I began the celebration for my 41st birthday one day early day early, by heading to Sayre, PA. That town is the historic hub of the Lehigh Valley RR. While the LV and her shops are long gone, NS still maintains a presence there. The Lehigh Railway, which operates some of the of LV main south of Sayre, also interchanges with NS there. Here is a string of freight cars presumable set aside by NS for the Lehigh Railway to pick up:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09038.jpg&hash=4a9a874a7161e110f2891b5ed1c4a8559b3ba57e)
Pohot taken by me Friday 1/29/2010.
I took a walk down by the Susquehanna River... and the NS local arrived while I was gone. Thankfully, I didn't miss much!
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09051.jpg&hash=d3eeb666a6a11e7bc6e7cf1d82ee9f4e768b1d46)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Sayre, PA.
The matched set of SD40-2s in Conrail blue made me feel nostalgic. I can remember when CR took over operations from EL, LV and PC back in '76.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09066.jpg&hash=2012031b04b7a5aa599a039c22b5efc674ecfd8d)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Sayre, PA. Yes, that's the old LV station in the background.
A customer, GE railcar, occupies the building behind the NS local.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09069.jpg&hash=79ee4906c4aa88a3fec6ac5096066a616840f02d)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Sayre, PA.
The old LV station, at left, is a museum now. It make a great prop as the NS local switches in Sayre.
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09077.jpg&hash=bde0c4969f852500ee554031e77d0efb3f1d57ef)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010.
NS switching at Sayre, PA:
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Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010.
NS switching in the former LV yard at Sayre:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09106.jpg&hash=debac8fefbd51b22a69f5f62473bbd342a173c60)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Sayre, PA.
When the switching was done, the NS local sprinted out of the LV yard using this old connector ROW built by the LV over 140 years ago:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09127.jpg&hash=2ce480ab7b088908d3ce2ff428b8bc3990dfd909)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Sayre, PA.
The connector track in the previous picture allowed LV to interchange with the Erie/EL mainline. These days, NS uses to move their trains between Sayre and Gang Mills. Since I knew that, intercepting the train on the old Erie/El mainline west of Waverly was very easy:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09130.jpg&hash=1b6acebb090631ab690ef3b996420666eabd321d)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Wellsburg, PA.
Owing to speed restrictions on the highway next to the tracks, it was impossible to chase the westbound local to Gang Mills. Instead, I parked at the Route 427 crossing for a while and caught this eastbound coal drag at twilight:
(https://www.jreb.org/ns/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi857.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fab139%2FErielackawanna%2FBday2010%2FDSC09137.jpg&hash=82de58de46bd7b41329d41771d8b5214066ce340)
Photo taken by me Friday 1/29/2010 in Wellsburg, NY. Enjoy the pics! To see the entire album, go to: http://s857.photobucket.com/albums/ab139/Erielackawanna/Bday2010/
I don't think you can go wrong photographing around that depot. That's a nice spot. Thanks for sharing.
Steve