Amtrak detours on the Southern Tier?

i heard something about amtrak the other day on the southerntier line of NS, channel 161.070. does amtrak run that line too? or was i hearing things.

Could have been an amtrak engine in tow for some reason..
it could have been a unit being dropped off at Silver Springs to be picked up by the R&S to go to AMP in Dansville..

and no, Amtrak does not run on the southern tier main..never has.

Scot

well, the occasional special trip or excursion has been run, but not in regular service. Once in a while there will be a detour move, too, I can remember times when the Late Shore was run Buffalo-Corning-Binghamton-Oneonta-Albany to get around a wreck on the Chicago Line, or whatever CSX is calling it.

lvrr325 wrote:I can remember times when the Late Shore was run Buffalo-Corning-Binghamton-Oneonta-Albany to get around a wreck on the Chicago Line, or whatever CSX is calling it.

Really? When was this? Seems like they are more apt to just cancel service than to route around it when derailments block the main.

Detouring via Corning-Binghamton-Albany happened at least 3 times in the late 1980's early 1990's that I recall.

njmidland wrote:Detouring via Corning-Binghamton-Albany happened at least 3 times in the late 1980's early 1990's that I recall.

Also, I could have sworn this happened once or twice between 1997 and 2001 as well. Unfortunatley I don't have exact dates.

Otto Vondrak wrote:

lvrr325 wrote:I can remember times when the Late Shore was run Buffalo-Corning-Binghamton-Oneonta-Albany to get around a wreck on the Chicago Line, or whatever CSX is calling it.

Really? When was this? Seems like they are more apt to just cancel service than to route around it when derailments block the main.

Not when they need the equipment on the other end to run trains with. While the trains to Buffalo and Niagara Falls usually get scrubbed for busses, and passengers for points up here get bussed, they have on occasion detoured the trainset via Binghamton. If that can still be done, I don't know. But most of the times it occurred were mentioned in Railpace columns - I just don't feel like reading through 20 years of back issues to give exact dates.

Believe it or not I do usually know what I am talking about -

dummy wrote:i heard something about amtrak the other day on the southerntier line of NS, channel 161.070. does amtrak run that line too? or was i hearing things.

Keep in mind that 161.070 is an old Conrail channel, and it's in use in more places than just the Southern Tier Line. You may very well have heard them on that channel, but it doesn't mean it was the Tier.

There have been Amtrak trains on the Southern Tier Line in the past. In September of 1997, the Western NY Railway Historical Society ran an excursion on this line(Buffalo-Corning). The Lake Shore Limited(#48)detoured over the Tier 12-15-95 due to a CR wreck at Fonda?? on the Chicago Line. And there have been a couple of others that I can remember, just not the dates. As far as former CR channels, 161.070 is used also on the CSX Hudson Subdivision(heavy Amtrak traffic). Not sure if this is what you heard. Hope this helps.

nysw3636 wrote:There have been Amtrak trains on the Southern Tier Line in the past. In September of 1997, the Western NY Railway Historical Society ran an excursion on this line(Buffalo-Corning).

Of course, excursions are possible, but I was more interested in re-routes of regularly scheduled Amtrak trains. Thanks all for the replies.

Just to add to this thread...

Amtrak #48- detoured 12-15-95 (Amtrak #280 was leader)
Amtrak #49- detoured 12-15-95

And that excursion I mentioned (not possible, but did happen!!) had Amtrak #226 and #271 on 9-27-97 and Amtrak #9 and #271 on 9-28-97...

nysw3636 wrote:Just to add to this thread...

Amtrak #48- detoured 12-15-95 (Amtrak #280 was leader)
Amtrak #49- detoured 12-15-95

Sam Botts took a fantastic snow shot of #48 at Elmira NY that day. Some of you might be lucky enough to have a copy.

he has 2 shots from waverly,ny of 280 leading.