Railfanning around Syracuse

Matt L · May 28, 2013, 08:02:06 PM

Norfolk Southern doesn't have a rail line in greater Syracuse. You won't find NS on a map of Onondaga County, but there is freight on NS that is going to/from the area. How so? A pair of shortlines, which are NS interchange partners, serve Syracuse. I spent part of a day with them this past weekend.

Some of you who have seen my previous posts will be familiar with the first shortline I saw. The Finger Lakes Railway has a yard on the west side of town, and B23-7 #2301 was shuffling cars.

Both photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 5/25/2013 in Solvay, NY.

Matt L · May 28, 2013, 08:14:39 PM

The other shortline/regional RR I saw was the New York, Susquehanna & Western RR. They interchange with NS in Binghamton and send a daily local up to Syracuse. "Suzie Q" also interchanges with CSX, as seen in the next shot:

NS and CSX each purchased a 45% stake in NYSW after the Conrail split, After dropping off some freight cars for CSX, 3 Suzie Q tunnel motors ran light on the Chicago Line.

The locomotives are now moving over to the home rails, the former Syracuse & Bunghamton branch of the DL&W/EL:

All photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 5/25/2013 in Geddes, NY.

Matt L · May 28, 2013, 08:26:38 PM

The DL&W elevated their line through the city nearly 80 years ago, so I was looking up at the NYSW local after it picked picked up some cars to take back to Binghamton. This brdige is at the corner of Erie Blvd and West Genesee Street.

The line passes over Erie Blvd on a massive steel bridge that is very typical of sturdy DL&W construction.

All photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 5/25/2013 in the City of Syracuse, NY. I wish there had been enough time to follow the NYSW train down to Binghamton, but I was in the area for a wedding, and needed end the chase around mid-afternoon. Even so, it is possible to see NS interchange traffic well away from the Southern Tier Mainline in central NY.

NSMoWandS · May 28, 2013, 10:32:56 PM

Nice pics! CSX is doing a blitz on the River Line and sending some of their trains via NYSW for the next couple of weeks. FYI- those are not tunnel motors... they are SD60's with winterization hatches. DE Dan

Matt L · May 30, 2013, 07:28:57 PM

Thanx for the correction and the kind words, Dan. I have already seen a pic of a CSX stack train on the ex-Erie/EL Starucca Viaduct, and hope to find more on the web soon.

I also think a full-fledged chase of NYSW from Syracuse to Binghamton (or vice versa) will happen someday.

NSMoWandS · May 30, 2013, 08:06:29 PM

Sign me up for THAT trip... and SHOTGUN! I actually caught one of those SD60's(3806) on CSX's Philly Sub went it was returning from KY after a rebuild/repaint. DE Dan

dschlegel · May 30, 2013, 08:15:56 PM

Very neat post! The track in the first shot looks like a rough ride.

As for the Suzie Q, some of my favorite memories as a teenager in the late 80's were of their shiny new B40-8's, classic looking SD45's, and a few F45's pulling D&H run throughs through my neck of the woods on CR. I still think their paint scheme is one of the best out there too.
PA Dan

Matt L · June 01, 2013, 10:39:21 AM

Quote from: dschlegel on May 30, 2013, 08:15:56 PM
Very neat post! The track in the first shot looks like a rough ride.

Solvay Hill Yard looks rougher than it really is because I was using some pretty serious zoom to grab that shot of #2301. Of course, it's stick rail... rather than welded... which adds to the appearance. The Finger Lakes Railway generally keeps their ROW in good shape, so I suspect the crew was fine.

Matt L · June 01, 2013, 10:41:56 AM

Quote from: NSMoWandS on May 30, 2013, 08:06:29 PM
Sign me up for THAT trip... and SHOTGUN!

I'm thinking fall might be a good time, but I don't have a date picked yet. Bright yellow will look good with the seasonal colors.

Matt L · June 01, 2013, 10:50:02 AM

Quote from: dschlegel on May 30, 2013, 08:15:56 PMAs for the Suzie Q, some of my favorite memories as a teenager in the late 80's were of their shiny new B40-8's, classic looking SD45's, and a few F45's pulling D&H run throughs through my neck of the woods on CR. I still think their paint scheme is one of the best out there too.
PA Dan

I always enjoyed seeing Suzie Q on the Southern Tier mainline back in the '80s and '90s. I think the time i saw Suzie prior to my Syracuse trip was a joint Suzie Q/NS intemordal freight on the Tier in 1998. For those not familiar with the operations prior to the Conrail split, Suzie Q and the D&H had some nice joint operations with NS via trackage rights on the Tier.

I enjoyed the Dash 8s, F45s and SD45s, but those big Alco C430s were my favoriteon the NYSW. As it so happens, a couple of them have been rehabilitated by the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville/Western New York & Pennsylvania shortline family. I'm going to try to catch them later this month.

Matt L · June 11, 2013, 08:16:21 PM

Minor correction- the bridges in the NYSW photos are exDL&W and ex-NYC.