Hamlet NC

I took a trip down to Hamlet NC recently to check out train action. The town of Hamlet sits just South of CSX depot and due to this has a lot of train movements. The weather didn't really cooperate, it stayed cloudy and blah all day.

This shot so a CSX train rolling past the Hamlet Amtrak station and over the cross.


This is special track surveying train.

CSX in Apex

I thought I'd drop by downtown Apex to see if any trains were working and got lucky enough to see this CSX locomotive building up a train again. This is the 2nd time I've seen a train being built up in Apex around 1:30 - 2:00pm. Not sure if this is a daily schedule or if I'm lucky?

Passing the historic Apex Depot


I still haven't figured out the reason for the pedestrian railroad crossing on the North edge of downtown, but it makes a nice spot to photograph from.


About 10 steps North from the pedestrian crossing with the Apex water tower in the background.

Norfolk and Southern Southbound from Fuquay

I happened on this N&S train running South from Fuquay-Varina towards Lillington so I followed it for a while and snapped a few shots.

Through the fields of green.


Clouds set off nicely against the blue sky.


Carolina blue sky.

CSX in Apex

I was passing through Apex today and happened to see a pair of CSX locomotives putting 2 groups of freight cars together to build a larger train before finally heading Southbound out of town. It was a fun shoot but it was H.O..Double.T...HOTT.

Here they have disconnected from their original train and are pulling forward so they can back into the siding and connect the waiting cars.



There was a single locomotive parked in front to the CSX building so I placed it in the shot to add a little more interest to the composition. In this shot they are connected and pulling forward.



The build up complete and heading Southbound.

Local Trains

Quick post here with a couple of pictures from an earlier shoot and one shot today.

This is the North bound "Carolinian" leaving the Cary Amtrak station headed for Raleigh and then all points North.


A few minutes after the Amtrak train departed this N&S train followed it towards Raleigh.


From today. I've been carrying my camera with me every time I am near Downtown Raleigh with hopes of a catching a train sliding between the buildings and over the small bridges that allow the trains to run through the middle of downtown. I saw this train at a distance and drove as fast as possible to get ahead of it. Either the train was moving fast or maybe it's just hard to get ahead of one while driving through in town traffic. Not the best shot since it was taken in bright noon time sun, but I had to post it because I've finally caught a train running through downtown. I'll will be trying again at some time when the light is better.

BNSF in Raleigh

Quick post here. I just happened to see these BNSF locomotives in the yard between Capitol Blvd. and Pershing Road. I had to stop and snap a few quick photos.

New Hope Valley Railway - July 4th

New hope Valley railway (NHVRY) runs once a month during the summer so I thought I'd stop by to shoot some pics this weekend as part of my project to shoot all the places you can take a ride on a train in NC.

It's July 4th so why not start out with a shot of their GE center cab locomotive under the flag.



The shot above was taken as the locomotive moved into position at the front of the train. Below we see the train pulling out from the yard.



The NHVRY usually mixes locomotion between their diesel locomotives and their 0-4-0 oil fired steam switcher #17


#17 pulling towards Moncure.


The crew tops off the water tanks between runs.

Norfolk and Southern Research Train

I got a lucky break a few days ago and caught this "special" as it rolled down the tracks that run close to my home in Fuquay. The day was hazy, humid and misty as you can see in the first few shots but I was still able to get a few good images.



Coming out of the haze.


Rolling into Lillington.

Here are a few pictures taken at the NC transportation Museum in Spencer. I visited here as part of my project to photograph all the places in North Carolina where you can take a train ride. I got lucky because the Museum was hosting an antique truck show on the day I visited so I had an opportunity to shoot some great old trucks as well as the trains. This first picture is of a beautifully restored 1950 Brown in "Associated" livery.



This second image is a detail shot 1924 Mack Truck. If you look closely at the shiny radiator you can see yours truly captured while at work.



Now on to the main focus of my visit, the trains. The museum runs an excursion train that takes visitors on a short trip around the grounds of the museum. Motive power for the train was provided by FP-7 locomotive decorated in Southern paint and wearing number 6133. Here she is seen pulling the train forward under the footbridge that was relocated the museum grounds.



In this shot the train is seen parked in front the museums roundhouse to let passengers disembark.



Thanks for looking. Hopefully I will be posting some more pictures from this shoot soon.

In my quest to visit and photograph all the places in North Carolina that you can ride a train as a passenger I visited Tweetsie railroad recently. While my family and I enjoyed visiting the park, the train lover in me is slightly disturbed. Why do I say that? Well on one hand they have 2 beautifully maintained and operational steam locomotives but on the other hand they use them as part of an amusement park ride. It seems to kinda cheapen them some how? I guess in the end I'm just glad that they can keep these old steam engines running so that future generations can see and enjoy them. Now on to the pictures.

Old # 12 crossing the trestle.



At the station on main street.



The Engineer and the fireman chat between runs.