The ghost of the Rio Grande past. An amazing sight was this Rio Grande hopper spotted in the Union Pacific North Yard in Denver. The car was built in December of 1974 and although the lettering ... (more)

Early CSX paint schemes included variants that were not widely propagated. Here, a C&O 100-ton hopper has retained its reporting marks, and the CSX logo includes the word, “Transportation”. Th... (more)

Union Electric Company/Ameren has UCEX No. 2015 decked out in patriotic colors to honor “Ameren’s Military Veteran Employees” in its coal-hauling fleet of hoppers. On July 3, 2016, No. 2015 ... (more)

The "Louie" has been gone for decades but the paint scheme lives on, on this cement hopper in Rapid City, SD in May of 1990. Love the improvised track bumper.

A pink coal hopper?
Yes, Union Electric Company/Ameren has UCEX No. 2014 painted pink to support breast cancer awareness in its coal-hauling fleet of hoppers. On July 3, 2016, “On Tra... (more)

Coal trains pass on Crawford Hill below Belmont, Nebraska, on July 12, 2008. The loaded train climbing the hill is a XCLX (Xcel Energy) unit train of hoppers, while the downgrade empty is composed... (more)

Ribs and rivets
Incredibly bright rays of a desert sunrise at Mounds, Utah, light up the aluminum sides of a coal train on October 6, 2009.

A 60-car Norfolk Southern unit coal train of higher sulphur coal destined for the Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tennessee, loads at Red River Coal Company’s prep plant and loadout at Steer Bran... (more)

A 60-car unit coal train of higher sulphur coal destined for the Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tennessee, loads at Red River Coal Company’s prep plant and loadout at Steer Branch/Dixiana, Virgi... (more)

The last car of the first cut of a 60-car unit coal train of higher sulphur coal destined for the Eastman Chemical in Kingsport, Tennessee, is just about finished loading at Red River Coal's prep ... (more)

Parked in the OB on a nice Sunday afternoon.

Burlington Northern hopper 451806, built in 1973, has survived Mother Nature, Father Time, Teenage Taggers and the 1996 merger to retain its weathered but in-tact BN logo.

The remnant of a once sprawling railroad is now but a faded reminder of a fallen flag. The Chicago & North Western Railroad was one of the longest railroads in the US in the 1970's. In 1995 the U... (more)

Florida: The Consumer State! I have heard statistics that 90% of rail cars come to Florida as loads, and leave as empties. As southbound NS 321 (far track) passes northbound NS 330 (near track), i... (more)

Rocky Lives! This great looking relic of Great Northern's Big Sky Blue era has been hidden away in BNSF's Topeka, KS yard for a few weeks now (mp51w first tipped me off to it), but has seemingly... (more)