Grassroots Railroad Sports?

At the beginning of the day, I'd only seen two NS heritage units beforehand. By the end of today, I'd doubled that amount, and this was a huge one. NS #8102, the Pennsylvania Railroad heritage unit, was trailing power on this westbound freight headed through Horseshoe Curve. It would have been better if it was leading, but at least the leader unit, another one of those AC44C6M rebuilds, was nice and clean.

I hung around a little longer but it seemed like things had cooled off a little, and so I decided to leave. Still, it makes you wonder what this place was like when doubleheaded I1sas or J1s shook the earth climbing the curve. Or even later, when Baldwin Centipedes and Alco RSD-12s pounded away as helper sets.

I then headed to Gallitzin, to the site of Gallitzin Tunnel and Allegheny Tunnel.

On the left is Gallitzin Tunnel. Construction on Gallitzin Tunner was begun in 1902 and opened in 1904. On the right is Allegheny Tunnel, the first tunnel constructed by the PRR through the Allegheny Mountains between 1851 to 1854. Originally named "Summit" Tunnel, it is 3,612 feet long at an elevation of 2,167 feet and is known today as the Allegheny Tunnel. In the 1990s, using he Allegheny Tunnel was enlarged from its original 1854 cross-section to contain two tracks that could be used for double-stacks in either direction. The work was completed in September 1995, and the Gallitzin Tunnel, which was not enlarged, was taken out of service. These tunnels were also targeted by German saboteurs during WWII, with plans to use explosives to collapse the tunnels. Such was the value of the PRR and its ability to transport massive amounts of materials and resources to the war effort that Germany sought to cripple the PRR, and with it, the US.

I hung around a little while, hoping to catch a train exiting the tunnel, but after a couple minutes there, an MoW crew showed up and began wandering all over the tracks and even down into the tunnel, which made me think that there likely was not going to be any trains through anytime soon.

There was also this beautifully-restored PRR N5C cabin car on display.

Hey Nick, check this out and tell us what you think...

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/off-topic-discussion/what-is-it-metal-object-found-in-woods/259004/page1/#post3800395

In reply to Recon1342 :

Weighed in, not sure how helpful I was. That's a weird one.

So, today it was down to Hollidaysburg. 

First: more cabooses (cabeese? cabii?). This is Everett Railroad's gorgeous ex-Central Railroad of New Jersey caboose.

Also, Everett Railroad #126 was down there coupled to the string of passenger cars. This was a Lehigh Valley Railroad NW1 built in 1938 that was rebuilt to SW900 specs by EMD in '56. It was passed down to Conrail, then was sold off to Rosebud Mining, and then the now-defunct Kiski Junction Railroad in 2011, who restored it to Lehigh Valley colors. Kiski Junction halted operations in 2016, and then filed for abandonment in 2021 and Everett Railroad scooped up the #126 and moved it to Hollidaysburg, and uses it on passenger trains when they aren't using the #11. Gorgeous little machine.

I swung down to Hollidaysburg very early, and then pre-drove the route to see what sites that I'd picked out on Google Maps would and wouldn't work.

Got back to Hollidaysburg around 10:40ish and the #11 was onsite and hooked up to her train. The tiny little Mogul is a delightfully picturesque little machine, emphasis on the little part. I could have watched the deadhead move in, but wanted to make sure I had good spots to take photo/video from.

I got there and noticed something unusual almost immediately. Check out the steam blowing out of the line on the locomotive pilot as well as out from under the passenger cars. Yep, no HEP and electric heat here, they're using steam heat off of the locomotives. 

I noticed that they have crossed out the coal capacity and added the oil capacity. The #11 was built by Alco for a Cuban sugar plantation, as part of a rather large order, but after Alco constructed three of them, the sugar plantation bailed on the order. The #11 and the other two locomotive were built as oil-burners, and proceeded to sit at Schenectady for 3 years before Alco sold them off one by one. When Narragansett Pier Terminal Co. bought this engine, they requested it be converted to oil burning. Then, two years ago, Everett Railroad, citing cost and difficulty of coal as well as the added logistics, converted the #11 back to burning oil, using the original Alco blueprints.

I also noticed they were not cutting off the #126. They had a 6 passenger car train hooked up behind the #11, and since she makes less than 24,000lbs of tractive effort and the Everett does not have a flat profile, the #126 was along to help out. But it wasn't doing all the work.

Swinging off a bridge and across River Road.

At CP LOOP, so named because it crosses Loop Road.

Emerging from the woods and swinging through a curve parallel to Reservoir Road.

Blowing for the Monastery Road grade crossing as it approaches CP Kladder. No clue where Kladder comes from, since the only thing I can find is that "kladder" is Dutch for "blotchy"

Up at the old PRR depot in Roaring Spring, PA, there's yet another N5C cabin car on display, although not as nice as the one at Gallitzin.

Passing by the Roaring Spring Depot. I really wish they hadn't planted that tree at the end of the platform that blocks out the sign on the end of the awning. They also have an old signal semaphore set up as a display piece.

Kicking up some dust at the Frederick Road grade crossing as it passes by a Cargill plant

And headed away and arcing through a curve. That solid string of olive green cars looks mighty nice too. The last car was in a crusty Tuscan Red, but didn't get that in this shot.

Since the return trip is mostly downgrade, they had cut the #126 off, and at Martinsburg, the #11 cut off from it's train and turned on the wye to take the train back to Hollidaysburg.

Drifting by the Roaring Springs depot.

The #126 was back and waiting at Hollidaysburg, free and uncoupled from everything. That is a sharp machine.

And the #11 arriving back in Hollidaysburg.

 I didn't take much video because I went and got my tripod out of my car, got it set up, and then realized that I don't have the adapter to attach my camera to my tripod. But I did get a video of it leaving Hollidaysburg.

I'm out to take photos of the #2102. Third time I've gone to see the #2102, third time it's rained.

Also, it was nice to chase #11 pretty much all by myself yesterday, other than one elderly gentleman.

So, today Reading 4-8-4 #2102 stomped its way along the Road of Anthracite from Reading to Tamaqua with 19 cars and no diesel assistance. Unlike yesterday, which was warm and sunny, today was miserable and cold and rainy and gray and windy. The nice thing about cold days like today is you get some really nice steam plumes. So, here's the #2102 pounding through Leesport, PA, wreathed in steam.

Having crossed Molino Road, #2102 runs parallel to Happy Valley Road in Orwigsburg, PA.

Between the grade, the rain, and the sheer weight of the train, the #2102 clawed and slithered her way up through East Mahanoy Junction. You could hear her slipping the wheels on the approach to EMJ from Tamaqua.