We had a total of ten entries for the May 2019 chapter photo contest and all of them were really tough to judge, but I finally narrowed it down to 4 winners.
Blair Terry took first place with a nice pan shot of UP 4014 and 844! Our second place winner was his grandpa, Bill Farrell with Big Boy 4014 underway at Medicine Bow, Wy.
First Place, May 2019, West Kentucky NRHS Photo Contest – The “Big Boy” and UP’s 844 double headed, eastbound between Laramie and Cheyenne, WY. – Photo by Blair TerrySecond Place, May 2019, West Kentucky NRHS Photo Contest – The Big Boy 4014 on the fly at Medicine Bow, WY. on May 19, 2019. – Photo by Bill Farrell
Third place winner was Bill Grady with a overhead view of CSX Q532 at Johnsonville, TN and Honorable mention went to Cooper Smith for his dramatic photograph of a Paducah and Louisville Coal train pulling hard as it passes through Princeton, Ky.
Third Place, May 2019, West Kentucky NRHS Photo Contest – After a crew change at Bruceton, Tennessee, CSX Q532 is rolling onto the west approach of the bridge over Kentucky Lake at New Johnsonville, Tennessee on May 29, 2018. – Photo by Bill GradyHonorable Mention, May 2019, West Kentucky NRHS Photo Contest – A Paducah and Louisville railway coal train heads north through Princeton, KY on it’s way to Warrior Coal in Madisonville. – Photo by Cooper Smith
Our next contest will run from July 15-31st and the deadline for entries will be August 7th, 2019. Send your entries to me (no more than 2 per paid chapter member) at webmaster@westkentuckynrhs.org or jim@jimpearsonphotography.com by midnight on August 7th!
Earlier this month, May 10th, marked the 150th Anniversary of the Gold Spike ceremony at Promontory, Utah. I thought it appropriate to rerun this picture story from a few years ago.
The “Thank God it’s Friday” graphic is one of several intro’s for my slide shows to groups. It’s good for a laugh, however, the 1869 meeting of the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific in Utah was somewhat similar. Rather than joining in such a slip-shod manner, they simply passed one another, and kept on going. Seems the two railroads were being reimbursed by the Government for work performed, by the mile. The joining of the rails at Promontory, about three miles around the bend in the picture, was the result of a negotiated settlement.
In the picture, you can easily see the railroad right-of-way on a fill. That is the work of the Central Pacific, charging eastward into the picture. But look closely to the left half of the picture. You can see two earthen bridgeheads with a gap in between. The distant one is easy to see, the other is in the foreground, lower left of the pix. The Union Pacific, working westward, filled the gap with a trestle, long since lost to the elements, salvage, or fire….. not sure.
If you go to Google Earth, you can see both landmarks by tracing the twin right’s-of-ways of both railroads eastward from the Gold Spike Monument site. In a little over three rail miles, or 2.8 the way the crow flies you will see clearly the filled curve, the bridgehead a little less obvious. (Hint: use the ruler in the tool bar, to gauge the distance.)
Credits: (Artwork, unk., can anyone out there ID the artist.?) Photo by Drake Hokanson as seen in TRAINS Mag June 2015
In April 2005, Liam (age 5) is helping me set boundary stones.
I was fortunate to have Ron Johnson as a friend and neighbor. He freely loaned me his Kubota front-end loader to move dirt to the railroad area. I was careful to keep dirt away from the base of my big hickory tree. The depressed area around the tree is now covered with Vinca vines.
It’s been my pleasure over our 16 years here in Madisonville to share my backyard with friends, family, neighbors, and many others. – Bill
A selection of photos from our recent trackside gathering at Mortons Gap, Kentucky included photos of the two new CSX painted units. 911 for First Responders and 1776 for the Troops on their first run up the Henderson Subdivision.
