traiffic on NS east of pittsburgh

[dwil89]

QUOTE: Originally posted by seand

thanx againfor infor / railroadradio.net looks great but NS pittsburgh is not rebroadcasting for some reason, but the picture of the Conrail engine for the NS pittsburgh page is about a mile from my house! ( the picture is actually in North Huntingdon / Manor is slightly east). -about my comment about heavy traffic on sunday nights did not pan out last night - traffic was light all night. The majority of trains I see are double stacks.

The feed from Pittsburgh is down...the radio gave up the ghost.....The West Slope Feed covers the Johnstown area and Sand Patch.. The Harrisburg Feed covers the area around Enola and the Harrisburg Terminal....The Harrisburg-Reading Feed covers East of Harrisburg.

[cnw4001]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dwil89

I know that I hear Westbound crews on the Pittsburgh Line being asked if they have 'high cars' today? by the Dispatcher, which dictates the route through Pittsburgh due to clearance issues...Eastbounders would have the same issue too...

You're correct on the eastbound trains. They get the question as they leave Conway Yard.

Dale

[Anonymous]

thanx againfor infor / railroadradio.net looks great but NS pittsburgh is not rebroadcasting for some reason, but the picture of the Conrail engine for the NS pittsburgh page is about a mile from my house! ( the picture is actually in North Huntingdon / Manor is slightly east). -about my comment about heavy traffic on sunday nights did not pan out last night - traffic was light all night. The majority of trains I see are double stacks.

[dwil89]

I know that I hear Westbound crews on the Pittsburgh Line being asked if they have 'high cars' today? by the Dispatcher, which dictates the route through Pittsburgh due to clearance issues...Eastbounders would have the same issue too...

[cpbloom]

The question I have is...you got some trains taking the Conemaugh line at Conpit, then you got the Port Perry Branch in the E. Pittsburgh suburbs which is where all the double-stack trains (and some others) take, so what/how many trains are using the "main line" through Pittsburgh?????

You know right past CP-Bloom [:p]

It would seem to me they could have kept the Brilliant Branch which is/was double-tracked (including the bridge over the Allegheny), and run some trains down there to meet up with the Conemaugh line. Aren't the clearances on it enough to allow double-stacks?

[Modelcar]

...I was just reflecting back and wondering what the count might have been during WWII days...I remember in the Johnstown station area it was not unusual to see more than one train in view at a time....Passenger and perhaps freight activity....I remember it was very busy....I suppose the 4 tracks did the job during the time period.

[Modelcar]

...Thanks for the figure Dave....

[dwil89]

QUOTE: Originally posted by seand

Im between Pitcairn & greensburg on same line that goes throught /johnstown/gallitzin/horsecurve etc. trains are coming through about every 1/2 hour more or less. traffic drops off alot on sundays though so not nearly as much traffic, though on sunday nights about 11pm they play "catch up" and roll through ALOT of traffic until about 1am. on saturday afternoons you can see alot of helper engines running back eastbound / oddly they run in pairs and often will follow each other by quarter mile or so instead of coupling up ( yesterday I saw at least 3 sets following each other). Speaking of UP engines / the one I see most often has the American flag painted on the side. also strange:this week saw bi-level car tacked on back of am amtrack! (ps:thanx for good info)

Alot of people don't know that the helper district is not limited to between Altoona and Johnstown....The grade profile on the Pittsburgh Line is not as severe West of Johnstown but it has a bit of a roller coaster profile, which often requires helpers to shove East from as far West as the Pittsburgh area.....Heavy Westbounders, such as steel slab trains will often keep a rear helper on to at least Wilmerding, for both dynamic braking, and to keep the slack bunched in on the rolling grades.....The Conemaugh Line, which runs parallel, but North of the Pittsburgh Line between Pittsburgh and Conpit, is often used by heavier Eastbounds because its grade profile is less, and therefore, helpers are not necessary until Johnstown/Conemaugh on them.

[dwil89]

QUOTE: Originally posted by seand

Im between Pitcairn & greensburg on same line that goes throught /johnstown/gallitzin/horsecurve etc. trains are coming through about every 1/2 hour more or less. traffic drops off alot on sundays though so not nearly as much traffic, though on sunday nights about 11pm they play "catch up" and roll through ALOT of traffic until about 1am. on saturday afternoons you can see alot of helper engines running back eastbound / oddly they run in pairs and often will follow each other by quarter mile or so instead of coupling up ( yesterday I saw at least 3 sets following each other). Speaking of UP engines / the one I see most often has the American flag painted on the side. also strange:this week saw bi-level car tacked on back of am amtrack! (ps:thanx for good info)

I know a few railfans from out in the Greensburg-Wilmerding area....Robert Shook publishes alot of pics on Railpics.net and in RAILPACE Magazine.....J.Alex Lang is from the general area too.

[dwil89]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Modelcar

Dave.....What is the rough count of traffic through Johnstown now.....{ On the main}...?
Hope it is staying busy.
My next visit should be time frame of Memorial Day period....

Traffic around Horseshoe is averaging 60 trains a day....

[Anonymous]

Im between Pitcairn & greensburg on same line that goes throught /johnstown/gallitzin/horsecurve etc. trains are coming through about every 1/2 hour more or less. traffic drops off alot on sundays though so not nearly as much traffic, though on sunday nights about 11pm they play "catch up" and roll through ALOT of traffic until about 1am. on saturday afternoons you can see alot of helper engines running back eastbound / oddly they run in pairs and often will follow each other by quarter mile or so instead of coupling up ( yesterday I saw at least 3 sets following each other). Speaking of UP engines / the one I see most often has the American flag painted on the side. also strange:this week saw bi-level car tacked on back of am amtrack! (ps:thanx for good info)

[Modelcar]

Dave.....What is the rough count of traffic through Johnstown now.....{ On the main}...?
Hope it is staying busy.
My next visit should be time frame of Memorial Day period....

[Anonymous]

Yeah we've also been getting quite alot of UP traffic on CSX too. For a west coast railroad UP is quite a frequent visitor around here. Railpictures.net has lots of pics of UP power in the Pittsburgh area.

[dwil89]

Another site of interest may be http://www.railroadradio.net It features Live internet railroad radio feeds. There is one covering the NS West Slope between Johnstown and Gallitzin which you can play live on your computer...You can hear helpers coupling on and off at Conemaugh, as well as crews calling signal indications, and crews getting FORM D's to run coal trains led by SD80MACS up and down the South Fork Secondary.

[dwil89]

Here is a site with train symbols...click onto NS along bottom of screen to get symbol breakdown of all NS trains....look for symbols that run between Pittsburgh and East for what runs through your area http://www.railfanswelcome.com/TrainSymbols.htm

[dwil89]

The Amtrak Trains are The Pennsylvanian...NS Symbols are 04T EB and 07T WB....Next time you get out to Gallitzin,your best bet would be to stop off at the Caboose at Tunnelspark as others have suggested here and they usually have a printed list of train symbols with their origins and destinations through there....Foreign power is quite prevalent on the line..BNSF, UP..you name it...usually just repaying Horsepower hours...You will not see everything from Greensburg, as many heavier Eastbounds will use the lower grade Conemaugh Line which runs a more northerly route between Pittsburgh and Conpit Junction, near New Florence, Pa. You might want to check out the link next to my signature...it links to a Yahoo site which deals with NS between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh.

[Modelcar]

...There does seem to be a lot of BNSF engines passing through here {Muncie, In.}, on NS....I've even seen them leading the consist several times.
seand: You might go to Google and list what you are looking for..{the NS schedule}, and see if it may be available somewhere on there....Just possible. I haven't tried so I can't say if it is avail. or not but believe it's worth a try.

[Anonymous]

thank you for responses. -next question: why do I see so many NS trains with BNSF helper engines? last week I saw NS lead engine with BNSF & Rio Grande helpers!!! (it was black with rio grande spelled out in orange). Also recently have seen high cube box cars with roofs torched off loaded all the way up with scrap metal going westbound. I assume the metal was aluminuim because it was very shiny & I would assume it had to be light to be carried in such a manner. any info on this cargo?

[Anonymous]

I think you could probably get yourself a free schedule at Di Salvo's station in Latrobe or at the station near Red Star Brewery in Greensburg. I think the two Amtrak trains are called The Pennsylvanian and The Pittsburgher. Some woman my mom knew lived in Greensburg and used to take thrain to Pittsburgh everyday. They also used to have some deal where you could ride the train from Station Square in Pittsburgh to Latrobe to go to the Pittsburgh Steelers training camp at St. Vincent's college during the summer.

As for a NS schedule I'd say maybe the deal at Gallitzin may be your only hope or maybe visit their website.

[Anonymous]

just bought house which has view of norfolk southern mainline(ex-pennsy) east of pittsbugh (almost to greensburg). every morning at 7:55am there is a east bound amtrack & westbound one at 6:20pm what trains are these? Also I am looking for info as to where to find NS schedule so I know what freights Im looking at ( I know at Gallitzin they give away daily scedule). thank you for any help!