I made an overnight roadtrip over to CSX's Henderson Sub Monday,spending the entire day along the line before spending the night in Madisonville and spending early Tuesday morning along the tracks once again. I saw more trains in a 24 hour span than I've ever seen in any other trip,with 28 total,I managed to catch 19 with my camera. I left home early yesterday morning,taking the Bluegrass Parkway towards Elizabethtown,KY,when I heard activity on the Main Line Sub. Q534 heading north met Q573 at Tunnel Hill in Elizabethtown. The dispatcher reported another train coming north,I figured I wouldn't bother catching it. Gas was cheaper in Elizabethtown so I stopped at a station of U.S. 62 in sight of the tracks. Q275 stopped at the signal at Tunnel Hill,waiting for a northbound. Leading Q275 was an AC6000,a type of engine I haven't seen around here in awhile. Q282 was the northbound,and it came through with CSX 5476 leading: After Q282 cleared the main,Q275 proceeded south: After Q282 cleared I made my way over to the Henderson Sub at Crofton,KY. I got there just in time to catch Q515 meeting a northbound in town,but was unable to photograph them. A short while later, Q247 came rolling in to town heading south as well,meeting Q688 in the siding: A second southbound followed Q247:
A short lull in the action allowed me to catch the caboose at White Plains,KY: After leaving White Plains,I headed to the park at Nortonville. I found a nice curve that gave me great shots of southbounds,and fairly decent shots of northbounds: First up, L121: Q596 met him just south of my location,then passed me: Q649 was next,heading south:
Q649's counterpart, Q648,came through a half hour later heading north with a former ex-Conrail unit, #7323 leading. This is the third time in a year I've caught this particular ex-Conrail unit: Q595 came south ten minutes later: G548 was ten minutes behind Q595: A third southbound followed them,again,ten minutes later:
A southbound K train came through 40 minutes later: This was the last train I photographed Monday,as I was getting pretty tired. I headed up to Madisonville and stopped at the Comfort Inn,which was 100 feet from the Main Line. I saw six trains during the night there,they're surprisingly quiet,the a/c unit in the room was louder.Now this is a view from a hotel room to have if you're a railfan! Q129 heads south: Hearing two northbounds approaching Madisonville,I headed north to try to intercept them. Q596 was first up,shown here at Hanson,KY: Q648,with another ex-Conrail unit leading,wasn't far behind: After Q648,I decided to head south again,as Hanson wasn't a great spot for morning shot with tons of obstructions trackside. I missed G449 heading north on my way down to Mortons Gap,KY.
After Q648,I decided to head south again,as Hanson wasn't a great spot for morning shot with tons of obstructions trackside. I missed G449 heading north on my way down to Mortons Gap,KY. At Mortons Gap,there was a short wait,but V227,a coal train,came through heading north: Nearly an hour later, Q515 came south: I decided I was thirsty,but there were no gas stations in Mortons Gap,so I headed south to Nortonville,and then decided to go straight back to Crofton,my starting point the day before. I managed to beat Q515 down there,surprisingly: Q649 was through a little later with NS units on the point,a nice little change:
Q597 followed a little later: After Q597,I decided to head home,despite the fact that there were two northbounds coming. I was getting tired and I had to work,in fact as I type this I just got home from work two hours ago...a very long night,about to head to bed. I'm hoping for another trip like this in the near future with this much traffic,it was pretty fun.
Anytime you make it to Exit 44 off the parkway at Madisonville,KY. Just stop at the Comfort Inn and ask them to give you a room with a view of the railroad track. If you have the wife and kids with you,just drop em off at the pool/jacuzzi downstairs.
