CSX Track Switching

CSX Transportation 6362, CSX 6362
EMD GP40-2

Track switching operations on the NS main before returning to the CSX yard in Decatur, Illinois.

Sangamon River Bridge

Canadian National 8808, CN 8808 EMD SD70M-2
BC Rail 4623, BCOL 4623 GE C40-8M


CN A431 crosses a bridge over the Sangamon River, November 28, 2010 in Decatur, Illinois.  This bridge once handled traffic for both the Illinois Central and the Pennsylvania Railroad.

 

Old Pueblo Trolley

42 passenger, 1936 Ateliers Metallurgiques de Nivelles

Old Pueblo Trolley Tram 1511 heads up the road to the University of Arizona in Tucson.  This tram originally served Brussels, Belgium.  Photo taken in March 2007.

Fishing

CSX Transportation 2612, CSX 2612
EMD GP38-2


Fishermen go about their business oblivious to Q594 crossing an old B&O bridge overhead.

1957 EMD

Grand Trunk Western 4611, GTW 4611
EMD GP9R

Built in 1957.  Still used today by CN.  Shown here during switching operations.  Ex. CV 4552.  Ex. GTW 4552.

Eagle Run

Amtrak 11, AMTK 11
GE P42DC

Texas Eagle racing past grain bins in rural Illinois.

Kicking Leaves

Norfolk Southern 2747, NS 2747
EMD SD70M-2


Kicking up leaves while crossing over from double to single tracks.  NS 301 on the NS Brooklyn District.

Triple Crown

Burlington Northern Santa Fe 6047, BNSF 6047
GE ES44AC


BNSF 6047 on the point of a monster Norfolk Southern Triple Crown RoadRailer.

 

Little Red Corvette

Union Pacific 4106, UP 4106
EMD SD70M

NS W01 heads out with a 2000 model Union Pacific SD70M passing a 1990 Chevrolet Corvette.

Leaf Low Emission Engines

Railserve 1051, RSSX 1051
EMD GP10


New look & paint for this ex Illinois Central GP 10. Rebuilt with a single Detroit Diesel DX370M 550hp genset. Railserve calls this a "LEAF" locomotive providing low emission service and reducing fuel consumption 45-60%.

Wabash Depot

Historic Wabash Depot in Decatur, Illinois built in the early 1900's.
Passenger station and corporate headquarters for the fallen flag Wabash Railroad.  Symbol: WAB.

President Theodore Roosevelt came through this station.  As did President Dwight Eisenhower, who attracted a crowd of 20,000 when he spoke here in 1952.

Thousands of troops used this depot to depart & arrive during World War II.


Used by the Wabash until its 1964 merger with Norfolk & Western.  N&W later used the depot for office space.


The last passenger service was briefly in the 1980's for Amtrak.

Today, the depot is an antique mall standing along the Norfolk Southern mainline and directly next to a CN line leading into a local yard.


The NS rails handle a heavy volume of daily traffic.  Pictured is a Dash 9, NS 9788, passing the Wabash Depot with intermodal 20T, running to Pennsylvania.

New ES44DC

Canadian National 2329, CN 2329
GE ES44DC

New ES44DC locomotive parked at a CN yard.

First SD40

Illinois Central 6071, IC 6071
EMD SD40-2R

The first SD40 ever manufactured by EMD.  Built in the 1960's as EMDX 434 and used as a demonstrator model.  Later sold to GM&O where it was numbered GMO 950.  

Retired by CN and donated in 2010 to the Monticello Railway Museum in Illinois.  The museum is raising money to replace traction motors that were removed by CN.  It will eventually have a GM&O paint scheme.

Diamond Shots

Illinois Central 1024, IC 1024
EMD SD70

Shots of trains at diamonds.

Above A431 running from Memphis, TN to Decatur, IL.

Union Pacific 2419, UP 2419
EMD SD60M

Train MYCPBX-05 running south with a mixed freight.

Norfolk Southern 6687, NS 6687
EMD SD60


Triple Crown train NS 240.

Norfolk Southern 2742, NS 2742
EMD SD70M-2


and....

Union Pacific 4535, UP 4535
EMD SD70M

Texas Eagle Detour

Amtrak 164, AMTK 164
GE P42DC

Due to track work on its regular line, the Amtrak Texas Eagle has been using a detour route through rural Illinois.  The Texas Eagle is running non-stop to & from Chicago, Illinois and St. Louis, Missouri.


The top photo is Amtrak #21 running south, in September, on the UP Pana Sub.  The bottom photo is Amtrak train #22 heading north past a harvested corn field, in November, on the UP Villa Grove Sub.

Amtrak 818, AMTK 818
GE P40DC

 

Fall Day On The CSX

CSX 6067
EMD GP40-2

A beautiful fall day.  Train Q594 heads to Indianapolis, Indiana with a mixed freight.  October 31, 2010.

Illinois Central In CN Red

All units pictured today are EMD GP38-2's.

 Illinois Central 9620, IC 9620


Moving coal empties near the Wabash Depot.

Illinois Central 9573, IC 9573

Interchanging a grain hopper with CSX.

Illinois Central 9562, IC 9562

Pulling cars out of the Illinois & Midland yard in Springfield, Illinois.

Illinois Central 9571,  IC 9571


Grain train L550.

Auto Parts Train

Norfolk Southern 9168, NS 9168
GE C40-9W


Train 145 carrying auto parts for the Ford Motor Company passes old searchlight signals.

Short Lines

Decatur Junction 1607, DT 1607
EMD GP16

Decatur Junction locomotive running past an old Illinois Central depot.

Vandalia Railroad, VRRC 104
EMD SW9


The only engine serving the Vandalia Railroad.  The Vandalia line is just 3.5 miles long.

Pioneer Railcorp 3054, PREX 3054
EMD GP20

PREX 3054 running an agricultural products train past a grain elevator during the fall harvest.

Town Of Color

Norfolk Southern 2575, NS 2575
EMD SD 70
&
GMTX 9057
EMD SD60


NS train 35N brings a mixed freight through colorful Blue Mound, Illinois.

Illinois Central 100 & 101

Illinois Central 100, IC 100
EMD E9(A)

Built in 1949.  Ex. CBQ 9938.

Illinois Central 101, IC 101
EMD E9(A)

Built 1953.  Ex.  CBQ 9977.

 

CSX 6028

CSX 6028
EMD GP40-2

Built in 1972.  Ex. BO 4128

 

Southern Railway 401

Southern Railway 401, 2-8-0 steam.  SOU 401,

Built in 1907 by Baldwin.

Restoration took 15 years.  Started in 1995 and completed in 2010.

Running under its own power for the first time in 50 years.

Located in Illinois at the Monticello Railway Museum.

 

Fresh Paint - New Look

CN 2124, C40-8.  Canadian National.

Recently purchased from Union Pacific.  Freshly painted at the CN Centralia shops in Illinois.  On public display at the Centralia Amtrak station.

Ex. UP 9089
Ex. CNW 8577

CSX Yard

CSX power line up.

CSX 2621, GP38-2.
CSX 2774, GP38-2.
CSX 6491, GP40-2.

Wabash Railroad Bridge

Wabash Railroad bridge at Lake Decatur in Illinois.  This concrete arch bridge was built for the Wabash in 1907.

Wabash merged with Norfolk & Western in 1964.  N&W then merged with Southern Railway in 1982 to form Norfolk Southern.

Here SD70M-2, NS 2657, brings train 13K from Elkhart, Indiana over the bridge on a beautiful fall afternoon.