Thanksgiving in Louisville

[TonytheTiger]

I will be spending Thanksgiving in New Albany, Indiana, and am wondering about the railfanning possibilites in the area on the following Friday.  Where are the "hot spots"?  If everything is parked, is there anywhere legal that would allow me to get photographs of the parked power at the servicing facilities (Gilligan Street/34th Street area and Grade Lane/Don Hutson Blvd area)?

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

[E.M. Bell]

Lots of good action around there Rob...

As far as yards/service facilities go, Id stay away. The K&I yard (NS) is not really accesable anywhere. Some good views of CSX Osbourne yard can be had over near the Louisville airport, and the P&L engine pit can be seen and shot from public property (more or less) near 15th and oak streets.

In New albany proper, you have the NS, CSX and the IRR. The CSX operates over the old monon, is really not that busy. 3 or 4 trains a day, plus a pair of IRR trains on trackage rights. All of the RR's come across the river on the K&I bridge from Louisville, and the NS and CSX spilt at K&I Jct (West End of the Bridge) CSX has some great street running, if you can find a train. 

At K&I Jct, going west, the NS makes a hard 90 degree turn and skits downtown along the river. There are a couple of good angles around the CP at Tatum (just past the Jct) A lot of Westbound train will get pushers added at Tatum for the climb up Duncan Hill.

Here is a  shot at Tatum..



Just West of Tatum, you will find a river front park with ample parking. A pavillion there offers some excellant elevated views of the NS mainline. Better for Westbound in the afternoon..



Continuing on West, the RR begins the steep ascent up Duncan Hill. I cant remember the road number, but there is a Two lane that more or less follows the tracks up the hill . The "scenic highlight" of the hill is Duncan tunnel at the summit. The East end of the tunnel can be reached from hiking from the last road crossing before the top. This end of the tunnel is hard to shoot (shadows) but can be worth it if conditions permit.

East end of Duncan tunnel..



The west end of the tunnel can be reached easily. Once you reach the end of the aforementiond two lane road, hang a right, go under Interstate 64, and past the gas stations. At the point where the road narrows, you will see the RR on the right, and a small private crossing. Park there, and with a medium to long lens, you can get something like this..



Train traffic can be heavy at times, and dead others. The best times West of Louisville seem to be the afternoons, when the Westbound fleet starts running. The whole area West of Tatum is TWC , so by listening to the radio, you can get a good handle on what will be running.

The NS radio channels are   

160.950 Road
160.830 and 160.245 are Ch 2 duplex. all TW's are issued on these..

There are a few of the Louisville gang on the board here, so they may be able to add more.. hope this helps..

[BryanJones]

I will be spending Thanksgiving in New Albany, Indiana, and am wondering about the railfanning possibilites in the area on the following Friday.  Where are the "hot spots"?  If everything is parked, is there anywhere legal that would allow me to get photographs of the parked power at the servicing facilities (Gilligan Street/34th Street area and Grade Lane/Don Hutson Blvd area)?

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

Rob,

You need to forget about trying to get photos of power in the CSX or NS service facilities. Both of these are located well within railroad property and are monitored. If caught trespassing you can definitely count on reciving a citation at minumum, possibly more. I have close contacts at both railroads and can tell you that they do not take trespassing lightly. Your best chance for shooting any power on a parked train will be on CSX at the north end of Osborn Yard along Strawberry Ln. There is usually 1, sometimes 2 trains parked on the #1 and/or #2 mains at Hiawatha Avenue. Emmett mentioned the P&L, but your only real chance of catching anything will be if they are switching during the morning hours at Oak Street Yard. They used to park the power from the road trains on a track next to the car repair facility but due to the recent opening of a concrete transloading facility on the P&L property the road power is typcially parked on a track in the middle of the yard which is only accessable from RR property.

Bryan Jones
Brooks,KY

[TonytheTiger]

Thank you both for your information.  I know that this is an NS board, but being from southcentral Pennsylvania, I was hoping for a change of color (or at least some color other than black).  I am planning on using the information about downtown New Albany, but I would like to flesh out some more information on the CSX operations near the airport.  I see that Strawberry Lane curves around a Navy weapons depot.  Will I get hassled if I take photographs in that area?  The light seems to favor trains facing south, so what is the approximate schedule of arriving trains from the north and departing trains to the south?  How is Central Avenue near the stadium for photographs?



At the south end of the yard is an access road off of the outer loop.  At the end of that road seems to be a semi-vacant lot, is this a good location?

[JCagle]

Breaking out the aerial recon.... Gotta love it!

[BryanJones]

Thank you both for your information.  I know that this is an NS board, but being from southcentral Pennsylvania, I was hoping for a change of color (or at least some color other than black).  I am planning on using the information about downtown New Albany, but I would like to flesh out some more information on the CSX operations near the airport.  I see that Strawberry Lane curves around a Navy weapons depot.  Will I get hassled if I take photographs in that area?  The light seems to favor trains facing south, so what is the approximate schedule of arriving trains from the north and departing trains to the south?  How is Central Avenue near the stadium for photographs?



At the south end of the yard is an access road off of the outer loop.  At the end of that road seems to be a semi-vacant lot, is this a good location?

Rob,

here are some answers to your lates question:

The old Naval Ordanence facility on Strawberry Ln. is not a problem at all. Its actually just a big industrial park now. There are a couple of empty, unused parking lots directly accross from the CSX yard offices at the north end of the yard on Strawberry Ln. where you can park and just shot trains as they go by or hump and yard jobs as they move back and forth. This is an afternoon shot only. They do have security n duty during the evenings and weekends and they are likely to stop by and check you out when they see the out of town licences plates. Just tell them you are train watching and you will be fine, maybe have a train magazine with you for good measure. They know all of us local folks that hang around up there and the security people are rather friendly and sometimes will stop by and strike up a conversation if they see something unusual in the yard or have a railroad question. They actually pay attention to this stuff after asking why so many of us do it!
this time of year the sun does favor southbound traffic. During the morning's I'd say you could see as many as 5 or 6 southbounds from probably 8am till noon. Probably 2 or 3 northbounds as well. Always a good chance that something will be parked on the #1 or 2 main waiting to go north. Central Avenue overpass is a nice place to shoot from, nice and wide sidewalks on both sides. You can get a nice shot with the Louisville skyline in the background.
During the morning hours you might get 2 or 3 southbounds between 8am and noon. You could get 3-6 southbound trains during the noon-6pm period.
The access road down on the south end of the yard that you see is off limits, as is the lot that you see in the photo. The building you see with the rust colored roof by the overpass is off limits as there is a business that operates out of there and the lot is fenced in. Hobo's can sometimes be found down under the overpass. That area is patroled and yard crews will report you if they see you hanging around down there. There is no place where you can safely, legally watch operations on the south end. You can go about a mile south down National Turnpike, take a left on Southpark and there is a spot you can pull off next to the tracks and you can shoot trains as they are coming in during the afternoon and leaving during the afternoon. This is called "Park" by the railroad and often NB's will stop at the signals awaiting permission to enter the yard.
More or less, the north end is best if you want to catch a lot of activity, though scenery leaves a lot to be desired. On the south end all you can do is get a shot of a train when its leaving or arriving during the afternoon hours. Go a few miles further south and you can get into some scenery and whatnot.
  this is all my regular territory and I live just a few miles south of the yard myself. If you have any further questions just drop me an email and I'll get back with you.

Bryan Jones

Brooks,KY

[TonytheTiger]

Bryan -

It looks like I'm going to hang around the University of Louisville.  How is access to the NS/CSX junction?  Can I drive to the parking lot that is off of Eastern Parkway on Brook Street  just south of the running track?  How about the vacant lot that is adjacent to the diamond on Floyd Street?  Can I drive to the parking lot or the access road that is between the practice football fields and the CSX?

[BryanJones]

Bryan -

It looks like I'm going to hang around the University of Louisville.  How is access to the NS/CSX junction?  Can I drive to the parking lot that is off of Eastern Parkway on Brook Street  just south of the running track?  How about the vacant lot that is adjacent to the diamond on Floyd Street?  Can I drive to the parking lot or the access road that is between the practice football fields and the CSX?

Access to the CSX/NS diamond is decent, but not the greatest. You can only shoot traffic accross the diamond during the morning hours. NS eastbounds always look really nice and if you frame right you can get a decent shot of CSX when they cross. Down at the diamond you can only access it via Floyd Street, which runs on the east side of the CSX tracks.  Don't drive into the diamond or you will most definitely be cited by police. UofL does have campus police and they do have full police powers and work with both CSX and NS keeping an eye on things down there.
The aerial photo you posted is somewhat dated as there have been a few changes in that area. There is no access around the UofL football practice field. There used to be until about 3 years ago, but the complex has grown so much that they need every ince of space they have.  They have added an indoor practice field which took up a lot of previously available space. The entire area is fenced off and only accessable to certain employees and is used for storage.
There is nolonger a parkinglot along the tracks. A UofL is building some new building there.
If you look at the north east corner of the diamond you can see what looks to be a building and semi trailers parked. That is all gone and is actually a little park that UofL has setup. It has some kind of monument and some tables. Its pretty nice and was just completed this summer. It is surrounded by a tall chainlink fence going along the railroad tracks. If your lens diameter is small enough you can get a shot of a CSX NB here.
That access road you see between CSX and the UofL practice field is off limits and unaccessable.  Any railroad access road around here is totally off limits and will get you reported by any crew who sees you. Stay on the paved public roads and you are OK. I'm not trying to sound like an ass, just trying to be informative as I do know the people in charge and know what the policies are.
If you have any other questions just ask away. If I am free I'd be more than happy to give you the tour myself if you'd like

Bryan Jones
Broooks,KY

[TonytheTiger]

Thanks for everyone's imput.  It looks like I'll spend my time at New Albany around 6th and 10th streets, and Floyd Sreet / Central Avenue and Strawberry Lane in Louisville.  I'm not sure what the family has in mind for Friday so I don't know what times I'll be where, but now I know where to go depending on what time of day.  I'm guessing that the CP at Tatum is between 6th and 10th Streets in this aerial photograph:



USGS quads and aerial photographs are terrific tools when planning railroad photographic excursions.  I don't waste nearly as much time as I used to when I was armed with only a railroad atlas.

You can check out my railroad photographs at http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=11152 and http://rgkitchen.rrpicturearchives.net/

[Indiana Railfan]

Be sure to avoid the NS cop in that area, he is not a very nice person. Gung ho comes to mind. Tackleberry... you get the idea.

[TonytheTiger]

Thank you to everyone who assisted me in locating railfan sites in Lousiville.  I posted a trip report in the CSX forum since most of my photos are CSX.  I didn't make it to the riverside park for the NS since the family wanted to go to the zoo.  We did ride the train around the zoo, however, so I did get some railroading while I was there.

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

[John D]

Rob, where are you getting your aerial photos?  Way cool............

John D

[Warren]

Rob, where are you getting your aerial photos?  Way cool............

Looks like Google Earth to me.

[TonytheTiger]

Nope - It' s Windows Live Search

http://local.live.com/

I use it instead of Google Earth because it will still give me a good aerial photograph even if the location hasn't be updated with new color orthography.  Google Earth does not use any of the older B&W USGS aerial photographs which may be only 8 or 10 years old, but Windows Live will give you the best image available for the location whether it is the older B&W photography or the newer oblique low level color aerials.  Check out this view of Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati:



Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA