I recently had a birthday, so I headed off to the county where I grew up... to see family and spend some time trackside. Days #1 and #2 were spent with the Southern Tier Mainline, while the 3rd day was a mix of the Tier and the Wellsboro & Corning RR.
The first morning was sunny and beautiful as 23K rolled through CP Cass.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
23K had an older SOO EMD sandwiched between the widecabs.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
23K heads up the former Erie Buffalo Division, bound for Bison Yard and eventually Chicago.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
Next up was 38T, which had a nice pair of matched lease units for power.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
38T crosses Cass Street.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
The power for 38T passes under Maple City drive.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
Eastbound 38T passes through CP Cass.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04635.jpg)
Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
The tail end of 38T has cleared Taylor Street and will soon disappear around the bend on its trek to Binghamton.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04639.jpg)
Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Hornell, NY.
I also moved eastward into the Canisteo River valley, a couple hours after 38T passed. 13T arrived in the middle of the afternoon.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Adrian, NY.
The chase was on at this point and I followed 13T eastward, enjoying the sound of the lead engine's horn echoing off the valley walls. (It's maybe a mile or so wide in most places.)
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron, NY.
13T crosses Canisteo River Road.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron, NY.
The tail end of 13T runs through the Canisteo River valley.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04654.jpg)
Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron, NY.
The Southern Tier mainline has a speed limit of 50 mph and the Canisteo River Road has a speed limit of 55 mph, so getting ahead of the train again was easy.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Rathbone, NY.
13T crosses Newcomb Road.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Rathbone, NY.
Eventually, the road's speed limit lowered for a small town, so I eventually had to end the chase and let 13T go with a parting shot.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in the Village of Addison, NY.
Most of the day was dry... but a nasty mix of snow, sleet and cold raid developed in the late afternoon. Daylight was beginning to fade by the time 12T approached County Route 110 around 4:30 PM.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
12T crosses County Route 110 in stormy weather.
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Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
The leased GMTX EMD leading 12T was a nice splash of color in a sea of black NS power.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04671.jpg)
Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
The tail end of 12T heads westbound through the Canisteo River valley. The weather was getting worse, so I left immediately after the train passed.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04675.jpg)
Photo taken by me Saturday 1/28/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY. When I resume the series, we'll take a look at day #2... which had the best weather of the three.
Resuming my pictorial from a little over a week ago, Day #2 dawned bright and clear. I went down into the Canisteo River Valley again and caught 13T heading east around mid-afternoon.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
13T enters the County Route 110 crossing.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
13T heads east under much better weather than the previous day.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
The tail end of 13T rounds the bend east County Route 110... and the chase was on again.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
13T rumbles through the Canisteo River valley under cold winter sunshine.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04724.jpg)
Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Rathbone, NY.
Just like the day before, a speed limit restriction forced me to puill over and finish my chase at the edge of a small town.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in the Village of Addison, NY.
The trailing loco for 13T was an ex-UP SD60.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in the Village of Addison, NY.
The tail end of 13T flies by me.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in the Village of Addison, NY.
About 30 minutes later, I was back on the chase... pursuing 12T as that train headed west through the Canisteo River valley.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Rathbone, NY.
Soon, i was back in a familiar location...
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
12T makes the approach to County Route 110.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
The trio of widecabs powering 12T was impressive.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
CSX happens...
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
The tail end of 12T heads westward on the Southern Tier Mainline.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Cameron Mills, NY.
Heading back east, I decided to check out the Gang Mills yard.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/28/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
Zooming in, I could tell 13T was still in the yard. Can you spot it?
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04751.jpg)
Photo taken by me Sunday 1/28/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
The power for 13T was idling at the east end of the yard and would get under way shortly after this shot.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04757.jpg)
Photo taken by me Sunday 1/28/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
13T passes the old Hickling power station east of Corning. The spur to the plant is in the background.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Gibson, NY.
13T heads east on the old Erie/EL mainline.
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Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Gibson, NY.
The sky was starting to cloud up again as 13T departed, but snow would hold off until after dark.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04770.jpg)
Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Gibson, NY.
The tail end of 13T passes MP 285. My chase ended here, as it was getting late- time for dinner with family.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04771.jpg)
Photo taken by me Sunday 1/29/2012 in Gibson, NY. When I resume this series again, we'll take a look at Gang Mills under colder conditions.
OK, let's wrap things up with the Day #3. Snow had fallen overnight, but the dawn was again clear (and also quite cold). I headed "over the border" and spent much of the day with the Wellsboro & Corning RR. Pics from that chase will be eventually be added to my Empire Link thread in the Nags Head Lounge.
In the meantime, let's take a look a few miles north of the border... at Gang Mills Yard. This pair SD40-2s was idling near the east end of the facility. I recall seeing #3410 around the same time of year in 2010, but she was still wearing blue Conrail dress at the time.
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Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
This view gives a better impression of the snow we experienced the night before.
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Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
A pair of widecabs was assembling a train.
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Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
Widecabs run light through the yard.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04940.jpg)
Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
Another trio of widecabs was preparing for departure at the west end of the yard.
(http://i105.photobucket.com/albums/m231/Amtrak_Matt/Jan%202012/DSC04941.jpg)
Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY.
Other than an occasional shuffle move, the Gang Mills yard was pretty quiet, so I took my leave of the Southern Tier Mainline and headed back to Rochester after this shot.
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Photo taken by me Monday 1/30/2012 in Gang Mills, NY. I hope you have enjoyed this pictorial- it sure was a fun set of days for me.
That is a beautiful part of NY state. Nice pictures too. Where does the Southern Tier start and finish? Do they get much traffic?
Thank you very much. I grew up in the vicinity of the Tier... and can remember when it was still the Erie Lackawanna. Some folks just think of New York City when they think of my state... and while I will admit that Manhattan does have appeal, the Finger Lakes region in upstate NY is truly special to me.
The Southern Tier Mainline is made up of the following segments:
1. Former Erie/EL Buffalo Division from Bison Yard in Cheektowaga, NY to CP Cass in Hornell, NY.
2. Former Erie/EL mainline from CP Cass to Corning, NY.
3. Former DL&W ROW from Corning, NY to Gibson, NY. About 10 miles of track was moved over from the Erie ROW to the parallel DL&W roadbed circa 1984 to make way for "improvements" to Route 17.
4. Former Erie/EL mainline from Gibson, NY to Croxton Yard in Seacaucus, NJ.
About 12-16 trains use the Southern Tier Mainline daily west of Binghamton, NY. There is serious talk of more traffic being added to the Tier. A reliable source has told me NS will add a transfer freight between Bison Yard and Sayre, PA by July to handle the growing interchange traffic. (A couple of connecting shortlines are exploding with traffic right now.) Furthermore, the same source (whom I trust deeply) has indicated that NS is about to resume through service east of Binghamton, which currently sees local service only.