Alleghany Elevations: CSXT 964 leads manifest CSX M653 eastbound through Tuckahoe, West Virginia, along the CSX Alleghany Subdivision, as the train tackles the impressive uphill grade.

Moss Mornings: CSXT 7564 leads manifest CSX M653 eastbound along the CSX Alleghany Subdivision through Moss Run, Virginia, on a lovely autumn morning.

Not too long after setting up my flashes at 4 am on a chilly September morning, I hear M653's horn a couple miles away, prompting me to take a couple test shots. When everything was set how I want... (more)

M653 passing a commemorative mural in Cherryville, once the home of Carolina Trucking.

M653 crosses the "Big Southern" at uptown Charlotte.

M653 rolls eastward (timetable north) into Lincolnton, NC on the former SAL Charlotte Sub with the C&O heritage unit trailing.

M653 rolls eastward (timetable north) through Stanley, NC on the former SAL Charlotte Sub with the C&O heritage unit trailing.

M653 rolls around the bend at Millard along The Big Sandy. Gotta say this looks like a very good loadout going to waste if you ask me.

Southbound mixed freight M653 clings to the rocks on the side of the mountain at Speers Ferry after exiting the tunnel.

Fall colors light up the mountain as southbound slop freight M653 negotiates the former Clinchfield railroad through Southwest Virginia.

CSX M653 emerges from the south end of the Blue Ridge Tunnel, to begin it's slow decent down the Clinchfield Loops.