A Landmark Year

With 2024 finally having come to a close, it's time again to look back on the year - even if I'm a bit late to getting to it. As with most things, it usually ends up as a mixed bag - and indeed that is the case for my own 2024. This year has been a struggle on the job and financial side of things, and the near total silence regarding the immigration case for my wife has also been a bit of a downer, too. Car troubles and expenses only serve to cause more problems. Still, despite all that, there's been good this year. On the photo side of things, this year has been one of the best. So much has happened in that sphere it's almost hard to comprehend.

Throughout 2024, I've photographed more interesting railroad subjects than I could have possibly expected. Trains and areas in what I call the "local bubble" have been the primary focus and with great success. From more classic Illinois Central "Deathstars" to local shortlines to the infamous RoadRailer, it's been incredibly busy just in my little corner of central Illinois. On top of that, I've made jaunts to catch some unique one-offs such as steam engines, office car specials, heritage units, rare leaders, and even a solar eclipse for good measure. All this goes without talking about the big trip to the Deseret Power! Suffice to say, this year has been busy, and in a very good way.

Coming out of 2023, I was dealing with some burnout, the loss of my job, and starting work on immigration forms for my wife. Things were simultaneously busy, yet also I found myself with more free time than I knew what to do with. It took some prodding, but I eventually got out of the house to start shooting trains again. While I had started my year with a surprise SD40E-led D32, I also had some nice heads-ups on special moves, such as NS #8025, the Monongahela Railroad heritage unit, leading westbound RoadRailer #255. Not long after, CN 3008, painted for the Illinois Central, also made a trip through the area. Those were good reasons to go snap some pictures again. Following the 255 that day was my first go at proper chases on the Lafayette District in a long time, and little did I know how this would change the course of my year in trains.

"Clinging to Life" - Bement, IL

"Return of the Faux Illinois Central" - Tolono, IL

I was with a friend shooting the 3008, and we got the heads up that NS 6173 had suffered a cracked engine block and had died - this unit was something of a local legend in this region. Armed with that knowledge and the info that a high hood Geep was being moved from Des Moines to Decatur, we abandoned our chase of the heritage unit and moved to the Bloomington District to see if we could get our last glimpse at the old N&W SD40-2. Unfortunately, this was not to be - the unit had been shipped off to Altoona already. Thankfully, we did spot our high hood plus an SD40E, but unfortunately again, winter time meant that we lost the light well before his departure from Gibson City.

Happily, we did come out of that adventure with something fun: signal exposures from Goembel. Light mist illuminated our signal light beams, and a surprise northbound grain extra lit up the background brilliantly once our fun power had passed us by.

"In The Air Tonight" - CP Goembel, near Osman, IL / Lotus, IL

I would end up capturing similar imagery at the far end of the same siding, beside the Osman signals a few days later - a handy bonus. More importantly though, it was finally time for me to cross something else off of my list. Shortline railroads are more likely to operate closer to a M-F 9-5 schedule, which is rare in the railroading world. It isn't always the case, but for the Kankakee, Beaverville & Southern, it most certainly is, so those of us who worked our own 9-5s were not exactly going to be able to see these operations. Eager photographers are advised to show up to the Iroquois Junction shops (the KBS HQ) at 7am sharp to see what the action of the day may be. Or, join the Facebook heads-up group, where if you ask nicely, employees and even the owner of the company might tell you what trains will be running. Now that there is a real rarity, and we are so very appreciative for that.

Armed with this info, I joined up on the KBS group and saw someone had already posed the question for the very next day. Nice big cut of hoppers to be taken from Iroquois to Lafayette - well, as I didn't exactly somewhere to be to that next morning... Why not? 

"Cobbled Together" - Iroquois Junction, IL

"Sheltered in Sheldon" - Sheldon, IL

I could cross off not just the KBS, but also G-style Trilight signals from my list of things to shoot. That was a very pleasant day, and an easy chase to boot. It was an early day, no doubt, but it had gone well, and I finally felt like I was enjoying the hobby again.

Throughout February and March, I would bang out more photos on the Bloomington District on its last days of SD40-2 control, get some nice sunsets, and hit a little winter weather. It was also when IC 1000, the class leader of the SD70s would be given its white sill stripe back - a real return to form. I got to catch that, more SD70s, finally knock out a shot at the IT abutments in Bement, and get a little double-GT Humko action at home.

"A Cold Day at Osman" - Osman, IL

"Authenticity" - North of Ashkum, IL

"Back Like That" - Goembel, IL

"Twilight of the District" - North of Bement, IL

"Entrapment" - Champaign, IL

Without a doubt, though, the most important thing had to be my realization that I had only shot one RoadRailer a year for the last few years - and even missed a year entirely. In other words, I was lacking in RoadRailer photos. Granted, this was because I was usually working when they were coming through my neck of the woods, but still. Genuinely just once a year did I shoot them. I had already met my once-a-year quota for 2024, but I knew I had to beat that quota. I went out again to seek one out and, after bagging my second one for the year, realized then and there that I couldn't keep these weird trains at the sidelines anymore.

As luck would have it, a helpful heads up announced the Illinois Terminal heritage unit would be leading a RoadRailer through not long after. Things were starting to get interesting, and my knowledge of the crisscrossing roads throughout the Decatur to Danville portion of the Lafayette District began to grow dramatically. It would certainly be coming in handy for much of the year.

"Making the Quota" - Milmine, IL

NS 1072 - NS 256 - Sadorus, IL

Just for good measure, I even snuck in a little GT heritage in there between RoadRailers and my next trip to the UK.

"Always On The Move" - Humboldt, IL

Later in March, I made another trip to the UK to see my wife, meet up with some friends, and see some fantastic live music. It was a great trip all around and a nice departure from home and job searching.

While overseas, a RoadRailer had run through with a "Fakebonnet" leader - these units are painted in the old classic Santa Fe red and silver, but the text on the side reads BNSF instead of the usual Santa Fe. The same, but different. I was a little annoyed to have missed out on that, but fate was on my side, and I wound up getting advance notice that a second Fakebonnet-led R.R. would be coming through. Despite being a little sick and having not even driven a car in a little bit (being overseas will do that to you, as it turns out), I couldn't turn that down.

"Real or Fake?" - Sadorus, IL

When I snapped a shot of this train, stopped chasing it to go shoot a deathstar-led A408, then returned back to the Lafy to snag a second go at this 256, that was when I realized I was starting to get a real hang of things down here, something new to me at that point. Overconfidence? Surely. But suffice to say, it wound up doing me quite well throughout the year... I'd done my fair share of shooting the Lafayette District, but not that much, and almost never chasing more than a few miles at most.

There was a good break from visiting the Lafy, however. The 2024 Solar Eclipse came up next on the docket. I paired that with a little chase to shoot CN local L588 to Eldorado, which went surprisingly well. I chased the tiny little local from Centralia to Eldorado and returned to a prime viewing location for the solar eclipse - it was a crazy, but fun day!

Better yet, I didn't get stuck in any eclipse traffic on the drive down to Centralia. I got a little bit of it on the way back home, but it was only bad near Pesotum where road work was already causing enough traffic problems.

"Beat it to Benton" - Benton, IL

"Vanta Black" - Akin Junction, IL

Following the eclipse, I continued shooting various trains throughout the local bubble. Some RoadRailers, locals, and other odds and ends wound up in there. The real highlights include a patched Southern Pacific AC44, the Alton & Southern SD60 duo, and you guessed it, more IC SD70s. The real winner of the SD70 batch was the 1027 leading a dead Amtrak 58 north. The CONO had died down near Memphis and CN gave them an SD70 to take it the rest of the way to Chicago - I chased it down with a buddy despite miserable lighting conditions against us, just to see this extremely peculiar train. That SD70 was giving it everything it had and did a damn fine job considering this was not what it was meant to haul!

NS 9906 - NS 255 - Tolono, IL

"Take What You Can" - Dawson, IL

"Goodies on the Alton" - McLean, IL

IC 1027 / AMTK 326 / AMTK 312 - Amtrak 58 "City of New Orleans" - Hayes, IL

"Moving Along" - Humboldt, IL

WAMX 4236 - DREI 101 - Tuscola, IL

During all that - the same weekend as the Alton & Southern SD60s, indeed the reason I was in the vicinity to shoot those in the first place - I also attended the bi-annual Cornfield Freemo meet in McLean. The spring outing this year was bigger for sure, and was a fun time. I naturally brought my share of IC power to putter around while catching up with some friends.

With time marching on, new rumour regarding the fate of our beloved RoadRailer began to emerge. I started to get more adventurous, spurred on by my newfound knowledge of the roads and trains of the Lafy. I was very lucky and caught a RoadRailer meet on one of my rounds, and another time finally bagged my shot of one across Lake Decatur - I didn't know it then, but this would became a familiar place to visit for sure. In addition, other heritage units rolled through, and faced with little else to do, why not go out and snap some of them?

"Come Together" - Sidney, IL

"Troubling Waters" - Decatur, IL

"Narrow Margin" - Philo, IL

"Back At It Again" - Sidney, IL

"On A Wave" - Hayes, IL

In between some of these catches, the CPKC steam excursion that had been announced earlier in the year finally started. Myself and one of my friends planned to go out and shoot it for a day, which we did. It was an utterly chaotic trip, but we secured the hero shot I was aiming for and got to watch the impressive CP 2816 "Empress" at speed on the main. It was an exhausting treat, and also the first time I had shot a train outside of Illinois since KBS this year.

"Soaked at Sabula" - Sabula, IA

There was also another little surprise, as yet again Amtrak's City of New Orleans died enroute to Chicago and had to be rescued by CN freight power. GTW 5934, a former Missouri Pacific SD40-2 in CN dress, handled that, and I managed to sneak a couple shots of that in. That 50 year old engine was really giving it everything it had and topped out at just 63mph, but it hauled that train up to Chicago without any faults - unlike the ALC-42 Charger that had been leading it to start. Compared to when IC 1027 did this earlier in the year, the light situation was much better this time around for it!

"Old Saves New, Again" - Hayes, IL

Between more hunts for RoadRailers, I also found myself shooting some executive trains. CN and UP both ran office car trains through the area and I naturally had to see what was going on for myself. The CN one ran a little late but had no real troubles, but UPs train got stuck at Block for a while. I left my perch to see what was up with it and found them crew changing there - just a handful of miles out of Villa Grove, where the crew had originated. On duty for eight miles and barely an hour, and already changing? It makes one wonder.

"Executive Choices" - Block, IL

"The Same, But Different" - Hayes, IL

One of the stand out moments of my 2024 photography was the morning of June 9th. The night prior, advance warning of not a pair, not a trio, but quadruplet IC SD70s all in black on CN M335 had come through. Every time such a train has hit my neck of the woods, I'm out of the country, stuck in work, or otherwise indisposed. If there was a chance at bagging this, I would take it.

Thanks to helpful estimate times, I set an early alarm. I figured I'd go out, look for the train, and if I couldn't find it and nobody had info on it, I'd go back to bed. Lo and behold, I wake up and hear the train was in Champaign already. I got my stuff together and ran out to locate it and get my bearings. As I arrived at Leverett Junction, the sight of four deathstars was unmistakable. You know what else was unmistakable? Them starting move. They were already leaving town.

I had planned to spot the train, get some badly needed gas, and then chase it down. I did not get time for gas. It was straight into the fire with this - and somehow it worked out.

"Black Rain" - Leverett Junction, IL

"Glamorous" - Leverett, IL

"Meeting of the Minds" - Rantoul, IL

"Getting Up & Ahead" - Paxton, IL

"Perfect Storm" - Gilman, IL

A long chase on the former IC had been long overdue, and this more than made up for it. I was grateful to have learned some valuable lessons and successfully apply them here - you know, such as skip everything between Paxton and Gilman. Even that isn't enough to guarantee enough time for setting up that final shot, but this one time, it was. The early summer morning sun made this chase just perfect and I couldn't have been more lucky with the way things worked out.

I was finally in my stride at this point. The M335 chase had been damn near perfect, and my RoadRailer efforts were really paying off. I wound up nabbing a 256 with a Sonic-bonnet, as well as another NS heritage unit on a stack train. With these successes and plenty more not mentioned here, I had become the sort of RoadRailer guru in some of my circles. One of my friends from way up north came down for a visit and together, we went on a RoadRailer adventure that paid off brilliantly.

"Passing Piatt" - Piatt, IL

"It's Not The Same" - Tolono, IL

NS 1064 - NS 255 - Decatur, IL

Some handy timing also worked out that, during the summer, a friend of mine at the U of I rail club from the St. Louis area was back home. Pairing his knowledge of trains in the St. Louis area with an upcoming train show - the famed St. Louis RPM meet - we hatched a plan to attempt to capture a train at one of the most unique railroad signals in North America. The Robertson cantilever, the last of its kind, is a classic Wabash installation that can't be found anywhere else anymore. It's the only surviving cantilever from installations that didn't even exceed 25 or so in the first place. Traffic on the St. Louis District is hit or miss, but NS 258 made our day by showing up during the last gasps of shootable light for the morning. There's very limited windows throughout the year to get light on the face of the signal, so we were that much luckier to have secured our shot.

Plus, we visited the RPM meet afterwards - that was a great time as well! Faces new and old, excellent modeling, and plenty of vendors. I walked out of there a bit poorer, but very happy indeed. My lack of sleep to make the morning work out the way it did caught up to me eventually, but hey, it was worth it.

"Last of the Tribe" - Robertson, MO

As I shot a few more of the RoadRailers, I could feel burnout starting to creep in again. I started to slow down my efforts, only to find myself right back out there and going after another heritage-led 255. That was a wild day, and I finally got to put my practice shots on the West End to good use and secured shots I was looking for with a perfect train for it.

"Under The Waves" - Decatur, IL

"Sister Speed" - Lanesville, IL

While my buddies from 2022 and 2023s respective Roanoke / N&W signal trips and I put together plans and details for our craziest adventure yet, the unthinkable happened. A firm death date for the RoadRailer was finally announced. Just as I had sort of mastered the RoadRailer gauntlet and as I was winding down my frenzy to shoot these trains, the end of the legendary trains was given a firm death date of August 26th, 2024. Coincidentally, timed with our plans for Deseret.

I scurried to get my last important shots - the ones I felt I needed to get. Unfortunately, I didn't get everything I wanted. I had aimed for one in Lafayette, a classic wide curve shot there, but that day the 255 had been well over 12 hours late due to engine troubles near Ft. Wayne, and I didn't have another day to go back there and try again. However, I did secure shots of both 255 and 256 at the old Shops tower in Springfield, which definitely helped make up for the Lafy troubles.

"Taking What's Left" - Springfield, IL

Before I knew it, it was time to travel west. I detailed our trip in a separate blog post - The Deseret Power Trip - so I'll spare you the details here, merely just an overview. Myself and two friends would embark on a journey to the extraordinarily remote, oft-forgotten electrified coal conveyor belt railroad called Deseret Power. It was a challenge unlike any other, with unfamiliar terrain, long waits, and very few photo opportunities. Yet, despite the difficulty, we found success and came home with incredible photos. We bookended the trip with more RoadRailers - both of the other guys first and only times seeing them - and made some stops along the long drive between Illinois and Colorado/Utah. It was a trip like no other and I still can't believe we pulled it off the way we did.

From start to finish, the Deseret Power trip was an incredible stand out moment for 2024. It was the most challenging and rewarding photography trip I've taken in years.

NS 4814 - NS 255 - Valley City, IL

"Getting Off Track" - Salina, KS

"Keep Your Head Up" - Pueblo, CO

"Destination Deseret" - Dinosaur, CO

"Summer Madness" - Deserado Mine, Rangely, CO

"American Venom" - Bonanza, UT

"The Quintessential Wyoming Shot" - Archer Hill, Cheyenne, WY

"The Other Side" - Valley City, IL

After all that effort, my little Kia was surely looking forward to rest, as was its owner. Alas, with just three days left of RoadRailer, there was no rest for the weary. I could not miss out on the very last of the Triple Crown trains as they were meant to be.

I mustered the energy to get out and see the last few. I have a post I'm working on detailing the ins and outs of RoadRailer, so once more, this section is a bit sparse on the details. I assure you, though, that this was not only another standout moment for the year, but a bit of a somber one as well. 45 years of innovation and hard work with this bi-modal technology came to an end over that weekend. There were so many people out to wish it farewell, and while chaotic and troublesome towards the end, it was a hell of a weekend.

NS 9956 - NS 255 - Philo, IL. Third-to-last 255 to ever run.

"Chaos at Curran" - Curran, IL. The Final 256, the penultimate RoadRailer.

NS 8100 - NS 256 / NS 255 - Sidney, IL. The final scheduled RoadRailer meet.

NS 9936 - NS 255 - Decatur, IL. The very last RoadRailer.

NS 9936 - NS 255 - Arnold, IL

Despite what happened at Valley City that evening, the last weekend went generally well. This year had been all about the RoadRailer - and indeed I'm working on an extensive research project regarding RoadRailer still, compiling every scrap of info I can find into one place - and now it was over. The chaos of that weekend and the previous week on our Deseret trip meant I was utterly spent.

Of course, despite getting some much needed respite, some two weeks later the infamous Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 would be coming through my neck of the woods. Literally, too - it would be passing barely 20 minutes east of my house. I am not nearly dumb enough to ignore an opportunity like that, and so despite not feeling up to it and a car that was definitely tired still, I got out there and chased down Big Boy again. I ran into some friends and managed to snag shots over the course of two days, coming home with a handful of nice shots. It was a sharp departure from RoadRailer for sure, but it was a nice change of pace. There really is nothing else like chasing the Big Boy - it brings out the wildest crowds.

"Ignite" - Bryce, IL

UP4014 - Witt, IL

On the latter half of the year, my wife visited the US twice over. As you'd expect, not much photography was going on then - more important things to do, after all. But, one evening, the Aurora Borealis was forecasted to make its second appearance in Illinois for the year. I had missed out on the aurora earlier in the year, but this time, we had a chance to check it out. The timing was nice, as my wife was in the country for this one, so I suggested we head out to my favourite dark-sky area in our bubble, Osman, and see if we could see anything.

Amazingly, after just fifteen minutes, we did! The sky began to light up with reddish-pinks and greens, almost moving like clouds. It was an incredible sight unlike any other. To think, we were at the southern tip of what was visible - I can't even fathom truly experiencing a full strength aurora farther to the north. I had brought my camera and tripod with and so I made sure to capture the aurora at the signals of Osman. It's not every day you get to see this kind of thing.

"Light Cycles" - Osman, IL

Since then, really, it's been pretty quiet on the photo front. The late fall and winter setting has, as seems to be typical, taken the wind out of my sails. When dark skies come so early and the environment is nothing more than dying browns and greys, it doesn't exactly inspire me a whole lot to go out and get photos. I definitely had a busy photo year, for myself at least, and so a bit of burnout played a role in it. Not to mention, a particularly addictive DLC for one of my all-time favourite already addictive games, Factorio, came out late in October, so... that was quite a time sink.

Still, it wasn't totally empty from aurora-onwards. I happened across an IC1000-led A407 again and quite happily bagged a few shots of that. Along with a little visit to a nearby grain elevator to see its ex-DAIR switcher, it's been a quiet but nice end to my photos for the year.

"Get On It" - Leverett, IL

I've still got some stuff to pull off the SD card and edit, but all in good time. In the meantime, I've been working on the aforementioned RoadRailer research project in between other personal projects. I'm looking to do some more work on model railroad stuff soon, but the big ticket items are of course immigration and job hunting. The job market is not a kind place these days, as I'm sure many can attest to, so that continues to be an ever elusive thing.

At the end of the year, looking back at what I've shot, I'm pretty pleased. I travelled less than I have in other years, but it meant I got to hone in on some more local stuff and really do some of it just right. Capturing the final year of RoadRailer operation is something I will never regret, and combined with Deseret, IC SD70s-a-plenty, Big Boy, 2816, and a whole slew of heritage/unique catches, it's been a good year for my photography. There's a lot I still want to work on, still more I want to shoot, but I'm quite happy with how things went this year.

It's hard to say how 2025 will stack up to this year. My estimate? Probably nothing quite as crazy - for my cars health, I don't expect any big trips. But you never know. My photo goals for 2025 are really to expand the local bubble a bit. I'd like another crack at the KBS, and I really do need to get onto the Iowa Interstate thing more. I'd like to make some visits into our neighbouring states, and I really want to push into Appalachia again - I can't tell you how much I want to explore what's left of coal country. But, we'll see how things go. Jobs, money, and car health all play a rather large role in these things after all. Overall, I expect generally fewer photos, but hopefully some good ones of new and interesting places with a healthy sprinkling of familiar locations and power. Time will certainly tell though!

My 2024 was good overall. I'm happy with what I've done this year and I hope to get some exciting stuff next year. As always, I'm grateful to anyone who reads through my few-but-lengthy posts here and those who view my work here. The continued support is always appreciated. Happy New Year, folks.

Cheers,
​SM