I did some driving today hunting Heritage Units

dschlegel · December 27, 2013, 11:52:26 PM

I started the day by dropping my daughter off at daycare and heading for Allentown Yard to see if I could find the Wabash unit which was reported in on the 13T. I got to the yard a little before 9AM and was unable to find the 1070, but did find this NS 1705 which started life on the Erie-Lackawanna. After trying unsuccessfully to find the Wabash unit I headed for Abrams yard in Valley Forge, PA to see if I could view the NS 8105 Interstate unit. Thanks to some pointers from fellow TO members, I found the Interstate unit idling away below a soccer field. After a short hike off of the nature trail and into the woods, I was able to get a half=decent shot without trespassing. Idling away near the 8105 was the BNSF 7695 'Golden Swoosh' unit. After hiking back up to the soccer field, I headed back for Allentown and found the Wabash unit at the west end of the yard with some other power. From Allentown I headed out to Macungie to watch some Reading Line action and kill some time until I had to pick my daughter up at daycare. After picking her up I headed to Shamrock to see if we could see the NS 1066 New York Central unit which was leading 16T and held up waiting for traffic ahead to clear. Not only did my daughter and I see the NYC unit, but we also were fortunate enough to catch the Wabash trailing on the 15T. Here's some shots from today. Enjoy!
Dan Schlegel
1)NS 1705 idles by itself at the east end of Allentown Yard
2) NS 6713 waits on the CP Bethlehem signal to head across the Lehigh River and east into NJ
3)NS 7016 leads H90 West at CP Allen

dschlegel · December 27, 2013, 11:58:32 PM

4) Next up is the view I found of the Interstate unit from the soccer field above Abrams Yard in Valley Forge.
5)This is what I was able to do with the 8105 after hiking down the bank and bending a few tree branches. There were no signs indicating this was private property, and I did not step out of the wooded area onto obvious RR property.
6) Different view of the 8105.

dschlegel · December 28, 2013, 12:02:56 AM

7) View of the BNSF 7695 from the same location as above.
8)Back at Allentown Yard, we see the NS 1070 buried in the west end while and ethanol train rolls west through the "park" in the background. Note that this train had a war bonnet trailing, lettering still said Sante Fe (not BNSF).
9)Here's 20K rolling east on the Main 1 (opposing) track at Macungie.

dschlegel · December 28, 2013, 12:04:23 AM

To close my post, I'll attach a couple of mediocre (blurry/dark) shots of the NYC unit at Shamrock and the Wabash Unit at the same location.
10) 1066 waits for clear track west of Shamrock
11) 15T with the Wabash unit trailing heads west towards the waiting 16T.
Thanks for looking, I hope you enjoyed!
Dan

NSMoWandS · December 28, 2013, 11:03:24 AM

Looks like a good day! That soccer field above/by Abrams is usually filled with Canadian Geese and/or their presents! LOL! DE Dan

dschlegel · December 28, 2013, 11:15:08 AM

Quote from: NSMoWandS on December 28, 2013, 11:03:24 AM
Looks like a good day! That soccer field above/by Abrams is usually filled with Canadian Geese and/or their presents! LOL! DE Dan

Didn't see any geese yesterday, but there were plenty of green worms about! I did see about 10 Robbins though which I thought was out of the ordinary for December 27th.
PA Dan

Matt L · December 28, 2013, 09:40:36 PM

Nice catch on the former EL unit! I probably saw that engine back in the day, although I was too young to know she was an SD45-2. And yes, the Wabash engine was leading power on 13T two days ago- pics will be coming after I'm finished setting up my new PC, which includes learning Windows 7.

dschlegel · December 29, 2013, 04:51:37 PM

Quote from: Matt L on December 28, 2013, 09:40:36 PM
Nice catch on the former EL unit! I probably saw that engine back in the day, although I was too young to know she was an SD45-2. And yes, the Wabash engine was leading power on 13T two days ago- pics will be coming after I'm finished setting up my new PC, which includes learning Windows 7.

There's still a few of the SD45-2's floating around, I saw the 1702 roll west on Monday the 23rd through Wyomissing Junction.

As for Windows 7, it takes some getting used to but isn't terrible. Windows 8 sucks in my opinion, especially when trying to VPN into my work computer. I get kicked out every 30 seconds or so.

PA Dan

Matt L · December 29, 2013, 09:08:08 PM

NS got 6 of EL's SD45-2s from the CR split. Last I knew, all of them are still in service. Pics are kinda scarce, though. CSX received 5 ex-EL SD45-2s, as well- I have seen one of those.

I like Windows 7 so far. There are some big differences vs Windows XP (which my old PC had), but it's not difficult to learn.