UltraJoosh
Josh's Train Videos
Now that I'm attending college at Purdue University down here in Lafayette, I've gotten a bit accustomed to the area, including getting some railfanning in from time to time.
Railroads Present: Norfolk Southern, CSX and Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern.
Rail Activity
NS 20 - 35 Trains per Day [Lafayette District] and 4 - 6 Trains per Day [Frankfort Branch]
CSX About 10 Trains per Day [Monon Sub]
KB&SSeveral Days per Week
A Few Nice Photo and Video Spots
- The Lafayette Amtrak station hosts some nice angles on the boarding platform, along with a pedestrian bridge that goes over all three tracks (CSX/Amtrak along with two NS tracks).
- Less than a mile south of the Amtrak station is another pedestrian bridge that crosses all of the tracks, although this one has a bit of a difference. This one crosses over CSX, NS and KB&S. In addition to this bridge crossing over three different railroads, this bridge has a chain-link fence on both sides of the bridge, making it a bit tricky to get some nice photos without having the fence in the way (unless your camera has a rather small lense). Luckily, there is a hole in the fence towards the western side of the bridge, which makes it a bit easier to get a nice shot. Be wary of parking in the private parking lot on the western side of the bridge, though.
- As far as railroad crossings are considered, there aren't very many of them around since it would appear that many of the roads actually dead-end by the tracks. This is a bit of a disadvantage to railfans (like me) who film at railroad crossings.
Precautions to Take
- If filming at the Amtrak station, try not to be too close to the tracks, since CSX sometimes pulls a local on its track at a semi-decent pace, which is the same track Amtrak uses for its passenger trains.
- I highly recommend you do NOT trespass on railroad property. CSX is not very nice with railfans trespassing on their property. I'm sure a lot of you already know this, but just in case you didn't, be careful about where you're filming from.
Map of the Area
Railroads Present: Norfolk Southern, CSX and Kankakee, Beaverville and Southern.
Rail Activity
NS 20 - 35 Trains per Day [Lafayette District] and 4 - 6 Trains per Day [Frankfort Branch]
CSX About 10 Trains per Day [Monon Sub]
KB&SSeveral Days per Week
A Few Nice Photo and Video Spots
- The Lafayette Amtrak station hosts some nice angles on the boarding platform, along with a pedestrian bridge that goes over all three tracks (CSX/Amtrak along with two NS tracks).
- Less than a mile south of the Amtrak station is another pedestrian bridge that crosses all of the tracks, although this one has a bit of a difference. This one crosses over CSX, NS and KB&S. In addition to this bridge crossing over three different railroads, this bridge has a chain-link fence on both sides of the bridge, making it a bit tricky to get some nice photos without having the fence in the way (unless your camera has a rather small lense). Luckily, there is a hole in the fence towards the western side of the bridge, which makes it a bit easier to get a nice shot. Be wary of parking in the private parking lot on the western side of the bridge, though.
- As far as railroad crossings are considered, there aren't very many of them around since it would appear that many of the roads actually dead-end by the tracks. This is a bit of a disadvantage to railfans (like me) who film at railroad crossings.
Precautions to Take
- If filming at the Amtrak station, try not to be too close to the tracks, since CSX sometimes pulls a local on its track at a semi-decent pace, which is the same track Amtrak uses for its passenger trains.
- I highly recommend you do NOT trespass on railroad property. CSX is not very nice with railfans trespassing on their property. I'm sure a lot of you already know this, but just in case you didn't, be careful about where you're filming from.
Map of the Area
