SD40 3-Pack by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
3 Canadian Pacific SD40-2s roar up the hill at Fox with a Canada-bound train consisting entirely of containers on flat cars. A few months later, these trains that ran for nearly 20 years over CSX would be no more. 11/12/2005
Screaming Eagle by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A nicely restored former Missouri Pacific wide vision caboose sits on display next to the joint CSX-UP Villa Grove Subdivision in Beecher, IL. The route was originally part of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois. 4/17/2016
Recession by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
During the great recession of 2008-2009, CSX stuffed autoracks and other storage cars onto every available track in western Michigan. Headed by an ex Conrail SD60, Q327 knocks down the Plaster Creek pot signal on the Sunnyside lead as it rolls into Wyoming yard past a line of storage cars in Old 17 rack. 7/17/2009
Elkhart & Western Switching by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Without a runaround at the west end of the line, the E&W must utilize a locomotive on each end of the train in order to switch their largest customer, the Buzzi Unicem terminal. GP9 #911 waits in the clear the crew pulls a cut of cement cars ahead with GP10 #1000. 6/12/2008
Big Boy #4005 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" #4005 is displayed at the Forney Transportation Museum in Denver, CO. #4005 is the oldest of the preserved Big Boys and (until 4014's recent conversion) was the only one converted to burn oil. Done as an experiment during a coal strike, the conversion was not successful and the 4005 was converted back to coal. 4005 also has the dubious distinction of being the only one of its class to be seriously wrecked. In the early 1950s, a miscommunication amongst a track gang mistakenly lined 4005 and its train into a siding. The train, which was traveling near 50 mph, had no time to slow down and derailed on the sharp curve into the siding. The entire head end crew was killed when the engine rolled onto its side. 4005 still has scars on its flanks from where it plowed into the ground. 10/21/2021
Z439 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Grand Elk's 120 job, running as Z439 on CSX, rolls up the Old Even lead with 18 cars for interchange at Wyoming Yard. 12/15/2022
Grinstein by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Former BN SD70MAC 9627 and an AC4400 are pulling hard on N956 as the train works east out of Grand Rapids. Unseen on the rear are a pair of brand new CSX ES44AHs working as helpers, which were required all the way to Elmdale for these 130 car coal trains. 1/28/2012
Odd Switching Power by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
About the last thing I expected to see resting at the west end of CSX's Wyoming Yard was a Santa Fe SD40-2. Apparently the Y103 crew had snagged it from the engine house that morning and used it for the rest of that week before someone got wise and sent it back to Chicago! 1/13/2007
In-Bound 800 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Huron & Eastern's 800 job rolls into Saginaw from the Thumb behind GP38-2 #3866 and GP38AC #3838. The 800 job handles all of the traffic from the HESR's far flung ex PM, NYC, and GTW lines in the Thumb, and interchanges it with the Lake State and the HESR's other jobs. I miss those Rail America Geeps! 11/17/2011
Sandusky by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
An east-bound NS freight is about to cross the draw bridge in Sandusky Bay on a pleasant early Fall afternoon. 10/2/2016
Summer Evening on the Thornapple by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Q334 rumbles across the Thronapple River behind an SD50/C40-8W/SD40-2/C40-8W consist, disturbing the peace on an otherwise tranquil summer evening. 6/27/2012
Just Three Cars by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Western New York & Pennsylvania's OL-1 has just three cars today behind big C630M #630 as the train heads for the B&P interchange in Salamenca. 9/30/2016
1st Shift Switching by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
The foreman climbs aboard RCPHG4 #9156 as it and its GP15T mate back down the old even lead. This is Y193, what was then the first shift switching job on the Odd side of Wyoming Yard. In the distance sits an ex Conrail Russell plow and an MOW boxcar. 1/4/2012
Horseshoe Helpers by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
An ex Conrail SD40-2 trails on a set of four SD40-2s drifting downhill back to Altoona through the famous Horseshoe Curve. 7/23/2006
New Years Eve by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A CW44AC and an ST70AH leave Grand Rapids with a short L303 on 12/31/2022. The 22 year old GE still wears its YN2 paint, but I'm sure it won't be much longer until it takes a trip to Wabtec for a rebuild. 12/31/2022
Kirk Pull Down by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
EMD's 38 series is exemplified by the sight of EJ&E SD38-3 #656 and GTW GP38-2 #4932 as they pull down a string of humped cars at CN's Kirk Yard. 9/5/2020
Hartford Nights by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
The West Michigan’s nightly train waits for the last of 2 reefers to be unloaded at Lineage Logistics warehouse in Hartford. Powering the lengthy train this chilly evening are 1959-built GP18 #921 and 1960-built SW1200 #1512. 1/5/2023
The Fulton Turn by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Ex Santa Fe B40-8Ws dig into their train as the Fulton Turn heads north out of Jackson on the West Tennessee RR. 5/2/2019
CSXT SD40-2 #8418 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Wearing the paint scheme it was delivered from Morrison Knudsen in, SD40-2 #8418 backs down the Even Lead to get train Q326. #8418 was one of over 100 SD40-2s rebuilt by MKM from SD40 cores for CSX in the early 1990s. It was no stranger to the former Pere Marquette, either, having been built as C&O #7467. 3/11/2007
Calm Before The Storm by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A recently rebuilt ex Conrail SD70MAC and a rebuilt CM44AC grind up the hill at Fox with east-bound L303. The light dusting of snow on the ground would soon be greatly augmented by a blizzard that would dump over 2 feet of snow in Grand Rapids over Christmas weekend. 12/22/2022
Oak Street by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A west-bound GTW freight is negotiating the Chicago Wye from the Holly Sub to the Flint Sub behind GP40-2 #6420. At the left are the remains of the west-bound pick up and set out tracks. In Durand's hay day, the many yard jobs would drag cuts of cars out to these tracks to be grabbed by passing trains, eliminating the need for the through trains to back into the yard. This practice fell out of favor in the 1980s as the Durand terminal was gradually down-graded and ultimately sold to the Central Michigan Railway in 1987. This is a scanned print from my collection, originally taken by Bruce Benson in spring 1990.
CN GP38-2 #7510 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
One of CN's relatively few original standard cab GP38-2s, #7510, heads south light power through Dyersburg, TN. At one time mated with a yard slug, 7510 has since lost its companion. 5/2/2019
Madison Yard by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A mother and slug shove a string of cars up and over the hump at the Terminal Railroad of St. Louis' Madison Yard. Leased former IC&E GP40-2s from Helm Financial can be seen sitting in the background. 5/5/2019
Breton by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Wearing faded YN2 paint, CSX SD40-2 #8070 leads Q326 east out of Grand Rapids across Breton Ave. 1/3/2009
Ogden Dunes Meet by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
East-bound and west-bound South Shore passenger trains meet at the Ogden Dunes station on a pleasant summer evening back in 2020. 9/5/2020
BNSF SD39-2 #1825 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
One of BNSF's remote control SDs moves through the large hump yard in Galesburg, IL. This "SD39-2" is in reality just a regular SD40-2 that has been rebuilt for yard service. Not sure if that involved a horsepower reduction or what? Perhaps someone more familiar with BNSF can chime in. 5/20/2016
Kissing Cousins by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A former SOO and a CN SD60 rest next to the TRRA in Granite City. 5/5/2019
Sunnyside by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Y106 comes around the south leg of the wye at Sunnyside with just one boxcar from Advance Packaging in tow. 12/15/2022
Executives by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A pair of Executive scheme BNSF SD70MACs lead a coal train through Denver after a thunderstorm dropped over an inch of rain on the area in less than a half hour. 7/20/2010
Working King by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Are 2-engine lash up on the Grand Rapids Eastern in the form of MMRR #24 and CFE #3885 works former Pere Marquette trackage at King Milling in Lowell. A few months later, #24 would be sold to a paper mill in Virginia. 1/29/2016
Slow Approach Pleasant St by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A west-bound Canadian Pacific train with 2 AC4400s and 2 leased CEFX SD40M-2s is rolling along Buchanan Ave. It's November 2005, and the bulk of the CP trains are about to leave CSX for trackage rights on Norfolk Southern. 11/13/2005
Soo Sixties by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Some of my absolute favorite locomotives ever were SOOs fleet of EMD SD60s. Very common on the CP trains across Michigan when I was little, by the time I started railfanning in the mid 2000s they were starting to be a rarer sight. While seeing one was always nice, a pair was a real treat. Here SOO 6033 and 6054 are slowing near Elmdale with X500, getting ready to duck into the siding to meet west-bound coke loads K351. 3/12/2007
Chicken by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
Former DMIR SDM #814 rolls south on the former Pere Marquette Lacrosse branch on a hot summer day in 2020. 8/27/2020
Hey Look, an F40C by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
On my way home from visiting some friends in southern Illinois, I happened across Metra F40C #614 on a north-bound commuter train as I made my way through CUS. #614 and #611 had been reactivated to cover for F40PHs that were being shipped out a handful at a time for rebuilding into F40PH-3s at Progress Rail. 12/13/2010
GTW GP38AC #6212 by
Jonathon Leese, on Flickr
A pair of Geeps lead a west-bound through Durand on an overcast spring day in 1989. Built as Detroit, Toledo & Ironton #212, the now Grand Trunk Western #6212 was 1 of 14 GP38ACs owned by the DT&I. In this 1989 view, the unit still retains its class lights, along with the bump on the nose where the electric gong bell once hung. This is a scanned print from my collection, originally taken by Bruce Benson in 1989.