Southern Illinois Photos ~ 06/26/07

[TRNBUF]

I decided to head out a little today hitting a few places in and around Centralia, IL.  I'm a late starter so I finally got going around Noon and headed up to Posey, IL to meet NS #224 on the NS Illinois Division.  At that time it was sunny and humid with some thunder in the distance so I was worried that I wasn't going to get this shot but he finally showed up with a couple of UP's in tow.  After he went through  I heard CSX train Q247 on the scanner, so I headed up towards Sandoval, IL to meet him on the CSX Illinois Sub.  He had an HLCX #7232 on the lead and when I heard his horn it sounded like a duck in pain, it was bad.  From there I followed him all the way to Salem, IL where I caught a few UP trains North of the UP yard.  The first one I saw was a fairly new UP #8543, an SD70ACe on the lead.   I must have been blessed because the sun appeared right when he arrived in front of my camera.  J   As he was pulling into the yard he met BNSF #4805 waiting to go North.   After these 2 guys went by it sort of got quiet so I headed South towards Mt. Vernon, IL  to see what was happening.   Halfway there I heard NS train #167 on the scanner and it was close by.   I ended up catching him at Dix, IL right before the clouds let loose and did they ever.   At that point I thought my day was done, but I still headed for Mt. Vernon,  IL. where I didn?t see a single thing.   Not even at the NRE shops and that is surprising.   By that time it was getting close to 6:00 and I might as well end my day at Centralia, IL where I saw the empty BNSF Baldwin Power Plant train pulling into his yard.   When I saw he had a black eye(light out) and the front door open, it was telling me to quit for the day and so I did. Overall, I still had a pretty good day.   Only wasted a half a tank of gas so I still have enough to take the family to the Zoo tomorrow. J

Here are the photos and I hope you all enjoy!!!

NS #9841(NS #224) at Posey, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=635723846&size=l

HLCX #7232(CSX Q247) at Sandoval, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=634862697&size=l

UP #8543 at Salem, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=634864791&size=l

UP #8543 & BNSF #4805 at Salem, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=634866227&size=l

BNSF #4805 at Salem, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=635726150&size=l

NS #9659(NS #167) at Dix, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=634867509&size=l

BNSF #8834 at Centralia, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=635730852&size=l

BNSF # 9835 at Centralia, IL
http://www.flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=635722970&size=l

My other train photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/trnbuf/

Take Care,
~Mike