Norfolk Southern workhorses sit idle in Alexandria's small NS yard just south of DC on a sunny Sunday afternoon. It's nice to be able to find some thoroughbreds in this mostly-CSX territory!

An empty northbound trash train passes southbound Q439 as it crosses over the Rappahannock River on a slow Columbus Day morning. That's one heckuva tree trunk stuck on the bridge support!

Lucky 13, running southbound out of DC on a sunny October Sunday evening, pulls into Alexandria's Union Station to take on passengers. Overhead, a US Airways 737 is on final to Washington Reagan ... (more)

A southbound merchandise train crosses the Rappahannock River on a very slow Columbus Day morning. I only saw two freights--one northbound and one southbound--in four hours. That's one big tree ... (more)

A stranger in these here parts...an empty all-western unit coal train heads west into the setting September sun along the Old Mainline. Nothing but UP, BN, BNSF, MP, D&RGW, etc hoppers on this tr... (more)

A pair of UP units hauls empty coal hoppers west onto the Old Mainline Sub on a late summer evening. The hoppers are all UP, BNSF and fallen flags of the two.

The northbound Crescent, over two hours late, glides into Culpeper for a quick stop to take on half a dozen passengers before continuing on to DC, where the Whales will be replaced with AEM-7 or H... (more)

An eastbound mixed freight crosses the Potomac River and re-enters West Virginia. The middle of this train is in a Maryland tunnel, while the tail is back in West Virginia. An old abandoned WM t... (more)

A westbound single-stack train splits the old (but still operational) signals at Magnolia at about 1100 before crossing the Potomac River, going through a tunnel in Maryland, then re-crossing the ... (more)

A triple-header for my 300th RailPictures.net photo...yea! The power on this eastbound freight was too long for my lens...dang! Oh well, Magnolia's a great spot to spend a lazy Wednesday morning... (more)

10,000 tons of coal, enough to generate 25 million kWh of electricity, thunders eastward across the Potomac River. I'm not sure why the trailing unit's nose door is open.

Bringin' 'em home, this southbound VRE commuter train passes the Amtrak Auto Train station en route to Fredericksburg on a sunny Wednesday afternoon.

Which of these things is not like the others? An eclectic mix of power sits in the Buckingham Branch yard at Doswell, including BBRR GP16s No. 2 and 9 and (seemingly out-of-place) CSXT SD60I No. ... (more)

Ready to start its journey south, the Amtrak Auto Train enters the CSX RF&P Sub at Lorton at 1545 on a Wednesday afternoon. With about 20 passenger cars and as many new auto racks, this is an imp... (more)

The southbound empty Tropicana Juice Train crosses the Rappahannock River on its way back to Florida. This train usually has 10 to 20 single-stack containers up front.