Jim and Brad's Excellent Adventures Part 2

Few of us venture near Altoona without dropping by Cassandra to hang out at the bridge.  Here is part two of our adventures beginning on Day 4, Wednesday August 13, 2014...
Part I

The day's railfanning started in earnest at Tyrone, PA.  We were greeted by the Nittany and Bald Eagle local right there in the yard next to the "Amshack".  It was still around when the eastbound Pennsylvanian arrived with its "Pepsi Can" GE on the point.  Charles caught up to us somewhere in the process at Tyrone before we left,  but after the show. 

We sort of wandered the countryside on the way to Altoona from here.  The main road had a detour due to bridge repair but we zig zagged to try to get into Fostoria.  I think we hit every other location without finding Fostoria though we saw it in the distance.  We did lack a DeLorme map of the area.  We did find the other end of the relatively new pedestrian bridge at Bellwood.  A loaded coal train greeted us and before it was totally gone, a westbound intermodal showed up.  We next found the tail end of an empty oil train at Antis at a new bridge over the tracks there.  No idea how to get back without a map. 

Once we found our way into Altoona proper,  I had to get a proper portrait of one of the SD40E helper sets that are now the norm. 

As the top photo states, we always have to spend time at Cassandra.  How many times have we been there when we were "trapped" by a flood of trains.  I think we saw 14 trains there and were trying to move on when we got to around 8.  One tends to lose count though my IPod contains a record.  Plus, it's always fun to chat with the other fans who hang out there.  Some people all but camp at the spot and now you can literally camp there.  Benches, picnic tables and an outhouse have shown up over the years.  Eventually we detected a gap and headed toward town.  Naturally we couldn't leave without seeing the Pennsylvanian with its "Pepsi Can" going west.

Day 5 - Thursday August 14

A new day dawned with the Norfolk Southern Office Car Special arriving.  This was a fantastic catch via the scanner, though we may have had a vague heads up from the web.  Luckily Motel 6 is adequate but not a place to linger so we were up and about in time.  Jim brought us good luck on this one.  I think we even delayed breakfast for this catch.  A few other fans were out and about by the depot overpass.  The sun was remarkably cooperative too.  Thank heavens Charles recognized the symbol on the scanner. 

No visit to Altoona is complete without a trip to Horseshoe Curve.  Jim had to cross this off his list and we don't mind going back.  I always have trouble trying to compose something in the tight space but a wide angle lens helps.  The place lends itself more to video and just plain viewing.  All of the efforts to trim the foliage are fading now.  At least Mike and Phil's efforts gave us a few years of viewing.  In the "olden days" the layer of coal cinders along the tracks kept the weeds under control.

We ventured west past Cresson and Cassandra to Summerhill.  After a tour of South Fork and lunch from the local store, we back tracked to sit under the overpass by the unique signals to eat.  For some reason my camera did not register two other more colorful trains but this coal empty works as a sample.  We caught a decent variety of trains here.

Jim was leaving us via the westbound Pennsylvanian so we made a daylight stop at Gallitzin on the way back to Altoona.  We got what we came for with an unusually long and varied lashup coming out of the tunnel fairly soon after arriving.  The sun was beginning to reach the tunnel's cut at this point of the day so the sun wasn't bad.  And, I tried to get the mile marker in the shot for once.  It looks like the drainage in the area got some work and that must have been a challenge inside the tunnel.

Here we see Jim's train arriving at Altoona.  Jim's hiding under the canopy somewhere.  The "Pepsi Can" GE's on the point are the norm these days.  Charles headed home before this since he had a gig in Marietta (next to the formerly electrified PRR line to Perryville) to attend.  I'd follow to the gig a little later on.  From the overpass I had to shoot a photo of the Altoona Railroader's Museum's advancements.  The roundhouse was new since my last visit. 



Day 6 - Friday 8/15/14
Charles and I headed over to Robesonia to the Berks County Park to watch whatever passed on the former Reading line.  We arrived as an MOW crew with a crane and gondola backed into the clear.  We managed a reasonable number of trains before we ambled off to Sinking Spring for a trackside lunch.  A train or two passed but it wasn't exactly ideal conditions for still photography.  We just saw the East Penn Ry. at Sinking Spring if I recall correctly.  Not much to see and tough to chase.  I headed toward Baltimore to visit my brother's family shortly after this.  No more trains until I headed home Monday.

A few days later on Monday I followed the old D&H on the way back to Maine.  Somehow the rail gods felt I needed a single train just to keep me happy enough.  I followed this east/north bound beginning at about Bainbridge, NY where I heard EOTD/FRED chirps on the scanner.  Here we see my first encounter with a snap shot at the depot crossing.  I was seconds from missing this shot but the town had plenty of parking across from the depot to assist.  I didn't stick around to explore though.











Farther east I found a newly constructed side road overpass west of Oneonta proper.  The view was pretty good.  It was right there, easily spotted off Rt.7 and features plenty of parking space.  It will be handy if a meet occurs when I'm around in the future.






That was it.  A long trip I ended with a trip to the Saratoga Battlefield the next day.  No new trains got in my camera's way after that point, though I did follow plenty of tracks. 

BC