Month: December 2011

Norfolk Southern train sweeps past old Bethlehem Steel mill

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On a spectacular early spring day, with temperatures in the mid 70’s, Norfolk Southern train 213 negotiates the long, sweeping S-curve past the remnants of the old Bethlehem Steel steel mill in Bethlehem, Pa., on the NS Lehigh Line.

Adding a bit of color to this Easter weekends festivities are Union Pacific locomotives 7732 (GE AC45CCTE) and 3913 (EMD SD70M) assisting NS 9478 (GE C40-9W) in their journey across eastern Pennsylvania.

Image recorded April 3, 2010.

Norfolk Southern train sweeps past old Bethlehem Steel steel mill

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SD-18 at dusk has other-worldly feel

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“Captains Log, Stardate 2112…….rail operations at Lunar Camp 3 are normal, with rock loading for Planet Earth on schedule…..”

If we ever build a railroad on the moon, it shouldn’t look too much different than this! This is actually Kent, Ohio, on the property of Shelly Materials, and the evil monster with the ‘ditch light eyes’ lurking in the foreground is just SD-18 #321, resting after a hard day’s work of switching carloads of stone. Built in the early 1960’s for the Duluth, Missabe & Iron Range RR, #321 was one of only 54 SD-18’s built by EMD for US railroads, and is currently one of only five still known to remain on the rails.

In the daylight, #321 is one of the most attractive locomotives in the country, with her dark blue color and her gold ‘lightning bolt’ accents, which are applied to honor the Kent State University ‘Golden Flashes’ athletic teams. Photo courtesy NASA………well, no, actually………

Image recorded May 12, 2010 by Fred Stuckmann.

SD-18 at dusk has other-worldly feel

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Sunset scene reveals deer in the headlights

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Unsure of whether to focus their attention on the photographer, or the EMD diesel-electric locomotive bearing down upon them, several deer are startled by the sudden flurry of activity around them in a truly wonderful image of rural railroading.

As you can tell by the snow covered rails, this line, the former Central Railroad of New Jersey Southern Division main line, does not see much activity any more. The line stretches from the NJ Transit North Jersey Coast line in Red Bank, NJ, and makes its way in a southwesterly direction to the current southern terminus in Lakehurst, and was once an important through route for the CNJ, connecting northern and extreme southern New Jersey.

Here, at sunset on a chilly late winter afternoon, Conrail Shared Assets Operations symbol SA-31 brings its dozen or so cars down the Southern Secondary on its weekly mission from Browns Yard in Sayreville, NJ, to the handful of customers in Farmingdale and Lakewood, NJ.  With the slow speeds on this line, CSX GP40-2 4431 (ex-CR 3356, blt 3/79) is no threat to the local wildlife, and these deer will safely disappear into the woods surrounding Farmingdale, NJ, before the crew reaches them.

Image recorded by Anthony Paci on February 19, 2010.

Sunset scene reveals deer in the headlights

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A quintessential winter image … since 1800

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In a quintessential winter image, where the viewer can almost feel the cold air, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad FPA4 6771 brings the daily run into Peninsula, Ohio, for a station stop on this frigid February day.

The CVSR operates approximately 51 miles of ex-B&O trackage in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in central Ohio, stretching from Independence (just south of Cleveland) southward, through Akron and down to the town of Canton; they keep pretty busy here, operating 5 days a week for most of the year, and operating seasonal ‘specials’ for the multitude of tourists and locals alike. This line has a long & storied past; trains first travelled along this route in the year 1800!

CVSR 6771 is an Alco FPA4, built in 1958 for passenger operations on the Canadian National Railway, and looks very much at home here, playing in the snow not too terribly far from where she started out, some 52 years ago.

Image recorded February 6, 2010, by Fred Stuckmann.

Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad FPA4 6771 star of quintessential winter image

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Modern science: Norfolk Southern research car gathers data

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On a beautiful fall night in Norfolk Southern’s Croxton Yard in Secaucus, NJ, two General Electric C40-9W locomotives (9395 & 9517) bracket Norfolk Southern Research car 32, in between mainline assignments. This unique consist came in earlier today, and would return west on the next days NS train 21M. NS Research car 32 measures locomotive adhesion rates and freight car dynamics, in addition to track gauge, track wear in relation to new rail, and track elevation. This ‘modern science’ at work is why Norfolk Southern is one of the safest and most efficient Class 1 railroads in America.

Image recorded by Anthony Paci on October 1, 2009.

Modern science - Norfolk Southern research car gathers train data

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