View allAll Photos Tagged Searchlight
Here is a vertical take I like of the westbound Montana Rail Link 'night gas' train behind SD70ACes 4406 and 4408 (both built new for the road in Apr. 2014). They are leading a trainload of refined petroleum products from Missoula to Thompson Falls as they split the classic Northern Pacific era cantilever signals at the west end of the 11,360 ft siding and cross Central Ave. at MP 6.4 on the 4th Sub Mainline.
These railfan favorite gas trains are the only trains on this end of the railroad anymore that are guaranteed to run with blue power. Strictly an intra-MRL operation, these trains came into being in 1995 when a gap was created in the 40 yr old and 531 mile long Yellowstone Pipeline when the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribe chose not to renew the pipeline company's lease of 21 miles of right of way across their Flathead Indian Reservation. To learn about how and why this came about this article may be of interest: www.bigskywords.com/montana-blog/the-yellowstone-pipeline...
Plains, Montana
Sunday September 4, 2022
Donner Pass is full of old signal bridges, and shot here is one of them. Places such as Reno, Verdi, Yuba Gap, and Andover, the place in this photo, still have old SP era signal bridges standing. Over the years, several have been knocked over, the most recent of which being the one in downtown Truckee earlier this year. Although eventually all of these inactive bridges will be knocked, for now UP is keeping them up while they focus on more important tasks for maintenance to handle.
As the morning sun shines into the Coldstream Canyon, the eastbound ZLTG2 roars through the canyon as it makes its way into Truckee. Right after getting this shot, I would continue following it to Reno as there were no westbound trains in the area to follow. Even after getting lunch later in the day, there was still nothing, making this the only train I would shoot that day.
Among the searchlight-type signals still standing in Minnesota is this single approach signal to the dock at Taconite Harbor, Minnesota. It's about a mile to the next signal, downgrade, and around a curve before the big lake is visible. Imagine the heavy taconite trains with several EMD F9A and B units easing down to the dock for dumping.
This railroad has been covered extensively in Trains magazine, the Ore Extra, and Patrick Dorin's Iron Ore Railroads of Minnesota & Ontario. More information can be discovered in these publications about operations and railroad equipment.
Coal empties fly past a surviving CB&Q searchlight on BNSF's St. Joseph Subdivision at Forest City, MO.
A trio of IC SD70s with 106 empties leave behind CTC controlled territory for the final 13 miles of mainline into Conneaut Harbor. Once at the harbor they will drop their train and pick up 90 loads of iron ore for Edgar Thompson Works in Pittsburgh.
Four searchlight masts guard the intermediate signal location at Starkville as Amtrak 4, the Southwest Chief, approaches the next stop at Trinidad.
With a small train of mostly empties, Job 2 is seen cruising downgrade between the old automatics west of Holeb. A trio of SD40-2Fs, the 9021, 9017 and 9004, have the train well under control, and will arrive in Jackman in about a half hour, about thirteen miles to the east. The Canadian crew will bring the train through US Customs, then tie the train down, and go for the rest, waiting to go out later in the evening on Job 1.
#CN305 ducks underneath the signals at Queens East, with a former CREX (now CN) leading solo. Over the years on CN’s Kingston Sub, when there were more trains (and when they were shorter) every 20 or so miles there was a two track siding beside the North and the South track, hence the reason there looked to be 4 sets of signals at one point in time. But now that there’s not as many freights on the system anymore, and cause they’re now way longer than the sidings once were, a lot of the sidings were ripped up and put out of service.
The FWWR is a treat not only in their power, but the numerous Santa Fe searchlights that dot the line to Cresson. Here the Cresson turn is seen notching up at the south end of Primrose siding.
The DPU of Wheeling train 223 passes the classic searchlight signals that guard the east end of the siding at Williston, Ohio as the train rolls west on the Norfolk Southern's Toledo District toward Homestead Yard. This is one of the last locations on the Toledo District that features Wheeling searchlights; the only others that I am aware of are at Ironville Tower and in Fremont.
Due to MOW work on the Valley Sub, today’s MNPRV was sent down the Sacramento Subdivision into Roseville. Heading just south of Pleasant Grove, I found myself with an opportunity for searchlights, reflection, and a special guest, an egret. After a few minutes of waiting, the sound of a horn could be heard in the distance and anyone could tell that the train was flying as the roaring sound of the horn and locomotives echoed through the countryside. After a few minutes, the train showed up and right after taking this photo the egret would fly away due to the train scaring it off.
This isn't a great photo--I'll blame it partly on the misty rain and partly on the photographer--but I thought it captured an "edge of the earth" sort of moment because the storm clouds blotted out almost every bit of light out over the lake. (Took this the same night as the tree/dream shot.)
This is not something I'd normally go out of my way to photograph, but I broke my own rule today and drove nearly two hours round trip for this terrible photo of a dreaded purple window train on this gloomy spring afternoon. But two of my best friends and fellow photographers were working it together and wanted someone to document it so that's what friends are for right?
John Kittredge is at the throttle of grimy MPI HSP46 2015 while back in the train assistant conductor Vincent Colombo is taking tickets and manning the doors. They are headed outbound to Worcester on Keolis/MBTA train 529 splitting the signals at CP11 as they sail west on Main 2 of the modern day MBTA Worcester Mainline, the one time Boston and Albany Railroad. The New York Central era searchlights amazingly survive, appended with doll arms for the 'c' lights added when ATC (cab signals) was finally installed between Framingham and Boston in 2020.
Weston, Massachusetts
Friday April 28, 2023
Montana Rail Link’s Fourth Subdivision main line through Tuscor, Montana, awakens with the cantilever signal on the west end of the siding flicking to green, signaling a clear path west along the Clark Fork on July 5, 2022. The approaching BNSF westbound is still a ways off as illuminated beams from the searchlights project though moisture-laden air and the Milky Way.
Just after departing the western portal of Bozeman Tunnel, trains come across the aptly-named siding of West End. The siding, still protected by NP-era searchlights as of 2022, gives eastbounds hope that they're nearly at the top and marks the start of the long 1.9% descent for westbounds like this one.
C SXMRBG1 39F (Coal- Signal Peak Mine, MT to Robert's Bank, BC)
BNSF Dash 9-44CW #5380
BNSF ES44AC #6122
(DPU) BNSF ES44AC
West End, MT
May 6th, 2022
I decided to focus on some classic Boston and Maine era searchlights I'd not shot before. These are becoming a rare bread and if the CSXT acquisition is approved and they move forward with PTC installation these will assuredly all go to the scrap heap.
Here is Pan Am train POAY (the daily Rigby to Ayer manifest) setting out a half dozen cars for the NHN into the south end of the yard here at CPF 243. This massive truss bridge carrying the mainline over Broadway was clearly once double tracked but now this is the south end of 2.2 mile stretch of double main. MEC 7609 (GE C40-8 blt. Jul. 1990) still wears its patched over CSXT YN2 paint despite having been on Pan Am property for more that five years.
Dover, New Hampshire
Friday February 18, 2021
New Hampshire Northcoast train D8 rolls west under the Boston & Maine era searchlight signals at CPF-241 in Rollinsford with GP38-2 3823 in the lead. These classic signals were replaced sometime last year as part of a signal modernization project done by CSX, the new owner of the former Pan Am property.
A northbound UP Z train splits the signals at Scott City, MO. These are one of the last remaining sets of SSW searchlights on the UP system.
As the skyline looms above, YBS52 is departing Congress Yard and heading south on the UP Galveston Sub, coming off the West Belt sub at S GH&H Jct.
Houston, TX 5/27/2020
The classic set of KJRY's F units cross the BNSF mainline at Bushnell Illinois, heading back to Mapleton, as the late day autumn sun races for the horizon.
KJRY 1752,1761,1750
Bushnell, IL
Autumn 2011
A classy pair of UP motors is busy switching the South St. Paul Yard. Assembling cars required coming all the way south to beyond the Rock Island-era searchlight signals. A good-looking scene.
As another autumn day turns to night on October 1, 2020, the signals light up at West Tuscor, Montana, in response to a couple mouse clicks from the Montana Rail Link dispatcher in Missoula. Not long after, rumbling locomotives and rolling tonnage can be heard bouncing off the water and walls lining the Clark Fork valley at Trout Creek to the east. As a BNSF train curves into Tuscor, the scene slowly lights up from the approaching train, and a green signal on the main line greets its passage west on MRL’s Fourth Subdivision. With MRL’s commitment to PTC installation, it’s hard to say how long the cantilevers and seachlights will last.
Bev Clark - All Rights Reserved No Usage Allowed Including Copying Or Sharing Without Written Permission
Union Pacific EMD GP38N No. 578 and GP38-2 No. 724 make a seven-car set out at CP Becks in Salt Lake City, Utah. UP 578 was built Southern Pacific 4815 in May 1980 while UP 724 was built Missouri Pacific 2224 in August 1980.
The vintage US&S searchlights stand tall in spite of their age. UP removed and replaced the D&RGW dwarf signal that stood here for decades, and replaced it with a retired, repurposed US&S unit, likely from the former LA&SL route west of downtown.
QASD roars through the 99 signals headed north to EMX where they will head up the M&S branch to Gilberton
CSX M427 hammers through the plant at CPF 273 in Plaistow, NH with the usual AC44CW leader on top of an MEC C40-8.
On a gorgeous evening in the western country, Montana Rail Link's night gas rolls into a stop at Plains, Montana at the vintage searchlight signals. They would soon learn from dispatch they'd be cooling their heels here, waiting on an eastbound. While not necessarily an easy chase, the night gas sure is rewarding, and I am glad I had the opportunity to chase this famed run on the 10th sub.
Train Z127-07 from Flint, MI splits the C&O searchlights at North Holly with LSRC 6355 (SD50-3) leading LSRC 6303 (SD40-2). Seen here approaching downtown Holly, MI on their trip south to Wixom, MI on the LSRC Saginaw Sub. Taken: 2-7-21
It has been a few years since the searchlights at Norden were torn down, but here's a photo from when they were still standing.
The day started with a couple friends and I waiting at Roseville for ZLTG2. We followed it up the hill to Truckee, making a stop at Norden. At the time, these were the only active searchlights on Donner, but were living on borrowed time. Due to this, it seemed like everyone was trying to make it a goal to shoot Norden as much as possible while the SP era signals still stood. Not long after this shot was taken, the replacement signals were put up, but would not enter service for about a year.
Just over a year after this photo, in late November of 2021, the searchlights were officially removed from service. While the east end signals were taken down first, the signal bridge would take a minute to cut down, but sometime around Thanksgiving that year the signals and bridge would be completely gone. I'm glad I got the shots I did when the signals were still up, as going to Norden these days it feels off not seeing the searchlights there. Today, no searchlights remain active on Donner, and in the years following Norden there have been other SP era bridges knocked on the hill. The most recent of those was Truckee, which happened last summer. Thankfully, a handful of these bridges still remain, even if they are just dormant.
UP 6379 leads the GSPFRM-03 through CP Z067 in Topeka, KS on 2/5/23.
This one caught me by surprise, as I had come out to photograph the train two ahead of it, and as I was on my way home, Cade let me know that this was headed my way. Yeah, I definitely had to turn around and get the shot. There aren't many SP-painted engines left running, and to get one on the point, when you're already out with the camera, and there's (kind of) sun is a win all around.