Morning at South Amana – On the morning of September 7, 2022, eastbound Iowa Interstate manifest CBIC (Council Bluffs to Iowa City) departs the South Amana, Iowa yard behind class ES44AC number 500. Photo by Chris DeesSilent Sentinel – The Chicago Great Western Railway found that Oelwein, Iowa’s central location between Kansas City, Minneapolis, Omaha and Chicago made it ideal as a hub for its passenger and freight divisions. This seven-story yard tower oversaw operations. On the morning of September 9, 2022, it stands watch over the Hub City Heritage Corporation Railway Museum. Photo by Chris Dees
Click on images for full view.
Capped and Stacked – Cedar Rapids and Iowa City MP15DC number 130 sits in the Cedar Rapids, Iowa deadline on September 7, 2022. Photo by Chris DeesWaiting in Waukesha – Wisconsin Southern train T003 (Janesville, WI to Horicon, WI manifest) patiently awaits at the Grand Avenue home signal in Waukesha, Wisconsin on August 14, 2022. Once the CN Waukesha Subdivision dispatcher gives the green light, T003 will proceed on CN trackage rights to Slinger, WI and get back on home rails for the run to Horicon. Photo by Chris Dees.
A Moment in Time – It’s August 25, 1994, as Midwest Coal Handling prepares to depart P&L’s Central City, Kentucky yard back to TVA’s Paradise Steam Plant. The four locomotive consist included CF7 2508, GP7u 2005, CF7 2525, and another unidentified CF7. CF7 2525 was still wearing the paint of previous owner Nashville & Eastern. Today CF7 2508 survives in Enid, Oklahoma serving Consolidated Grain & Barge. Photo by Evan Werkema, Chris Dees collection.
CSX L382 puts out a bit of smoke as it pulls away from WF Ware after picking up a cut of grain cars at Trenton, Kentucky on July 12th, 2022, on the Henderson Subdivision. L382 is the local that runs between Casky yard in Hopkinsville and Guthrie, Ky and here we catch it as it starts its run back to Casky. Photo and caption by Jim Pearson.
On Saturday, June 11, the Madisonville community and some of our chapter members enjoyed the Life Steam-Up at the home of Kathy and Ed Saley, who recently purchased the old Metcalfe home on Princeton Road. Ed has constructed an elevated G gauge track system for running his and his father’s live steamers. Ed also has live steam ships and stationary steam engines on display. He can be found tinkering with the equipment most afternoons after sundown during the summer. Click images for full view!
LORAM Railgrinder RG414 grinds through a curve as it makes its way south at Nortonville, Kentucky on the CSX Henderson Subdivision on May 23rd, 2022. According to LORAM’s Website: Rail grinding is the cornerstone of virtually every railroad maintenance program. It maximizes the life and value of rail assets through precision removal of fatigued metal, restoration of the rail head profile and removal of rail defects which are the optimization goals of an effective rail grinding program. Jim Pearson
The Black Hills Central Railway locomotive 108 heads through the countryside as it makes its first trip of the day in stormy, wet weather of the forest to Keystone, South Dakota on my birthday, May 30th, 2022! I for one can’t recall a better way to spend the day then chasing a steam locomotive and they later in the day riding it with family! Despite the wet and rainy weather, it was a great day, and I even got the drone up a few times! A big shout out to Cory Jakeway for all the help on finding my way around on the railroad and rail-fanning with me! Photo by Jim Pearson
Did you know the NRHS Alco Historic Photos is the custodian of a collection of almost 300,000 photographic negatives and about 10,000 drawings and documents relating to the ACO and its successor ALCO Products? Take a few moments to browse around the NRHS website and you’ll find some interesting things like this Amtrak RS3.
Congratulations to Cooper Smith our first place and Bill Grady second place winners of our May 2022 chapter photo contest ! A reminder also that our July 2022 contest is currently underway and it runs for the whole month. All the entries may be viewed on the chapter’s website or our Facebook Group.
Each dues paying member is allowed to submit two photographs taken anywhere during the month. Entries with captions should be sent to jim@jimpearsonphotography.com by midnight on August 7th, 2022.
Get out trackside and shoot some pictures!!!
1st Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS May 2022 Photo Contest by Cooper Smith – An Amtrak Heritage Unit leads a westbound train through the semaphore signals at Bernal, NM on May 27th, 2022.2nd Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS May 2022 Photo by Bill Grady – Thursday, May 9, 2022 finds the President of CSX on a Inspection Trip across the LH&StL Subdivision “Texas”. Seen here on the East end of Owensboro at “Steelton”, the P001-09 originated at Indianapolis, ran to Louisville, across the Texas into Evansville, then south to Atlanta, Georgia.Locomotive CSX 1 pulling a “Presidential Train” south at the North end of Casey Yard, Pembroke, Kentucky. – Photo by Bill FarrellIn a surprise of sorts, the CSX 911 “Spirit of Our First Responders” is the leader on CSX B419-14(Coke Loads) and is in a holding pattern at North King Siding just South of Princeton, Indiana. Seen here about to depart with a fresh crew, the B419 will head to Madisonville, KY and tie down at Atkinson Yard then wait for a P&L Crew to take it on to Calvert City for unloading. May 15, 2022. Photo by Bill Grady – Photo by Bill GradyA southbound Amtrak Pacific Surfliner train glides along the coast at Ventura, CA. – Photo by Cooper SmithA CSX Mixed freight heads southbound on the Henderson Subdivision at Mortons Gap, KY with CSXT 8181 leading. – Photo by Ricky Bivins.CSX 4535 leads a mixed freight northbound on the Henderson Subdivision at Mortons Gap, KY. – Photo by Ricky Bivins
Below are the winners of our March 2022 photography contest and entries! Thanks for everyone who participated and we are currently in the middle of our month-long May contest! Get out and shoot something for the contest!!
1st Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS March 2022 Photo Contest – A BNSF Manifest is running westbound on BNSF’s Fallbridge Subdivision which follows the Columbia River on the Washington State side. The Columbia River is unusually calm in this stretch. This location is Lyle, Washington. March 18, 2022. Photo by Bill Grady2nd Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS March 2022 Photo Contest – Montana Rail Link’s Day Gas Local is headed railroad east out of Thompson Falls, Montana loaded towards Missoula, Montana on March 16, 2022. This location is called Eddy, MT. Photo by Bill Grady3rd Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS March 2022 Photo Contest – March 19, 2022: Raging through a field north of Adams, TN, I026 catches the final few minutes of sunlight as it runs north. Photo by Cooper SmithMarch 14, 2022: USAX 6520 slowly pulls from the CSX Interchange Point at Hopkinsville, KY with a load of military equipment bound for Fort Campbell. Photo by Cooper Smith.2022-03-19 Savoy IL BNSF7355 ES44DC; Sometimes railfanning with a friend who is not a real train nerd can pay off. When we found this train, all I heard was ‘I drive, you shoot!’ After one of many attempts at different camera settings, here we are. Seen here in Savoy, IL., BNSF ES44DC #7355 heads north up the CN Champaign Sub where it will take a brief pause in Champaign yard to do some switching before making its way north to Chicago. Photo by Matt GentryCanadian Pacific 7047 leads a northbound through downtown Mortons Gap, Kentucky on March 16th, 2022 along the Henderson Subdivision. Photo by Rick Bivins2022-03-19 Paxton IL CN3263 ET44AC; As a railfan, I think the majority of us tend to only shoot on nice, sunny days. I admit that I am usually one of those people. But when the day was planned a couple weeks earlier, you go out in spite of the weather. And sometimes a cloudy, moody day can work in your favor! Like this train here that is headed south down the CN Chicago Sub in Paxton, IL. with CN ET44AC #3263 in charge of a loaded ballast train. This train will change crews up ahead in Champaign and continue its journey south. Photo by Matt GentryA NB empty coal train with Canadian National 3131 as the South facing DPU heads through CN’s Edgewood Cutoff at Maxon Junction on March 19th, 2022 as it heads north at Paducah KY. Photo by Rick Bivins
Steve Gentry happened upon these RJ Corman units at a sand and gravel distributor on River Road in Louisville March 14, 2022. Could the sky have been any more perfect?
RJC 3806 is a GP 38 rebuild – one of my favorites! My opinion, the GPs and SDs and the greatest looking faces and bodies.
My records reveal that I’ve used this picture previously. Clearly it is one of my favorites. This is Amtrak’s Coast Starlight, crossing the Chambers Creek lift-bridge near Steilacoom, Washington. South Puget Sound was my stomping grounds until ’04, and a recreational and railroad paradise.
The train is northbound and follows the Sound for about 15 miles, facing great sunsets with the Olympic Mountains to the west. After tunneling under Tacoma’s Point Defiance Park, it will skirt Commencement Bay for another 5 or 6 miles.
This was a warm Summer evening out on the boat, and I had anchored, patiently awaiting a train, any train. Afterward I overnighted a few miles south near the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. Nature provides a nicely protected breakwater, with the double track railroad a hundred feet or so up the bank, and endless wildlife throughout. A campfire on the beach with hot chocolate and marshmallows is in order.
As luck would have it, rail traffic that evening was light, actually non-existant. As I read my book and watched the daylight wane I felt certain that I was skunked. But low and behold, I heard whistling for the crossing at the ferry dock about a mile south. Another look at the bridge, with the sun now down to about a half-finger on an outstretched arm, and fading fast. Camera ready, here it comes clattering across the bridge. Click. It was then that I realized the sun was tightly packed between the train and the rail. Is that dumb luck or what.? Could I have planned it that way……? Not likely.
1st Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest by Bill Farrell. CSX locomotive 87 on the head of a north bound mixed freight at Pembroke Yard as it heads through the blowing snow at Hopkinsville, Ky on the Henderson Subdivision.
Congratulations to the winners in our January 2022 Chapter Photo Contest!
1st Place – Bill Farrell, 2nd Place – Cooper Smith and 3rd Place was also Bill Farrell.
Also, at the last chapter meeting it was decided to change the bi-monthly chapter contest to the whole month instead of the last two weeks. This will not affect the October Contest however which will remain October 1-11th, This is to allow judging and printing of the Calendar in time for the November meeting.
Therefore, we are currently in the beginning of the March Photo Contest which runs the whole month. So get out trackside and shoot something! Each dues paying member is allowed to submit up to two JPGs for each contest. Deadline for submissions remain the same, the 7th of the following month.
Here’s the schedule for the current and upcoming contests!
March 1-31, 2022 Submission Deadline: April 7, 2022
May 1-31, 2022 Submission Deadline: June 7, 2022
July 1-31, 2022 Submission Deadline: August 7, 2022
September 1-30, 2022 Submission Deadline: October 7, 2022
October 1-11, 2022 Submission Deadline: October 14, 2022 to allow time for the chapter calendars to be printed in time for the holidays.
January 1-31, 2023 Submission Deadline: February 7, 2022
Winners of the January 2022 Photo Contest and other entries are:
2nd Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest by Cooper Smith. A Norfolk Southern manifest kicks up snow as it heads westbound through St. Louis, MO.3rd Place winner of the West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest by Bill Farrell. Looking North from Pembroke Yard as the snow falls at Pembroke, KY.West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest Entry: CSX 6914 heads south at Guthrie, Kentucky on the Henderson Subdivision. Photo by Cooper Smith.West Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest Entry: CSX 4547 leads a mixed freight south through Mortons Gap KY on the Henderson Subdivision. – Photo by Ricky BivinsWest Kentucky Chapter of the NRHS January 2022 Photo Contest Entry: CSX 3184, Honoring Law Enforcement unit, leads one of the intermodals north on my birthday at Mortons Gap KY on the Henderson Subdivision. – Photo by Ricky Bivins
It’s noisy, bumpy, hot, smells and not a lot of room, but also exciting, fun and awe inspiring to experience a living, breathing steam locomotive from its cab!! Enjoy this still shot of Nevada Northern Railway fireman, Mike Hughes as he tends to the fire on locomotive #81, while Will Ebbert stands on the gangway in the background, keeping an eye on the track ahead, as they head toward Hi Line Junction, outside Ely, Nevada on February 13th, 2022.
Nevada Northern No. 81 is a “Consolidation” type (2-8-0) steam locomotive that was built for the Nevada Northern in 1917 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA, at a cost of $23,700. It was built for Mixed service to haul both freight and passenger trains on the Nevada Northern railway. Photo by Jim Pearson.
A northbound Union Pacific intermodal train awaits inspection to be completed at the U.S.-Mexico crossing between Nuevo Laredo, Mexico and Laredo, Texas at 4:15 pm on December 10, 2021. Historically this was the border crossing and interchange between NdeM and Texas-Mexican Railway. Photo taken from Nuevo Laredo side of the border by Chris Dees.
