Georgia Southern Railroad train GS-1 is making their allowed 10mph speed as they plod along for Perry, Georgia, just out of Fort Valley. This is the former Central of Georgia Railroad Perry branch that came off in Fort Valley along with the Columbus, and Albany lines. The COFG and Southern Railroad heritage is still strong along this line. Ancient jointed rail from nearly a century ago keeps track speed to a crawl, but also allows for many photo angles of this highly scenic branch. I'll have more of those soon, although, they will all be in clouds. This was the ten literal seconds of sunlight all day....

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

CSX Q693 winds its way down the former Clinchfield Railroad just south of Green Mountain along Whitson's Branch road. The CSX Blue Ridge and Kingsport subdivisions are as close to perfect as you can get on the east coast in my opinion. Chasing the Clinchfield never gets old.

CSX M705 heels into the last rays of a beautiful day in Pensacola, Florida. The L&N built their line right on Escambia Bay out of town, and the photos to be had are numerous. This was one of the final runs I was able to shoot of this line under original ownership. Shortly after this photo CSX would sell the line to the Florida Gulf and Atlantic and the photo potentials would dwindle to near nothing. This is my hometown photo location having grown up only mere minutes from here. I hope to capture the Florida Gulf and Atlantic running on this trackage soon.

Thanks for looking!

Neck feathers are puffed out as it calls out to its mate nearby

Ready for my close up!

Pebble beach on Rhodes just after sunset. A long exposure turns the surf into a silky veil while the

last light skims the stones. Shot on Nikon Z6II with Sigma 24mm Art.

CSX 8383 leads CSX empty grain move G933 up the EX- Atlantic Coast Line Railroad's "Bow Line" as they approach the town of Brundidge, Alabama. The beautiful rolling hills of south Alabama compliment the 52 year old surprise SD40-2 leader as it rolls up the line. Getting this engine leading was a complete and welcome surprise a few miles down the line at Dillard siding where our southbound 651 chase concluded and this began.

Norfolk Southern drag freight 183 is seen here passing by the Sloss Furnaces in downtown Birmingham, Alabama. The train is also passing the site of the former Southern Railroad 27th street interlocking tower. This interlocking tower once controlled movements of the Seaboard Coast Line Railroad, the Southern Railroad, and the L&N, across the busy web of trackage here. Even today it is a maze of tracks where the NS Birmingham to Meridian, MS, line, the NS West end district to Memphis, and the CSX Nashville to Jacksonville mainline all intersect. Now all of this trackage is controlled by mouse clicks from a computer in Atlanta that will line the routes for trains. A bonus on this day was the Nickle Plate Road Heritage motor on point of this 183. This engine was one of 20 that Norfolk Southern commissioned to memorialize the image of 20 predecessor railroads. All of those 20 merged over time to eventually create the modern day Norfolk Southern System.

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Randomly walking in the garden during vacation. Since I don't have a macro lens, I used my 85mm f/1.8 lens and a bit of cropping. Quite happy with the result! Tell me what you think!

A cloudy afternoon finds us somewhere east of Rural Retreat, Virginia, in perfect farm country. I wish it could all be this idyllic... Scenes like this in pure form are the exception, not the rule, in America. A sad reality of the present...

Thanks for looking!

A spotless Saturday in southern Mississippi yields us this angle of Mississippi Export Railroad's daily mixed freight working south towards Pascagoula, MS, from Evanston. This train was lead by the roads consecutively numbered EMD's 66/67/68. These EMD GP38's and GP50 are running in a rare 3 engine consist for the road train. Unless a heavy rock train was taken north the day prior the daily mixed train will run with only two motors. The clean Export GP's made for a great chase on a frustrating, but beautiful day out.

Thanks for looking!

First light on a Sweet Gum Tree

Nice view of the sunset from Shallotte Riverwalk.

Kansas City Southern Railroad's Artesia, Mississippi, to Saltillo, Mississippi, roundtrip local arrives southbound into Tupelo, MS, on a beautiful winter morning. The 24 degree temperature felt wonderful as the long manifest train slowly pulled into town. The Saltillo Turn is a road train that turns cars to and from the north end of the KCS Artesia Subdivision to and from the major yard in Artesia. The Artesia Subdivision stretches all of the former Gulf Mobile and Ohio lines owned by KCS from Meridian, Mississippi, to Corinth, Mississippi, on the northern extremity of the state. The former Gulf Mobile and Ohio Railroad lines are a geographical outpost of the KCS system. These lines are dominated by older EMD four axle power running (mostly) long trains up and down the profitable Artesia line. Carload business is booming on this end of the line. Today's Saltillo turn would fill out to 66 cars before leaving Tupelo southbound. On this day we were quite fortunate to have wonderful weather and well timed trains. This was our first look at the Saltillo Job returning south. Thanks again to my good friend for helping us out on this portion of the line. More to come soon...

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

The KCS Saltillo Turn is just minutes out of a sizeable pickup in Tupelo, MS, as they cruise south for Artesia on a frigid late fall morning. The three matched belles and 67 trailing cars made for a great chase of a late running Saltillo Turn back to West Point. When this train arrived at West Point they would go on the law due to an Aberdeen turn having engine issues in downtown West Point. This may be the final hours of KCS, but they've never looked better than they do here. Not many class one railroads left pulling tonnage out along the mainline with four axle motors. Get it while you can.

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Randomly walking in the garden during vacation. Since I don't have a macro lens, I used my 85mm f/1.8 lens and a bit of cropping. Quite happy with the result! Tell me what you think!

Late season flowers, not many of them left. Created for Macro Mondays, theme Flowers.

Using Nikon Z6II and pentacon 29mm f2.8 and 11mm extension tube.

It was almost too warm for crystals - the patterns are completely different to what you get at -5 or less.

Another great night spent out camping with friends always means more night sky photography. This was the last frame of the night. Pleasant temperatures and low humidity made for a great night. 15 minutes of captured movement here. One of the few cloud-free moments of the day.

Thanks for looking!

Cleared for Flight

The stars of a cold winters night are reflected off the surface of Bear Lake in Northwest Florida. Calm conditions and clear skies allowed for beautiful night sky conditions, and this shot was able to capitalize on it well.

Thanks for looking!

Common Snapping Turtle basking in the warm sun of early Spring.

Vue du balcon

The KCS Macon Local is arriving in Meridian, Mississippi, on the former Gulf Mobile and Ohio Mainline. The local is an all timber products affair today, and sports just 8 cars. Three belle GP variants lead the train south to Meridian all afternoon, and made for a wonderful chase through the hilly woodlands of east Mississippi. Fortunately for us the Southern held Amtrak 19 at the diamonds for the local to scoot across, and into the yard. It was a well timed event as soon after stack trains would begin showing up, and the light would disappear.

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

Cumberland Valley Classic

CSX loaded coal train T090 is seen passing through the pastoral scene at Olinger, Virginia, on a beautiful fall morning. The 45 car loaded coal train was moving right along until Big Stone Gap, a few miles up the road, where the lead engine ran out of lube oil. The scene here at Olinger is beautiful, and somewhat tough to photograph due to the mostly nocturnal nature of the T090 through here. This is a classic location on the old Louisville and Nashville Railroad Cumberland Valley Subdivision. Sadly, seeing more than one train in a trip is a rarity through here. I got lucky with two daylight runs of the T090, but only one shot here. I'll take it.

Thanks for looking and enjoy!

CSX haulage rights train T090 is seen exiting the southern portal of Natural Tunnel. The train is keeping to the 15mph speed restriction through the tight confines of Natural Tunnel. 45 loads of Eastman coal is at the drawbars. This is a bucket list location, and I'm priveledged to have shot it quite a few times this trip.

A telephoto lens allows us to peer through the fog of a moody Vermont morning, and view the farms clinging to the ridgelines of Bartlett's Ridge. The last gasps of color have been getting blown away by massive windstorms for the past few days, and winter will soon set in.

Thanks for looking!

Sunrise over Einsiedel and the Swabian hills

www.redbubble.com/people/mbangert/works/129630321-autumn-...