Trackside Log for Wednesday, March 15, 2006

When I opened my eyes this morning I was greeted by a near blizzard. The plan was to see what NS would present on the former PRR. It was snowing so hard for the first few trains I just watched them go by.

• 0924 Cresson,PA - Amtrak eastbound - AMTK 94
• 0928 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound - NS 9943-UP 6408 w/ helper NS 3339-NS 3341
• 1003 Lilly, PA - NS westbound helper - NS 3362-NS 3373
• 1022 Lilly, PA - NS 36A east - NS 9795-NS 8370
• 1032 Lilly, PA - NS westbound - NS 8337-NS 9246 w/ helper NS 3380-NS 3370
• 1044 Lilly, PA - NS westbound helper - NS 3352-NS 3428
• 1046 Lilly, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3373-NS 3362
• 1050 Lilly, PA - NS 65A east - NS 9397-BNSF 847
• 1114 Cresson, PA - NS 36A east - NS 9795-NS 8370
• 1126 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3373-NS 3362
• 1132 Cresson, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3348-NS 3364
• 1230 Gallitzin, PA - NS 11A west - helper NS 3363-NS 3335 w/ NS 8313-NS xxxx w/ helper NS 3337-NS 3359
• 1251 Gallitzin, PA - NS eastbound helper - NS 3363-NS 3335

Now that was so much better. Norfolk Southern actually ran some trains. I didn't want to be too late back home so I headed out at about 1300.

• 1419 Du Bois, PA - B&P power - BPRR xxxx-BPRR xxxx
• 1420 Du Bois, PA - B&P switcher - BPRR 7822
• 1619 Salamanca, NY - B&P switcher - BPRR 203

The Buffalo and Pittsburgh was rewarding on the way home too. Catching them switching Du Bois was a bonus. There was a northbound out there somewhere too, but I never actually heard it. Oh well. The trip was rewarding so I have no complaints. I think I'll have to go back and photograph R.J. Corman between Thurmond and Mount Hope, West Virginia though. The scenery was excellent. I could easily spend a day on CSX in Thurmond too. These are things to add to my to-do list I suppose.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, March 14, 2006

I wanted to photograph MARC and the Capitol Limited so I got to the station at Harpers Ferry for 0645. Quite a few commuters were waiting.

• 0656 arr/0658 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P878 east - MARC 70/MARC 69
• 0738 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q217-14 west - CSXT 7366-CSXT 8500

I was hoping the sun would stay away for the morning because Harpers Ferry is really an afternoon shot. The sun came out so I moved on.

• 0900 Martinsburg, WV - CSX V819-13 west - CSXT 590-CSXT 556-CSXT 429-CSXT 244

After a couple hours and only one train I couldn't take it anymore.

• 1158 Sleepy Creek, WV - Amtrak "Capitol Limited" east - AMTK 39-AMTK 176

Unbelievable. The Capitol Limited was several hours late. Worse, it surprised me and I couldn't photograph it. Shortly after I ran across HO tower and photographed it.

• 1211 Bath, WV - B&O HO tower

I worked my way over to Cumberland, Maryland and had a look at the CSX locomotive maintenance facility. There were locomotives all over the place but only one was interesting enough to commit to film, a B23-7.

• 1305 Cumberland, MD - CSX power - CSXT 5898

I found a nice location west of town on the main to Pittsburgh and waited… and waited. Nothing came. After a while I'd had enough and left for Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Maybe Norfolk Southern can outperform CSX.

Trackside Log for Monday, March 13, 2006

The weather this morning was looking remarkably good. The forecast was for sun and clouds until some severe storms were to blow through in the evening. Since my photographs of the Sago mine CF7 from the previous day were brutally dark I decided to reshoot it this morning.

• 0734 Sago, WV - Sago mine switcher - SRPP 2500

According to the local news the mine was due to reopen that week after being shut down due to an explosion. After shooting the CF7 I returned to Buckhannon to the Appalachian & Ohio. My timing was off because I missed a southbound while stuck in traffic.

• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - WAMX 5006-WAMX 5103-WAMX 50xx-WAMX 51xx
• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - BAR 355
• 0813 Buckhannon, WV - A&O power - WAMX 5120

Next I headed for the West Virginia Central in Belington. Wow. Some of the roads I was on to get there were little more than tracks through the forest. On the way I encountered an old Baldwin switcher left for dead at the end of a coal siding.

• 0838 Teter, WV - Rawhide Mine switcher - Cheyenne Sales Company RT-10
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 67
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 303
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - Bentley Coal Company 207
• 0924 Belington, WV - WVC power - WM 415

Sadly the Western Maryland BL2 was locked indoors and it didn't appear to be any work this day, so off to CSX in Grafton. There was an assortment of CSX AC4400's, an SD80MAC, and two NS SD70M-2's.

• 1030 Grafton, WV - CSX westbound power - CSXT 583-CSXT 517
• 1045 Grafton, WV - CSX eastbound power - CSXT 209-CSXT 3xx

It wasn't overly exciting so I continued my journey to Moorefield and the South Branch Valley Railroad.

• 1327 Moorefield, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 182
• 1331 Moorefield, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 80

When I signed my release to photograph at the SBVR shops the nice folks there told me that a southbound was on its way to Petersburg. I went after it but it beat me.

• 1412 Petersburg, WV - SBVR southbound - SBVR 181-SBVR 91 (it's front coupled)
• 1420 Petersburg, WV - SBVR yard - SBVR caboose 1892
• 1428 Petersburg, WV - SBVR power - SBVR 90

Next I took off for the Winchester & Western in Gore, VA with a quick stop at the Potomac Eagle.

• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - VIA FP9 nose
• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - CO 8016
• 1531 Romney, WV - Potomac Eagle power - PE 722
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - WW 498
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - ESHR 8066
• 1620 Gore, VA - WW power - WW 1007

It was getting late so I would be staying over night in Harpers Ferry, WV. I checked into the Comfort Inn and then headed down to the station to write up the day's log and see what trains would pass in the night.

• 1917 arr/1918 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P879 west - MARC 69/MARC 70
• 1948 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX V102-11 east - CSXT 4835-CSXT 785
• 2039 arr/2040 dep Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC P883 west - MARC 62
• 2109 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q400 west - CSXT 591-UP 4489-CSXT 8148
• 2139 Harpers Ferry, WV - MARC eastbound deadhead - MARC 7846 (cab car; MARC 62 power)
• 2142 Harpers Ferry, WV - CSX Q139 west - CSXT 5221-CSXT 5232

Also of note is that the Harpers Ferry B&O station is well into its restoration to approximately 1931 specifications.

Trackside Log for Sunday, March 12, 2006

I arose to a wet cloudy morning in West Virginia. Well at least it wasn't actively raining. It didn't take long for it to arrive though.

• 0742 Parkersburg - Little Kanawha River power - LKRR 1205

Apparently driving south was the answer. By the time I got to Charleston the weather was much improved.

• 0914 Chesapeake, WV - Winifrede Railroad - JTPX 2012-JTPX 2011
• 0926 Chesapeake, WV - Winifrede Railroad - DPS 2000 "Nellie"
• 0944 Chesapeake, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 257-CSXT 210

Next I hunted down an R.J. Corman line. I started in Mount Hope, the end of their line, but no red engines. I followed the track north to their junction with CSX in Thurmond.

• 1158 Thurmond, WV - R.J. Corman - RJCX 1607-RJCX 1804

I noticed a green signal on the CSX tracks so I waited for the westbound in the rain.

• 1302 Thurmond, WV - CSX westbound - CSXT 729-CSXT 765

After the coal train passed I headed for the Gauley River Railroad in Muddlety. Unfortunately when I got there I discovered that the tracks had been removed. Well, nothing I can do about that so I continued on to the next shortline, the Elk River Railroad.

• 1456 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 4
• 1500 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 2-ELKR 5
• 1503 Gassaway, WV - Elk River Railroad power - ELKR 1-ELKR 3
• 1610 Heaters, WV - CSX derailment
• 1731 Sago, WV - coal mine switcher - SRPP 2500

It was getting pretty dark while photographing the mine's CF7. I ended my day in Buckhannon where the A&O had some power parked. I checked into the Colonial Motel which was a block from the A&O.

Trackside Log for Saturday, March 11, 2006

Today I set out on my West Virginia trip. The first day was mostly a travel day so I didn't have much planned aside from a few shortlines in Ohio. The goal for the day was to finish in Parkersburg, West Virginia.

• 1000 Conneaut, OH - Conneaut Historical Railroad Museum - NKP 755

My truck was getting very thirsty so I looked for fuel in Conneaut. Would you believe the only station I found had no pumps in service? I continued west praying to find something quickly. Fortunately I found fuel before I ran out but I was getting nervous.

• 1126 Jefferson, OH - Ashtabula, Carson & Jefferson power - ACJ 518

Unfortunately the operational power for the AC&J was stored inside.

• 1257 Peninsula, OH - Cuyahoga Valley - BO 21
• 1356 Barberton, OH - Akron & Barberton Cluster power - ABC 1501-ABC 1502
• 1719 Benwood, WV - CSX 2670

I followed a CSX line from Wheeling to Parkersburg. There were quite a few GP38's sitting around, but nothing running. I checked into a Red Roof Inn, got some food at the Mountaineer Family Restaurant, and called it a day.