Celebrating my birthday with NS

Matt L · February 04, 2016, 08:07:38 PM

Yep... it's that time of year again. my birthday arrived at the end of last month. It was the perfect excuse for a 3 day weekend in my old stomping grounds to see my family and spend some time trackside.

Day #1 was all about NS locals. It began with H12 waiting for departure at Sayre, PA:

Meanwhile, NS was performing some MOW just across the border in Waverly, NY:

SD40-2 #3475 was on hand at CP Waverly, too:

The shortest H17 I have even seen passed eastbound through Waverly:

After H17 passed, the dispatcher gave H12 clearance to enter the Southern Tier mainline at CP Waverly. The train is on a connecting track built by LV circa 1869 to connect with the Erie RR.

NS H12 at Lowman Crossing Road in Wellsburg, NY after a short chase:

NS H17 returned via Wellsburg with alot more gondolas than it had earlier in the afternoon. The pick-up from the Owego & Hardford Railway was productive.

A complet slide show of the day's events can be seen here:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/Jan%202016/0129%20NS

All photos in this post and the link were taken by me on Friday 1/29/2016 in (except where noted) central New York.

Matt L · February 04, 2016, 08:18:38 PM

Day #2 was quieter. The only moving freight I saw was NS 205 heading westbound at Philo Road in Horseheads:

After my scanner fell silent, I headed over to Elmira Yard. This view is from the East Washington Ave bridge in the City of Elmira:

View from ground level near the same bridge:

Slide show of the day's sightings:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/Jan%202016/0130%20NS

All photos in this post and the link were taken by me Saturday 1/30/2016 in Chemung County, NY.

Matt L · February 04, 2016, 08:25:38 PM

Day #3 was the final hurrah before returning to Rochester,

NS 287 westbound at Philo Road, with a standard cab Dash 9 leading:

NS 205 heading west at the same location, with a CP leader and a few auto racks at the end of the consist:

Slide show of both trains:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2016/Jan%202016/0131%20Horseheads%20NY

All photos in this post and the link were taken by me Sunday 1/31/2016 in Horseheads, NY.

thpbears · February 05, 2016, 07:31:51 AM

Nice Happy belated B-Day. Nothing like spending it trackside. Thought I was the only one that did this.

Matt L · February 06, 2016, 06:53:33 PM

Thank you kindly! I've spending part of at least each birthday trackside since 2008. The pics shown previously were taken with my Olympos SP500-UZ camera. i also use a Sony W370 point & shoot for train photography. I recently purchased a Nikon L8490 with money I got Chrstmas. While I haven't taken any train pics with it yet, the Nikon has given my some great results with the test shots I've taken- including this:

Photo taken by me Saturday 1/30/2016 in the Town of Elmira, NY. It was tweaked slightly with Photobucket's tools.

dschlegel · February 09, 2016, 09:50:49 PM

Happy birthday, looks like a successful three days.

I have made it a habit for the past 15 years or so to railfan on my birthday too. My most recent jaunt was to Harrisburg and Colombia PA to catch the NS F's on their way to Strassburg. I ended the day taking in a ballgame (and catching freights on the Belt line just off of left field) in Reading with my wife and daughter. It was fantastic!
Dan

Matt L · February 10, 2016, 08:01:50 PM

Thanks, Dan. Your birthday sounds pretty fun, too. Mine can be very tricky for the weather. It was nice this year but I can recall plenty of challenging trips. One such example was my 40th birthday in 2009 -shooting the B&H and NS with the temp somewhere around 15 degrees. BTW, I was planning to make a foray to Attica Hill this weekend, but a forecast high of 6 (yes, six!) degrees on Saturday has convinced me to postpone the trip for at least a week.