Railfanning - 9-15-2016

Hi, Last Sunday friend Jim Kleeman and I spent a short day railfanning in the Harrisburg, PA area. However, before I get into the trip a bit of housekeeping. In the past I have provided narrative relating to a photo above that photo. I have decided that this may be a little confusing so from now on I will provide caption information relating to a specific photo in a single paragraph below that photo.

We began the day by looking for an eastbound oil tank train headed by the PC heritage unit.  Jim had learned shortly before our departure from his home in Baltimore that the train had passed Duncannon, PA, about 10 miles west of Harrisburg 18 minutes earlier.  As these tank trains typically change crews in Enola Yard we went there looking for it without success.  So we headed west thinking it may have been held out of the yard west of town.

When we got to Marysville we spotted an empty tank train headed west.  We knew that the Southern heritage unit was on a WB tank train but our information was that it was trailing.  Was this the train with the Southern Unit and was it indeed trailing?  In less than 5 minutes we caught thepower and had our answer.  The Southern unit was on the train and leading.  It was off to the races.

We attempted a shot at Duncannon but did not have time to get into position.  However, it did not matter as an eastbound intermodal went by on the near track.  Back in the Trailblazer we headed west.  We calculated we could beat the train to Thompsontown and we did.

First up at Thompsontown was this eastbound train of oil loads pulled by a pair of SD70Ace's.

A lone SD70Ace was running as DPU.

Within a couple of minutes of the eastbound disappearing #65Z came west at Thompsontown.

We easily beat the train to Lewistown for a second shot.

Because the train was moving quickly we decided to give up the chase here and return toward Harrisburg.  On a previous trip up here I had spotted a pair of PRR position light signals on the east side of Newport and we decided to stop there.  A group of 3 fans from Wales along with a friend of theirs from Reading, PA were there so we had some interesting company to while away the time waiting for an eastbound.

The first eastbound was Amtrak's Pennsylvanian with a P32BWH providing the power.

A westbound came through next.
 

The last train we photographed at this location was an eastbound autorack train with a pair of SD70s on the point.

Our final location of the day was on the deck of Blue Mountain Outfitters (with permission) in Marysville, PA.  They have taken over the former PRR station here.

Train #60G handles export farm equipment for the port of Baltimore, MD.  This train carried John Deere combines.

For the record the PC powered oil train went to the fuel pad in Harrisburg.  As soon as it had refueled it left for Delaware.

Thanks for looking.

New York City - 2

Hi, This post will feature the Erie, DL&W, and Erie Lackawanna with a few Conrail shots on former Erie routes at the end. The first four photos were taken in the mid 1950s at Hoboken, NJ, then the terminus for the Delaware Lackawanna and Western. At this time the Erie was already using the station for some of its trains here.

First up was the arrival of a long distance train.

After the passengers disembarked a switcher would couple on to the tail of the train and pull the cars to the coach yard thereby releasing the power so it could proceed to the engine facility.

A DL&W Alco S-2 had an Erie business car in tow.

Access to yards in the 1950s was easy.  I walked out to the engine facility where this FM Trainmaster was posed.

On another occasion, this time during the summer of 1956, I was at the station to take a train to Hancock, NY where I was waiting tables in a summer camp.  While waiting for my train I photographed these Alco S-2s awaiting another assignment.

Eventually the power for our train, a pair of Alco PAs backed down from the engine terminal and coupled up.

At about the same time an Erie local arrived behind an Alco RS-3.

I was back at Hoboken shortly after the U34CHs went into service.  Two posed side by side under the Bush train shed.

Even in 1983 one could walk out into the yard.  Note the evolution of paint schemes on the U34CHs.

From Hoboken we'll move west along the former DL&W mainline.  In the mid 1970s, 3 friends and I left my home at 4:00 AM and drove up to New Jersey to photograph the former Erie Lackawanna Electrics.  Here are some images from that trip.  On the second day we visited the Long Island Railroad and those images will appear in a subsequent post.

The train shown below was eastbound at Milburn, NJ.

This train also was eastbound.

We actually started in Summit, NJ about 8:30 AM.  Summit is where the Galdstone Branch takes off from the mainline and where cars going to Gladstone are separated from mainline trains.

A westbound diesel powered train arrived while we were there.  The tower, now long out of service, was built into the retaining wall.

We continued west on the mainline to Denville where this eastbound train is pictured.  Behind the station, which is long gone, the non electrified Boonton Line joins the mainline.

Electric service ends at Dover, NJ.

We ended our day at Gladstone where these two trains were laid up.

In 1971 I was in Suffern, NY and found these commuter sets waiting out the Memorial Day Weekend.  Both trains were made up of former Erie Stilwell coaches.

On a trip in 1980, I believe, we photographed this U34CH as it crossed the Hackensack on its way to Hoboken on former Erie trackage.

An eastbound Conrail Freight crossed the bridge later in the day as seen from the opposite side.

Finally, in the mid 1990s an eastbound Conrail freight passed the tower at Rutherford, NJ again on former Erie trackage.

Thanks for looking.

New York City - 1

Hi, I'll begin my coverage of the New York City Metropolitan area with images taken on former New York Central lines.

This caboose hop was lead by an oil/electric/battery switcher.  It was crossing Spuyten Duyvil, which is the connection between the Harlem and Hudson Rivers, from Manhattan into the Bronx.  The mainline from Grand Central to Chicago was behind me.  This trackage is now part of Amtrak's Empire Corridor route to Penn Station.  The photo was taken in the mid 1950s.

Also taken in that time frame is this westbound long distance train at Marble Hill in the Bronx.  The Putnam Division split away just beyond the tower and headed north on its east side.

In June of 1957 I spent the afternoon at the Woodlawn commuter station on the Harlem Division.  At one time this went all the way north to a connection with the Boston and Albany at Chatham, NY.  Today it ends at Wassaic, NY with the the electrification ending about a mile north of Brewster.  The Electrification extension was completed in 1984.

The train below was bound for Grand Central Terminal behind, I believe, a New Haven EP-3.

Another Grand Central bound train was behind an EP-4.

I am not sure of the locomotive class leading this train headed to GCT.

This New York Central train with an ex Cleveland Union Terminal (P motor) electric on the point was passing under the southbound New Haven track.  On the far right is the northbound New Haven track.  Heading north on the New York Central tracks leads to Brewster and beyond.

A 3 car set of New York Central's most modern MUs was northbound.

An ABA set of E8s waited to take over for electric power on a long distance train at Harmon, NY.  Again, the photo was taken in the late 1950s.

Here is the south end of the above power set.

Back at Woodlawn during rush hour in the late 1960s or early 1970s a train powered by a pair of FL9s on the express track was passing MUs making a station stop.  Penn Central replaced the New Haven's orange, white and black scheme with this one of yellow and blue.

On another occasion a single FL9 lead a train into North White Plains, NY.

This was the first train photo I took with my new Nikkormat in 1971.  The station is Mount St. Vincent in the Riverdale section of the Bronx.  The Hudson River is on the left and the train was inbound to GCT.

This long distance train was approaching Spuyten Duyvil station behind a former CUT electric on its way to GCT in the early 1970s.  The track to bridge across Spuyten Duyvil is to the left of the motor and the bridge is out of the photo to the left.

Finally, another train behind a P motor was passing Mount St. Vincents headed for GCT on a much nicer day.

Thanks for looking.

San Francisco - 4

Hi, This is the final San Francisco post and will consist of a few final SP photos and then some Amtrak images. All of the images were shot in the East Bay area.

In the early Amtrak years SP provided yard switching in Oakland.  Here an Alco S-6 was assigned to this task on the day I visited.

The structure at right was all that remained of the former Sacramento Northern Oakland Station.  I think it was severely damaged in the 1989 earthquake and demolished shortly thereafter.

An SW-1500 (note the road trucks), a U-Boat and a geep were at the sanding towers.

An Amtrak E Unit, an SP F unit (probably an FP7) and a switcher were at the engine house.

An early Amtrak version of the San Francisco Zephyr headed eastbound at Port Costa along the Carquinez Straits.

A later version of the same train was westbound at Crockett.

A westbound San Joaquin skimmed along San Pablo Bay at Pinole.

An eastbound California Zephyr was at Hercules along San Pablo Bay.

As seen from the toll plaza of the I-680 bridge the eastbound California Zephyr crossed the Carquinez straits from Martinez to Benicia.

Thanks for looking.