Fall railfan trip - 4, Finger Lakes

Hi, Jim was a fountain of knowledge for our trip having done much research and made earlier visits to the area. He knew that the Finger Lakes RR ran on Sundays eastbound in the morning from Geneva, NY to Solvay, NY, on the west side of Syracuse, and return. Thus Sunday, September 8th found us in Seneca Falls, NY waiting for the eastbound Finger Lakes train.

When it didn't show up after about an hour after its expected arrival I suggested we head in to Geneva to see what was going on. We were only about seven miles away and could stay fairly close to the track.

When we got to Geneva Jim went to the office where he found one individual and he was friendly. He told Jim that the crew had left five minutes before we arrived for Solvay - by van - where the Friday crew had left the power and would return with a train. We headed east for Solvay.

When we arrived in Solvay the crew had started up their locomotives and were just headed for the small yard to the east to pick up their train (above and below).

The crew spent about three quarters of an hour switching (above and below)

before they headed west (above and below).

We followed along getting photos at Milton,

Auburn (above and four below) and

Seneca Falls.

Here's Jim shooting the whistle post with the train blurred in the background - https://www.flickr.com/photos/jimkleeman/48799309006/.

We continued on to Waterloo (above and below) and

the outskirts of Geneva before quitting. Thanks for looking.

Fall railfan trip - 3

Hi, The New York, Susquehanna & Western typically runs a through freight from Binghamton, NY to Syracuse, NY with a return trip leaving on the northbound's arrival. This was to be the day's activity.

At breakfast at McDonald's in Cortland that morning I got to talking with a gentleman who, when I told him Jim and I were photographing trains, told me there was one switching in town down by the station. We quickly found the train and, upon talking to the crew, Jim learned the through freight was just leaving Binghamton. Since the local had a former NS unit still in black and with long hood leading, we headed south.

Our first shot was in Marathon, NY followed by

Messenger,

Tully,

Apulia Station

and Jamesville, just south of Syracuse (above and 2 below).

Due to congestion in the NYS&W yard in Syracuse the train sat in Jamesville for approximately 1 1/2 hours. While it was there a crew change occurred and we had lunch. After the train left we waited another 2 1/2 hours for its return before we gave up and headed west.

Thanks for looking.

Fall railfan trip - 2

Hi, The Lycoming Valley runs a local to Muncy, PA on Fridays and it has had their pair of GP35s in the Reading style paint scheme. While I had photographed the locomotives just sitting the last time I was in Williamsport, PA with Jim Kleeman I wanted to get them on a train. However, as was the case the day before, only one of the units was on the train with second one being the former NS GP38.

We caught the train leaving the yard in Newberry (above and below),

crossing Loyalsock Creek in the Montoursville area (above and below)

and at Hiller Road in Muncy, PA (above and below).

The next shot was rushed and I did not like it. The train beat us to the location after that, although we didn't know it at the time. So we waited and when it came through it was running northbound with the former NS locomotive leading. That was the end of the chase. At least we had a beautiful day with some nice opportunities. Thanks for looking.

Fall railfan trip - 1

Hi, On Thursday, September 5, Friend Jim Kleeman and I left on a ten day trip to Pennsylvania and New York. Our emphasis was on a series of shortlines starting with the Lycoming Valley in the Williamsport, PA area.

The Lycoming Valley's yard is in Newberry, PA. While we were hanging out at the east end of the yard a local arrived with SW9 #238 for power (above and below).

Meanwhile an NS coal train was being loaded. Trucks would bring in the coal and dump it on a pile. Then front end loaders would pick up the coal and dump the coal into hopper cars.

When the train was loaded it pulled east and

was spotted a track over (above and below).

Our goal was to photograph the run from Newberry to Northumberland, PA, train LV1, where the Lycoming Valley interchanges with NS. The LV has a pair of GP35s painted in a Reading inspired paint scheme and we hoped they would be on the train. Unfortunately only one of the units was on the train which we photographed at Hiller Road in Montoursville, PA (above and below).

Our final location for this train was Muncy, PA with at sunset (above and below).

Thanks for looking.

Summerail Trip - Final

Hi, Saturday, August 10, the day of the big Summerail show, dawned cloudy but we decided to go out and explore. After driving around Marion a bit we headed west along the former New York Central (Big Four).

It wasn't long before we came upon a coal train parked about a mile before the end of double track (above and below).

Continuing west we arrived at New Bloomfield where, after a short wait, we photographed Q262 and

Q364.

Back in Marion we hung around the station. Two north south lines, NS (former N&W, former PRR) and CSX (former C&O) cross CSX (former NYC, former Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis) here on multiple diamonds as all routes are double track. First up was a westbound on the former NYC.

Next was NS coal train #861 (above and below)

followed by NS #170 and

#117.

That evening the Illinois Terminal Heritage unit lead a southbound manifest through town.

Our final railfan location was Brackridge, PA, the home of ATI, formerly Allegheny Ludlum Steel Corp. A few years ago ATI repowered their plant railroad and I wanted to get some photos of the new power. I knew the plant here had two sections separated by a small residential area where you could photograph the company's trains without trespassing.

The first thing we spotted were two locomotives sitting outside what appeared to be an engine house. One of them was an example of the locomotives that had been replaced. I had photographed these back in the late 90s and was glad to see one again.

The other locomotive was one of the new ones (above and two below).

A track mobile also was parked.

Norfolk Southern's Conemaugh Line (former Conrail, Former PRR) parallels the pant railroad (in the foreground above and below).

Local C39 was the last train of the trip.

Thanks for looking.