Trackside Log for Saturday, June 9, 2007

When I woke up the previous morning I decided to go to the Altoona, Pennsylvania area for the weekend. After work I drove to the Courtyard Marriott in Altoona where I would stay two nights. So, this morning I awoke and headed to Lilly, Pennsylvania. On the way I passed through Duncansville where I espied two Everett Railroad locomotives parked along the road. I stopped to photograph them.

• 0833 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 1828-EV 707

I decided that I would visit again in the afternoon when the sun was on engine 707 nicely. In the mean time it was onward to Lilly to see what Norfolk Southern would present.

• 1000 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 9282-NS 2521 w/ helper NS 3362-NS 3425
• 1020 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9404-NS 9339
• 1035 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8361-NS 9765-NS 3014-NS 5645-NS 5083-NS 9332 w/ helper NS 3346-NS 3336
• 1040 Lilly, PA - Amtrak 42 east "Capitol Limited" - AMTK 96
• 1042 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 9884-NS 8569-NS 3367 w/ helper NS 3345-NS 3351

The next stop on my list was Cassandra. When I arrived I met three railfans from Rhode Island. We wound up photographing trains and chatting for much of the day.

• 1134 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8832-NS xxxx
• 1138 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound helpers - NS 3373-NS 3368
• 1157 Cassandra, PA - NS 65J west - NS 3348-NS 3354-NS 9932-NS 2512 w/ helper NS 3350-NS 3340
• 1212 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 6737-NS 8898-NS 2638
• 1251 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9177-NS 7549
• 1328 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 7565-NS 7590
• 1355 Cassandra, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2529-NS 3039-LTEX 1456-LTEX 1450-LTEX 1446-LTEX 1447-LTEX 1454-LTEX 1405 w/ helper NS 3351-NS 3345
• 1359 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 2773-NS 9408-NS 9978
• 1442 Cassandra, PA - NS westbound - NS 9324-NS 8911-NS 8333 w/ helper NS 3353-NS 3357

The sun angle was becoming poor so I drove back into Cresson in search of better light.

• 1505 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9504-NS 2758
• 1521 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3425-NS 3362
• 1528 Cresson, PA - NS 91J west - NS 9903-NS 9721 w/ helper NS 3374-NS 3433
• 1535 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2727-NS 8441
• 1542 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 9593 w/ helper NS 3335-NS 3352
• 1548 Cresson, PA - NS 10G east - NS 9814-UP 4409
• 1559 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 9329-BNSF 890
• 1613 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 2762-NS 2746
• 1627 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 2763-NS 2772
• 1646 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9926-NS 9472
• 1701 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 2673-NS 8926
• 1730 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound (travelling west) - helpers NS 3345-NS 3351

I never really figured out exactly what was going on, but the above train was an eastbound making a westward move on track 1, the eastbound track. Some problem or another was being worked out with helper sets and the loop track and they backed the train to the highway 53 bridge. It sat there for a while and then started to push eastward again. The helper set was in notch 8, slipping, and gradually moving the train. However, while it sat there the westbound Amtrak passed behind it.

• 1739 Cresson, PA - Amtrak 43 west "Capitol Limited" - AMTK 98
• 1818 Gallitzin, PA - NS westbound - NS 9747-NS 2503
• 1829 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 8324-NS 7586
• 1838 Cresson, PA - NS westbound - NS 7535-NS 7514

The light angle was starting to turn poor so I decided it would likely be a fine time to photograph the Everett Railroad again. I drove back to Duncansville to do just that.

• 1908 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 707-EV 1828
• 1910 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad power - EV 4
• 1911 Duncansville, PA - Everett Railroad equipment - EV 91517

It had been a stellar day and productive. I concluded it was time to call it a day so I headed back to the Courtyard for the evening.