Daily Uploads

[David Collins]

deadline: heritage by David R. Collins, on Flickr

My dad and I were taking some drone shots of NS 1801 sitting next to the Juniata locomotive shops in storage, when I looked out of the corner of eye. I was shocked. NS 1074, the Lackawanna heritage unit, was sitting right across the yard!

We packed our stuff up and made our way to a parking lot close to where 1074 was parked. I follow a rule where I don't fly my drones over active rail yards, so I know, this photo is hella backlit.

I try to keep up with heritage happenings on NS, but yet I didn't know that 1074 was in a deadline. I hope that NS gives it some new paint when they pull it out for maintenance, it's looking very shabby.

[David Collins]

The bee is back and better by David R. Collins, on Flickr

After missing NS 1067 (Reading Lines) several times since it got out of paint, it took me by surprise today in Altoona leading NS 25P. Last time I saw the 1067, it was rusting and chipping beyond all hell. While she's already getting a bit dirty, it still looks WAY better than it did back in 2021.

[SD80MAC]

Busy Times @ Pine by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

What it lacks in scenery, Pine makes up for in sheer number of trains. An out-bound CN freight with an NS Dash 9 rolls over the Clark Rd bridge while a B&LE Tunnel Motor trails on an in-bound local. 4/3/2016

IC SD40-3 #6250 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

One of the few remaining black Illinois Central SD40-3s trails on M337 through Homewood. The venerable EMD was on its way back to the Iron Range after having work done at CN's Centralia, IL shops. 5/23/2021

Night Time Visitors by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Illinois Central SD70 #1019 and Canadian National C44-9WL #2516 rest in E08 after having brought Q326 in to Grand Rapids earlier that evening. The power would stick around GR for the better part of 2 weeks, and I would catch #1019 a few times on a couple of different yard jobs. Never dreamed I'd be switching in Grand Rapids with an IC SD70! 5/30/2014

MMRR GP9 #180 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

One of the Michigan Shore's "Mop Twins" (so named because it looked like they had been painted with a mop), MMRR #180, runs around its train after arriving in Fremont. The #180 would soon get fresh MS red and white and looked absolutely stunning. Unfortunately, only a few months after being repainted, it was left outside om a very cold night without being properly drained and sustained massive amounts of freeze damage. The old Cartier Geep was deemed a total loss and subsequently scrapped. 7/24/2007

Home Rails by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

An ex Conrail SD60I is right at home leading a stack train east through Pine on the Chicago Line back in March of 2013. 3/12/2013

Classic Z151 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

The Employee-Owned era of Marquette Rail was quickly fading into history as GLLX #3001 lead a long Z151 west on the Sunnyside Lead into Wyoming Yard. Having been sold to Rail America the year before, which then was purchased by G&W, the railroad was about to undergo many changes that unfortunately wouldn't be for the better. In typical "gotta paint the best-looking power orange first" G&W fashion, #3001 and the other two GLLX SD40-2s would get the orange dip before the year was over. 3/11/2013

Beachville Geeps by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Ontario Southland's spiffy pair of former Soo Line GP7s perform a little switching in Beachville on their way back to Ingersoll. While the Alco and MLW products then-employed by the OSR were our main reason for visiting, a pair of high hood Geeps anywhere in the 21st century is definitely worth the price of admission. 5/2/2013

Empties on the Holly by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

Still sporting its BN logo on the nose, BNSF SD70MAC #9729 leads C767 coal empties from the DTE plant in Monroe north into Durand. 12/9/2007

[David Collins]

Busy Times @ Pine by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

What it lacks in scenery, Pine makes up for in sheer number of trains. An out-bound CN freight with an NS Dash 9 rolls over the Clark Rd bridge while a B&LE Tunnel Motor trails on an in-bound local. 4/3/2016

Phenomenal stuff as always Mr. 80MAC. What camera are you shooting with these days?

A pop of color by David R. Collins, on Flickr


A loaded Amtrak ballast train, running as NS 60M, bound for the Amtrak Michigan Line heads west by Cassandra, Pennsylvania. This train made PHENOMENAL time between Altoona and Detroit given that it wasn't an intermodal train, making the run in just over 16 hours.

[SD80MAC]

Back then I had a 70D. Now I use a 7D Mk II.

[David Collins]

Seven-Dimensional by David R. Collins, on Flickr

A long time location I’ve been wanting to visit in my railfanning career is the tiny town of Gallitzin, Pennsylvania.

Gallitzin has two tunnels, one for track one (on the other side of town for some reason) and one for track two and three on the other side of town.

Here we see an eastbound NS manifest approaching the eastern portal of the Gallitzin Tunnels with a pop of color in the second locomotive position, a KCS, now CPKC, SD70ACe. The business the train is passing on the right is Seven D Wholesale, a lumber yard.

[SD80MAC]

Olean Switching by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

The brakeman looks on as Western New York & Pennsylvania C430 #431 burps a cloud of exhaust as the crew works to build their train for the Tank Farm. 9/30/2016

J Ball on the J by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

An EJ&E SD38-2 still sporting the J Ball on its flanks heads south on the old EJ&E with a long local in tow. 665 is, as of May 2023, still in orange, over 10 years after I took this photo! 3/12/2013

M-66 Intermediates by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

D908's lead GP38-2 splits the searchlights in Woodbury, known as "M-66" due to their proximity to the M-66 crossing. 8/12/2006

Elkhart Changes by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

New switches and rail are staged at CP 421 as an east-bound NS freight rolls under the old NYC signals in Elkhart. NS would subsequently reconfigure the entire interlocking, shifting the mainline south and eliminating the diamond for the Kalamazoo branch. 8/21/2014

BNSF GP38-2 #2031 by Jonathon Leese, on Flickr

BNSF #2031 is one of a handful of units purchased from NRE in the late 2000s. #2031 itself began life as a GP35 on the Southern Pacific. The locomotive was seen here resting in Rochelle on a quiet Sunday afternoon. 5/22/2016

[David Collins]

What used to be special is still special by David R. Collins, on Flickr


On National Train Day 2023, I was driving to Millbury, Ohio after spending some time at Vickers Junction. When I pulled up to Bradner Road, I was shocked.

Sitting short of the crossing was NS M4Q, an extra 14Q. Leading it was NS #3329, an NS SD40-2. This unit used to be quite an interesting special unit, painted in Maersk Sealand colors. It unfortunately lost the colors after getting into wreck. While it no longer has the colors, it's still an SD40-2, without the weird looking admiral cab.

I'm not entirely sure that it led the train the whole way out of Elkhart, as an engineer told me that they may have taken the lead power, and took it somewhere else. While leaving the 3329 on for braking pressure. It's still a rare sight, especially in 2023.

[David Collins]

Oh, the irony! by David R. Collins, on Flickr

One of the more interesting (and ironic) catches on National Train Day 2023 came around 1 PM. With NS train 32N running east with two ex BNSF SD70MAC leasers in tow, now owned by Wells Fargo.

What’s ironic is the train in question, 32N, was the same train ID of the train that derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, which is still currently causing an existential crisis for the company. It’s even more ironic that the two leasers were on this particular train, as 32N was the train that put the railroad in the current situation, needing more locomotives to handle longer trains better.

I don’t know if these units will be able to lead trains or not, there’s speculation that they don’t have PTC installed, and from what I’ve been told, crews don’t want them to lead trains. We’ll see what happens.

With that being said, here’s NS 32N heading east by Vickers Junction in Northwood, Ohio, with two former BNSF SD70MAC leasers in tow.

[GP30M4216]

I owe my love of trains to my late grandfather, who apparently liked them since he was a little boy. He grew up in South Bend and was an avocational photographer. I recently came across some large format matte prints of photos he took around South Bend in the 1940s of steam in action. I tried to clean them up a little bit and wanted to share them here.

This is the Budd designed Empire State Express. This new equipment consist launched December 7, 1941, but was overshadowed by the unfolding situation at Pearl Harbor. A couple J3a Hudson's received the streamlined skin to match the new passenger equipment. Several of these cars have been preserved at Rochester & Genesee Valley Railroad Museum: https://www.rgvrrm.org/about/railroad/ese/

L2a Mohawk 2721 powers a freight train. I like the mean look of the front end of these units with the feedwater heater up top. This is an Alco 1925 product. This is the same location and likely the same day at the Empire State Express above. I would guess east of downtown South Bend, near where the St Joe River closely parallels Lincolnway and the Water Level Route.

Operating a steam locomotive is probably 98% work, 1% migraine and 1% fun. This probably falls under the work percentage. I'm assuming in the South Bend area.

[David Collins]

Small yard, Big business by David R. Collins, on Flickr

The Conrail Sterling Yard, located in Sterling Heights, Michigan, may only see 6 trains a day. However it has one big customer.

The large building off to the left in this image is one of Chrysler/Stalantis/FCA’s large factories, and NS/Conrail ships cars out and brings frames in.

On one cool morning in May of 2023, I got word that the original NS heritage unit was sitting in the yard. I knew the shot was going to be hella backlit, so I went up to the 17 mile overpass (never doing that again), and this was the best shot that I could get of it.

I thought the unit would look right at home parked with two AC44C6M’s and a ton of loaded frame cars in a vertical format.