Interesting, Larry...I remember C&O as at least having longitudinal hoppers for ballast, including a batch of 100-tonners built in the 60s. I never did see any ballast-dumping operations on the Muskegon SD (just the evidence, from time to time), though, to know what they used.Greetings tonight from the front porch of the Station Inn in Cresson, where the pace has lightened up from what it was an hour or so ago.
Carl
Railroader Emeritus (practiced railroading for 46 years--and in 2010 I finally got it right!)
CAACSCOCOM--I don't want to behave improperly, so I just won't behave at all. (SM)
Prove it- go stand out by the tracks and wave at the camera.
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Carl - Any more details available on those C&O ballast hoppers ? Mainly, which type of longitudinal door did they use ? (I'm thinking Enterprise Type 'D', per John Kneiling ?) Also, who built them ? (Now I begin to understand and appreciate the merits of "freight car freaks" ! )
How does the pace at the Station Inn compare with back home ? (OK, no 'scoots' or 'dinkies', but lots of helper moves instead .) So to be somewhat consistent, let's limit it to the mainline freights and locals going by.
Hope the weather and train traffic are cooperative. I'd anticipate peak volumes overnight, early morning, and late afternoon - but "Your Train Count May Vary".
- Paul North.
CShaveRR Interesting, Larry...I remember C&O as at least having longitudinal hoppers for ballast, including a batch of 100-tonners built in the 60s. I never did see any ballast-dumping operations on the Muskegon SD (just the evidence, from time to time), though, to know what they used.Greetings tonight from the front porch of the Station Inn in Cresson, where the pace has lightened up from what it was an hour or so ago.
My 2 favorite spots out there: Cassandra in the early am (best when nobody else is there), and the turntable behind the Juniata shops (neat to see what is being worked on).
And I'm sure you've heard, Alto tower is on it's very last days operating.
It's been fun. But it isn't much fun anymore. Signing off for now.
The opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer, any other railroad, company, or person.t fun any
I took my pictures of Alto Tower today. There are some modern signals with heads covered, but it was nice to see the old position-light signals in action. And old PRR-style two-headed dwarf signals outside the home signals (I'm sure there's an explanation, but it came as a surprise to me).I have not been to Cassandra; maybe we can check it out tomorrow on our way out of here. I know it isn't far. Today we went to quilt stores in the morning, then to the walk across from the Altoona passenger station platform in the afternoon. A longtime friend of ours (Eric Neubauer...some Forum folks may know the name) joined us for a good five hours of watching and waiting. Most of the trains we saw were intermodal, but we had one garbage train and a couple of manifests to break the monotony. They were the same trains we would have seen at Cresson, but they were traveling a lot more slowly, which enabled me to harvest a little more information. And the pauses between trains enabled me to check out or log a lot of it.
Here comes an eastbound intermodal train past the porch....
Late note, before we hit the road again...saw my first NS Heritage unit this morning; 8104, in Lehigh Valley paint, was on the point of an eastbound coal train outside the door. I barely got downstairs in time to catch it going away.
I was wondering if you'd catch one. They've been through my town, but it's either when I'm at work, or at about 3:too early in the am on my off days.
Oh well... they'll be around for a while.
Still heading due east?
Hi Carl / Pat...
Sounds like you are having a great visit to "our" country....at least some parts of it.
Enjoy, as there is plenty of RR stuff and history in the area, as I'm sure you know.
Our annual visit to the home area over the Memorial Day period for many years can't happen this year.
But Jean is recovering well from open heart surgery almost 5 weeks ago. Hopefully, we can make the trip a bit later this Summer.
Enjoy...
Quentin
Q, we smiled when we went past Somerset, and again when we saw a sign for Stoyston. The Alleghenies are beautiful at this time of year.Sorry you can't make your annual trip. But getting Jean back to 100 percent is the priority! Best wishes along those lines.(We're in Philadelphia now, for a day or so; we'll be seeing the city the way it should be seen.)
And we made it to Cassandra this morning. Good spot for photography, but for us researchers, not so much.
Sounds like you folks are on a good trip....and perhaps will have someone to show you the city in the right manner.
Jean and I used to do that with Wash. D C....Her one brother worked for AT&T at a respectful level, and we'd visit and he'd take the time to do a "tour" of D C....Did that several times and was really great...
I have a niece that lives in Phila. But right now she is a chaperon on a trip to NYC with a very interesting itinerary. 45 boys from a priviate school for 3 days of sight seeing. She and another factuality member. Will meet some people in the UN.
Enjoy all the railroad / quilting stuff you find....
And Jean had a good day and was "released" by home care therapist, so it's looking up for a later visit out east this Summer.
When you saw the sign to Stoystown....You were 10 mi. from our home. And went right by the Hampton Inn at the Somerset exit we stay at when in the area.
A former high-school classmate and her husband will be showing us around the city today. I don't foresee much in the way of railfanning ops, except that we will see the old Reading Terminal and what they've done with it.
I'm trusting that tomorrow will be the big railfanning day, in Paul North's "sandbox" (I hope he's around to show us some stuff!). We will be meeting up with two of my favorite freight-car freaks and their wives, and the wives will be going to a quilting venue highly recommended by one of them, leaving us railfans to see the good stuff.
Have a great time--WOOT WOOT!!
Nance-CCABW/LEI
“Even if you are on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” --Will Rogers
Whether you think you can, or you think you can't, you're right! --unknown
Speaking of Paul, happy anniversary to Paul and Marie North, today!(I'm being dragged down to breakfast as we speak)
Happy Anniversary, Paul and Marie!
(Gee Carl, hope that doesn't leave a mark!! )
We had a great time in Center City Philadelphia today, where we saw (and heard about) lots of neat architecture and parks. I've had "Philly Cheesesteak" sandwiches before, but the authentic one I had today for lunch kind of made supper unnecessary! We got it at the marketplace underneath the former lead to the Reading Terminal (where we saw the trainshed and concourse). We also took SEPTA from Market East to 30th Street, and got a chance to see some nooks and crannies there that I hadn't seen on my first visit (and this was Pat's first visit ever, and she was as blown away as I had been). I scored one of my big objectives of the entire trip, listening to a performance on the organ in Macy's (the Wanamaker Organ--the largest usable pipe-organ in the world), and bought a CD of some memorable works for organ and orchestra (one of which had been written with this organ in mind). We also went to the Art Museum for a jazz trio performance, and walked around the grounds there before Pat gave out.So, one more bed, one more breakfast, then we head northeast.
Just read the Newswire...congratulations to our buddy Angela Pusztai-Pasternak, who has been promoted to Associate Editor at Trains. She will settle into her new job just about the time she'll be taking maternity leave.
Wow Carl....The organ at Macy's...! Would I love to hear that. Love pipe organ sounds. That would almost trump trains...!
The organ trumped the trains yesterday for sure, Quentin! When we started planning the trip, and when we talked to my schoolmate, I made sure that the Wanamaker Organ was on the must-see list. And I got the CD I wanted to buy (put the money in the hand of the man who keyed the keys!). And today, we drove past the factory where Allen organs are made, as pointed out by none other than Paul D. North Jr., of this Forum. If I read him right, he may be posting a photo or two from our trip today.We had a great time touring the Lehigh River Valley (yes, that Lehigh Valley!), with Eric Neubauer and Paul North as our guides. We saw roadbeds that didn't show up in the SPV Railroad Atlas for this region. We four intrepid railfans saw a few NS trains, toured what used to be the Bethlehem Steel Corporation's mill complex (not by visiting the casino that now occupies the spot).
We were then joined by our wives, and found that we all have a lot in common, so it was a fun hour or more, with everyone.
"+1" - more later. It was a lot of fun, Carl ! (I'm on the far right.) - Paul North.
......Enjoyed the photo guys.
Very nice...name labels, please...thanks!
Hey, I know those people!Left to right: Carl, David Casdorph, Eric Neubauer, and photographer Paul.
Thanks, Carl and Paul!! Very nice!
(Well, I knew who one of them was!!)
....If Paul is the cameraman....there must be a time exposure and tripod involved.....
There was, Quentin!
A word about Dave and Eric, who don't visit this Forum. Dave was the Founding editor of Freight Cars Journal, back in about 1983, and although the magazine has morphed into other things over the years, Dave is still the foremost person for publishing results of freight car research in various forms. Eric is a researcher, author, draftsman, blogger, and so on--and although freight cars of all eras are his primary interest, he is a good reference for history of things in the Lehigh Valley (between him and Paul, they know everything, I swear!). I have known both Dave and Eric since 1983 or 1984, and have met them both on many occasions, but this was the first time that the three of us have gotten together. And Pat informs me that the Sisterhood of Wives of Studious Railfans (which met in the quilt store in Kutztown) was a very heartwarming thing, and she thinks they all appreciated the chance to commiserate and otherwise compare notes. Marie North couldn't join them on that trip, but she made it to dinner with the rest of us, and would have fit right in.Today was bridge day for us--I showed Pat the Tunkhannock Viaduct for the first time today (coming at it from the south blows you away), and we both saw the Starucca Viaduct for the first time. I just realized that I don't have a written "bucket list", and if I had, stuff like we've done on this trip wouldn't be on it, but some of these things are probably once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and I'm very happy to say that we've been there, done that, now. We have something very special and personal planned for Memorial Day tomorrow.
I know you always say you don't take photos Carl...but some of the locations and places you have visited, would have been interesting images on here.....{That organ too...!}.
Your friend Paul North Jr., there, several years ago, helped me reingage with a former home of my father {Allentown area}, when he was about 13 years of age. {He passed away in 1977}, at the age of 80.
I had Dad there back about 1950.....and he recognized it...{and one of his land marks was a former interburban line ROW, he rememberd as a child....They had moved back to Somerset Co. {my home area}, about 1913.
The home was {still is}, a well preserved stone house with walls about 2 ft. thick. I have photos of it now. And have located it on Satelitte images...too!
By the way...our in / out instrument registered 96.7 degrees at about a bit after 5 today.
trying to see if anyone has seen any locomotives around here
larry stewart locomotive photographer of tacoma Washington
Perhaps we can supply some photographs made by our resident photographer sometime...one of us took a couple of good shots of the viaducts.
We continued our "big bridges" theme today by walking out on one...a mile and a quarter each way, 212 feet over the Hudson River! This bridge was built in 1888 for the New Haven (or a predecessor?) and provided a freight route much closer to New York City than the next river crossing (Albany). It was heavily damaged by fire in 1974 (hobbling the New York, Susquehanna & Western and the Lehigh & Hudson River in the process), and was never used for trains again. It was reopened as a trail in 2009, and is now a State Historic Park. It was the longest bridge in the world when it was built (for a year), and is still spectacular, towering over portions of Poughkeepsie, New York.
The other somewhat-related-to-railroads thing we did today was visit the Pepacton Reservoir, at the southern edge of the Catskill Mountains. Before the east branch of the Delaware River could be dammed to form this reservoir, the railroad in the valley had to be abandoned. This was the Delaware & Northern Railroad, which connected the towns in the valley using a doodlebug, known locally as the "Red Heifer". The D&N was abandoned in 1942, and the reservoir filled between 1947 and 1955. One of the now-submerged towns in the valley was Shavertown, where some of my ancestors settled seven generations prior to mine (the patriarch was Abraham Shaffer; I believe it was he who changed his name to Shaver).It's been brutal on our trip as well--the temp was in the upper 80s officially where we were today, but the temperature out on the deck of the Poughkeepsie Bridge was documented as 125 degrees (no shade), and they issued a "small dog warning" because of that.
....That must be an exciting walk and view out on that bridge Carl. I remember Trains did an article on it several years ago.
Out here....again today, hot..! 96.1 late this afternoon. Maybe a bit of rain overnight...But just a 40% chance.
Sounds like a well planned RR sight trip you have underway.
I don't anticipate too much railfanning in New England, but we're still going to enjoy ourselves. Trains or no, this has been the trip of a lifetime for us.As for photography, Pat tried to catch a photo of the Wanamaker Organ itself. You'd need a time exposure, because things are too dark even in a well-lit department store. (My friend Sherry got a picture of me posing as a mannequin near the organ console--I wasn't dressed as elegantly as the other mannequins, but I had a better tan! I was wearing the same colors, which is what prompted that frivolity.)
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