Trackside Log for Sunday, June 24, 2007

I was outside at home when I heard a northbound train blowing for the crossings south of town. I walked up to the crossing to photograph it.

• 1402 Fenwick - CP 255 north - CP 8700-CP 8833

After the train I walked back home. That's what's nice about living here.

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 16, 2007

Tonight while working at the computer I heard a train whistle for the crossing down the road. However, this time the train sounded very odd and slow. It quickly dawned on my why. It was a rail grinder. I grabbed my video camera and drove to Boyle to see it grinding in the dark.

• 0012 Boyle - Loram rail grinder northbound - RG 310

After the video it was time for bed since Marcus was arriving in the morning to head over to Buffalo for the day. After I got some sleep Marcus arrived at my house and we left for New York state where our first destination was Angola.

• 1024 Angola, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 80-CSXT 788
• 1050 Angola, NY - CSX V871 west - CSXT 5496-CEFX 2800-UP 2681
• 1107 Angola, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5289-CSXT 5426

After talking about what we might like to see, we decided to meander our way to North East, Pennsylvania. So we departed Angola with our first stop in Dunkirk where we discovered a parked coal train.

• 1149 Dunkirk, NY - CSX westbound - UP 7148-UP 6213

Nothing much else seemed to be coming so we continued along until we got to Brocton. We located an interesting location and stayed there for a few trains.

• 1244 Brocton, NY - CSX eastbound - CSXT 658-CSXT 692
• 1258 Brocton, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5430-CSXT 5500
• 1341 Brocton, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5413-CSXT 5444

We had just started to leave when we heard our parked coal train heading our way. We turned around and photographed it in Brocton.

• 1356 Brocton, NY - CSX westbound - UP 7148-UP 6213

Things slowed down a bit again and it was time to continue westward. Marcus wanted to see the station in Westfield, so that was our next stop. He noticed a signal lit for a westbound so we took the opportunity to photograph it by the station.

• 1437 Westfield, NY - CSX westbound - CSXT 5005-CSXT 5270

After our photographs we drove to North East, Pennsylvania and visited the Lake Shore Railway Museum. Marcus hadn't visited before so we wandered around. It's an interesting little museum with some very nice exhibits. They were busy preparing for the Fathers' Day dinner to be held in two of their vintage passenger cars. While at the museum an eastbound happened by.

• 1517 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5437-CSXT 7554

I also took a few photos around the museum including the "Little Joe".

• 1539 North East, PA - Lake Shore Railway Museum exhibit - CSS&SB 802

Having finished looking at the museum we drove back eastward to Remington Road to see what would arrive. Unfortunately it was nearly all eastbounds which were poorly lit.

• 1609 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 258-CEFX 3105
• 1619 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5492-CSXT 5290
• 1634 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 7709-CSXT 7619
• 1647 North East, PA - CSX westbound - CSXT 280-CSXT 8356-CSXT 8733
• 1650 North East, PA - NS 206 east - NS 9695-NS 9572
• 1700 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5349-LTEX 3415
• 1711 North East, PA - NS 309 west - NS 8769-NS 6638-NS 7522-NS 8756

After a very long lull, a westbound finally approached.

• 1845 North East, PA - CSX westbound - CSXT 8574-FURX 3046
• 1904 North East, PA - CSX westbound - CSXT 4747-CSXT 55
• 1941 North East, PA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 5273-CSXT 5232-CSXT 5316
• 1956 North East, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9244-NS 8306
• 2006 North East, PA - CSX westbound - CSXT 7793-CSXT 7890-CSXT 745-CSXT 5411-CSXT 5407
• 2017 North East, PA - CSX Q279 west - CSXT 7339-CSXT 7768

It was starting to get dark so Marcus and I called it a day. We managed to photograph in some new locations and saw a decent variety of trains even if CSX threw a large portion of their ES44DC roster at us. But alas it was time to return to Canada.

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 10, 2007

Well, it was day two of my Altoona, Pennsylvania trip and I awoke to yet another beautiful day. I couldn't ask for anything better. Once again I departed for Lilly to see what would show up. As soon as I pulled in I noticed an eastbound passing by. Luck was with me as the train was equipped with helpers. At least I was able to get a photograph of locomotives on the rear.

• 0723 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - helpers NS 3347-NS 3341
• 0802 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9679-NS 9167
• 0834 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 2711-NS 9569

The next train I accidentally missed photographing the head end power, but again was able to photograph the helpers.

• 0840 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS (C40-9W)-NS (C40-8) w/ helper NS 3342-NS 3339
• 0847 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9859-NS 9732-NS 2679 w/ helper NS 3423-NS 3427
• 0851 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 8398-NS 8868

I thought it might be a nice time to make the move to the steel bridge at Cassandra so off I went for beverages and new scenery. Unfortunately the traffic was rather slow for the first couple hours.

• 0916 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound helper - NS 3350-NS 3340
• 1026 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 8441-NS 2727
• 1127 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9144-NS 9806
• 1137 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound helper - NS 3362-NS 3425
• 1142 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9598-NS 9325
• 1211 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound power - NS 9307-NS 2533
• 1216 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound (2 cars) - NS 9154-NS 9879
• 1226 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2730-NS 2701
• 1241 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 3338-NS 3359-NS 9201-NS 9150 w/ helper NS 3345-NS 3351

When the clock read 1300 I was about ready to leave. I decided to start driving back home but I would follow the Buffalo & Pittsburgh as far as Salamanca, New York. The first stop was Du Bois, Pennsylvania where the B&P usually stores some engines.

• 1456 Du Bois, PA - BPRR power - BPRR 886-BPRR 7822-IMRR 40

After a few photographs of the power in Du Bois I was off to Bradford where I paused for food and went to see the Rochester & Southern engine that is normally stationed there.

• 1654 Bradford, PA - BPRR power - R&S 879

After Du Bois I drove to Salamanca, New York and explored for a little while. I drove by the old Erie station which has definitely seen better days. It's in rather poor condition right now. I decided to also explore Olean, New York but found nothing terribly interesting when I got there. On a whim I chose to drive back to Canada via Gowanda, New York and visit the New York & Lake Erie to see what was there. When I was approaching the station, I was quite surprised to see a crowd gathered around. As luck would have it, at the very moment I was arriving, the freight train was returning and a truck was just finished loading a steam engine. Very quickly I photographed the freight, the steam engine and assorted other power parked around the station.

• 1912 Gowanda, NY - NYLE southbound - BSOR 5010
• 1913 Gowanda, NY - NYLE power - DL 1013-NYLE 6758
• 1913 Gowanda, NY - NYLE power - Viscose Company 6 (0-4-0T)
• 1916 Gowanda, NY - NYLE power - NYLE 6764

It turns out I picked a very opportune time to visit Gowanda. The tank engine was loaded up and left town soon after I arrived. That was a pretty amazing finish to a fine trip. Too bad they all can't be this productive!

Trackside Log for Saturday, June 9, 2007

When I woke up the previous morning I decided to go to the Altoona, Pennsylvania area for the weekend. After work I drove to the Courtyard Marriott in Altoona where I would stay two nights. So, this morning I awoke and headed to Lilly, Pennsylvania. On the way I passed through Duncansville where I espied two Everett Railroad locomotives parked along the road. I stopped to photograph them.

• 0833 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 1828-EV 707

I decided that I would visit again in the afternoon when the sun was on engine 707 nicely. In the mean time it was onward to Lilly to see what Norfolk Southern would present.

• 1000 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 9282-NS 2521 w/ helper NS 3362-NS 3425
• 1020 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9404-NS 9339
• 1035 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8361-NS 9765-NS 3014-NS 5645-NS 5083-NS 9332 w/ helper NS 3346-NS 3336
• 1040 Lilly, PA - Amtrak 42 east "Capitol Limited" - AMTK 96
• 1042 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 9884-NS 8569-NS 3367 w/ helper NS 3345-NS 3351

The next stop on my list was Cassandra. When I arrived I met three railfans from Rhode Island. We wound up photographing trains and chatting for much of the day.

• 1134 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8832-NS xxxx
• 1138 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound helpers - NS 3373-NS 3368
• 1157 Cassandra, PA - NS 65J west - NS 3348-NS 3354-NS 9932-NS 2512 w/ helper NS 3350-NS 3340
• 1212 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 6737-NS 8898-NS 2638
• 1251 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9177-NS 7549
• 1328 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 7565-NS 7590
• 1355 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2529-NS 3039-LTEX 1456-LTEX 1450-LTEX 1446-LTEX 1447-LTEX 1454-LTEX 1405 w/ helper NS 3351-NS 3345
• 1359 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 2773-NS 9408-NS 9978
• 1442 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 9324-NS 8911-NS 8333 w/ helper NS 3353-NS 3357

The sun angle was becoming poor so I drove back into Cresson in search of better light.

• 1505 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9504-NS 2758
• 1521 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3425-NS 3362
• 1528 Cresson, PA - NS 91J west - NS 9903-NS 9721 w/ helper NS 3374-NS 3433
• 1535 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2727-NS 8441
• 1542 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 9593 w/ helper NS 3335-NS 3352
• 1548 Cresson, PA - NS 10G east - NS 9814-UP 4409
• 1559 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 9329-BNSF 890
• 1613 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 2762-NS 2746
• 1627 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 2763-NS 2772
• 1646 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9926-NS 9472
• 1701 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2673-NS 8926
• 1730 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound (travelling west) - helpers NS 3345-NS 3351

I never really figured out exactly what was going on, but the above train was an eastbound making a westward move on track 1, the eastbound track. Some problem or another was being worked out with helper sets and the loop track and they backed the train to the highway 53 bridge. It sat there for a while and then started to push eastward again. The helper set was in notch 8, slipping, and gradually moving the train. However, while it sat there the westbound Amtrak passed behind it.

• 1739 Cresson, PA - Amtrak 43 west "Capitol Limited" - AMTK 98
• 1818 Gallitzin, PA - NS westbound - NS 9747-NS 2503
• 1829 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8324-NS 7586
• 1838 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 7535-NS 7514

The light angle was starting to turn poor so I decided it would likely be a fine time to photograph the Everett Railroad again. I drove back to Duncansville to do just that.

• 1908 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 707-EV 1828
• 1910 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 4
• 1911 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad equipment - EV 91517

It had been a stellar day and productive. I concluded it was time to call it a day so I headed back to the Courtyard for the evening.

Trackside Log for Monday, June 4, 2007

Today I had no sooner pulled into my driveway after work when I heard the Canadian Pacific Hamilton Subdivision dispatcher issue a clearance to a northbound out of Welland yard. I quickly got my cameras and walked behind my property to photograph a train back there for the first time since I moved in.

• 1646 Fenwick - CP 427 north - CP 8624-CP 8544

I felt better about having photographed essentially at home and I returned home to edit some video.

Trackside Log for Sunday, June 3, 2007

Today I really wanted to get out of the house and go trackside. My destination of choice was Fort Erie. Unfortunately it was oppressively hot and humid. I didn't last very long, but I did manage to photograph a couple interesting trains.

• 1000 Fort Erie - CN 339 east - CN 8007-CN 2504
• 1025 Fort Erie - CN 339 east - CN 8007-CN 2504
• 1116 Fort Erie - CN 332 west - CN 2201
• 1139 Fort Erie - NS 369 west - NS 3256-NS 3401
• 1153 Duff - NS 369 west - NS 3256-NS 3401

That was all I could handle. I headed home and bypassed a couple Canadian Pacific trains that were interesting, but I just didn't want to be outside any more.