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I spent another fine fall day with NS on the Southern Tier mainline this past weekend. One of my female friends was surprised that I drove 45 minutes out of Rochester to photograph NS. She found this out from a mutual friend who saw me trackside, so I explained what NS (and the former RR) means to me. It truly is a fine place to be.

My first sighting was NS 23K heading westbound. It crossed Molasses Hill Road around mid-morning and eventually came to a stop on the siding (albeit out of sight) at CP Linden.







Why was 23K "sitting in the hole" at CP Linden? The train was being held for eastbound 13T, which arrived a short time later.







All photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 10/13/2012 in Linden, NY. 

I moved over to Spring Road in the Town of Alexander. Eastbound NS/CP 38T arrived late in the morning. I never get tired seeing that splash of red on the Southern Tier Mainline.







At this point, a short chase was afoot. I headed south and east (taking advantage of the curves in the former Erie ROW) and got ahead of the train at Vernal Road in Middlebury.   







All photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 10/13/2012 in Wyoming County, NY.

It would have been nice to chase 38T longer, but I had to head back to Rochester for a birthday party. I figured my NS sightings for the day were over... but nooo... I was wrong! The CSX Chicago Line runs right through greater Rochester. While I was waiting to head into the venue where we were holding the party, I caught NS power leading a unit tank train heading westbound on the Chicago Line.







The party was held at MacGregor's, a local chain of pubs. This particular location is a former New York Central RR station. It sits right next to the tracks, so several of my friends and I really enjoyed the setting. BTW, the food, drink and service were pretty good, too. I'll have to find out if there is outside dining at MacGregor's when the weather warms up next spring. The Chicago Line is good for 50+ trains per day.



All photos in this post were taken by me Saturday 10/13/2012 in Chili, NY.  

Nice shots! I just caught an ethanol train in Newark, DE with a CP SD40-2 and a DME SD40-2. And, more over, I was at the "Deer Park Tavern"... a pub that used to be a hotel back in the early 1800's. It is located 20 ft from CSX's Philly Sub. It's nice to grab a beer and watch some trains! Dan

Thanks! I think the tank train was ethanol empties headed west... because CSX has a loading facility on the Hudson River at Albany (NY), but I'm not 100% sure because CP is also routing crude oil tank trains through NY, too. 

CSX was (prob still is) doing track work on the River Line... so, most of the empty ethanol trains headed south down the Trenton Line, Philly Sub, to the Capitol or Met Subs to continue west. When I was around this summer... it was a good bet for foreign power. Got BNSF, CP, UP and that was my first DME. However, I did miss the ICE units. Dan

I caught an ICE SD40-2 leading a unit tank train on the CSX Chicago Line last summer near Buffalo.