I took a few days off from work last week to spend time in the southern Finger Lakes... where I grew up. At least part of each day was spent trackside.
Day #1 was spent at CP Cass. Owing to a couple of unforeseen delays, I missed a pair of westbound trains early in the morning, but I did catch 3 more as the day progressed. Joint NS/CP 38T arrived late in the morning.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09516.jpg&hash=fb163e2ddbd84c8639fe1e88a459e317cc0a12bd)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09530.jpg&hash=5c77d9a493bd188dbd158fa1ab13e717c1f36955)
The next train was 13T, which arrived in the early afternoon.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09540.jpg&hash=e1a04fab4984bb574a76fd2fdca79084fb4234b2)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09557.jpg&hash=a9bb9f8c6b6e551efedfef02aeecd9858ea5fdf6)
My final sighting was 12T, which was lit by the late afternoon sun.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09566.jpg&hash=a0baef346a7eeb28e508c81dbdf1ca161257ffec)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0822%2520CP%2520Cass%2FDSC09578.jpg&hash=21ed1255a9490642c4345210d76d2a4594abc671)
All photos in this post were taken by me Wednesday 8/22/2012 in Hornell, NY.
Day #2 included a trip to a brand new facility on the Bath & Hammondsport RR at Coopers Plains, NY. Owing to the demand for water and sand used in gas drilling in northern PA, the B&H has recently erected a transload facility and enginehouse just a few miles west of the interchange with NS.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09592.jpg&hash=55b6727a118379ed65639284401de76d365cd47f)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09595.jpg&hash=56a254c703d06c48b7fcb0ecf28c801afc43bd5f)
After that, I stopped by the yard at Gang Mills, NY... which sits on the Southern Tier Mainline. Westbound 12T was departing.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09604.jpg&hash=f06bd4a6c40ebfac90a08796689fabe381bf92ac)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09611.jpg&hash=7400a934e0cfcc91ccda615f69bf2e44922012ba)
A few EMDs were idling near the east end of the Gang Mills yard.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09613.jpg&hash=58351aa6a2fd67dc71f413ea76a1d118afb7407a)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0823%2520S%2520Tier%2FDSC09615.jpg&hash=0faec68bb830699a56ccd169ad6e48d3aa44955e)
All photos on this post were taken by me Thursday 8/23/2012.
I was hoping to catch the B&H in action on Day #3, but that didn't happen. I did find NS H77, sporting a string of empty tank cars, at the yard in Gang Mills, NY. The fog is very typical for late summer and fall in river valleys in this area.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09633.jpg&hash=6e7f014652d5a411022236ac8fe7927726e97ba8)
Further east, I saw CP's tank train 614 for the first time. This is a relatively new unit train of crude oil that runs from North Dakota to a refinery in New Jersey, using the Southern Tier Mainline for part of the trip. It was heading eastbound at Wellsburg, NY.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09649.jpg&hash=1075efc035b643fe6471c8ecd15cd9a6d9fcf31e)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09652.jpg&hash=6bd062bf0ffe968a45e3b5ec78f50e55a7260dcd)
All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/24/2012.
I also spent part of that day with NS local H12 as it switched the former Lehigh Valley RR yard in the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09670.jpg&hash=412adfeed9f9f875ac809b75775e90c02209d2c7)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09682.jpg&hash=8d1834654b79bf568e852350c4dd9a6301bbbc2e)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09695.jpg&hash=b6ed5dfddf167351eff80fa9b2090a0d4bfe01eb)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09711.jpg&hash=42919d70313b014cdad6590eb4255e1bfb6f698b)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09750.jpg&hash=bcb927afde8b7b3037550564bed405b597cf4dce)
All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/24/2012 in Sayre, PA.
Day #3 ended with 12T heading west yet again. I caught the train preparing to pull out of the Gang Mills (NY) yard:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09764.jpg&hash=f685ea0642e600a63662b4d42119c31f5f745e81)
The generous clearance on the former Erie RR (built as 6' gauge double track in the 19th Century) may have played a factor in the route chosen for transformer as it headed west... although I'm not 100% sure, to be honest. This location is Erwin, NY, on the Southern Tier Mainline.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09773.jpg&hash=2a68724eb438695f1459348d63dbce18a3eb4c69)
I chased 12T deep into the Canisteo River valley that afternoon, with my final shots coming at the County Route 110 crossing in Cameron Mills, NY.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09785.jpg&hash=534e87a552702302fec0ae3128c0550d6d7ccb0a)
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi105.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fm231%2FAmtrak_Matt%2FAug%25202012%2F0824%2520Twin%2520Tiers%2FDSC09795.jpg&hash=e05d3354e6111c2ccd4ab062f934e1baf22f8926)
All photos in this post were taken by me Friday 8/24/2012. There is a speed restriction on the Canisteo River Road just west of this crossing, so it was a logical spot to end the chase and head home. I had a good vacation... and I hope y'all enjoy these shots, too.
Looks like you had a nice time. Nice photos.
Thank you. I am going to try to catch the B&H and NS interchanging the new traffic when I'm there during the fall.
Update: the CP crude oil train uses symbol 614 on CP rails, but it is called W8T when operating on NS iron.