Author: Jim Pearson

Having been track side more lately, what building a house in Mortons Gap, I have seen a few interesting things go by on CSX. My new house under construction is right in Mortons Gap at Walnut & Railroad Streets. This is right by the old L&N Mainline just a few yards south of Morton Junction or South Mortons as it is called. This is where the line from downtown Madisonville joins back in with the line around town by the Parkway Plaza Mall. I spend a lot of time here now as I am building the house myself.

CSX provides me with several excuses to take a break every time I am here. In so doing I “witness” quite a few odd things on the railroad. Perhaps odd is not the correct word to use but it will do. I have seen a lot of lease power mixed with CSX’s stable of locomotives. Some of these are in lease company colors while several wear their former owner’s paint. Most that are still in their previous owner paint have had a rectangle decal or painted box applied over the former road number and a new number applied. Most do not match the faded paint or are a different color all together. Most that are still in former railroad paint will have the railroad name painted over and the lease name or usually just the initials painted or decal applied. Some are very well done while others are crude and hurriedly applied. I guess a locomotive is not earning revenue sitting in a paint shop.

A model railroader could use this to his advantage. There are so many ready to run locomotives on the market in all scales that could have a decal applied right over the road name and still be appropriate, even if the old name is legible beneath the new name. And that lease name could be anything or any one for that mater.

The same goes for rail cars. I have not taken time to count but it seems about one in three cars have had the owner marking changed at some point. I am sure some of these are the result of mergers in the finance world as most cars are owned by a trust company and leased to a corporation or railroad. Some are old and have been rebuilt and sold to new owners thus a change in nomenclature. One interesting note is old fallen flag railroads that have had their name re-applied to freight cars. CSX ended up with the paper assets of the old New York Central Railroad. A lot of CSX cars are lettered NYC or NYCX. Norfolk Southern has the Pennsylvania Railroad holdings thus a lot of cars are around with PRR on them. It seems odd to see a brand new rail car with NYC markings.

And of course it seams as though foreign railroad motive power shows up on just about every other train. This is my favorite, to see a UP or BNSF units on a train, NS too but very few others. I have yet to see an ICRR or KCS locomotive on the line. I am sure it has happened but not while I am watching. I do see a lot more “old” CSX locomotives than I would have thought. There are still a lot of SD-40-2 units on the railroad. I remember about twenty or so years ago several guys went to eastern Kentucky to seek out the then new SD-50’s. These units were only in the coal fields of Eastern Kentucky. Then they started to make their way over the railroad and could be seen here quite often. Now they seem to be rare. GE’s are every where it seems but EMD MP15’s must be in use everywhere too. I see these little guys in consist with their big brothers every so often. They are always last in consist and in tow. But I see them going both ways seemingly on regular bases.

Odd freight cars show up too. Do not look away from a seemingly boring train, you will miss something or see a strange sight after it has past you, leaving you to want for more info. I have seen strange flatcar loads, farm machinery being my favorite. Odd specialty cars such as tank cars for strange gases seem to be odd shaped things or overly large. One recent sighting was a low slung, quite long flat car with two four wheel trucks under each end. The lettering was very small making it impossible to read and get a look at the car too. The bogie was a casting and unusual it seems. It was not a D.O.D. car for military loads and was empty. What was it and who owns it?

I have seen dangerous sights too though not too many. Shifted loads on flat cars. Dangling straps and plastic streamers are common. I have not seen any riders…yet, but I am sure they are there somewhere. And of course there is the ever present graffiti on cars. Some of those guys do have talent just wrongly applied.

The next time you are track side watching trains or watching for a train take a look at the road bed. Chances are you will find something that was or is supposed to be on a car or even a locomotive. Case in point. Do not get too close to the track when a train is approaching. You could end up with an unpleasant surprise.

So, if you need something else to keep up with in this hobby, start a list or a photo album of “odds” on the railroads. Could be a fun hobby with a hobby.