Thanks for the birthday gift NS!!! (NS 1069 VGN and some other misc items)

[dschlegel]

Good evening everyone,
I took today off like I do each year on my birthday to head out trackside. Much like other years, the weather wasn't fantastic, but I made do.
I awoke to misty dreary 62 degree weather, took my kid to daycare, and then headed for Birdsboro, PA to see if the NS 1069 was still around. As I was rolling west on PA724, it was easy to spot a yellow nose from at least a half mile away.
Here's some of what I saw today while I was out and about. The first set were all taken at Dyers quarry off of PA724 in Birdsboro, PA as the H48 crew was making up its train.

[dschlegel]

We were really surprised (the 3 railfans that were out at 10AM on a rainy Thursday) to find that once the air was tested, the train started shoving west. We weren't sure what the destination was for this train as Dyers ships ballast all over the country. In any case, we soon realized it was not a short shove as the power rolled by us at near track speed. I chased north on 724 to the village of Seyfert and caught these. Note the 1924 date on the ex Reading Bridge. This stretch of track if I am not mistaken was originally the Wilmington and Northern.

[dschlegel]

From there I booked it out to Wyomissing in anticipation of the H48 coming up the connector after its epic reverse move from Birdsboro to Tulp (has to be at least 10 miles). To make a long story short, the westbound morning parade took priority over the H48, so I caught a few at Wyomissing and then headed further west. Here's some shots from Wyomissing including and ex Reading SW1001 and a classy SD40-2 pulling a local out of Reading yard on Main 2.

[dschlegel]

After the 21M rolled west, and a larger crew of railfans started to assemble at Wyomissing, Harrisburg East told H48, which had been sitting at Leisy waiting to back to Tulp since 10 or so that they'd need to wait for at least 5 eastbounds before being allowed to move due to work on main 1 west of Dorf.
FYI, Leisy and Tulp are two switches of the wye that was formerly Lebanon Valley Junction.
Common sense prevailed and I headed west for a back road outside of Womelsdorf, PA on the Harrisburg line. As it turns out Harrisburg east was incorrect about the 5 eastbounds before moving H48. It was actually 6 EB's and 2 WB's before getting out of town. Here's some shots from Brick Plant Rd outside of Womelsdorf.

[dschlegel]

By now it was approaching 2 in the afternoon so I decided I had better start heading back east since I had a dinner date with my wife and daughter in Topton. I made a stop in Wernersville, PA and caught the 6th eastbound rolling past the ex Reading station platform awnings. It really is too bad the weather was so cloudy because I saw some neat stuff in neat locations.

[dschlegel]

My next stop while journeying east was in Sinking Spring to catch a 94M with a SD40-2 in WFO screaming through town.

[dschlegel]

From there it was back to Wyomissing where I found a ton of railfans out waiting for the 1069. I decided not to try too hard and instead catch a glimpse of the crowd assembled in the parking lot of the Dosie Dough bakery. If you're ever in the area please stop in, they're friendly, have great coffee, and make an amazing Moravian Cake.

Thanks for looking, have a great night!
PA Dan

[Badhorse79]

Happy BDay !!! and Nice catches

[dschlegel]

Oh yeah here's the list of what I saw today:
294 Longswamp
H48 Birdsboro with Virginian
21M Wyomissing
H47 Wyomissing
?? Wyomissing
64E Womelsdorf
20R Womelsdorf
18N Womelsdorf
24Z Womelsdorf
262 Womelsdorf
20K Wernersville
94M sinking Spring
19G sinking Spring
M1J Temple
38G Walnutown
??? Topton

[dschlegel]

Happy BDay !!! and Nice catches

Thanks!

[thpbears]

Happy B-Day. That was a pretty nice day you had.

[NSMoWandS]

Looks like you had a great time! Great shots! Happy (late) Birthday! DE Dan

[Matt L]

Happy belated b'day! It looks like you had a good day, despite the weather. All of your shots are nice, and I especially like the switcher shot. Why? NS end cab switchers almost never come to NY, so I have to enjoy shots from other states or take a road trip.  

[dschlegel]

Thanks all! As for the SW1001, when CR ruled the roost here in eastern PA, there were lots of them and SW1500's and MP15's. I have many memories of them powering the WHRE locals out of Reading. Also, CR used to string 6 or more of them together for ballast trains out of Birdsboro, PA, the sound was amazing as they pulled the hill from Valley Jct to Wyomissing Jct!
Have a great night guys!
Dan