Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) Discussion

Matt Langworthy wrote:They wanted ownership of the land for an expansion project -my source wasn't sure what the details were. They took FGLK to court to get possession of leg of the wye (since the track is gone) and lost.

Thanks.

They still can put in wye if they want to? Or they have to go through tapes to get approval?

It is not often that I get to see a train heading over 96A in Varick on its way to the former Army Depot!

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Would love to hear how NS expects this wye to be gentler - or why they even care about a connection to a piece of track they don't even use. They can turn six axles on the wye in Dewitt and pull long cars around that tight curve on the Salt Land Spur (NYS&W) so I don't see how this needs to be more gentle, at most they'd be turning power on it, not running trains over it. It was good enough to detour the 20th Century Limited over at least once, relaid in the same pattern should be good enough for modern diesels.

lvrr325 wrote:It was good enough to detour the 20th Century Limited over at least once, relaid in the same pattern should be good enough for modern diesels.

I had heard of the Century being sent over the West Shore somewhere down on the Mohawk Division but can't quite recall a detour over the Old Road. Got details? Not doubting you, just can't come up with it. Was it something to do with the bridge down near Fox Ridge?

lvrr325 wrote:Would love to hear how NS expects this wye to be gentler - or why they even care about a connection to a piece of track they don't even use. They can turn six axles on the wye in Dewitt and pull long cars around that tight curve on the Salt Land Spur (NYS&W) so I don't see how this needs to be more gentle, at most they'd be turning power on it, not running trains over it.

The request from NS is for the ability to turn power. I've seen H06 powered by a pair of widecabs running elephant style pointed north. The southbound trip was probably tough under those circumstances, so I can see why they'd want the ability to turn the locos.

With that being said, I am not sure why a gentler curve is necessary for NS in Geneva/Border City. The wye leg from the Tier to the Corning Secondary in Corning is fairly sharp and six axle power can navigate it now.

All I can tell you is my grandfather told me his father ran it that way one night. Now he retired in ... 1948 I think, and died just a few years later, and my grandfather's been gone close to 20 years now too. So why it happened or even just when, I don't know, just that it happened.

I understand AAPRCO's 2017 convention special train (The Green Mountain Flyer) may be coming to visit Geneva in mid-September, provided that either CSX and/or NS will handle their train to/from the Finger Lakes Railway.

This from Clark Johnson, owner of the car Caritas.
The Convention train has, due to issues with the CP, been altered
significantly. Gone is the Saratoga Springs layover and the lower
portion of the Vermont Railway route. Replacing these is a trip to
Watkins Glen on the Finger Lakes RR and Bellows Falls to Rutland on
the Green Mountain RR.

AAPRCO CONVENTION TRAIN SCHEDULE CHANGES AND
UPDATE
The AAPRCO Convention train now has a significant re-routing that might be of interest
to High Iron passengers. We had not planned on taking the Caritas due to lack of
interest but this new routing with some rare mileage might be of interest.
NEW SCHEDULE/ROUTING
Thursday, Sep’t. 14
0730 Dp. Albany/Rensselaer for Utica
1015 Dp. Utica on Adirondack Scenic RR for Thendara, NY
1430 Dp. Thendara
1630 Arr. Utica, park overnight
Friday, Sep’t. 15
0400 Dp. Utica
0530 Dp. Schenectady on ex D&H (NS) line to Binghamton.
0830 Arr. Binghamton
1100 Arr. Corning
1415 Arr. Geneva; park overnight in Finger Lakes RR yard. Dinner lake cruise.
Saturday, Sep’t 16
0800 Dp. Geneva on Finger Lakes RR
0845 Arr. Himrod Jct.
0945 Arr. Watkins Glen
Sunday, Sep’t. 17
0400 Dp. Geneva
1230 Arr. Schenectady
1615 Arr. Springfield (Amtrak route)
1830 Arr. Bellows Falls, VT (Green Mtn. RR)
2015 Arr. Rutland, VT (park overnight)

Route 14 is going to be clogged with foamers on the 15th and 16th.

I'll try to catch them both days at lesser known spots on the Secondary and FGLK.

Poppyl

The SD units are now off FGLK property and headed back to the lessor. They were spotted in Gang Mills today, presumably after NS H06 brought them there last night.

The SD38s?

Yes, the SD38-2s are gone. The six axle units were NOT liked by FGLK's track gang.

Saw them (the SDs) last week on a Geneva freight..heading out of town. What's the issue with 6 axles..?? thought they were better weight distributed then a four axle??

I am surprised you saw the SD38-2s on a freight last week. They've been sitting idle for a couple of months. Perhaps you saw the "new" GP38-2s, which have been quite active since arriving in the spring.

Six axle power has long had a reputation for being tougher on track than four axle power. The additional tractive effort puts more pressure on the rails. Alco C628s were especially bad in this regard, but it's generally true for all 6 axle power.