I am greatly intrigued by the industrial foundation of Western civilisation. Many great engineering wonders have been wrought over
the past several centuries. One of these wonders is the diesel locomotive and the train, which represent the most efficient system
of land transport that is known.
My intention is not to expound the technical aspects of trains, which can be surprisingly complex, but rather to capture
the raw beauty of trains in action, within their industrial setting, through digital photography. Hopefully, this small collection
of images will do the intended job.
All of these images were captured with a Nikon D100 camera and automatically processed from the RAW data using
the script described in my associated article.
Detroit Delray Junction
Detroit was once the engine of the arsenal of democracy. Amid the extensive industrial activity in Detroit during its heyday were of course
an extensive railroad network. Today, however, the industrial infrastructure has all but completely vanished. Detroit is now solidly in the rust belt
and most of the rail traffic has dwindled accordingly. But there remain places where adequate train activity can be found and Delray Junction
is one such place and is perhaps the busiest such place. A good overview of Delay Jct. is found at Jeff Knoreck's excellent site
or at this more up-to-date site.
My home is only a twenty minute drive from Delray Junction and it's usually my first stop. (Click any thumbnail to view the full-sized image. Best viewed at 1920x1080.)
CP autoracks leaving Conrail Shared Assets and entering the Norfolk Southern line over which is has trackage rights to Chicago.
CN southbound on Conrail Shared Assets while a northbound also passes. It will enter its own CN Shoreline sub farther down.
A CP on the NS main will diverge onto the Conrail Shared Assets and then travel through the Detroit River tunnel to Canada. The late afternoon sun casts long shadows.
A very early and heavily overcast morning shot of a BNSF coal train on the CN Shoreline sub. The green signal marks the location of a spring switch.
Just having passed through Delray Junction, a CP train heads west approaching the NS Rouge River bridge. The two crossings are Gates St. and Foreman St.
An NS loco pulls roadrailers southward on the Conrail Shared Assets.
On a heavily overcast and misty day, a CP eastbound on NS tracks comes off the NS Rouge River bridge and is about to enter Delray Junction.
I relax the zoom on the CP seen in the previous image and allow it get a lot closer.
A CN mixed freight, having just crossed the NS bridge, is about to enter Delray Junction. The tracks that veer rightward lead to the CSX Rougemere yard.
Union Pacific leads this eastbound CN train that is about to enter the Delray Junction.
Having just come from the Detroit River tunnel (which does not permit double-stack containers) a CP container train is heading toward the NS River Rouge bridge.
I relax the zoom on the CP of the previous image to capture a close up.
CP autoracks diverge from the CR Shared Assets to NS tracks. Maintenance vehicles sit next to Delray tower which is just out of sight.
Another CP leaves Delray and approaches the NS River Rouge bridge. Note the chains that secure the signal box as a deterrence to vandalism.
A BNSF coal departs the CN Shoreline at Delray Junction. CN uses it own tracks as well as the Conrail Shared Assets.
On a heavily overcast and misty afternoon, a CP freight train rounds the bend at Dey St.
A unit coal train led by a UP loco pulls through Delray Junction and across the NS crossing diamonds. The NS tracks lead to the NS boat yard along the Detroit River.
CSX autoracks pull southbound through Delray on the Conrail Shared Assets.
This is Delray from the other side. After having left Delray Jct. this CN freight has crossed the Conrail bridge (seen in background).
Coords: 42.27859620889762, -83.13735460111538
Also from the other side. An NS stack train pulls its cars southbound across the Conrail Rouge River bridge.
A track inspection vehicle crosses Dearborn Ave. as it does it work at Delray Junction.
