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Otter Tail Valley's local makes the usual stop on the way back to Fergus in S Moorhead. They have 3 customers on this short branch and two are being serviced today. The last car is a load of lumber for Sprenger and the other two centerbeams are for Drywall Supply.
It was a quick switching stop today, but sometimes they can work this branch for as long as three hours. If you see the local leave Dilworth with 10+ loaded centerbeams and nothing is sorted, that's your answer on switching time.
SMS SW1200 #104 has paused its switching duties in Fort Edward, NY as the covered hopper on the headpin gets transloaded to a truck.
SMS Rail Services
Fort Edward, NY
April 27, 2026
The engineer aboard Union Pacific's 'Rocky Local' watches his conductor through a Spring blizzard grab a switch before they continue their shove up the industrial spur to Arcosa Lightweight.
Union Pacific SD45 No. 3637 performs a 'flying switch' in Provo, Utah on July 3, 1977. Merriam-Webster defines this as 'a maneuver in which one or more railroad cars are disconnected from a locomotive while moving and as the locomotive pulls away are switched to another track to roll to a desired position under their own momentum.'
One of two MP15's left on the roster, Belt Railway of Chicago 150 works Charter Steel on Chicago's extreme West side.
Chicago, IL
2022.03.05
Mass Coastal 2008 is seen at Maritime Terminal Inc. switching out a reefer car in busy New Bedford, MA.
Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Arkansas and Missouri train SFLO is doing a bit of switching at the siding known as Johnson Switch ad they work their way south from Springdale to Fayetteville. This job was on duty at 11 AM with a pair of classic Alco C420s, numbers 56 and 57 both built for the Lehigh and Hudson River Railroad in Dec. 1965 as their numbers 25 and 26 respectively. They are seen here working just north of the Main Street crossing near MP 347.7 (measured from the Frisco's historic corporate headquarters city of St. Louis) in this once small down that is now a suburb of booming Fayetteville.
To learn more check out the long caption with this shot: flic.kr/p/2mmJMoD
Johnson, Arkansas
Thursday September 2, 2021
Maryland Midland UBHF switches out a lumber customer in Thurmont, about midway through their trip between Union Bridge and Highfield. A pair of former Conrail SD50s provide the power for today's train.
Duluth & Northeastern 14 is on switching duty the railroad's base town of Cloquet, MN. 14 is now owned by the Sierra Railroad, acquired in 2022 from the now defunct Filmore and Western Railway.
9-21-1963
Photographer Unknown - Jacob Narup Collection
Je fut gentiment invité à bord de la CFL 3000, une RS18-3 construite pour le CP en 1957 (aussi vieille que son mécano !) et qui est bichonnée avec passion par Luc et son équipe. On aperçoit, au niveau de l’aiguille, le chef de train Alain M. qui s’apprête à remonter en cabine pour assurer la fin du voyage.
MRL's Helena Local switches hoppers at the Graymont lime facility in Townsend on the 2nd Sub.
MRL 840 Local (Helena Local)
MRL GP9 #109
MRL SD40-2XR #252
Townsend, MT
May 4th, 2022
For this switcher Sunday, we're in Tulsa Oklahoma on May 22, 1980 and see an SW7 drilling the rear end of a freight that had come into Cherokee Yard from the east. This was a quick stop over for me on the way home from a year long work assignment in Texas. I was anxious to get home but Tulsa deserved a lot more time. Sadly, I've not been back.
" Lets get the drill on P&H 1 lined for the naught..The yard job on P&H 2 for the Waverly runner ...and I got a transfer job from the Garden waiting to come off the NY BAY Line spur ..and he's on SHORT TIME......"
WA5 in the good ole days on a Saturday morning ..a switch tenders nightmare
Newark NJ WA5 P&H Branch/Greenville Branch CR
Standard Steel SW8 6734 switches inside the massive plant. Still wearing her North Shore colors from where she was purchased in 2014, she was built in Sept. 1951 as Lehigh Valley Railroad 265.
Standard Steel is the only reason the Juniata Valley Railroad still operates the four miles of the old PRR Milroy Branch up from Lewistown and down Water Street featured earlier.
Standard Steel has been in existence since 1795, one of the longest continuously operating forging operations in the United States. The company, initially known as Freedom Forge, was founded during the first term of President George Washington. Initially, the plant produced iron bars and rods though today it solely produces railcar wheels and axles mostly for the freight new build market (though it does sell into the aftermarket and makes passenger wheels as well). Once known as one of the largest producers of steam locomotive tires, by the start of WWII it was producing 1/5th of the all locomotive tires used in the US. Here is a nice one page corporate timeline: www.standardsteel.com/history.php
And for a more in depth article on the saving and resurgence of the 250 acre plant that employs 600 people check out this article: industrytoday.com/the-right-track/
Burnham, Pennsylvania
Friday July 31, 2020
Southern Indiana's repowered Alco S2M #103 shoves its short train into the CSX interchange at Jeffersonville. The SIND was a unique little shortline comprised almost entirely of former interurban trackage. They pretty much existed to switch one customer, the large Heidelberg cement plant in Speed, IN. Operations changed, and the Louisville & Indiana now serves the plant, making the SIND essentially redundant. The railroad has since shut down and its pair of Alcos are for sale, last I heard.
Maine Switching Services shoves a long cut of boxcars into ND Paper as the late afternoon light shines down. On a visit 9 days later, the mill would be shut tight with not a peep of movement, the start of an "extended shutdown" that may likely extend infinitely. At this point, the switcher has gone west and Old Town yard is used mainly for car storage.
Illuminated pushbutton switch covers, in both standard and emergency-stop styles, photographed upside down to reveal all their red circularity (disregarding the gaskets, of course).
Click to enlarge
Credits:
Hair - Doux Bertha @ Aqua (Open Now)
Face Piercing - SU Piercing Set 4 @ The Chapter 4 (Open Now)
Tattoo - Bolson Mr Burton
Top - Ricielli Charlie Lace Top Black @ The Chapter 4
Jacket - Scandalize Annie Black
Pants - Villena Distressed Pants Black
Shoes - Reign Sweet Bliss Heels @ Collabor88 (Open Now)
Head - Catwa Lona
Eyebrows - Bossie Autumn Eyebrows
Eyes - SU The Dark Eyes
Skin - Deetalez - Head Taylor
Pose - Vilda Melody 1
After switching at the east end of town for a while the 9011 and 9014 shove into the west end of the yard to start the remainder of their work before shoving into the clear for the Maine Northern to pass by. What was supposed to be a short wait for the Maine Northern would turn out to be over a 2 hour wait which gave me a lot of time to do some time exposures and chat with the crew.
The Michigan Shore shoves a string of slurry tanks into the plant at Sappi Fine Paper Co with Grand Rapids Eastern #3839. This plant would shut down less than two years later and would be a major blow to the MS, traffic-wise. Everything in this photo is gone today.
6002 is an SD40T-2, originally built for the Southern Pacific. Seen here switching at Guardian with several other Lancaster and Chester units.
I remember the RS-1's floating around on the SOO but I was a little to young to have shot any. This view of 353 switching at Stevens Point on September 10, 1966 represented pretty much what the did in there later years, yard work and local service. Early on before the merger the DSS&A used there RS-1's on the passenger trains and also in switching service. Catching a back to back pair wasn't uncommon on the St- Ignace-Marquette freight although it generally was assigned Baldwins. Most likely a Joe Stauber shot, Chuck Schwesinger collection.
The Niles Train Museum.
Night, full moon, one minute exposure, sodium and mercury vapor lights, blue and red-gelled strobe flash.
Switcher Saurday: The Katy repowered their fleet Baldwin DS-4-4-1000s with EMD prime movers. Here a pair of them drill cars at the small yard north of downtown Dallas. This yard has since been removed to expand the downtown area. The grain elevator is gone as well.
217 construction core. If you've ever traveled through the Beaverton area, you know why everyone hates this freeway. The Hillsboro switcher passes by in some nice lighting, hauling 2 boxcars pulled from Interantional Paper on the Beburg drill. After returning to Tigard, the crew would put together a train for Albina, with the UP power from the previous night's soda ash storage movement.
At the south end of UP's Settegast Yard in Houston, a pair of Geeps shove back as they drill the large, former MP yard.
YHO82R 04
UP GP38-2 #674
UP GP60 #1167
Houston, TX
October 4th, 2024
Switch EV YJ19HVC on hire to Lothian for demonstration and is to be used on service 23 between Trinity and Greenbank.
YJ19HVC seen here at Greenbank Temrinus. 06th February 2022.
Having completed their 28 mile trip from the mainline in Poteau, OK the Fort Smith Dodger (train RHV106 03) is seen working in their historic original Kansas City Southern Yard in the town that gives them their name.
While their are a few smaller customers they switch and they do handle a bit of interchange with both shortlines in town, the Arkansas and Missouri and Fort Smith Railroad's, their main reason for continued existence is to serve the OK Foods feed mill on the edge of downtown. I was astonished to find that the 10 story tall grain towers were decorated with three truly stunning portraits. Fort Smith has a surprisingly vibrant downtown full of historic sites, good restaurants, and public art but few art pieces can compare to this. Sponsored by the company and painted over only the span of two weeks back in 2016 by Australian visual artist Guido van Helten they are inspiring pieces worthy of reflection. To learn more check out this article: www.swtimes.com/news/20160919/guido-van-helten-transforms...
Here is one of the countless angles I captured of the pair of KCS GP40-2s switching beneath it.
And if you missed it and want to learn a bit more about this line check out the caption with my first post of this chase: flic.kr/p/2mmgpqZ
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Friday September 3, 2021