View allAll Photos Tagged Z6II
CSX 1972 was a nice lead engine on the front of this M602-16 catching the first rays of sunlight on a spring saturday morning in Henderson Point, MS. The massive M602 hit the west end of the bridge at sunrise, and a small hole in receding fog allowed for some beautiful golden sun to hit the train as it slowly rolled across the confluence of Saint Louis Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Realistically in this scenario I would have shot any train in this lighting, but seeing the long gone Family Lines System logo on the side of the freshly outshopped 1972 made it even better...
Thanks for looking!
As the shadows grow long the daily Florida Gulf and Atlantic Pensacola to Milton shuttle returns back east along beautiful Escambia Bay in Pensacola, Florida. The lead locomotive is a former Iowa Chicago and Eastern GP40 that was sold to the Helm Rail Leasing Company some years ago. Seeing leased motors like the 4216 is reminiscent of the times in the early 2000s when leased power was common on the line's predecessor, CSX. This section of the old L&N and CSX is a hidden gem for photography. Upon departure from Pensacola the tracks travel right next to Escambia Bay for 10 or so miles until crossing it at Lora Point on the Massive John T Collinson bridge. Two years ago nearly to the day Hurricane Sally destroyed this section of track, and drug most of it into the bay. This cleared out many, many, miles of sightlines that were just not there hours beforehand. This locale is one of my favorites to capture having grown up just 5 minutes from here; and thus spending many afternoons watching the rainbnow era of CSX roll by at the beach here.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
A routine scene takes place at Saint Charles and Audubon on a beautiful early summer evening. Another Saint Charles car is inbound to the city with a quickly filling ride. 9 miles ahead lies the connection to downtown at Canal Street. It'll be dark by the time the 951 makes it there. Just another evening for these streetcars that have been doing it now for over 100 years.
Thanks for looking!
CSX E090-06, the empty Eastman Chemical to Loyall, KY, coal train, is seen roaring out of the north portal of Natural Tunnel, Va, on a cool Sunday morning. CSX runs the coal trains for the massive Eastman Chemical facility in Kingsport, TN. They run two 45 car cuts in; and they run one 90 car empty train out when needed. This E090 is having no issues keeping track speed as they climb upgrade towards Horton's Summit a few miles up the road. CSX in the tunnel is something I'd yet accomplished from the north end. Happily this visit around the Appalachia District was the busiest I'd seen it since I've been up. E090 here is a few hours away from tying up in Loyall, and the next morning a local crew would haul the 90 cars out for a loading at Balkan Mine in Tejay, Kentucky.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
Norfolk Southern Local Freight train P45 is seen crossing the Georgia/South Carolina border at sunset's beginning on a beautiful Monday evening. P45 has just left their originating terminal at Toccoa, Georgia, a few miles behind, and is making a fast sprint towards Seneca, SC, where the train will diverge onto the Z line for an eventual destination of Anderson, South Carolina. A sweet pairing of consecutively numbered GP60's powers the train through to Anderson. Tugaloo is a well-known photo location on the former Southern Railroad's Washington D.C. to Atlanta, Georgia mainline dubbed the "Piedmont". P45 made for a great subject and chase as the sun set against the Blue Ridge Mountains for the day.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
A fall day in Galaxy Hill, Vermont.
Your typical Vermont Roadside shot. Galaxy Hill is a small farming community between Woodstock and Pomfret in East Central Vermont. It was ablaze with orange on a misty Autumn evening. The sightlines in this part of the world are certainly idyllic...
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
CSX B651-01 pops out of ridge tunnel in Altapass, North Carolina. The tunnel here carries the CSX Blue Ridge Sub under the Blue Ridge parkway a hundred feet above. The train is right at the top of the Clinchfield loops on the former Carolina Clinchfield and Ohio Railroad. Leading the train is a decently clean KCS Belle ET44AH. This train took two days to get south of Erwin from Kingsport after a rear DPU failure. It wound up working out better in the end though as they managed to run the Kingsport to Erwin segment in nice afternoon sun, and then made the morning run south through the gorge near Poplar, NC, and on south to Bostic. We had a great chase of this guy south from Poplar to Marion in North Carolina on a stormy Friday. More to come soon!
A resplendent scene is displayed along one of Florida's wild spring runs on a stunning winter afternoon. Most of my photos have long-winded narratives that attempt to engage the viewer with the image. I feel, however, that this image speaks for itself through nature's intrinsic beauty. A hidden Florida Landscape that's as old as time itself...
Thanks for looking and enjoy! More Pure Florida scenes soon!
The morning fog is burning off as the Pickens Railroad Belton Job conductor keeps a close eye out on his motors. The U18B's are making their first steps of a busy morning. It's almost spring, and small signs of spring are showing up everywhere. After a few switching moves these boats will be headed to Gluck for their train to Anderson, and eventually, Honea Path, SC, by way of Belton. It was a good day to be following these guys... More to come soon.
Thanks for looking!
CN 2029 leads a southbound Two Harbors ore load into Wales, Minnesota, on a cold fall day in the northwoods. The heavy loaded taconite train is running south on the former Duluth Missabe and Iron Range railroad mainline for the ore docks in Two Harbors on Lake Superior. The train is fighting uphill from Rollins a few miles back, but will soon prepare to drop down the steep 3% grade to the lake in Two Harbors. The C40-8's running the Two Harbors side are the last holdouts for class one standard cab dash 8's. Trios of C40's routinely hold down taconite pellet shuttles on the remote Iron Range Subdivision running north from Two Harbors to the Minntac Mine and return. With the disposition of many units already taking place I was glad to have photographed at least one train with these former Chicago and Northwestern C40-8's on point.
Thanks for looking!
The KCS Business train is seen here crossing over the massive Bonnet Carre' Spillway bridge in Norco, Louisiana. The Spillway is a flood control project that keeps New Orleans from (in theory) flooding when the Mississippi River rises. It creates a diverging channel for southbound water to flow into Lake Ponchatrain a mile or two to our north. For the two railroads that cross it the spillway created the need for some massive bridges to be built in order to span across the massive structure. The northernmost bridge is the former Louisiana and Arkansas Railroad, now KCS. This day the old, decrepit, and rickety trestle was carrying outbound company brass back to Shreveport. This particular move only had business train staff onboard, and thus it got held up for just about every possible train on rival railroad CN before they could leave New Orleans. It didn't take them long after to get out here, and for the 6 or so of us on the western end of the bridge the results proved spectacular. The telephoto angle here brings into perspective just how long the bridge is. On this April day it was dry as a bone underneath. This is something, that according to the locals, isn't super common.
Thanks for looking!
The 21 car Belton Job is seen here along Railroad Ave in Anderson, SC, as they prepare to switch a new customer on the eastern side of town. The engineer has just released the air, and they'll momentarily begin switching. The unique U18B's were struggling with the heavy interchange train here, and it certainly made for great sounds. Thanks for looking!
The CSX Blue Ridge Subdivision through its namesake mountains is a mesmerizing stretch of railroad. It follows the path of the beautiful Nolichucky and Toe Rivers south towards the summit of the Blue Ridge in Altapass, North Carolina. In this image we are between Huntdale and Pigeon Roost, North Carolina, in a small place known
Relief. CSX 7212 is taking 75 loaded hoppers of grain south near sunset. Golden Hour is hitting its full, unbridled, stride, and the train shows up right on time. Squealing wheel flanges drown out the peaceful sounds of the river for a few moments, and then gradually it fades into the distance while nature takes back over. This part of the world is a pristine place, and I hope to return again, and again, and again.
Thank you for looking and reading! More shortline action soon!
Some days you'd rather be lucky than good... After following the previously posted NS S0N up to Iager, WV, on the Dry Fork branch we backtracked to the town of Cedar Bluff, VA, late in the afternoon along the Clinch Valley main. When we arrived NS empty train 815 was in the process of splitting their train with a new S1N crew for Weller. Splitting the train is the process by which one long empty coal train is split into two trains for different destinations. This particular 815 came out of Norfolk with a Weller, VA, bound empty set, and a Toms Creek, VA, bound empty set. In Cedar Bluff, at Dry Fork Junction, the Weller bound crew boarded the DPU's of 815, detached from the rear of 815, attached the EOT to 815, brake tested, and took the turn up the Dry Fork side for the second train that day. When we arrived at Amonate again there was a brief glimmer of setting sun that illuminated the trestle and quickly disappeared. After hearing that they were stopped I figured we may have made the hike up again to come up empty handed. When they did finally get on the move again I was happy to at least know they'd make it in daytime. Just before S1N rounded the curve on the far side of the bridge the sun broke through the cloud deck, and illuminated the bridge just far enough to bathe the train and mountains in sweet golden hour sunlight. Before the end of the train passed, and we reached the bottom of the steep hike down the clouds had covered the bridge for the day. From wondering if we were going to have a shot to getting complete sun on the train was a sweet turn of events. This was made especially nice by the great location, and the overall rarity of getting a single train up there, much less two.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
Under a stunning sunset the Lady Malou and Pacific Tulip lay over on the Mississippi River awaiting an opening in Reserve, Louisiana. The foreground ship, the Lady Malou, was waiting for a chemical related load to take to Coatzacoalcos, Mexico. It was built in 2013 as a purpose-built chemical tanker under the Grecian Flag and is currently sailing along the eastern Mexico Coast. The background boat, the Pacific Tulip, was built last year as a bulk carrier under the Marshall Islands flag, and was picking up grain for Singapore. The vessel would depart two days later for Singapore where it is not expected to arrive until May 7th of this year. On the westbank the DOW chemical plant dominates the skyline in Taft, LA, behind the ships. The amount of Commerce moving up and down the Mississippi is stunning. A quiet river up from New Orleans is a rare phenomenon with ships calling on many, many, ports inland.
Thanks for looking!
KCS 1 south has the hammer down as they roll south through Lettsworth, Louisiana, in "peak" Louisiana fall colors. The Christmas train has had no issues keeping track speed all the way out of Shreveport, and soon the train will be rolling onto the Morganaza Spillway as they continue south to Laplace for their Wednesday show behind the railroads shiny FP9 passenger motors. These particular FP9's were built in the mid 1950's for CN rail. The lead KCS 1 was built in January of 1955. There was a sense of style in the EMD catalog in the 1950's that will never be present again....
Thanks for looking!
In a classic scene that is instantly recognizable for N&W fans we see Norfolk Southern train 393 struggling upgrade at Shawsville, Va. The train is passing the iconic scene at John Farm road that so many recognize. The low afternoon sun accentuates the scene nicely. This was a great shot on a busy afternoon out of Roanoke for both N&W westbounds and Virginian eastbounds.
Three years ago the last solid grey KCS SD40 consist was out running for one more day along the KCS Gulfport Subdivsion. We are set up in Saucier, Ms, a little after 8 am one morning for our first shot of the day. Engineer Darrell Mickler has his train in the wind as they head north towards Hattiesburg on a muggy southern summer morning. The very next morning freshly painted 3206 replaced the 695 on the north end, and as since there has never been a solid grey SD40 consist again... I credit my good friend Brandon Smith for letting me know about this train. Without his texting me I never would have known this was still possible all the way into 2019.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!
One week before the fifth strongest hurricane to ever strike the United States hit Louisiana we find ourselves in the town of Maringouin. The main attraction for this outing was Union Pacific's 4014, the Big Boy, running from Livonia to New Orleans, LA, for the southeasternmost leg of their trip. When one thinks of the Big Boy, and its operating territory, you don't often think about Spanish Moss. Far from the typical climes that Big Boy runs in here! This was a great highlight to chasing in the year 2021...
CN G884 rolls south at the prescribed 25mph over the Manchac Pass drawbridge behind the Wisconsin Central Heritage Unit. The 3069 was one of 5 paint schemes from predecessor railroads that Canadian National repainted as part of the 25th anniversary of the companies IPO. The spotless weather lent itself to a good follow of this guy south from Osyka siding up the line on the Mississippi border south towards their destination of Reserve. This shot is the cream of that crop for me. Manchac Pass is the must have shot along the southern end of the former Illinois Central mainline. The small pass connects Lake Maurepas with the much larger Lake Ponchatrain for an eventual drain into the Gulf of Mexico through the Rigolets Pass.
Thanks For looking and enjoy!
Pickens' Railroad Belton job is eastbound just outside of Anderson as they roll along over the big Broadway Creek bridge. The two U18B's are having no issues handling the light 8 car train from Anderson this AM. While this branch is indeed former Southern, the U18B's would be right at home. The Seaboard system had track rights to Belton over the NS Honea Path Line. Lots of interesting railroad history is located in this small little area of South Carolina. I'll go more into depth soon.
Thanks for looking and enjoy!