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A Saturday extra L035 running as U035 out of Niagara Falls spots four box cars, at Smurfit Westrock in North Tonawanda on a beautiful summer Saturday.
With the 4th of July falling on a Thursday back in 2024 when I shot this, L035 didn't run for a couple days that week, thus a holiday weekend extra was called to go switch all the customers who were howling to get their cars. Of all the places around WNY served by rail, this is probably the one I've watched get switched the most, just inherently from shooting this job so much. Incredibly it took me four years to finally nab what I deem to be my favorite shot here, despite the not as photogenic leader. Westrock has been a staple of the community for years now, previously under the name RockTenn. In the '90s this area was filled with clients such as International Filler, Lawless Container, a company called Tondisco, and just across the tracks behind the point of view, Tonawanda News once had a single door for box cars. However some 30+ years later, Westrock is all that remains as far as rail service goes for this particular neighborhood. My first encounter of a local switching here was back in the height of the pandemic, April 17th, 2020. Kenmore Yard south of here still had jobs based out of it such as Y234 who covered this area and the other Niagara Branch customers nearby. That was also my first time seeing the legendary Rodney Kantorski, a whole two years before we'd really befriend each other after lots of days out shooting him working this job.
At that time, I didn't even have my camera yet, only my phone and a scanner. I didn't even bother to cover Westrock getting switched that first time as I was so enamored with the idea of seeing this job go down to the end of the line, utilizing all these unique crossings I had passed over my whole life, but never once got stopped by a train at them. The first customer I technically ever documented was Battenfeld Oil further down the Lockport Industrial Runner. Who could have guessed at the time this would become my obsession in the hobby? Certainly not I. Because I don't have any actual camera shots from that day, the story of my very first local chase probably won't be viable to tell anywhere else. There's not a lot to explain, but it was an eventful day nonetheless. I had nothing to go off of as far as schedule time for Y234 running to where I wanted to catch them. As previously mentioned, the pandemic was in full swing, and as a result my working hours were cut in half but thankfully still with full pay. The days I was working were not my normal days, so my days off were quite varied at the time. With a random Friday off for once whereas I normally worked every Friday afternoon to close, I decided to take advantage and go see if I could catch this local traversing areas I'd only dreamt of seeing used by rail. One such area was the huge Niagara Falls Blvd crossing (Rt 62) on the industrial, a four-way traffic intersection bisected by the railroad diagonally across, protected only by the traffic lights which are tied into the crossing circuit. A second crossing just like that goes over Twin City Hwy as well. Scenes which are uncommon to the world of large scale railroading, and you can only find them in your backyard so to speak. That part aside, since I didn't know quite exactly when I'd get to see this move, my best friend and I left the house around 12:30 that afternoon and went and sat in North Tonawanda right near Westrock at a park, and waited it out. It was a chilly spring day, so we stayed in the car the whole while. Not too long after we arrived, a cop rolled up and asked what we were up to, a very nice older gentleman with gray in his beard and hair. As he walked up my best friend jokingly said I should tell him we were bird watching, so I committed to the bit thinking nothing of it. That was the story I gave, and the officer said have a nice day. Another two-ish hours passed, we played my magnetic checkers game I had in my back seat pocket, and a few hands of cards. Funnily enough there was an abundance of birds and various species of birds in the surrounding area. And at times we did stop what we were doing to observe them. My fib had become somewhat of a truth. So when another cop rolled up on us, and I stuck to my story, he was not so kind about it. Unbeknownst to me, my best friend took a full audio recording of the exchange we had over the course of two minutes with this officer... about bird watching. He wasn't believing us for a second, but he had no way to prove we weren't. The audio can be found in a YouTube video he made documenting our day out, on his channel MaxiumumGoose. If you search for Y234 it should come up. It was honestly hilarious the way it all played out. In the end after the dude finished grilling us over bird watching, he stated he was only there because some nosy Nancy probably in one of the houses close by called about a suspicious vehicle. We weren't doing anything illegal though so, tough luck dude. Not wanting to risk another law enforcement run-in, I decided to head down to Kenmore Yard and see if anything was actually moving around, as somehow I instinctively knew that this job would probably be coming out of there. A little after 4:00 p.m., Rodney came on the radio asking to open up at Woodward Ave, use the crossover from track two to one, and head north to get in the clear at Robinson St, light power. His engine that day was fittingly CSXT 2020, the pandemic engine if you will. The rest of the day following the lengthy wait and police interactions went smoothly. We got takeout from Applebee's for dinner that day after the chase was over and the sun had set. A bit over a month after that very first local chase, I'd get my camera in the mail from BestBuy and set myself on a course for success.
Four years and a couple months after my first time seeing Westrock switched, this shot is the culmination of years of shooting Y234, then Y203, and now L035 serving this spur. The switch into Westrock rests right next to the crossover switch from the industrial onto track one of the Niagara Branch. Often times when the crews are switching here, they initially leave the crossover open for their headroom moves before eventually locking up in the clear. Often times this causes traffic backups as directly behind the point of a view is the Robinson St crossing. I've watched countless cars get frustrated and turn around, or honk their horns at my friends up in the engine which does nothing except make the moves take longer. Back in 2021 and 2022 when I was shooting this area a ton, Westrock was getting up to eight box cars at a time some nights. These days the spur seemingly sits empty for half the week. At least they're still taking cars, that's more than I can say for some of the other area customers who've fallen off of this strip. I was told by one of my conductor/engineer friends who's spent a lot of time switching this place that apparently they have a pulley system to move the box cars, as only two can be unloaded at a time at the dock there. The spur reaches pretty deep, but any cars beyond the head two can't be opened. He told me he saw a string of cars super close to the road crossing one day while passing by outside of work hours, and the pulley wire is actually in the tracks underneath the cars near where they're spotted. He's almost tripped over it a couple of times. Can't be seen in the shadows of this photo, but a cool little tidbit about how they unload cars when they have so many at one time. I thought maybe they had a front loader to push them hiding out somewhere; a pulley system was definitely not something I could have guessed. Although this may not be the coolest looking spur or building area, it's an important piece of local rail service around here, and a part of my own personal journey as a railfan. Westrock is a bonafide stalwart customer, and hopefully they're here to stay for a while longer. The last thing we need is more customers leaving a region which has seen enough close up shop already.
The vintage ALCO RS-1, rolling over the bridge and heading toward me, is leading a passenger train through the beautiful New York countryside.
Nikon D850 & Nikkor 24-120mm ƒ/4 @ ƒ/8
Happy Halloween! This horned red devil glared out from a neighborhood yard, yellow eyes glowing and his mouth wide open, wrapped in a tattered red hood of gauze. I shot from a low angle against a deep blue evening sky so the horns tower overhead.
This is a real decoration photographed with my iPhone 17 Pro Max. I edited it in Luminar with a warm red color grade, deep shadows, and extra texture and contrast. Nothing was added to the scene.
This is to celebrate vitality and longevity of pinhole cameras. Taken with a repaired camera that once has been found smashed. Happy winter solstice, dear flickr Friends!
Camera: beer can
Paper: Kodak Polymax RC, 16x18 cm, found wet
Exposure: 2017-04-17 --> 07-01
Developer: none
Scanner: Epson 4490Photo
It's been awhile since I've posted a timelapse. Here is one from the Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Preserve in LA over winter break, taken with my iPhone.
Another "old" image. I'm having a "spring clean" on my computer, deleting, organising and mapping them. Kept this image as "no delete" as I quite like the moss-covered rocks and light giving a fairy tale atmosphere. - Primary forest, Sweden.
A low angle shot of the red Town & Country Shopping Center sign illuminated during a summer twilight
Innocence still exists and is worth protecting.
Wildlife outside our kitchen window.
This photo was featured in The Guardian’s “Readers’ Best Photos” August 25th, 2026:
www.theguardian.com/community/gallery/2026/aug/25/a-stari...
Cooly Rocks is an annual celebration of the 50's and 60's on the Queensland Gold Coast. I've like the dancing and wanted to capture the style. I thought a group of moves showed it best. Just wish I could dance like that.