CSX's Massive Russell Yard from the air, plus stops in Augusta and Maysville, Kentucky

[@TheHouseOfMasks]

Best rail-fanning content on KZbin. I’m addicted!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. I'm glad to hear you enjoy the videos.

[@tinman4919]

Raceland was my home point for many years.I miss it !

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

great video sir

[@dpratte]

This is broadcast quality stuff. Wait! Better! Very very nice.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks Dan, I really do appreciate it.

[@TamelaRich]

Thank you. My uncle Jack worked at Russell and it was the thrill of my childhood when he took me to the hump yard to watch him assemble trains.

[@nkyrailfan]

I'm so very glad you enjoyed it. Those must be some incredible memories you have of the yard and time spent with your uncle.

[@kennethfuller8347]

Very good, and informative, content. I've been a railfan since I was a kid growing up in Cumberland, MD which was a major hub for C&O/B&O and WM back in the day so I have a passion for CSX. But pretty much anything "railroad" gets my interest. Thank for sharing with us.

[@nkyrailfan]

That's really cool. I bet that was a very fun place to grow up watching trains. I have wanted to railfan the Cumberland area for quite some time. I'm hoping to make it out there this summer and get the yard in action.

[@raywolf3rd]

Thanks very much for this video. You essentially documented my grandfather's workplace with C&O where he was a communications specialist along that route. His office was in the west side of the Maysville train station, and my grandparents lived in the apartment above the Caproni's restaurant (a premium rainfan location for a kid). My mom went to high school and associated with Nick Clooney back in the day. Lots of memories in Maysville. Both Augusta and Maysville are neat old towns with a lot of history in a beautiful setting.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for sharing Ray. I do appreciate it. Hopefully, you're able to make it back there every so often and relive some of those memories.

[@nkyrailfan]

Time Stamps for Trains and the Russell Yard: Augusta: 1:10 Maysville: 4:40 Russell Yard: 7:55

[@cjones3710]

What a beautiful town.

[@HaskellMoore]

Thanks for posting this! My grandfather worked there, as did my father and four uncles. We lived on Railroad Street as a child. I hate seeing it in such disrepair today!

[@nkyrailfan]

It is a shame to see the shape some of these facilities are in. That's one reason I try to capture as much as I can, we don't know how long these structures will be around. Have a great day!

[@Nethanel773]

A superb video, as always NKY Railfan! Thank you so much for your hard work on this. Coming from Louisville, I appreciate it all the more, as you cover areas that were my virtual backyard.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. I do appreciate it. I'm in the Cincinnati area so Louisville isn't too far for me. I need to make it back down there soon. Feel free to name any good spots to railfan.

[@wjustice9188]

Informative video, thanks!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much.

[@haaseshouseoscience6377]

Btw at 12:45 about the NS locomotives. It turned out that Norfolk Southern was facing a money problem and by late 2019 they decided to slash more than 500 locomotives and sold them off (mostly to progress rail). Also, rumors are saying that the 46 Norfolk Southern SD70ACU’s that were sold progress rail rumored to go to CSX later on (that I don’t believe in).

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info. I do appreciate it. Looking back at the video, I do see some of the locomotives repainted with Progress Rails initials.

[@haaseshouseoscience6377]

@@nkyrailfan yep. Infact, when CSX first retired their SD60 fleet I though they were sold to LTEX, but most of them were sold to Progress Rail later in Feb 2019. Same thing happened to their GP15's.

[@thisjared]

Great video man! It's amazing to see the Russell yard from the air. Maysville is actually really beautiful from the air too. Looking forward to your next videos.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you. I really do love the view from the drone as well. I have a couple videos in the works. Hopefully, a new one coming out this weekend.

[@lnrailroad3215]

Another excellent video! I'm really looking forward to the Corbin vid, you'll be close to me on the EK

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much. I would like to railfan the EK at some point, but I'm usually only able to head out on the weekends. Is there much action on Saturday or Sunday on the line? And if so, do you have any go to spots to railfan? Thanks for any info.

[@lnrailroad3215]

@@nkyrailfan Unfortunately, with the downturn in coal, traffic is very sporadic. The CC from Winchester KY to Corbin sees quite a bit of traffic, including coal trains

[@lnrailroad3215]

That's as far east as you can railfan consistently. Hope this helps....

[@KSR_YT06]

PRLX still uses the facility, and those NS locomotives were purchased by PRLX and were brought there for storage. To my knowledge they aren't for scrap, except for a few. I drove by there yesterday, and there were a few UP SD90's that were being cut up. There are currently former KCS SD70MAC's, NS SD70M's and SD70ACU's, UP SD90MAC's, CSX SD70ACe's, SD70M's, SD60's, SD60I's, SD60M's, GP15's, a GP38 and a GP40. All are there for storage, and some are for scrap, like the NS SD80MAC's and SD70's (all scrapped) and UP SD90's, which are in the process of being scrapped. There is also currently a former UP SD40T-2 and a CN GP9. That train you also saw pulling out by the depot in Russell was actually the yard switcher. It makes an appearance that far pretty often.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the great info, I do appreciate it. I'm glad to hear they still have some life ahead of them.

[@KSR_YT06]

No problem. Most of the units there were purchased by shortlines. Indiana Railroad purchased I believe 9, and RJ Corman purchased 11, which can be seen In Lexington. There are currently 4 left in NS paint in the Corman yard, however. 2 of them sport the anniversary paint scheme, and the remaining units that were painted currently have the standard paint scheme.

[@nkyrailfan]

I've been wanting to check the Corman units out. I think the paint job is fantastic in them.

[@supercuda1950]

Thank you Mr WKRC for the video.

[@nkyrailfan]

No problem Rupert. I hope you have a great day!

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

Very cool video and documentation.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you very much.

[@StormySkyRailProductions]

@@nkyrailfan You are very welcome.

[@lnproductions3227]

All of those NS locomotives were sold to Progress Rail around 2017-2020 and are awaiting either Scrapping or being Parted Out is my guess but what catches my attention are those 2 ATSF SD75Ms! Those are pretty rare locomotives and the fact they are still in Santa Fe colors makes them pretty rare to come across. I believe that Russell or at least what they don't use for moving or car storage are used for Locomotive Storage. I'm very surprised to see a UP SD90MAC there at CSX's Russell Facility wonder if that's on Lease or what the deal is from UP bc I noticed that there are no patch marks present on that unit which is very rare too

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info. I need to go back and try to get some closer footage of the engines.

[@kenchamblin4354]

Not sure if you've figured out the speed limit through the town of Augusta, Ky. or not but this was my seniority district, even tho I've been retired for 9 years I'm pretty sure Augusta city limits itself is indeed 25 mph. IF you look at your video right around the 1 minute mark, you can see as the locomotive approaches the beginning of the 25 MPH Permanent Speed restriction sign (you're looking at the back of it, green side which is the resume to MAS speed for west bounds). The actual 25 mph restriction is only between the signs.CA 618.3 (east end) to CA 619.7 (west end of town). Enjoyed your video.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks for the info and clarification Ken. I do appreciate it. I looked at the timetable again and see what you're talking about. I had misread the speed limit as only that initial switch area but looking again see that you're correct in how far it extends. Thank you for letting me know. Have a great day.

[@charleswolff2887]

Nice videos

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you, Charles. I'm glad you enjoy them.

[@st7650]

I work there on the Cincinnati sub. The reason for the locomotives at the Raceland car shop. They have been cutting all the locomotives up for scrap metal saving the Diesel engines for repairs. They cut up all kinds of locomotives csx Norfolk southern UP. on the east end of the yard it’s the y100/200/300 flat switching yard job. It’s hard to believe all the jobs that have been cut here. It’s all about cut scrap and sale with railroad. Very interesting video thanks for the post. You are correct on the Augusta train speed. It is 25mph through there for freight train speeds they did raise the speed up to 60mph for some locations on the sub since being maintained for Amtrak

[@nkyrailfan]

Thank you so much for the all the information. I really do appreciate it. It's a shame to see so many locomotives getting cut up. At least they're able to save something from them, even if it is only the engine. Question for you, is there anywhere in the Russell/Ashland/Huntington area you think is worth stopping by to railfan? I'm from the Cincinnati area, so I am only able to look at Google Maps and try to find spots looking at the satellite imagery. Either way, thank you again, very much.

[@st7650]

@@nkyrailfan Big Sandy junction use to be a real rail fan hot spot all the trains going down the Sandy or the kanaw side. Maysville is pretty nice too around the Amtrak depot. In my honest opinion one of the best places for rail fans I worked at was Nashville Kayne Ave it’s worth a drive all the trains from Birmingham Louisville Chattanooga Memphis all come downtown Nashville to Osborne yard it’s a pretty busy location. I met a lot of cool people down there next to the old union station.

[@delawarecountyrailfan2204]

You should go down the Big Sandy Sub soon. It is getting signal replacements soon. Gotta get those signals while ya can!

[@nkyrailfan]

I've thought about it, I just don't have good luck when it comes to new places. I've been twice to Huntington and not caught a thing. I'd worry I would only come back with some scenic pictures and no trains (which sadly has happened a few times on different trips). Is it pretty busy? I'm usually only able to go on these trips on a weekend day when it seems traffic is much lighter or none at all. If you know of a good time to catch a train or two, I'll happily look into making the trip.

[@delawarecountyrailfan2204]

@@nkyrailfan Unfortunately traffic is light, Q694 should be a morning train, Q693 is unpredictable. There is the NS Kenova pretty close by the Big Sandy sub so if you get unlucky you can head over there

[@wjustice9188]

@@nkyrailfan You have a pretty good chance to catch a northbound mixed freight train early Sunday evenings (5-8 PM).

[@evanj2400]

This is going to be good

[@nkyrailfan]

Hopefully, you enjoyed it.

[@natgass8102]

another excellent video your drone work adds so much to the video as does your narration and history lessons along the way. Have you ever thought about stepping in front of the camera to begin and end your videos like Danny Harmon does with his Distant Signals videos, I would encourage you to think about it and get some more recognition for the good work you do!

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks Nat, I appreciate it. I have thought about doing a intro or ending similar to what Danny does (he's my favorite railfan KZbinr by far). I've got a few videos in the works, maybe I'll try it on one of them and see how it goes. Thanks again, I hope you have a great day.

[@natgass8102]

@@nkyrailfan yes mine too, he’s been doing it along long time and I believe he did professional voice over work or narration for some commercial train videos. My main point was don’t sell yourself short, as you are heads and shoulders above 90% of the other rail fan You-tubers out there and your channel should have many more followers than it does!

[@bootsdocsandconspiracies6589]

Intersting all the NS units what if they are to be scrapped? What was that looked like a old bridge over the yard, maybe a walkway bridge?

[@nkyrailfan]

It looked like a pedestrian bridge for workers from what I could tell. As for the NS engines, when I looked closer, they had the NS logos painted over with Progress Rail markings. Hopefully, they'll be repainted and leased out and not scrapped.

[@chessiekid4018]

Yes, it is a pedestrian bridge. There was a parking lot for shop workers on the opposite side of the tracks. I crossed it many a time.

[@WVRailroadPapa]

Nice video. My great uncle back in the C&O days had a coal forwarding business and his office was in the coal hump tower in Russell Yard. There was also another hump tower for merchandise trains. I have a drone, but is Kenova a no fly zone for drones? By the way I photographed trains on the north side of the Kenova bridge back in the 1960s when it was N&W. I don't know the condition today but I imagine the area may have more vegetation creeping close to the tracks, plus I was close to if not on the right-of-way.

[@nkyrailfan]

Thanks Doug. I wish I could find out more information about these yards and go into more detail, but unfortunately there just isn't much out there other than comments on random posts I find. Do you have any of those old pictures scanned and posted anywhere online? I'm hopeful the Ohio side is a little better than the WV side has been. Kenova is in the Huntington Airport's airspace. It's not a no-fly zone, but you need to get a LAANC authorization. Even after getting the authorization (they're instant through an app on your phone if you've never done it), I still cannot unlock the drone to take off. It's happened each time I've been there and I cannot figure out how to unlock it.

[@WVRailroadPapa]

@@nkyrailfan Apparently KZbin won't allow me to put a link on my reply to your question. I can say the site is WVRails. The suffix is net. Look for March 2013 for Kenova.