as that was the reason I was out there as part of my annual trip to get away from the Twin Ports one more time before summer ends.
A GE leads four EMDs and a loaded coal train across the man-made bridge over the James River near Natural Bridge. The location of Natural Bridge is named after a nearby 215-foot tall limestone arch carved out by Cedar Creek. It was once owned by Thomas Jefferson and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today it's now a state park and well worth the 8 dollars admission to see.
DE U30C 019 leads a UDM coal train on the Fort Wayne Line at New Brighton, PA on September 17, 1992. The two middle tracks are the Yougstown Line at CP VALE, and the two outer tracks are the Fort Wayne Line.
Soo SD40 #6401 leads a CP SD40-2 across the Mississippi River with the BN Transfer back on April 3, 1998. The leader was part of a group of former KCS SD40s that the Soo acquired in 1986.
This edition of the Humboldt to Northtown transfer has some TOFC traffic on the head end from Winnipeg which was common as the Minneapolis pig traffic was set out at Glenwood and handled into Humboldt by the local (#150). The pigs will be set out at Shoreham before the rest of the train is yarded at Northtown.