What I did on my summer vacation Day #2

[Matt L]

As you saw in my previous posts about my summer vacation, the first day was fun. With that being said, Day #2 was my favorite. I hit pay dirt in northern Pennsylvania. Why? For the first time ever, I caught the Lehigh Railway in action. A pair of EMDs led their local into Sayre shortly after 9 AM:



Yes, I said Lehigh Railway. They have leased a portion of the old Lehigh Valley RR aminline (from Athen to Mehoopany) for the past 5 years. LHRY interchanges with NS at Sayre:



Gotta love the hand painted NW! This was also in Sayre:



Norfolk Southern hadn't dropped off anything the previous day, so the LHRY EMDs left Sayre as a light engine move:



I chased the Lehigh Railway south for about an hour so, including Ulster:







All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/22/2014 in Bradford County, PA. It should be noted the the Lehigh Railway is operated by Steve May, who also runs the Owego & Harford RR in central NY. Some of you may remember the O&H from a pictorial I shared a few months ago.

[Matt L]

Heading back north, NS local H12 arrived later in the morning, with a BNSF unit leading: There was a lot of swithcing, so the crew stayed here for several hours:



























All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/22/104 in Sayre, PA.

[Matt L]

I headed north and west in the afternoon, catching eastbound NS local H17 in Chemung River valley:











All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/22/2014 in Wellsburg, NY. What a coincidence- this train was on its way to Owego to interchange with OHRY!

[Matt L]

By mid-afternoon, I was sitting just outside Elmira Yard. Don't let the CP power fool you- this train was westbound 12T, and not 39T (which is a joint CP/NS train).







This coach would be dropped off further west for interchange with the Bath & Hammondsport RR:



Meanwhile, NS local  H12 had picked up a healthy cut of hoppers from NS local H13 and brought back an 85 car train. It crept up the Elmira yard lead quite slowly:












All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/22/2014 in the City of Elmira, NY.

[Matt L]

Finally, I caught NS 12T one more time out in the Canisteo River valley late in the afternoon:











All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/22/2014 in the Village of Addison, NY. Now you can see why I loved this particular day so much- shooting pictures of NS and LHRY for well over 9 hours. Days #3 and 4 had their charms, too, so I will share them as time permits.

[Bill Richardson]

    You have a lot to work with.  That is a neat old train station.  I really like that full-view picture of the station with the train engine in front.  Interesting pictures.

[Matt L]

Thanks, Bill. The old Lehigh Valley station is now a museum. I'm hoping to get a tour of it soon.

[dschlegel]

That second to last photo looks a lot like a classic LV scene!! If I didn't know those were CP GE's and I was glancing over that photo quickly I'd think it was a pair if C628's. Neat stuff!
PA Dan

[Matt L]

Thanks, Dan! Funny thing is, the trailing gondolas on 12T probably came from the Owego & Harford... which is an active remnant of the Lehigh Valley RR. Big red 6 axle units seem appropriate seem appropriate to me, too.