This weekend my sister April and I made a quick trip to North Carolina to visit Sophia, my 15th great-great niece/nephew and her 15th great grandchild! It doesn’t seem possible that we have that many, but we are truly blessed beyond our belief that we do!
We have been meaning to make this trip ever since Sophia was born on New Year’s Eve, but we both have had this annoying cough that was going around and takes forever to get over! It took us both about 3 weeks or so! Didn’t want to give her or anyone else the cough!
We headed out on Friday morning, trying to keep ahead of the bad weather the forecasters said was coming our way and heading for the Carolina’s. Fortunately we were able to do just that going both ways, only running into a little rain on the return trip Sunday the 13th. The trip over took us about 10 hours with gas, food and photo stops occasionally along the way. Can’t make a trip without photo stops and of course this includes a train or two during the trip!
I guess we got checked into the hotel around 9pm or so and then headed on over to Jamie’s, Stephanie’s mom, and Sophia’s YaYa (YaYa is a popular Greek grandmother nickname and yes, I had to ask!) for our first visit with Stephanie and Justin’s daughter Sophia ! Of course neither of us were disappointed as she was awake, alert and beautiful!
Sis meets Sophia for the first time.Sophia, with YaYa and StephanieThe faces of Sophia
We had a great visit Friday night and then headed back over Saturday morning to continue visiting her and everyone else. Since Jamie was hosting a Kitchen Party for a bunch of ladies, just about all the guys escaped to other locations and I used the opportunity to find a few trains to photograph in Monroe and at the I-485 metro stop!
Monroe, NC
Monroe, NC
Pineville, NC
I got back to the house just as the party was breaking up and had enough time to meet and greet some of the folks I met and saw at Stephanie and Justin’s wedding. It was nice to catch up! We all sat around and nibbled on the foods they made during the kitchen party before everything broke up.
Afterwards we headed out with Stephanie and Sophia to meet up with Justin for dinner before heading back to our motel for the night. Poor guy had to work during our visit! (I remember those days and don’t miss them!!) We actually went to three different restaurants (all had long waiting lists) before we settled on waiting at a Texas Roadhouse for about 20 minutes to get a table. It was well worth the wait though as all our food was great and we had a great time of visiting before heading in for the night as we planned on leaving for home early Sunday morning.
Dad and Mom check on Sophia as we wait on our food.
Sunday morning we got away early so I could stop by the train yard at Charlotte, NC from a bridge on the north end that Wally had told me about. It was a great view and I was able to get several nice shots of rail action before we hit the road back to Kentucky.
On the way home I kept watching for a spot where I could stop in the mountains and get a shot of the river as it ran through them. I passed up a couple spots because it was raining fairly hard, but finally found a spot at Cosby, TN.
Pigeon River, Cosby, TN.
All in all it was a good trip, despite it being too short and we finally arrived safely back home at a decent hour without any really bad weather!
Right now our next planned long trip is to Chicago for a concert in March! Stay tuned!!
A visit to Cane Ridge Meeting House, Paris, Kentucky
On June 23rd, 2018 Sis and I made an overnight road trip to Cane Ridge, Kentucky, which is the birthplace of the Disciples of Christ Church movement in the early 1800’s, which we belong to as do many others in our family.
It was interesting to see and walk around the grounds of the Cane Ridge Meeting house and to see how well the site has been preserved!
Below is a video I did from the morning session, I hope you all enjoy.
From left, Jim, Javid and Ryan waiting to shoot some street running action at La Grange, Ky – Photo by Adam Hill
This past weekend my good friend Ryan Scott from the Ft. Branch, Indiana area and I set-out on a day-long trip to photograph trains between Princeton, Indiana and what started out to be Louisville, Ky, but turned out to be La Grange, Ky. Our plan was to meet up with a fellow railfan friend of ours from Facebook, Javid Beykzadeh. Little did I realize that I’d end up meeting several more friends from Facebook while we were at it including, Adam Hill, Josh Kellerman, and Erik Landrum.
The railfanning community is actually fairly large, if you take in the world and that’s pretty much what Facebook does for us. I have friends who are railfans from pretty much all over the world and it’s always cool to meetup in person in our travels in search of that perfect train picture!
All my family already know my obsession with trains and photographing them whenever I can. Even, my nieces and nephews know about my love for trains, and I hope that I’m passing some of that onto them, but I digress.
As railfan trips go, this was a really good one with Ryan and I photographing 5 different railroads before the day was over. Evansville Western Railway, CSX, Norfolk Southern, Indiana Southern Railway and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway. As day road trips go for me railfanning, this was a really good one!
Some of our group photographing Southbound with BNSF War Bonnet 791 at La Grange, Ky, – Photo by Jim Pearson
Other favorite photos of mine from our day-long trip are posted below.
June 9, 2018 – There’s just something about the lure of street running trains and when you throw in a BNSF War Bonnet, well, it makes it even better. Here we have a southbound CSX Q231-08 as begins to make it’s way through downtown La Grange toward Louisville, Ky.
June 9, 2018 Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099, “Southern” passes the signal at milepost 209.8, at Jefferson Township, Indiana, as it makes its way west on the NS Southern-East District. This scheme is from the Southern Railway (GE) which originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, “The Best Friend of Charleston.” Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.
June 9, 2018 – Here we find a crew getting NS Heritage 8099, Southern Unit, ready for pickup by an, Duke Energy coal train, at the NS Yard Office in Princeton, Indiana, after storms passed through the area. We got lots of great photographs, which you’ll see over the days to come and also met-up with several fellow railfans in person that we’ve been friends with on Facebook for sometime!
June 9, 2018 Norfolk Southern Heritage Unit 8099, “Southern” passes the signal at milepost 209.8, at Jefferson Township, Indiana, as it makes its way west on the NS Southern-East District. This scheme is from the Southern Railway (GE) which originated as the South Carolina Canal and Rail Road Company in 1827. On Christmas Day, 1830, it put into service the nation’s first regularly scheduled steam passenger train, “The Best Friend of Charleston.” Southern was incorporated in 1894 from the reorganization and consolidation of numerous predecessors, and absorbed another 68 railroad companies over the next six years.
Chrystal, myself and sister April enjoy some Chicago Style Pizza at a local place a few blocks from her apartment. Good stuff, but way too much for the three of us to eat!!
Well, as always, we’ve both been behind on doing our blog posts here!! It’s not that we haven’t been on roadtrips since September, but haven’t taken the time to write about them, so this post will cover a bit!!
My sister April and I both love to travel and even though we’ve been cutting back lately as we’re trying to save up for a trip to Europe in 2019 to visit with my nephew Brad and his family, who’s stationed in the Air Force in Germany. I lived in the Frankfurt, Germany area for 3 years when I was in the Air Force and made many, many more trips back to Europe on photo assignments after I left, until I retired from the Air Force in 1995. I haven’t been back since then and really looking forward to a return trip to some of my old stomping grounds, plus a few new spots I didn’t make it to, such as Ireland!
However, this post is about catching up so here goes!!!
Fall Photography Weekend at Pennyrile and Shutterbug Kids
Jayden was all smiles after picking up his “Best of Show” trophy for the Kids Division at Pennyrile Forest’s Fall Photography Weekend.
In October we took my nephew Jayden (5-year-old Shutterbug Jayden) with us to the Fall Photography Weekend at Pennyrile Resort Park in Dawson Springs, Ky so he could participate in his first photography competition. Sis and I normally go every spring and fall and this year we’ve started taking one of the older kids; the fall was Jayden’s turn and he did outstanding in the kids division! There were about 10 or so kids this fall and one of his pictures won “Best in Show” for the division, and he also picked up a first and second place! We all were so proud of him!
The category he won Best in Show with was “Water,” where he shot a photograph of canoes being reflected in the water at the boat dock. His 2nd place winner was in the “Close-Up” category with a flower being eaten by bugs. We all had a great time, but I think he had the best, especially when they presented him with his “Best of Show” Trophy.
Next up will be Xavier when we attend the Spring Photography weekend in a few months.
Water Reflections Best of Show and 1st Place by Shutterbug Jayden
Second Place, Close-up by Shutterbug Jayden
Chicago Trip to visit Chrystal
Our ride to Chicago, Illinois!
Our next trip was via Amtrak to visit my niece and my sisters daughter, Chrystal. She works for the EPA there and we like to visit as often as we can. We took the train up, which of course is a favorite mode of travel in my book. The trip was pretty much centered around a concert by the group “Celtic Thunder” which we all three like a lot. We did a bit of other things such as the Christmas Market in downtown, but they both indulged me and my obsession for trains! The concert was great as was the market and other sights, but I enjoyed photographing and riding the trains of course.
Station stop at Mattoon, Illnios
Me on the subway. – Photo by Chrystal Brantley
Chrystal and Sis as we head downtown.
Trains at night in downtown Chicago.
Railfan trips of Course
Other than the trips above, I’ve been out and about photographing trains of course! I usually try to get out at least once or twice a week somewhere in the tri-state area! Sometimes I link up with fellow railfans such as Ryan Scott or William Crupper, but more often as not it’s me, the scanner and my cameras! Sis doesn’t usually ride along when I’m out chasing trains! She puts up with my obsession on trips, but that’s about it!
January 13, 2018 – CSX intermodal Q029-13 (Chicago, IL – Atlanta, GA) makes its way through the Red River Cut, just north of Adams, Tennessee, with fresh snow lining the walls and the track.
January 12, 2018 – In near whiteout conditions, a northbound CSX hot intermodal Q028-12 prepares to pass local J724-12 in the siding at the south end of Slaughters, Ky, on the Henderson Subdivision.
January 17, 2018 – Steam from the Alcoa plant at Yankeetown Dock in Newburgh, IN seems to come from Norfolk Southern’s 8105, Interstate, Heritage Unit as, it sits tied down with NS 7243 in the snow.
January 13, 2018 – Deer hoofprints in the snow disappear into the distance, as CSXT 3303 and 85, lead CSX intermodal Q028-13 through the new, yet to be activated, Nortonville Interlocking, as it heads north on the Henderson Subdivision on a beautiful winter afternoon.
iPhone Black and White Photography Challenge
January 13, 2018 – Day 75 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Ties and Trees – This stack of railroad ties with the row of interesting trees in the background make for an interesting photograph! When out, always keep an eye out for things that make for good contrasting scenes!! I got the extra width in this photo by taking the picture while I was in video mode with the camera! That’s what that little silver button is for!!!
Another project I’ve been doing is a daily challenge where I shoot and post a black and white photo daily on my website and Facebook. Theme is pretty much anything I feel makes a good picture, which a lot of the time it ends up being the kids! I started this project as part of the week-long black and white challenge that was going around on Facebook this fall.
I enjoy doing something along these lines from time to time as it forces be to think outside the box and to keep looking for something that makes for what I feel is a good photograph in black and white. I really enjoy black and white photography and while I do one daily as part of my routine for posting train photos, I wanted something different. I think these days black and white photography kinda has been taking a backseat to photography. It seems that the world has been consumed more by color with the advent of the smart phones. Don’t get me wrong, there’s still other folks shooting black and white, but I don’t think there’s as many as there used to be.
January 11, 2018 – Day 73 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Cookie!!! – Journey is one of our resident Cookie Monsters!!! I caught her here with a mouth full and two waiting in the hand!! Photographing kids doing the things they love is always a good bet for a nice picture!
January 12, 2018 – Day 74 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Powder Ball!! – Damion hits me with what should have been a snowball, but ended up as a powder ball instead! It was a first snowfall of the season and it was a bit of a dry snowfall. Didn’t deter him however!!! Kids and snow always make for good pictures! Keep your iPhone handy!!
December 17, 2017 – Day 48 – iPhone Daily B&W Photo Challenge – Elaina’s Eyes – The eyes can make the picture!! When photographing a portrait or closeup of someone, always do you best to make the eyes sharp!!
Upcoming Trips
This March sis and I are back to Chicago for another concert and to visit Chrystal. This time we’re going to listen to a group called “The High Kings” at the City Winery Chicago. Again we are going up on the train and I’m looking forward to going up in a bit nicer weather than our December trip!
Then in May I’ll be headed to Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois with fellow railfans Ryan Scott and Bryan Burton for Southern Rail Productions photography charter with Southern Railway No. 401. This should be a fun trip and we all three are looking forward to the trip.
Today’s roadtrip was a very short one… to church! Of course we do this every week on Sunday and we almost always take some of the little ones with us, unless they’re tied up in their busy schedules! LOL
In this frame grab from the video of today’s service, Elaina (center) heads up the aisle after Children’s Moments.
I run the video camera equipment at First Christian Church in Madisonville, Ky and today was a busy morning as we had a lot going on with a congregational meeting afterwards, but I’m getting a little off topic here.
The audiovisual/sound platform is at the rear of the sanctuary and has several steps leading up to where the camera and sound gear are setup. I was doing my thing after the Children’s Moments, where I position the video camera for choir’s anthem, when I feel this tugging on my pants! I pivot around and look down to find Elaina looking up at me with her lips puckered and eyes wide open waiting for a kiss! Of course I obliged and then she throws in a hug for good measure before turning and bounding off to her Worship and Wonder class. Talk about making my day!
For most of my nieces/nephews and great nieces and nephews I was off on roadtrips traveling the world with the Air Force while they were growing up. I’d get to see them when I came home on leave (vacation), but it’s not the same thing.
Now most of them have kids of their own and I’m loving the fact that I’m here as they’re growing up and doing things that I unfortunately missed out on with their parents and grandparents. I know they all get tired of me taking their pictures sometimes, but thankfully they put up with it. I try to make sure to balance between the shooting of photos and participating. I didn’t get a shot of today’s moment with Elaina, but it is embedded in my memory for all time!
Moments like this make life wonderful! I look forward to many more with all the “littles” in my life these days!
