One of the D&H trains to Tahawus after they retired the unique yellow two-bottom hopper cars that they used for hauling ilmenite/magnetite, and replaced them with black low-top gondolas.
One of the D&H trains to Tahawus after they retired the unique yellow two-bottom hopper cars that they used for hauling ilmenite/magnetite, and replaced them with black low-top gondolas.
D&H RS-11 5009 is shuffling around loads of ilmenite or magnetite at Oneonta in '78.
A better photo of one of those bright yellow hoppers, shortly after construction. Very distinct. There's still a few kicking around in service in some places and every once in a while somebody gets a photo of one
A string of hoppers at Wilkes-Barre
A U33C-led freight rolling through Oneonta, with some of those yellow hoppers to the right. Looks like they're either being retired or scrapped, or maybe were damaged in an accident.
The D&H also had the really unique "I Love New York" boxcars in the 1980s. These were a product of New York state's many efforts to keep the D&H in business after the federal government essentially sabotaged it in 1976 (as one senator put it, "It's amazing how a business can be profitable for 150 years and then be nearly bankrupt after two years of government 'assistance'."). One of the issues that the D&H had as the 1980s stretched on was that they lacked clean, dry, serviceable 50-foot boxcars. The paper mills especially, which were one of the D&H's main customers, obviously needed leak-free boxcars to ship their product by. The D&H didn't have the money to buy new boxcars or overhaul the ones that they had though. Also, at the same time, the D&H was looking at having to lay off their work forces at Oneonta, because most of their service facilities had been moved elsewhere and they lacked the money to keep paying them. The state stepped in with a plan: they would buy 200 50-foot boxcars from the D&H, pay for them to be overhauled, and then lease them back to the D&H at a very low rate. The plan would give the D&H an influx of cash, keep the workforce employed at Oneonta, and give New York state businesses boxcars to continue shipping by rail. One hundred and sixty five boxcars were ultimately overhauled at Oneonta, rolling out in a bright blue and white paint with the "I Love NY" slogan, and unique DHNY reporting marks. The program was terminated early because a Guilford source said that even though the DOT boxcars were 50 feet long, their carrying capacity was 150,000 pounds, about 4,000 pounds less than other 50-footers. The cars were too light for some shippers, like printing paper companies, and those shippers would simply outright refuse to load on them. During the D&H bankruptcy proceedings from 1988 through 1991, the bankruptcy Trustee sold the cars individually by sealed ballot. Two large buyers included the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad (which refurbished them again for paper service) and the Naporano Iron & Metal scrap dealer.
I'm supposed to be watching a video on flooring, but here we are, watching UP 4014 push a stalled freight train.
In reply to Mike (Forum Supporter) :
They did something similar many years ago with #844.
Great Scenic Railway Journeys 30th anniversary. Runs about 2 hours, this is a trailer.
NickD said:I've bought tickets for a special event out on the Arcade & Attica Railroad in western New York. A group is doing a special charter on Friday July 14th and Saturday July 15th. The photo charter on Friday is with their two GE center-cab switchers, 65-tonner #112 and 80-tonner #113, pulling a freight train. It'll include rare mileage between Curriers. NY and North Java, NY, which they typically do not carry passengers over. That's the southern end of the line that handles the freight interchange with the Buffalo & Pittsburgh RR (a G&W line that runs on the old Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh). The event is to commemorate the end of doubleheaded center-cab operations on the A&A. For years they've made do with the 65-tonner and 80-tonner (they also have two 44-tonners, neither of which are operational anymore) handling freight, but since most of those small GEs lack M.U. capability, they have to pay two crews. They're also less than 500hp each, and they're quite old and the parts support isn't the greatest, so the A&A is finally buying its first road switcher to take over.
Then Saturday is to be a morning photo/video session with the replacement for the old GE center cabs. Fortunately, A&A isn't replacing the old center-cabs with something like a GP38-2. No, they purchased an Alco RS-3u from the Western New York & Pennsylvania, formerly Delaware & Hudson #506, which was also D&H bicentennial unit #1976 at one point in it's life too. The 251-swapped, chop-nosed RS-3 rebuild, the sole survivor of D&H's eight RS-3us in fact, is to be the new primary freight power for the Arcade & Attica, while the center cabs will still haul passengers, although likely not doubleheaded anymore.
Well, I got a phonecall last night that the second day of this charter is off. The RS-3u needs to come from the Western New York & Pennsylvania to the Arcade & Attica via the Buffalo & Pittsburgh (A Genesee & Wyoming operation over the old B&O/Buffalo, Rochester & Pittsburgh). Well, the B&P is doing trackwork on their system and so they haven't moved the RS-3u to Arcade Junction yet, and while the ad originally mentioned that they would reschedule the charter if it hadn't arrived by them, they said the timeline is in so much flux that they just decided to scratch the second day because they have no clue when it will ultimately arrive. So, I'm going out there Friday for the charter, and I hoped to go see the NY&LE and their MLW FPA-4 and FPA-2u on Sunday, which leaves me trying to figure out something to do on Saturday.
Speaking of headaches caused by track conditions, Amtrak's NYC-Montreal Adirondack, which just returned to operation three months ago after a three year absence. The train hops on Canadian National rails from Rouses Point, NY to Montreal, and Canadian National hit that entire segment with a 10mph slow order whenever temperatures exceeded 86 °F, leading to one trip in mid-June taking four hours to travel those 47 miles. On June 26, Amtrak suspended service "until further notice" north of Albany over the track conditions. The fact that it is just running NYC-Albany really has me scratching my head. They could run up the old D&H on CPKC rails to Saratoga Springs, or Port Henry, or Ticonderoga, or Plattsburgh or Rouses Point and provide service to the Champlain region, but they say that they lack facilities to turn the train anywhere along that line (I guess adding a second P42 on the other end, or even rustling up an F40PH "cabbage" car and running push-pull is out of the question?). But if you're only going to run NYC-Albany, why even bother? That corridor is already served by the Lake Shore Limited, Maple Leaf and umpteen Empire Corridor services. Is another frequency of NYC-Albany services really that advantageous? Or maybe New York State, who is the driving force behind the Adirondack is worried that if it gets shelved entirely again, it may not come back?
In the meantime, CN and Amtrak have descended into arguments. Amtrak was already peeved that during the COVID-19 suspension, track conditions deteriorated, forcing Amtrak to lengthen an already long running time between Rouses Point and Montreal. Amtrak is saying that CN has historically been very inconsistent with the heat regulations, and CN has countered by saying that Amtrak hasn’t been paying its share of the required track maintenance, which Amtrak is disputing that they have.
With it fully funded, construction of the new, redesigned firebox for PRR #1361 has begun. The outer firebox wrapper sheets are formed and drilled for rivets and staybolts, and the fireman’s-side piece is temporarily fastened to the boiler barrel with bolts. The engineer’s-side outer sheet was fitted and then removed to facilitate the installation of the six inner-sheet parts. It'll be nice to see PRR #1361, an engine that has just had absolutely horrific luck in the preservation era, finally up and running. And the big question, where's it gonna run? Well, it's being PTC-equipped and converted to roller bearings, which will make it Class I capable, if they can find any willing to play nice (or maybe New Jersey Transit?). From the press conference on May 6th, the museum folks mentioned they have a number of agreements/invites to shortline/tourist lines. Colebrookdale Railroad, Western Maryland Scenic (which has running fundraising trips for the #1361), and very likely the Everett Railroad (also fundraising for #1361, right down the hill from Altoona, and president Alan Maples is involved in the #1361 restoration). I've also heard Nittany & Bald Eagle bandied around, and they hosted it back in the '80s, and I imagine Strasburg would be more than willing to host them.
Also, another Pacific, Louisville & Nashville #152 is beginning it's return to operation. It was parked in 2011, when it came due for it's federally-mandated teardown, and they've slowly been picking at it since 2015. But a large grant from the state of Kentucky has really jump-started progress, and this month they loaded up the boiler and drive wheels of the elderly Pacific and shipped them down to Kentucky Steam Heritage Co. (the Ravenna-based group restoring C&O #2716) for Next Generation Rail Solutions to really dig into the old gal.
L&N #152 and Monon BL2 #32 at Smiley, VA with a Harlan, KY to Appalachia, VA roundtrip excursion on October 11th, 1986. This is the site of the rather unusual Hagans Switchback (no apostrophe) that CSX still operates to this day.
In reply to NickD :
Speaking of NY to Albany, the tracks were washed out in yesterday's storm and the line is closed; Croton-Harmon to Poughkeepsie. Bus service will replace the train until further notice. I can't find solid information but I believe the West shore is in the same situation. The area had between 8-10 inches of rain, many of the roads are washed out, leaving areas like Highland Falls and West Point isolated. The Bear Mountain Bridge is closed in one direction as is the North end of the Palisades Parkway & parts of Route 9W including the bridge over Popelopen (sp?) Gorge.
In reply to TheMagicRatchet :
The downside to a "Water Level Route". When the water comes up, your route goes under.
A video showing the Hagans Switchback, which is a truly bizarre operation. Not even really a switchback in the conventional sense.
L&N #152 making her first test-run after her original restoration in '86. The fireman is definitely a little enthusiastic in this photo.
L&N #152 roaring out of Bee Rock Tunnel, once believed to be the shortest tunnel in the world at 47 feet and 7 inches, on October 11th, 1986. Trains stopped actively using this tunnel around the time time, and it was railbanked by CSX in '04. L&N traffic used to run through Big Stone Gap to Norton, where it jumped on an ex-Interstate RR branch heading for Clinchfield's Miller yard. But the CSX trackage rights over NS between Big Stone Gap and Frisco shortened that route considerably, resulting in the L&N getting railbanked east of Big Stone Gap, and the abandonment of Miller Yard. Today, Bee Rock Tunnel is part of the Powell River Trail.
In reply to NickD :
Hagans Switchback looks like a real clusterberkeley.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
I pretty much watch discovery or discovery, read or listen to a few podcasts. I like shows that are at least based on something real. Alaskan railroad on discovery has been entertaining. It's about 10 years old but somehow I missed it. I think a lot of the drama and dialogue is staged but railroading there has real challenges and interesting people.
L&N #152 reportedly owes it's survival to L&N president John E. Tilford, who personally ordered the locomotive to not be cut up for scrap on account of it allegedly declaring it being "too lovely to scrap". The #152 is kind of an odd duck with that large inside-journal trailing truck that only swivels a few degrees. It's a setup more akin to what you would see on early Atlantics, or logging Prairies and Mikados, and very unusual on a Pacific. Also, according to those who have operated here, L&N #152, when it originally ran in service must have been pretty miserable to operate. It had two injectors, both controlled by the engineer, as was the practice of the L&N in the early 1900s. The locomotive was nearly a full backhead locomotive, but with a small deck. The engineer sat next to the firebox, much like N&W #475. However, in that small space, there was the large Johnson Bar, that took up any room for a seat, save for a tiny folding seat. The engineer either sat on the tiny fold down seat, on the window sill, or just stood. The fireman had no seat box of his own either. Even in restored service, the addition of a power reverser made more room for a seat for the engineer, but one has to climb up over the seat to sit in it. Firing was always a challenge, as the left foot is on the small deck the locomotive has, and the right foot is on the bridge plate between the locomotive and tender, meaning your body was usually contorting in different directions when firing.
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