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Running several hours off schedule for the third time in the past week due to equipment issues in Chicago, Amtrak No. 50 (P050 on CSX), the eastbound "Cardinal", leaves the skyline of the Queen City of Cincinnati behind as it heads east on the former C&O mainline in Newport, Kentucky.

Illuminated by the golden light of the early morning sunrise, CSX train B641 is reflected in the calm waters of the Mill Creek as it hustles northbound across the bridge at Winton Place just north of Cincinnati with a trio of Union Pacific motors on the point.

Running almost half a day off their normal schedule due to both their own equipment issues and a CSX freight with its own issues blocking them on single track, Amtrak Train No. 50, The Cardinal, crosses the Great Miami River Bridge in Hamilton, Ohio as our middle daughter (and budding railfan) Naomi gives a friendly wave to the passengers and crew. While I'm sure everyone on board was probably frustrated, maybe her little wave brightened someone's day.

On a test run along most of the length of the Whitewater Valley Railroad after a multi-year mechanical restoration, former Armco Lima LS1000 No. 709 pulls four coaches and sister Lima LS750 No. 25 southbound towards Metamora on the outskirts of Connersville. The 709 and 25 are the only operational Lima Diesels on Earth, and are exactly half of the Lima Diesels in existence.

On the return leg of a test run to Metamora for the WVRR 709, the only two operational Lima diesels on Earth roll into Laurel, Indiana at Sunset.

The newest and cleanest Indiana & Ohio locomotive, GP38-2 No. 3565, originally built as Rio Grande GP40 No. 3053 in 1966, leads an I&O / Cincinnati Railway Passenger Special for I&O employees past the former PRR interlocking tower at Rendcomb Junction in the Linwood area of Cincinnati on June 13, 2023. The trip operated with the Cincinnati Dinner Train's equipment, and ran as a lunch special over part of the normal CDT route for I&O management and employees with I&O Geeps on each end.

As the morning fog begins to burn off, a pair of CSX Geeps greets the sunrise on the Ohio River Bridge as train L348-29 brings a cut of cars from the former L&N DeCoursey Yard in Kentucky to Queensgate Yard in Cincinnati.

An empty I&O Melvin Stone Train makes a sprint across CSX trackage as train Z896-29, heading for the I&O's Midland Sub behind three SD40-2's as they cross the Mill Creek Bridge at Winton Place interlocking in Spring Grove Village.

Making a rare run across the west end of the Oasis Subdivision due to track work on the east end, the Cincinnati Dinner Train passes the Thermo Fisher Scientific Plant in Reading behind an Ohio Central SD40-2 borrowed from CDT host road Indiana & Ohio.

Dawn breaks over Cincinnati as CSX's Worthville Turn, train L411-12, crosses the Ohio River Bridge on the northbound leg of their journey to Queensgate Yard with a three pack of classic EMD SD40-2's for power.

A pair of KCS units lead NS train 64Q down the New Castle District in Sharonville, Ohio in beautiful late evening light. The lead unit is actually from the KCS operation in Mexico.

A colorful pair of KCS Southern Belle units leads CSX road local L423-26 southbound under the signals at Wyoming, Ohio.

A colorful mix of CN and KCS power leads CSX train B637-18 down the NS side of the Cincinnati Directional Running in Sharonville, Ohio.

With three SD40-2's on the point and 95 cars on the drawbar, CSX's Worthville Turn, train L411-12, looks almost like a vision out of the past as it exits the south portal of the Latonia Tunnel.

With a rare former Delaware & Hudson EMD GP39-2 on the point, CSX train L425-01 hustles southbound on Main 1 under the holdout signals at Glendale on the former B&O Toledo to Cincinnati route.

CN GE ET44AC No. 3279 and another CN GE counterpart lead CSX bulk commodity (ethanol) train B637-27 southbound out of the Twin Tunnels at Lambs Ferry Road on the CC Subdivision. As you can see, CSX has recently removed the trackage of Main 2 into the other tunnel. The remaining single main is the former Main 1.

As our oldest daughter Kira films the action with her phone, the engineer of CSX road local L425-26 gives a friendly wave as the train cruises over the Great Miami River Bridge in Hamilton.

CSX's daily Indianapolis to Cincinnati road freight, M361-26, eases across the Great Miami River Bridge in Hamilton as it nears the junction where the Indianapolis Sub joins into the Cincinnati Terminal Sub.

A clean CSX unit still in nice looking "YN2" or "Bright Future" paint, and an honest to goodness set of B&O Color Position Light Signals with no replacement nearby was getting to be a rare sight in 2018, as on this cold but sunny December morning, CSX auto rack train Q256-07 splits a set of the classic B&O relics in the tiny community of Pierceville, Indiana, headed eastbound on the CSX Indiana Subdivision. Somehow, this set of CPL's has survived a purge and are still standing sentinel in 2023, but their days are surely numbered.

As another beautiful late summer day dawns on the Ohio Valley, CSX local freight J787-25, known locally as the St. Joe Job, heads west out of Cincinnati on the former Baltimore & Ohio Railroad mainline to St. Louis (today CSX's Indiana Subdivision), passing the classic B&O Doll Arm Mast CPL signal and the Dwarf Signal at the East End of Delhi Siding in the Cincinnati suburb of Delhi, Ohio. Sadly, these signals have since been replaced.