Shuffling off to Buffalo

[Matt L]

The days are long and the weather is warm... so I figured it was time to get back tothe buggest rail hub in NY: greater Buffalo.

As with most of my trips, this one began at Tifft Street. NS local H42 assembled a sohrt trian and then headed west:



Amtrak's eastbound Lake Shore Limited rumbled into town on CSX rails:



NS sand train 68N (which was bound for Sayre, PA) arrived around 9 AM with a BNSF leader:



A complete look at Tifft Street action:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/July%202016/0715%20AM1%20Tifft%20Street

All photos in this post and the link were taken by me Friday 7/15/2016 in Buffalo, NY.

[Matt L]

Much of the mid-day was spent at Lake Avenue and GB Diamond. After H42 finished work, it headed east as a light engine move:



Westbound NS auto rack freight 287 had a CSX SD70MAC leading:



Westbound NS mixed freight 309 had a Union Pacific unit leading:



A slide show that also includes a little bit of CSX action:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/July%202016/0715%20Blasdell%20NY

All photos in this post and the link were taken by me Friday 7/15/2016 in Blasdell, NY. 

[Matt L]

During the afternoon, I headed over to Red Jacket Park and caught NS intermodal 206 at CP Draw:



A slide show of CSX and NS at CP Draw:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/July%202016/0715%20PM1%20CP%20Draw

After that, I returned to Tifft Street. Two former N&W Geeps (now Buffalo & Pittsburgh) were switching at Buffalo Creek Yard:



NS 14M arrived from Conway with pure UP power:



A slode show of afternoon B&P, CSX and NS action at Tifft Street:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/July%202016/0715%20PM2%20Tifft%20Street

All photos in this post, as well those in the links, were taken by me Friday 7/15/2016 in Buffalo, NY

[Matt L]

Bayview Road is a great crossing for ending the day. NS intermodal 22K now carries double stacks:



With the return of coal traffic to Millken on the Ithaca Secondary, both coal trains and empties are now passing through Buffalo on NS again. In my case, it was 525 heading west on the former NKP at Bayview Road, with a battered SD70 leader:



I saw 7 CSX trains on the parallel CSX tracks at Bayveiw Road, including this eastbound intermodal with CP power:



A slide show of all 9 trains at Bayview Road:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/July%202016/0715%20PM3%20Hamburg%20NY

All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 7/15/2016 in Hamburg, NY.




 

[Matt L]

No trip to the area would be omplete without a sunset at Lake Erie!



This photo was taken by me Friday 7/15/2016 in Athol Springs, NY.

[dschlegel]

Maybe when my kid goes off to college in 12 years or so I'll be able to check places like this out. Thanks for the report!
Dan

[Matt L]

You're welcome! I'm already making plans for the next trip to Buffalo, because it truly is a railfan's paradise.

There was on oddity about this trip- I saw no end cab switchers or Alco/MLW units, but didn't realize it until I was downloading and sorting the photos. Normally, I'd see the B&P's SW1500s or even their ex-Reading SW1001 at Buufalo Creek Yard, but they used Geeps this time, The Buffalo Southern stayed home altogether, which meant no RS11 or RS18u. On the other hand, I did see plenty of good stuff.