Summer Vacation 2015- including the Vets unit, Alcos and a caboose!

[Matt L]

I spent 4 days in the Twin Tiers recently- the Southern Tier of NY and the Northern Tier of PA. The purpose was to visit family (including my mother's 8oth birthday) and spend some relaxing time by the tracks. I succeeded on both counts.

Day #1 was spent at CP Cass in Hornell, NY. i thought I'd seen NS/CP 38T for the final time earlier in the month, but i caught the mixed freight once more:



Here is the slide show from CP Cass:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0822%20Hornell%20NY

Day #2 included a visit to the former EL yard in Elmira, NY:



Who needs a drone? The Centerway Parking Garage in downtown Elmira, NY provided a nice perch. Westbound NS intermodal 205 crosses the Chemung River and East Water Street:



Westbound NS mixed freight 12T at the same location with CSX leader:



Eastbound NS coal train 524 crossing Church Street:



Complete slide show from Elmira:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0823%20AMPM%20Elmira%20NY

After a family gathering, I also chased NS local H06 northward for part of the trip. This location is the Oldfield Road crossing in Hornby, NY:



Complete slide show of the H06 chase:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0823%20PM%20NS%20H06

All photos in this post and the links were taken by me Saturday 8/22/2015 and Sunday 8/23/2015 in the Southern Tier of New York.

[Matt L]

Day #3 center mostly around the Bath & Hammondsport RR. it started with a trip to their main yard in Cohocton, NY. Alco S1 #5 and MLW RS18u #416 sandwiched a ballast hopper- they are apparently part of a resurfacing project on the former DL&W mainline.



A pair of B&H C424ms went east to fetch a string of LPG tank cars from NS. Here we see hte local coming off the NS wye in Painted Post, NY:



The B&H RR local at Curtis Coopers Road in Campbell, NY:



Complete slide show of the B&H RR from Day #3:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0824%20BHRR

A slide show of NS mixed freight at CP Gibson in Corning, NY:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0824%20Corning%20NY

I stayed overnight in Sayre, PA. Local H13 dropped off this CP SD40-2 in the NS yard before my arrival:



The former Lehigh Valley RR station in Sayre framed by the sunset:




All photos in this post and the links were taken by me Monday 8/24/2015 in the Twin Tiers of upstate NY and PA.

[Matt L]

Norfolk Southern sent this sprayer(?) truck through that yard at Sayre, PA the following morning:



There was no sign of the Lehigh Railway sending a local to Sayre at that point, so I headed back over the border to catch some action on the Southern Tier Mainline at Ashalnd, NY. This included NS local H12 with a heritage unit!



Complete slide show of H12 and intermodal 205 at Ashland:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0825%20PM1%20Ashland%20NY

Since H12 had the Vets unit leading, I chased it back to Sayre, PA and spent several hours shooting #6920.











The crew of H12 also moved the CP unit so she could be taken back to ELmira 9and then sent west to CP):



Complete slide show of the action at Sayre, PA:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0825%20PM2%20Sayre%20PA

After leaving Sayre, I caught westbound NS intermodal 23K at Wellsburg, NY with a nice pair of BNSF engines:



NS mixed freight 13T had a former N&W caboose when I stopped by the yard at Gang Mills, NY:



Finally, I caught NS H06 one more time before heading back to Rochester. The local is passing though Baker Street Yard ni Corning, NYas it headed north to interchange with the Finger Lakes Railway in Geneva.



A slide show of the late day activity:

http://s857.photobucket.com/user/Erielackawanna/slideshow/2015/Aug%202015/0825%20PM3%20NS

All photos in this post and the links were taken by me Tuesday 8/25/2015 in the Twin Tiers of upstate NY and PA. A special thanks goes out to the employees of the B&H, the Lehigh Railway, retired PC/CR/NS engineer Don Jilson and retired Lehigh Valley RR engineer Dan Sloat for being friendly and helpful- their information helped me have a great vacation. 

[travisdeland]

Matt-very nice-thanks for sharing. It's really cool to see ALCOs still out and about

[dschlegel]

I hope your mom had a great birthday!!
Dan

[thpbears]

Pretty good pics. thanks for sharing.

[Matt L]

Thank you all for the kind words. Yes Dan, my mother's 80th birthday went quite well.

A word on the Alcos- the C424ms are former Erie Lackawanna units on a former Erie Lackawanna branch. The line is leased by NS to the Bath & Hammondsport RR. In addition to the B&H, the following shortlines in upstate NY have Alcos:

Battenkill RR
Buffalo Southern
Cooperstown & Charlotte Valley RR
Depew Lancaster & Western
the Falls Road
Livonia, Avon & Lakeville RR (which owns the B&H RR Corporation)
New York & Lake Erie RR  (their C425 and coaches were used in the film "Planes, Trains & Automobiles")
Ontario Midland RR
Saratoga & North Creek RR
Western New York & Pennsylvania RR  (also affiliated with the LA&L)

I'm an Alco fan and live in a chasing paradise. 

[tcwright973]

Matt - I enjoyed your photos a lot. Not a bad catch in the bunch. I do have a question. If you know, how much traffic does the line through Sayre, PA see in 24 hours?
Tom

[Matt L]

Thank you, Tom. Here are the trains that operate in Sayre:

NS local H12 operates from Elmira to Sayre and return Mon-Fri. This train usually arrives late in the morning or early afternoon.
NS local H13 operates from Ithaca to Sayre and return on Mon and Fri. It may operate on other days as needed and handles salt traffic.
NS local H17 (Elmira to Owego/Binghamton and return) will switch Sayre on the weekends- if needed. 
The Lehigh Railway sends a local from Towanda to Sayre Mon-Sat. It usually arrives between 9 AM and 11 AM.
NS coal train 524 operates from the Southern Tier Mainline to Sayre (and Milliken Power Station north of Ithaca) on as needed basis. Weekend runs are common.
NS hopper train 525 is the westbound counterpart (empties) to NS 524.

[tcwright973]

Thanks for your reply. Appreciate it. We might go up to Seneca Lake in October, & maybe drop down to Sayre on the way home.
Tom

[Matt L]

No problem! If you are at Seneca Lake, the Finger Lakes Railway is also nearby. They have an interesting mix of GE and EMD power. Most of the locos have a NYC heritage scheme. A couple of their B23-7s are ex-Conrail in dress blue and one of the U-boats has a Lehigh Valley heritage scheme (based on the LV F units).

[tcwright973]

We use to catch Finger Lakes RR coming up from Watkins Glen & crossing  Route 14 late on Wednesday afternoons, but not for the last 2 years. Probably on a different schedule now. I have also gone up to their yard in the past. After signing a waiver in the office, I was allowed onto the property for photos. Really nice folks. But again, haven't done that for a couple of years either, so I don't know if that is still allowed.  They also had some nice passenger cars up by their yard.
Tom

[Matt L]

You saw FGLK local HW2 returning from Watkins Glen. It normally runs on Mon and Fri now, but it will also run on Wed and/or Sat if necessary. HW2 will also run to Penn Yan on as needed basis, usually once per week.  The power for HW2 also handles the Himrod-Geneva turn HG2, which operates on trackage rights via the NS Corning Secondary.

You can still sign a release to access FGLK's property in Geneva. Their employees have been very nice to me through the years. The Geneva yard job GY1 usually operates with a 1 man crew. You can also catch GS2 leaving for Solvay in the late morning or early afternoon Sun-Fri. It often runs with a pair of leased SD38-2s these days. There are also yard jobs in Auburn and Solvay, although I don't know the symbols. Don't forget the Geneva-Canandaigua local GC2 operates Tue and Fri, with the occasional run on Thu or Sat as well.

The passenger cars are parked east of the engine house. The Finger Lakes Railway cut back on most excursions a few years back because their freight business keeps growing, but I heave heard they are willing to let a subcontractor or excursion operation take over the passenger business.

Good luck with your trip!

[dschlegel]

Nice shots! I like the Alcohol smoke at Painted Post!
Dan

[Matt L]

Thanx, Dan! The Alcos often smoke heavily next to the Dresser Rand building, as they must work hard to get up to speed. The train had 45+ tank cars.