Good grief- October was hectic! I finally have time to share my last chase of the summer with the rest of you. This particular day was spent in the greater Buffalo area. I begen the day by chasing the Buffalo Southern... which led me to Buffalo Creek Junction. This eastbound NS freight arrived just ahead of BSOR's local turn.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY. There is also a Norfolk Southern train loaded with coal parked on the CSX Chicago Line in the foreground.
I'm not quite sure why, but the NS mixed freight was actaully on Buffalo Southern rails. As the tail end of the train approached the Tifft Street bridge, I could see the BSOR engine in the distance.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/20101 in Buffalo, NY. From left to right: the double track is Norfolk Southern (former NKP mainline), the single track line is the Buffalo Southern (ex-Erie/EL branchline) and the tracks at right belong to CSX (a mixture of ex-NYC and ex-Lehigh Valley).
Here comes #5010, a Buffalo Southern RR RS11. This Alco was built for the D&H with the same # and was owned by the D&H during the Dereco years (1968-'72). She is no stranger to the Buffalo area, as #5010 was used by the D&H on the Apollo and Mercury intermodal trains of the late' 70s and early '80s, which were interchanged with N&W.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010. When I resume this series, we'll take a look at the NS locals at Buffalo Creek Junction.
As the BSOR local faded into the distance, I shifted my attention to NS. The Geep in the foreground was switching cars at the Buffalo & Pittsburgh interchange.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY. This section of the yard is former B&O trackage.
There was a 2nd NS local at Buffalo Creek Junction, using a former Conrail engine to switch the former NKP.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY.
This is why I love going to Buffalo Creek Junction- it is pretty easy see two or more trains at the same time, often from different RRs. The Buffalo Southern local has picked up its load and can also be seen at the left, while the NS local continued to shuffle cars.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY.
The former Conrail engine was an SD40-2, built new for CR back in 1977.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY.
NS #3403 has passed under the Tifft Street bridge and stopped next to one the retention ponds.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY. There is a B&P MOW truck in the background.
Meanwhile, BSOR #5010 is approaching the Tifft Street bridge.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY.
My original purpose for my trip to Buffalo was to chase the Buffalo Southern, so I chased it on part of the trip outbound from Buffalo Creek Junction. This eastbound NS freight was a nice bonus when I arrived in Blasdell.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Buffalo, NY.
Norfolk Southern D8-40CW approaching the Lake Avenue crossing in Blasdell. She is a former Conrail unit.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010.
Now, here is why I went to Blasdell. Norfolk Southern and the Buffalo Southern have a diamond there. By a stroke of luck, the BSOR local arrived while NS was passing through through the diamond. The headlight of #5010 can be seen in the background.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010.
Here is the heritage of the diamond- the NS line is the former NKP mainline and the BSOR line is the former Erie/EL Buffalo & Southwestern Branch. The NS freight has cleared the diamond and #5010 ready to roll again.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 at Lake Avenue in Blasdell, NY.
BSOR #5010 bangs the diamond at Blasdell:
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010.
The BSOR is passing through Blasdell. Unfortunately, I lost track of the train after it left town... but that was not a major problem. There is plenty of activity in the Buffalo area (even with the decline in manufacturing) so I went to a couple other hot spots.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010.
My next stop after losing sight of the BSOR freight was the CSX Niagara Sub. (Those pictures are better suited to a CSX-themed forum.) After that, my final stop of the day was Bison Yard... another favorite location.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
The SD60 was switching a string of double stacks at Bison Yard, which is an important transload facility. Here we see the local pulling onto a short segment of the former DL&W mainline.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
The stacks are backing up and are about to pass under the Harlem Street bridge.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
Meanwhile, a pair of widecabs was switching on the other side of Bison Yard:
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
That local did pause, because this mixed freight was approaching from the west.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
Meet at Bison Yard:
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
I'm not quite sure why that tank car has sand(?) on it.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
Meanwhile, a crewman from the pair of widecabs is walking towards a switch located under the Harlem Road bridge.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
After the mixed freight passed, the widecabs resumed switching at Bison Yard:
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY.
After the widecabs picked up a pair of cars, they stopped and the yard became very quiet. It was getting late in the day and I was hungry, so I went to dinner and ended the chase.
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Photo taken by me Friday 9/17/2010 in Cheektowaga, NY. It was a fun day with a couple of interesting twists. Enjoy!!!
These are great shots of an area that was once so strong in manufacturing. I remember very clearly when Bethlehem Steel was like a city and Republic also. These pictures taken on a grey day matches the demise of this once powerful place. I even find it hard to believe there are any trains running except for those import stack ones.
I hear ya- Buffalo's manufacturing base is a shadow of its former glory days. Even so, there are still a couple steel mills in the greater Buffalo area plus an assortment of small factories. The NS local at Buffalo Creek Junction probably took some of those boxcars to a couple of industries in Hamburg. The B&P services one of the steel mills and a Ford plant (that makes trucks) on the former South Buffalo. Buffalo Southern has a really wild mix of customers- everything from an ethanol plant to a tire compay to a natural gas dealer... plus interchange traffic with the New York & Lake Erie south of town. CSX has a couple clusters of customers on the north side of the metro area. Thankfully, some folks in/near Buffalo carry on. They have my utmost respect.
P.S. Thanks for the kind words about my photos! 8)