Trackside Log for Saturday, July 12, 2008

Today I met up with Marcus and we drove out to Brantford for some photography.  Shortly after arriving we found that Canadian National train 580 was about to head out on the Brantford Spur.  We first went to Colborne Street to photograph it.

• 1150 Colborne St., Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125 (photo)
• 1155 Eagle St., Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125
• 1201 Port St., Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125

While train 580 switched at the east end Marcus and I headed over to the west to locate a good spot to photograph the train as it passed by the two former railway bridges over the Grand River.

• 1322 Icomm Dr., Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125

Again we let them finish switching and waited for them to exit.  We caught them running along Holme Street.

• 1354 Holme St., Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125

Then we photographed them one last time from the former Grand River Railway bridge in Lorne Park.

• 1401 Lorne Park, Brantford - CN 580 - CN 4125 (photo)

After the fun of chasing 580 around Brantford we grabbed a bit to eat and drove over to Paris Junction to see what might pop up.

• 1517 Paris Junction - CN westbound - CN 2419-CN 2678-CN 2270 (photo)
• 1621 Paris Junction - CN eastbound - CN 5510-CN 5381-CN 5518-CN 5293-CN 5710 (photo)
• 1623 Paris Junction - Via 76 east - VIA 6415 (photo)

After the Via train Marcus and I drove back to Brantford to check out the model railway shop in Brantford station.  After that we departed for our respective homes.  We definitely had fun photographing 580.  The crew likely thought we were nuts, but whatever.

Trackside Log for Saturday, July 5, 2008

Wow, it had been a very long time since I'd visited either Guelph Junction or Scotch Block.  I decided that I needed to remedy that problem.  I drove out to Guelph Junction first.

• 1124 Guelph Junction - CP 241 west - CP 8806-CP 8706
• 1243 Guelph Junction - CP westbound - CP 9511-CP 9525

The sun was starting to get around to the right angle for Scotch Block so I made the move.  I also met up with a few friends that I hadn't seen in a while there.

• 1443 Scotch Block - CN 435 west - CN 5730-CN 5369
• 1541 Scotch Block - CN 338 east - CN 5412-CN 2572-CN 2599-WSX 302 (Wierton Steel)
• 1758 Scotch Block - CN 393 west - CN 2513-CN 2415
• 1807 Scotch Block - CN 382 east - CN 2452-GTW 5948

The Wierton Steel switcher was a nice catch for the day.  Well time was getting on so everybody parted ways and I headed back home.

Trackside Log for Wednesday, July 2, 2008

I awoke refreshed at The Station Inn in Cresson to a beautiful morning. I wandered downstairs for a grand breakfast with the other guests. I must return again sometime soon. After food and banter I drove to Lilly to photograph some action on the former Pennsylvania Railroad.

• 0934 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 6789-NS 9424-NS 3027-NS 6508
• 0949 Lilly, PA - Amtrak 42 east - AMTK 97
• 0955 Lilly, PA - NS 14G east - NS 9930-NS 9283 w/ helper NS 3336-NS 3353
• 1019 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 6756-NS 9515 w/ helper NS 3339-NS 3346
• 1034 Lilly, PA - NS westbound helper - NS 3357-NS 3372
• 1043 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 9560-NS 9367 w/ helper NS 3373-NS 3338
• 1108 Lilly, PA - NS 500 east - NS 9225-NS 6594-NS 8689 w/ helper NS 3351-NS 3342-NS 3345-NS 3350
• 1141 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 7205-NS 7206/NS 7204-NS 7214

What? A tiny push-pull salt train with a pair of SD80MACs on either end? I had to see that again. I drove back to Cresson to photograph it in the yard there.

• 1159 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 7205-NS 7206/NS 7204-NS 7214 (photo)

The clouds were gathering and starting to become frustrating so I packed up and headed for home. Back in Canada again I heard Canadian National train 565 leaving Port Robinson. I was in a good position to catch it at Netherby.

• 1830 Welland, ON - CN 565 east - CN 4110-CN 4112

And with that I drove back home. Overall the trip was a good one but that first day in Virginia was monumentally frustrating.

Click here to view a map of the GPS data collected during the trip.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Today is another day.  I awoke with the intent to put the previous day behind me.  The first step was to leave Norfolk Southern behind me.  I made my way to Clifton Forge and back to CSX.  Shortly after arrival I found an eastbound coal train leaving the yard.  Things were looking better already!

• 0943 Clifton Forge, VA - CSX eastbound - CSXT 777-CSXT 791

There wasn't much else for me to photograph there so I decided to follow the Buckingham Branch toward Staunton.  Just as I'm about to go another eastbound with a Buckingham Branch engine comes through.  Where'd that come from?  "No problem," I say.  I'll just drive ahead and photograph it.  My first stop was Goshen where I sat and waited... quite a while

• 1203 Goshen, VA - Buckingham Branch eastbound Herzog - CSXT 369-CSXT 218-CSXT 760

That wasn't the train I saw.  Where'd it go?  Oh well, at least I photographed a train here.  I waited around a bit longer but nothing showed up.  I continued my drive through the Shenandoah Valley toward Staunton.  This is a very nice drive by the way.  When I arrived in Staunton I quickly found the Shenandoah Valley Railroad and the crew just parking their locomotive.  They gave me permission to take a few photographs so away I went.

• 1249 Staunton, VA - Shenandoah Valley Railroad power - DGVR 40 (photo)

Next I drove over to the Buckingham Branch shops to see what was there.  After obtaining permission for a few photos I took a quick photo tour.

• 1309 Staunton, VA - Buckingham Branch power - BBRR 3 and BBRR 11 (photo)
• 1312 Staunton, VA - Buckingham Branch power - BBRR 6 (photo)

Number 6 was looking pretty bad.  Nothing else was to be seen in Staunton so I headed for Gore and the Winchester & Western.  They've been good to me in the past.  Today was no exception.

• 1609 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western power - WW 709-WW 498 (photo)
• 1611 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western power - WW 120 (photo)
• 1613 Gore, VA - Winchester & Western pieces - WW 403 long hood (photo)

WW 120 was nice to see since it's a former slug with an SW1500 cab hacked onto it.  I love weird stuff like that.  I decided about this time that my night's destination would be Cresson, Pennsylvania.  The route to get there took me through Romney, West Virginia where I ran across the Potomac Eagle train parked and waiting for the next excursion.

• 1708 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - C&O 8016 (photo 1, photo 2)

A couple years earlier I had visited Cumberland, Maryland in hopes of photographing at the bluffs in Locust Grove.  I waited for hours and nothing showed up.  This time however there was a westbound just departing Cumberland.  Yes!  I quickly drove over to the bluffs and waited for about ten minutes.

• 1801 Locust Grove (Cumberland), MD - CSX X389 west - CSXT 7812-CSXT 9018-CSXT 9026

Since the train was heading my way for a little bit I drove ahead and photographed it again in Hyndman, Pennsylvania.

• 1823 Hyndman, PA - CSX X389 west - CSX 7812-CSXT 9018-CSXT 9026

Wow.  This day was so much better than the previous day.  I was starting to feel much better about things.  I drove to Cresson and on a whim decided to see if The Station Inn had any rooms for the night.  Fortune was with me and I was able to secure the PRR room for the night.  What a great conclusion to a much improved day.  I spent a wonderful night at the inn watching Norfolk Southern move plenty of freight right outside.  I had a nice chat with some of the other guests and then had a restful sleep.