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I grew up in the Southern Tier of upstate NY and still have family there... so I usually take my summer vacation there. Three days were spent trackside and/or on a train. Let's start with CP Cass. It's a former Erie/EL junction and one of my favorite spots to railfan.

When I arrived, the MOW crew was working on the tracks.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

A Jordan Spreader was also working on the tracks:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

This cherry picker was cleaning up loose rail:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

Around mid-day, the MOW was temporarily halted to let a pair of trains pass through the interlocking. The first train was an eastbound mixed freight:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

The leading SD60M, #6764, is on home rails... as she was built for Conrail.




Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

The trailing unit was one of several BNSF locomotives I saw that day.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

I caught the tail end of the eastbound mixed freight as I headed up to West Street... so I could set up for train #2.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

The westbound freight is 22K, a real hotshot that runs from Ayer, MA, to Chicago daily. It did pause briefly so the cherry picker could finish cleaning up the loose rail near the tracks.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.  

With the cherry picker out of the way, 22K headed through the interlocking at CP Cass:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.  

NS 9322, a GE C40-9W, was the first of 4 locomotives powering 23K. I liked the mix of wide cabs and standard cabs.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

NS symbol freight 23K crossing West Street:




Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

Both of the standard cab locomotives on 22K, including #8673, were GE C39-8Es:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

As we saw in a previous photo, 22K had auto racks up front. However, its special status as part of the Pan  Am Southern operation guarantees most runs also have stacks and/or TOFC in the mix.




Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.  

After 22K passed, the MOW work continued in the Hornell-Canisteo area during the afternoon. With the Southern Tier Mainline effectively closed, it gave me a golden opportunity to scout out a new location to watch NS. I eventually settled on a crossing in thr Canisteo River valley which was just east of a passing siding. Sure enough, an eastbound NS freight entered the siding shortly after 5 PM... and then stopped.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.  

With the eastbound freight being halted, I figured a westbound freight had to be approaching. This guess was soon rewarded by the sound of a train rumbling through the Canisteo River valley. I was also lucky to be catching the freight at the west of end of Rattlesnake Curve as it came into view:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Hornell, NY.

Crossing Canisteo River Road:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

Rattlesnake Curve, which is to the east of the Canisteo River Road crossing, is well known to Erie, EL and CR fans.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.   

Given the time of day, I am assuming the westbound mixed freight was probably 12T.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

12T and the eastbound freight train meet at the passing siding.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

After 12T passed, the eastbound freight got under way again.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

The eastbound freight crosses Canisteo River Road:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

In contrast to the other trains I saw that day, the eastbound freight was led by an EMD- SD70M #2608.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

There were also two BNSF units on the eastbound NS freight:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.

Since the tracks were closed during the afternoon, I figured the eastbound freight was probably 13T... the daily run between Bison Yard (Buffalo) and Allentown.



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in West Cameron, NY.  

After 13T passed, I decided to chase it east to Gang Mills. This was no easy task- sonce the Southenr Tier Mainline has a speed limit of 40-50mph and the Canisteo River Road has a speed limit varying between 45 and 55 mph. That said, I did catch up to the train about 1/2 way between West Cameron and Gang Mills:



Photo taken by me Friday 8/20/2010 in Rathbone, NY.