Railfanning 2-25 to 3-1-2013, III

Hi, We began our third day of photography in Salamanca, NY where we found B&P's southbound road train, SIRI (Salamanca to Riker Yard in Punxsutawney, PA) sitting at the depot awaiting a crew.  We took advantage of this opportunity to experiment with a variety of photo angles, four of which are shown below.

When the crew arrived we learned they were called for 9:00 AM and had no work between Salamanca and Johnsonburg.  We had planned to check out the Western New York and Pennsylvania on this day so we headed over to Olean.

At the Western New York and Pennsylvania HQ in Allegany, NY we learned the only train running that day would be the Farmer's Valley local.  We decided to try to catch B&P's SIRI and return to Olean the next day, as we were told there would be a "slingshot" running to Falconer, NY, where it would meet the train from Meadville.

We drove to Mount Jewett, PA and set up to photograph the south facing CPL.  We had photographed the north facing CPLs to the left of the train the day before.  We beat the SIRI here by a few minutes.

We got two more photo opportunities.  The first was in Campbelltown, PA,

and the second was at St. Marys Road, a few miles north of Johnsonburg, PA.  Some maps identify the location as Streights.  We decided to wait south of Johnsonburg for the northbound to arrive or for the southbound to leave.

 Neither happened.  Instead, we heard the dispatcher talk to a train that seemed to be working in St. Marys, the current end of a line that once connected Ridgway, PA with PRR's Buffalo Line in Emporium, PA.  We went to investigate.  Getting nervous we set up at Mohan Road, a few miles east of Ridgway.  A few minutes later the JB-1 crew came west.

A second opportunity presented itself on the east side of Ridgway.

A connection exists on the north side of Ridgway between the branch and the main line.  The train stopped here to get clearance

and then crossed the Clarion River to gain access to the main line.

We easily beat the train back to Johnsonburg where we were able to photograph it once again crossing the Clarion River.  We never did hear the SIRI depart and were unable to spot it in the yard.

This ended day number 3.  The next day would be our WNY&P day, however, we would learn something about the fate of the SIRI from this day.  Thanks for looking.