NS across upstate NY and northern PA

Matt L · February 07, 2010, 05:55:44 PM

The train at Wellsburg had alot of covered hoppers. NS handles both salt and grain traffic in upstate NY.

Photo taken by me Friday 7/10/2009. It's getting to be time for the Super Bowl, so I will resume sharing my pictures another day... hopefully soon!

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 08:47:36 PM

Let's move foward into August of last year. I spent a warm, humid day at CP Cass in Hornell. Much of the day was quiet, with this MOW sprayer being the only activity before 5 PM.

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 08:52:29 PM

As I found out later, NS was hard at work doing some maintenance ot the former Erie/EL Buffalo extension until late afternoon. When the MOW work ended for the day, the floodgates opened... and this eastbound freight was the first train to pass through CP Cass after my arrival.

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

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 08:59:21 PM

The same eastbound freight:

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 09:01:39 PM

A little over an hour later, this CP Transfer freight rumbled down from Buffalo:

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 09:04:35 PM

The CP freight came to a stop about a mile down the tracks:

Photo taken by me Thrusday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 09:10:04 PM

With the eastbound CP freight stopped for a few minutes, I jumped in my car and drove a couple miles down the road. Thus I was able to intercept the PC frieght when it resumed its journey:

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 09:11:36 PM

Notice the odd paint job on the trailing CP locomotive:

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 09, 2010, 09:13:59 PM

Pac Man lives! I was quite happy to see the old CP covered hopper in consist:

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY. When I resume this series, we'll take a look at a rare treat coming out of the setting sun.

NSMoWandS · February 09, 2010, 09:42:47 PM

As for the odd paint job... Can anyone say turbo fire?

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 08:45:02 PM

Quote from: NSMoWandS on February 09, 2010, 09:42:47 PM
As for the odd paint job... Can anyone say turbo fire?

I'm figuring it was fire or minor collison damage to the body of the locomotive... but I have no conclusive evidence to prove either theory.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 08:53:20 PM

The sun was already getting low in the sky when that CP freight passed through Hornell. I had thinking about calling it a day... but I heard from a fellow railfan that the Western New York & Pennsylvania RR local was due to arrive shortly. I decided to stay and was rewarded by this handsome red C430 leading a train into town just before sunset.

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 08:57:55 PM

The WNYP leases a portion of the old Erie/EL mainline west of Hornell from NS. They usually send three locals into Hornell per week. One such run occurs on Thursday nights, as we see here:

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009. Yes, that's an old Erie station in the background.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:01:45 PM

I was getting a bit nervous about the weather, too. There had already been a couple of brief downpours during the day... and the growing clouds in the west were a sign of strong thunderstorms that would arrive after dark.

Photo taken by me 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:08:11 PM

I didn't follow the WNYP local down to the yard in Hornell, as that area is difficult to photograph. I chose to wait up by CP Cass. About an hour after the WNYP local arrived, I was rewarded by two sets of headlights in the east. The first train to head west through CP cass was this NS mixed freight, which had interchanged with the WNYP during the journey to Buffalo.

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:10:45 PM

Train meets are not common on NS in upstate NY... but the WNYP local pulling up next to the NS mixed freight certainly qualifies as a meet for me!

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:13:44 PM

After the NS train cleared the junction at CP Cass, the crew in the C430 turned on the ditch lights and the WNYP local began to head west again:

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:18:51 PM

WNYP #432 had been refurbished and road tested on the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville RR (an affiliated shortline) at the beginning of last year, so it was nice to see the big Alco handling a train on her own.

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:21:46 PM

The WNYP local paused a few hundred feet from the junction at CP Cass until NS gave clearance for the train to proceed through the interlocking.

Photo taken by me Thursday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY.

Matt L · February 10, 2010, 09:27:37 PM

After a few minutes, the junction at CP Cass was aligned for the WNYP local to depart Hornell and #432 led her train west... bound for Olean, NY. Both darkness and storm clouds were growing, so I drove to the safety of Bath (NY) after the train left.

Photo taken by me Thusday 8/20/2009 in Hornell, NY. Number 432 was not the only Alco I saw on NS rails last summer, as we will see when I resume this series.

Matt L · February 12, 2010, 10:04:37 PM

Just 4 days after my trip to Hornell, I spent a day chasing the Bath & Hammondsport RR. Like the WNYP, the B&H is affiliated with the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville RR. In addition to the business relationship, all three shortlines favor Alcos, operate former EL routes and interchange (either directly or indirectly) with NS.

In the case of the the B&H, it runs on the former EL Wayland branch and interchanges with NS near Corning, NY. Here we see a pair of ex-EL C424ms running light into Painted Post. The local, dubbed WACH-77, will pick up freight cars from NS at the Gang Mills yard.

Photo taken by me Monday 8/24/2009.

Matt L · February 12, 2010, 10:08:46 PM

The B&H crew left their freight cars about two miles up the tracks (at the edge of Painted Post) so NS normally sends 1 or 2 engines to retrieve those freight cars. On this occasion, this venerable GP40-2 had that duty.

Photo taken by me Monday 8/24/2009.

Matt L · February 12, 2010, 10:12:52 PM

Number 3046 returning with the freight cars dropped by the B&H:

Photo taken by me Monday 8/24/2009 in Painted Post, NY.

Matt L · February 12, 2010, 10:17:45 PM

Belching smoke in classic Alco fashion, the B&H C424ms have returned from Gang Mills with a train to take west:

Photo taken by me Monday 8/24/2009 in Painted Post, NY.

Matt L · February 12, 2010, 10:27:13 PM

The B&H C424ms have been associated with the NS and N&W for over 40 years. Originally as C424s built for EL in 1963, they were active during the Dereco years. Conrail sold them to the D&H in 1980. After GE rebuilt the C424s at Hornell, the D&H used them in the Apollo/Mercury TOFC runs that interchanged with N&W/NS in Buffalo. The LA&L purchased the C424ms from Guilford in 1996. Two of them went to the B&H in 2001 and a third C424m arrived in Cohocton last year. They are used in the local run to Painted Post to interchange with NS. Here we see #423 coming off NS rails and onto B&H rails at the Hamilton Street crossing:

Photo taken by me Monday 8/24/2009 in Painted Post, NY.