Railfanning W.F.P.T. Style 8-30-08

PART 1 AYER,Mass. PanAm District 3

AY-2 @ 14:50 345 (MEC) 10 loads of grain to the mill.
T-1410 @ 15:06 Cabcar 1626 - 6 cars 1011 pushing (Boston / North Station).
AYMO @ 16:15 6413 HLCX - 7182 HLCX.
BOPW Empty P&W coal train tied down at "THE WILLOWS" 4004 leading.Should head
back to the Providence & Worcester sunday morning via the Worcester main.

PART 2 GARDNER,MASS CPF-345 PanAm District 3
NBWA @ 18:00 621(S.T.) - 330(B&M) - 379(MEC) - 327(B&M) 51 cars.
Outlawed and shut down all engines EXEPT B&M 327 on # 2 track.
A lot of M.O.W. are stored on the old MBTA Track off the "Heywood Branch" PAR is doing a lot of track work between CPF-345 and Parkers.Tie replacement and new ballast.Nice to see an SD-26 leading the Slurry train.(621)
AYMO @ 18:50 6413 HLCX - 7182 HLCX good size train.

PART 3 WORCESTER,MASS. CSX Boston Sub. CP-45

Q-427 @ 19:00 5012 - 5010 from PanAm Railways in Ayer,Mass. (Hill Yard).(WASE)
Q-426 @ 19:30 628 - 5014 To PanAm Railways In Ayer,Mass. (Hill Yard) (SEWA)
Both trains from / to Waterville,Maine via Worcester Main Line.To / from CSX Selkirk Yard in Selkirk ,N.Y.
P-563 @ 19:31 1071 - 7 cars cabcar 1707.
P-562 @ 20:00 Cabcar 1707 7 cars 1071 pushing (Boston / South Station).
P-448 @ 20:10 Amtrak "LAKESHORE LIMITED" 85 - baggage 1161 3 AmFleet Cars
(Boston / South Station) From Chicago / Albany.Train was 5 minutes EARLY!
Q-115 @ 20:40 5256 - 4554 - 7356 - 5464.
Q-420 @ 21:15 629 - 606.
Q-117 @ 22:00 5414 - 8772 - 5362.
Till Next Time Railfans.
Billy Leazer W.F.P.T. / H.A.P.T.
Dave Jodoin W.F.P.T.
Nick Palazini W.F.P.T.
Billy Stone W.F.P.T.
Phil Pender W.F.P.T.
Bill Sweeney
Henry Bourdeau & Dougie V.F.P.T.


The Worcester Foreign Power Team. The Heart And Soul Of Railfanning.Hebron Any Power Team. The Guardians Of Danville Junction.

Applied Ferroequinarchaeology

Some of us contributors on this blog are into the model side of railroading. Yet, I haven't seen much about that aspect here. So I thought I'd break the ice. It isn't railfanning per se, but it is the reason behind it for many. Recent travels have given me some renewed interest. Therefore, I'm also about to illustrate why many railfans exist in the first place.

Now the last thing I'd do is brag about these photos. The shot above is a rather poor shot as far as model photography goes. Unfortunately it's about as good as my camera gear will do without an infusion of real money; money I'd rather spend on seeking out the real thing or buying model stuff. There's too much going on in either picture and neither is the best spot on my layout. Some weathering would be nice and since when did the prototype provide "meets" such as these that can be viewed from a convenient 200 foot tower? However, the photos will illustrate my labored point; models facilitate a great form of expression as well as escape.

How else but through model railroading can you get many of your favorite lines, many of which you may have never have seen alive, or which may never have seen each other in the same place, to exist in harmony in your own home. Some go a different way and create a "composite" or even totally fictional railroad. Fiction is certainly less confining so many of us mix "prototype" with "fictional" when we model. Getting a single piece of real railroad equipment into your own home would be a "Manhattan Project" if you ever tried to do it. Models are far simpler. (for simpler minds?) And, as a retired minister told several of us while we chatted trackside this summer, "It's the only place on earth where you are in complete control of your own little world."

This urge to "re-create" also partially explains the "ferroequinarchaeology" bug in most of us. We seek things out in order to find better ways to model them. How many of us have walked around a weed covered foundation or hiked a roadbed to that old trestle just so we can get a sense of "what was". I've walked over a barely visible wye roadbed, stepped around old timbers rotting in a field and just gazed at the landscape in order to get a feel for the long gone Rio Grande Southern's operations on Lizard Head Pass or the Denver and Salt Lake's Rollins Pass snow shed maze. We then pour over photographs, plans, drawings, historical accounts, timetables and manuals. We wander through museums and historical societies. All of this in pursuit of the perfect "model" within the artificial world we have created. Present-day modelers seek "what is" but essentially have some of the same challenges when it comes to interpreting what they see with their own eyes. Even then, in the end, we all only use a tiny fraction of what we discover. I never did model anything of Colorado's narrow gauge for all the hunting I did as a teen. (Maybe it was the high price tags and high skill required for this specialty field.)

Camaraderie is another reason to dabble in model railroading and seek out the real thing. The recent expedition to Pennsylvania reminded me of this. The Fiddler had a bunch of local modelers over to try out his basement empire for the first time while we were there. What a bunch of pro's. They hang out at other people's operations constantly and know how these things work. They seemed to be easy going and all were experts in some aspects of railroading - because of the same urge to investigate and seek information about railroads past and present. Each had their own interests and seemed willing to share them with the others. What a fun evening. Something that doesn't happen as much in Maine as elsewhere. Some of those guys go to "operating sessions" several times each week! I didn't even get past the paperwork, radio gear or the wireless throttles, so I stayed out of the way mostly.


Model railroading is fun and all but I'm no zealot like some I know. I just have a little fun now and then and am by no means a "master modeler". We make fun of people who are so obsessed with perfection that they are "rivet counters" - that is, someone who feels a model (and often the modeler who built it) is inferior unless every rivet is precisely where it was on the prototype. These folks are known to fully model the insides of engines and cars, piece by microscopic piece. Some have been known to remove and replace all the side braces on a molded car body because they were off by a couple of scale inches. (that's dedication to accuracy!) Most of the guys I know enjoy a more relaxed approach and shoot for that perfection but are happy with something that merely approaches it. Thank heavens for them too because my eyes can barely see the rivets on my tiny N scale cars. You won't find me counting them even if I cared to know how many to look for.

BTW - I loosely model the New Haven and the various "Anthracite Roads" roughly radiating out of Maybrook Yard in upstate New York. It's a "composite of real but with a fictional twist" sort of line, like many are, after all the site of the yard is now a truck terminal for Yellow Freight. No more rail yard. The layout sees a few "run-throughs" from Maine that manage to make their way down there, giving me an excuse to have Maine Central as well as Bangor and Aroostook equipment make the rounds. Now, if I can just find a plausible storyline for Colorado and Southern run-throughs, I'll be a happy camper! Gray over red SD9's and silver cabeese mingling with the Scranton peddler freight! It's fun to be King!

Here's to actually applying all that ferroequinarchaeology while maintaining a firm grip on reality! May we avoid having it all figured out, or achieving total perfection, so that we can have something to keep us interested in perpetuity.

I think we can look forward to many more slide shows mixed with adult beverages, in the name of "research".

BC

Monday 8-25-08 In Worcester,Mass.CSX Boston Sub

P-523 @ 18:20 1053 - 8 cars Missed Cabcar.
P-527 @ 19:09 1062 - 7 cars Cabcar 1702.
B-722 @ 19:29 6222 Lite west # 2 track to CP-45,East # 1 track to train.
P-529 @ 19:30 1060 - 6 cars Cabcar 1706.
P-536 @ 19:46 Cabcar 1706 6 cars 1060 pushing (Boston).
Q-115 @ 20:10 5231 - 8846.
P-533 @ 21:05 1031 - 7 cars cabcar 1713.
Q-117 @ 21:12 5204 - 9035.
P-448 @ 21:15 Amtrak "Lake Shore Limited" 74 - Baggage 1247 - 3 AmFleet Cars (Boston)
From Chicago & Albany.
Q-420 @ 21:30 5010 - 5012.
A quiet night in Worcester,Mass. On the CSX Boston Sub.
Till Next Time Railfans.
Billy Leazer W.F.P.T. / H.A.P.T.
Henry Bourdeau & Dougie V.F.P.T.

The Worcester Foreign Power Team. The Heart And Soul Of Railfanning.Hebron Any Power Team. The Guardians Of Danville Junction.

ATCS Monitor Addendum

Pretty cool stuff here that Fiddler was referring to in his previous posts. These are feeds of track control signals from actual trackside transmitters. Someone receives the signal and turns around and feeds it to the web for anyone to view - with the right software. The Colorado "Joint Line" was newly covered by a feed a couple of years ago. Terry Stuart of the Fallston Flagstop has this set up on CSX for the web and his guests. We got a good look. If you have time and patience to play with the software, check out the ATCSMon Wiki on the subject. There you will find information for installing and operating the software, hardware and everything else there is to know. If it looks complex, it can be. However, break it down into small, digestable parts and it isn't so bad. Start with web monitoring. If I can do it, a lot of railfans can.

I started with joining the ATCSMon YahooGroups listserv. They do ask questions first. Then I read through some of the Wiki. Once I was accepted into the group, I downloaded the software and other "members only" files for the NS Harrisburg Division (no NS Pittsburgh Div. yet). Toggling back and forth between instructions and files, I managed to get it done well before I had to shoot the computer. I'm a long way from doing much more given that there aren't any ATCS rail lines for hundreds of miles and the portable stuff is too complex as well as pricey at the moment. But the web has a lot to offer so this piece of the puzzle was worth the effort.

While it is as exciting as pond fishing or golf sometimes, it does give the computer something to show me when I'm working on something else. Some people have this set up with the right radio gear to run it from a laptop from the actual signals while they are trackside! Though it isn't the same as a scanner, it can provide other types of information. Read up! Exciting times are ahead!

BC

ATCS working in Reading PA again

I had been wondering why the Reading PA area of ATCS was not working. Just found out that the kind person that was transmitting the Reading area feed for ATCS on the NS Harrisburg line suffered a lightening strike Friday, 8/8. Apparently cooked most of his computer but NOT the radio receiver. He put together a new receiver and has gotten it on the air in record time!

The Fiddler

Stumbling Into SD90AC's

While you wouldn't want to literally stumble into the 200+ tons of one of these babies, here is yet another example of a locomotive I just keep bumping into over the years. (see my "Bad Penny" story last March) In this case it is a class of locomotive within a relatively thin band of 8500 series units. Pretty small number among the thousands of units on the Union Pacific's roster. UP was always a road that experimented with huge locomotives that didn't hang around too long. Remember "Big Boys", Gas Turbines, U50's, C855's, DD35's and DD40X's? These are just their latest attempt to find the ultimate 6000 hp pulling machine.

My first encounter with these guys was in August 1999 at Hornell, NY at the Alsthom facility in the old Erie RR shops. The DTI Fan and I were on our way back from an Ohio railfan expedition and a few of these very 8500 series units were sitting around in various states of being painted, fresh from their being manufactured. I have these two scanned prints from that first encounter.











My very last encounter was only ten days ago (Aug. 4th) in Butler, PA at GWI's Buffalo and Pittsburgh RR shops (top photo). They are already finished with their UP careers, and yes, it says they are SD90AC's on the cab, so that's what I'll call them. (UP designates units their own way, which may or may not be the same as EMD or GE) The railfan press is full of stories about UP giving up on these "6000 hp" units and disposing of them in various ways. Many will be totally "recycled" except for the frame.



The two photos above show the recently arrived now EMLX units at Butler in January 2008. This was not quite a "breaking news story" at the time, but close. They have since been sighted in operation on the B&P via the web and print media. There may have been some SD90AC's delivered to the UP prior to 1999, but some of those in the 8500 series were just being finished in 1999. That's less than 9 years of use by the UP for this bunch.

Here we see one of my middle encounters with these guys, at least one where I can read the numbers. I posted this scan of a print on NERail a while back with explanation but here it is again within context. A college buddy and I were making a regular loop through Nebraska in June 2003 to catch UP and BNSF hotspots so naturally the loop takes us to Grand Island where the UP's original transcontinental line is crossed by the BNSF Powder River Line. These lines crossed at grade here until just a few years before the shot. Can you imagine the nightmare that would be now! I believe we saw similar if not the same units in prior trips to Gibbon Jct. but I can't prove it with the photos. The notch nose was ahead of it's time and very distinctive so we were seeking them out.

For those of you who like technical details, here is more information about their history in a Wikipedia article on the subject of SD90MAC's. You technical guys out there can go into all the details about the hows and whys of these units and their fate. I just like to stumble onto photos of their interesting careers. Too bad the web wasn't around to keep me informed when I was photographing those "common" DD40's.

BC

HAPT meet at Macungie, PA

I was out railfanning with good friend, Doug Kley, and lo and behold who drives up to the railfan mecca of Macungie, PA but fellow HAPT member, Carl "Mr. DTI" Harrison! I couldn't believe it but there he was in his sporty red truck. I had to check the license plates to be sure it was him.

We had a nice chat as trains yesterday had come to a lull and we sat under the most excellent shade of the Macungie railfan shelter.

Well after a while we felt the need for sustenance so a trip to the local hot dog mecca of railfans in this area (at least Doug and I). Yocco's. This Allentown PA area institution was started by none other than Lee Iacocca's brother and has expanded to 5 mouth watering locations.

We introduced Carl to a pair of these culinary creations with their special chili, onion, etc. sauce (with and as opposed to without) plus a small fries and sprite (sorry guys, no Moxie - I think they would give us a strange look on that one - but then most folks do, but I digress....) We returned to Macungie to consume this treasure and then set out to catch Train 34M, which we just missed a mile away later.

Carl was heading for Maine that day and thus we bid him a fond farewell.

ATCS

Just got ATCS working for my computer. I'm now watching quite a bit of activity in the Harrisburg PA area.

We saw a great demo of this at the Fallston Flag Stop last Monday.

Loads of fun

The Fiddler

Pittsburgh Division Sweepings

A few shots that didn't make the prior posts from the road.

Port Jervis, NY is a normal gas stop on the way to PA so why not check out the NY&GL power at the old Erie turntable. This Alco RS-2 and the Erie E8 were on hand. The commuter trains are all in Hoboken in the middle of the day though. From the spartan commuter station you can see the old depot and a steam era cantilever signal bridge, plus the MN/NJDOT layover yards.

Here we see a westbound intermodal on a misty Saturday morning in Reading. The signals cover Wyomissing Jct. where the line from Allentown meets lines headed south through town. Most importantly, this is from the parking lot for the Dosie Dough Bakery! The Fiddler knows how to prioritize local railfan sites.

A westbound freight is about to pass under the route 75 bridge and light the signals at Port Royal west of Harrisburg. There seems to be something from every era here. The old bridge, the PRR signals, the Conrail signal box treatment.

Old Conrail paint WB pulling new NS hoppers at Warrior Ridge. NS seems to be running the wheels off these old units and not bothering with black paint. It is rumored that they won't be kept much longer. The export coal surge probably helps keep them around a little longer.

















Two guys waiting for the next train to pass before their lenses at the old flyover below the east portal of Allegheny Tunnel. (HAPT's own Videoman, left and The Fiddler, right) The westbound Pennsylvanian was not far off. A couple of eastbounds emerged from Portage Tunnel and passed here on the upper track - track one - while we waited. (see view from the top of the hill)

An eastbound coal train glides through the curves at Tirone. Coal dust was flying! In fact we got quite a dose of dust from the many passing coal trains. Black Lung anyone! Hopefully they don't have the same track problems found in the Powder River area with coal dust mixed with track.

A westbound coal empty passes through the old yard complex at Denholm. An HO model of the area in the steam era was part of the layout at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. PRR had track pans for watering steamers on the fly and Conrail had a scale system for weighing moving trains located here. Interesting stuff happened here once upon a time.









A westbound double stack rumbles through the semi-quiet town of Mifflin. The new signal bridge just barely in view has only been up for a few months now, replacing the old PRR position signals. The pedestrian underpass pokes out by the depot just out of view to the left.











An eastbound intermodal crawls to the grade crossing at Huntington. The defect detector west of town at Warrior Ridge did not give them a reading so the conductor had to inspect the train before proceeding. Then the crossing had to be flagged because of a malfunction. Hunt Tower, now a county office building, watches silently. Signal crews seemed to be busy enough in the area with two work zones nearer Tyrone without these aggravations.

















The view overlooking the old flyover junction from the top of Tunnel Hill. An eastbound autorack train emerges from Portage Tunnel. Tracks 2 & 3 through the Allegheny Tunnel were busy too, but nothing within the same view of course. The locos are crossing the bridge over the abandoned "Mule Shoe Curve" route to Hollidaysburg which once added some capacity to this busy area.















An old friend seen several times on these expeditions. This time it was too easy to photograph from the relaxing perch at the Tunnel Inn. Too bad I only had my spare camera handy.









What would visiting PA be without a stop at the Strasburg RR for some coal smoke! Actually, this was my first visit to the area and long overdue. The RR Museum of Pennsylvania across the street was worthwhile too. Plan carefully when you visit because everything in the area closes at 5pm. We missed the hobby shops and the Toy Train Museum, but then we now have an excuse to return.


BC

Amtrak Lancaster to Altoona Log of Events

BC photo of Charles' actual train arriving in Altoona Sunday 8/3/08.

Here is a log of events I heard on the scanner as I was traveling between Lancaster and Altoona PA on the Amtrak "Pennsylvanian".

Enjoy

Charles Kadyk

"The Fiddler"

O7T Lancaster 1349 On board at Lancaster

There's a dragger at MP 89 on the line down to Lancaster

KCS unit at Hbg. Engine Term.

Rockville Bridge 1445

EB Merch
Rockville Bridge
1447

Duncannon
1458

Loches Run
1501

122 Detector
1503

Newport
1510

131.7 Detector
1510

20W
140
1516

Thompsontown
1520

143 Detector
1520

Mexico 148.7 Detector
1525

Port Royal
1527

Mifflin
1530

EB Merch
Mifflin
1528

EB Trailer and Container
157
1533

162.3 Detector
1538

Lewistown
1543

172.3 Detector
1553

Clear 184
1605

186.6 Detector
1607

Mt. Union
1609

Clear 193
1613

196.2 Detector
1615

Clear 198
1616

Clear 200
1618

Huntington
1621

EB Trailer and Container
1631

Approach 211
1634

10N
Calling EB signal
1638

Stopped at Spruce Tunnel
Stop Signal
1640
Meet with 10N
Spruce Tunnel
1643
Told to not pass CP Gray until EB Amtrak O6T clears Tyrone
Tunnel Clear
1646
Spruce Tunnel
1649
EB Stack
1650
215 Clear
1652
Junk Yard
1653
Johnson Hill Rd.
Quarry
1653
216.9 Detector
1654
O6T
1655
Clear 218
1656
Clearance given for Tyrone Station
1658
EB Stack - 20Q?
1659
Clear 221
1700
Tyrone
1702
Under US 220
1707
Also heard 20R call signal
225.9 Detector
1709
20R
1710
Clear 227
1711
Hopper train on siding
1711
Clear 230
1713
Altoona announced
1715
Altoona Station
1720

More Quick Photos From The Pittsburgh Div.

All of these photos are from Monday 8/4 on our trip to the Pittsburgh area.

This is New Brighton where the Youngstown Line (center tracks) drop down under in a flying junction and emerge where the ethanol train burned up a bridge a year or two ago. This was a westbound coal train pulling out of Conway. I just like the blue leader.

This eastbound emerged from the Youngstown Line and surprised us with GRS 309 which is on NS working off horsepower hours.


Here we are relaxing on the porch at the Fallston Flagstop. Those are ex-P&LE tracks in Terry Stuart's back yard. You can just see the NS line across the Beaver River in this photo but we had a panoramic view albeit with a few trees mixed in.

We saw quite a few eastbounds on the old P&LE but saw no westbounds when we were trackside. Those snuck by while we were distracted by Conway Yard. I have no idea what that sign says. I meant to go look but this train came along and I took this while simultaneously talking to Terry on the cell phone about the OCS - which was leaving West Conway. Time to run.

Here is the full view of the NS OCS at New Brighton as it eases into the curves. It was following a double stack train and had to slow for the work zone west of us. We received a nice leisurely look at the whole train as a result. Thanks Terry!

At about 4:30pm we headed east via Butler to see if we could scare up something on the B&LE (now CN) or B&P (GWI). The B&P engine house area was stuffed with old SD45's and these ex-UP SD90AC's. Not much was moving since it was past supper time and likely the day's work was done. We were running late and didn't want to take the vast quantities of time required to scout out (find) the B&LE so we took the convenient US422 back to Altoona for dinner with Phil and Rita.

Today we have rain so we are enjoying a slow paced morning on the covered "veranda" watching the world go by chatting with the other railfans here. Phil even stopped in to pick up a tour customer. Maybe this will be a good day to go to the hobby shop.

I'll have more later when time allows. I also need to catch up on the last visit to Pittsburgh in January which happened a month before starting this blog.

BC

Quick Photos From The Pittsburgh Division

The Fiddler, Videoman and I headed down here to HAPT's Pittsburgh Division Office building in Gallitzin, PA (The Tunnel Inn) for some high level railfan expeditions with "The Guide" Phil Faudi and a brief visit with Terry Stuart of the Fallston Flagstop. The following are a small selection of the tons of photos and miles of video taken so far...


This is CP Wyomissing Jct. in Reading. A westbound coal empty with new NS cars. The Fiddler set us up with this location.


An eastbound at Lebanon. Apparently the unusual power lines in the distance are about to disappear.


The is the Conemaugh Viaduct outside of South Fork. The original tried unsuccessfully to stop the Johnstown Flood. The one-mile plus hike in is well worth the effort and relatively simple since an old interurban roadbed has been turned into a rail-trail. Only 100 yards off the trail if you see the trail spur to the ledge overlook. SO tower is also located about 1/3 of the way along the main trail but way down the hillside and obscured somewhat by trees.


Sonman Tipple in Portage. This guy had 7 of the 17 SD80MAC's. Four were on this end backing down to the storage site from the main. The unique sound effects of an AC were apparent here!

A couple of hours later we encountered 5 more SD80MAC's (that makes 12 of 17) at Lilly westbound out of Cresson as a "lite" move.

More another time. We'll show off the sights of the Youngstown and Ft. Wayne lines north of Conway Yard; the westbound NS OCS with all four "F's" and 11 cars; Butler engine terminal; plus a shot or two from the Fallston Flagstop.

Live from the luxury skybox overlooking the Allegheny Tunnel,

BC