Southern Tier - East of Binghamton

Through Waldwick,7:33

Thanks Waldwick. Anyone else got an OS on the east end? Gotta be by Sparrowbush by now.

Leaving Port Jervis now,10:16
should be in Sparrow Bush in a few minutes

A nice video of the special on Friday Port Jervis to Hancock (I think) is here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSjXSk5veXw

You can see the poor condition of the track. Lots of work needed if NS is going to start running trains.

CEFredericks

>>You can see the poor condition of the track. Lots of work needed if NS is going to start running trains.<<
As for the entire line from Port Jervis to Binghamton, I have to disagree. There are many miles of excellent welded rail on the line out of veiw from the normal railfan areas and the entire line has good ballast. The line is fine for the 30 mph right now, will neet some work to get it to 40 for freight. This will not prevent NS from running now, but there will not be 40 mph running for a least another year, IMO. I have been over the line many times in the last few years, and it rides much better than it did when I rode it in Conrail days back in 1989. East of Lackawaxen was a very bad ride back then, and I remenber being thrown side to side in the cab at track speed. Now days, the trackage from Sparrow to Narrowsburg is almost all welded rail and rides great. The rehab of the signal system has more than helped out as most trains make Pj to BH in under four hours, and that is not bad. The pole line had been in such bad shape that alot of trains where running on red signals at restricted speed for many miles. The line is in generally good condition now and the NYSW is commiting to more inprovements each year, many that cannot be seen by the casual observer.

L&HR,
In that video there was a shot of CWR on a curve that looked good. Your first-hand knowledge trumps mine, glad to hear it is better than it looks on video.

CE Fredericks

Bill,

I saw you going the opposite direction on Route 97 someplace east of Calicoon as I was chasing the E-8s. I figured I would have seen you trackside someplace. Did you get to see the train?

BTW, I also noticed the track was in much better condition than it had been years ago. Also saw evidence of new ties being installed at different points. The signal systems upgrades alone are a huge improvement!

Chris

L&HR C&S wrote:>>You can see the poor condition of the track. Lots of work needed if NS is going to start running trains.<<
As for the entire line from Port Jervis to Binghamton, I have to disagree. There are many miles of excellent welded rail on the line out of veiw from the normal railfan areas and the entire line has good ballast. The line is fine for the 30 mph right now, will neet some work to get it to 40 for freight. This will not prevent NS from running now, but there will not be 40 mph running for a least another year, IMO. I have been over the line many times in the last few years, and it rides much better than it did when I rode it in Conrail days back in 1989. East of Lackawaxen was a very bad ride back then, and I remenber being thrown side to side in the cab at track speed. Now days, the trackage from Sparrow to Narrowsburg is almost all welded rail and rides great. The rehab of the signal system has more than helped out as most trains make Pj to BH in under four hours, and that is not bad. The pole line had been in such bad shape that alot of trains where running on red signals at restricted speed for many miles. The line is in generally good condition now and the NYSW is commiting to more inprovements each year, many that cannot be seen by the casual observer.

I believe some of the storage cars have been taken off of the Tier mains around the Deposit area. I'm sure the track where they have been sitting for years can't be in the best of shape but at least now it is usable. Someone else would probably know more than me on the specifics of the condition. I believe the PRR train used the track in that area that was unusable before.

SecaucusJunction wrote:I believe some of the storage cars have been taken off of the Tier mains around the Deposit area. I'm sure the track where they have been sitting for years can't be in the best of shape but at least now it is usable. Someone else would probably know more than me on the specifics of the condition. I believe the PRR train used the track in that area that was unusable before.

the NYSW train uses that track daily. unless the PRR went on a siding, then it would have gone where a train hasnt in years.

I'm not entirely familiar with that particular area to know if it is a controlled siding or a double track section, but I'm pretty sure that the PRR train operated on a track formerly occupied by storage intermodal cars. I'm guessing it is a double track section as I am not sure why he would have gone on a siding since there were no meets in the area.

An article in today's Albany Times Union states that Mechanicville yard on schedule to open in early 2012. it also discussed the effort to replace the Portageville bridge. See http://www.timesunion.com/business/arti ... 845137.php

John Adams

I believe I read on the Yahoo Groups yesterday that more storage cars were taken off the Tier sidings yesterday. Good news if you have hopes of an Eastern Tier revival...

Lots of ties right up to CP Sparrow! Is this a MN or NS work? PJ station is also under renovation(the MN shelter one)

MN foots the bill with the work done by NJT track gangs-usually in the Fall after they finish their own work in Jersey..

Yes I noticed that too. Looks like MN is going to be fixing up tracks they never use!