Buffalo & Susquehanna Railroad

Well, with the weather forecasting rain next weekend and so much sunshine out this weekend, I"ve decided to make my road trip tomorrow [SUN]. No one has replied from the Pa forum about E. Forks Rd being plowed or not so I'm going to investigate myself. I think it will be as the road "empties" out right at the park on 44.

I'm taking my hiking boots along with the x/c skies depending on the terrain and snow remaining at the jct of the B&S and PA44. Sure hope the black bears are still asleep. Wouldn't want to piss off any of them. it looks like a long trek into SB 4&5 so that probably won't happen. But 2&3 look promising except its directly behind a house. We'll wing it.

I won't forget the camera!

How was your trip?

Outstanding! And I didn't forget the camera! haha Between the flight ops photos and the ground ops yesterday, I have 150 pictures. I took two of everything to make sure I got good shots. So, after I pick and choose, I'll have maybe 80 shots to share.

I haven't had time to right up my excursion but in short, it's the best thing I've ever done. The E. Fork Rd that I thought was only paved to Conrad is paved all the way with new guard rails. Following the row is difficult due to a lot of trees. Never saw SB 2&3 but I new I was close.

Skiing the trail to SB 4 was outstanding. Wait till you see the pictures. It makes one wonder how small we are as compared to nature. I was so tired when I got back to the car.

I'll have more soon.

BTW, my 2009 Ford Focus got 40mpg which included all those back roads and hills. I could have gone 500 miles on that tank. I'm pretty happy with that.

Before departing I was running a mental check list on what I should bring with me. After all, I planned on x/c skiing in a pretty remote area. One of the things on the list was, tell someone where I was going specifically so in the unlikely event of something going wrong, they’d know where to start. After that, just pile everything into the car. Jacket, vest, boots, food, gloves, camera and GPS.

Google SAT/maps said I should take the 400 and pick up 16 to Olean. The GPS said the same thing. I disagreed and took 219. But at Genesee Rd just before Springville, I changed my mind and went east on Genesee Rd to 16 and headed south. I don’t regret doing 16, but I won’t do it again. Too many little towns with speed limits. The only thing of value on 16 at this point is that I noticed the rail cars are still stored on the line just north of Franklinville. If these are still the same cars that I noticed last year, this will be at least their 2nd winter.

Passing through Olean wasn’t too much of a problem but it took a while to get through Portville. 30 mph and caught behind a slow poke. I didn’t really get moving again until I got on Pa155. Going through Eldred and Port Alleghany went pretty fast. While I didn’t see any train traffic along 155, the signals were on. Either blocked one way or clear the other. Traffic free all the way to Keating Summit.

Lots of trees were blocking the line all the way to Keating Summit. But at KS, it was cleared out. Looking at the map from the B&S book, page 19, I can see why it’s cleared. The wye crossed the road and into a mini yard. The wye is visible through the trees. I was able to get a couple of pictures. There is a bumper at this location but that line is under snow. The mainline is uncovered. At no point could I see Switchback #1. No useful roads to get up into the valley. But there is a small side street that I drove up, which is right next to 155. It helped a little bit by being able to see the B&S at its end. That’s all you can see from down below. The aerial pictures are very clear and you’ll be able to see SB #1 as well as the wye.

After viewing the row down below, I picked up Pa607 at Keating Summit and drove up the steep road. I knew this road would take me across the row and when I did, I pulled over and took some pictures. When I looked down the row from the beginning of the switchback, I noticed that there were no tracks of any kind in the snow. It is roped off as private property. I would have loved to have skied this SB. When standing on Pa607 and comparing the row on both sides, it must have made the crews heart rate jump because it gets steep right at the road headed down to the SB.

Following PA607 was great. Very scenic. Trees of all kinds. But, if you’re a railfan, it’s tough. It was very difficult to follow the row. Heavily tree’d. Barely viewable in most places. If it wasn’t for it being winter, with snow, you’d never see it. When the leaves come out, it will vanish into the background. So, if anybody gets the itch for a B&S road trip, go when the leaves aren’t on the trees. As I neared Austin, I lost the row. It came down into the valley at some point and I just couldn’t keep track of it. The roads are skinny so you have to pay attention.

While researching the directions to get down here, I did a street view of Austin. There is a restaurant at the end of Pa607 where it meets Pa872. I was getting hungry so when I saw the place, I stopped in. Glad I did. While researching the directions, I wasn’t sure if I should go all the way on 872S to Wharton. I really didn’t know if East Fork Rd would take me all the way to PA44 at Cherry Springs Park. I didn’t really want to drive all that way and have to turn around and take 872N to near Coudersport. So, I asked the person who took my order if she knew anything about E. Forks Rd. She said she didn’t but she must have asked someone else because she came back to me and said it was paved. Another individual came up to me and also said it was paved. When I got back into the car, I turned right instead of left and headed to Wharton. At that point, I was just enjoying the day so much that I didn’t care anymore if the road was paved or not. The sun was out, it was warm, I’d turn around if I had too.

One more thing about the restaurant. They had a panoramic photo from 1911 of the big flood. Gees, it was like a tsunami from the looks of it. It must have been, because if you look in the book about the B&S as mentioned above, you’ll see that the force of the water pushed a locomotive off the tracks. See page 82. A great photo.

A few minutes later, I arrived at Wharton. Not much of a town except for a few homes. I made the turn onto E. Forks Rd and so I went. At first I climbed up the side of the hill but eventually came back down into the valley. The row is not really viewable for most of the way. I did pick it up in a few spots though that I was able to get either a good view from a distance or I drove right on it.

I came upon the little town of Conrad which is where I thought E. Forks Rd would come to a halt. But it kept on going and so did I. I knew that switchbacks 2&3 were very close. But the road was bordered by huge amounts of trees and so I never saw them. Even after reviewing my aerial photo’s it was difficult to place 2&3 to where I was driving. Better luck next time.

E. Forks Rd is a very bumpy road. I kept it slow going. Once, I thought the suspension was going to come through the hood. Their were no pot holes. Just deep troughs not easily seen. Not a good place to lose the car. I kept it slow and finally made it to Pa44. Across the street was the old airfield/astronomy club. A great place for night time astronomy. I will come back here during the summer for sure.

I then made my way to the crossing. It took a little longer than I thought. I was beginning to wonder if the Google/street view was so old that everything had changed. But I came around the corner and over the hill and there were the guard rails just like in street view. The most amazing view over the mountains. I have several pictures but they don’t do it justice. Beautiful. I pulled the car off to the side and started to check the area out. Should I ski or walk. There was still a lot of snow, so I skied. The row behind me that led to SB 2&3 was really steep! But then as I walked around, I realized that it was an access path down to the row. The row sits about 50 feet below the road due to fill used to make the road.

From the road looking towards SB 4&5 [Easterly] I could see the row wrapping around the mountains. It was going to be a long day I thought. Now it’s about 315pm. Sunset is at 615pm. There would still be light at 630pm. So, I would ski until 5pm and no matter where I was, I would turn around and come back. So, with that, I got all my gear together and started down the north side of Pa44. There is a marker at the beginning of it. The paths name is Switchback.

It was steep and deep. I was beginning to have second thoughts but I kept going. I came upon a tiny fallen tree. Looked like a crossing gate. Like other fools, I went around it. Once at the bottom of the path it leveled out and it was pretty easy skiing even though I had to cut the ski trail. The views were great. After going around the first curve coming down from the car, I came upon the “horse shoe” curve that took me off the mountain that my car was on to the mountain the switchbacks were on. I’m feeling very confident at this point. At the next curve, I stopped to rest a little bit. I looked over to the mountain I had just come from. I could see the clearing where my car was parked. Holy crap, I’ve descended 200 feet already! I kept going.

I came upon the next curve thinking that SB #4 will be in site. Hahaha, nope! I forgot how much these SB’s really wrap around almost the entire mountain. Two more curves to get around. Meanwhile, I’m looking for wild animals. Lots of foot prints but nothing bear like. I also kept looking below for SB #5. Couldn’t see anything below me due to all the trees. Still a great view straight out. Eventually I could see the row from 5 rising up.

It only took me one hour to get to SB 4. I was ahead of skd. But I was already tired and not enough time to go down to 5 let alone come back up. I skied to the end of the switch back and ate some of my food. I kept most of it for emergency purposes in case I had to spend the night on the hill. I really began to appreciate what these crews had to deal with. The row and SB were rather steep in comparison to the short distance traveled. I can’t imagine having to operate in the winter at night on these SB. No wonder trains fell off and rolled down the hill. See pages 83 and 84.

Well, time to head back and all up hill. But it wasn’t too bad as I skied in the ski path I just cut. I’m glad I went down first. As the sunset began to approach, the golden glow hitting the mountains was spectacular. Again it was a long way around getting back to the horse shoe curve and up to the access path. I stopped near the “crossing gate” and watch the sunset. Then I started up the path and it was the most difficult part of the whole row. I had to climb 50 feet up to the road. The snow was very deep and slippery. More like granulated ice. When I got to the car, I was exhausted. But I was 20 minutes a head of skd.

I took a few more sunset pictures and then drove around to W. Branch Rd and drove down below 4&5. It was getting dark so I couldn’t see as much as I’d hoped to. But the view was impressive. Looking at the mountain from a distance that I just skied really made an impression. It must have been incredible to watch trains navigating up and down that mountain. I drove up an unpaved road trying to get closer to the row. I saw a RR crossing sign in the distance. Tried to get a picture but it was too dark. I also couldn’t locate the row or the bridge either. It may have been just a little bit further up the road but it looked too rugged to drive my car up it. And I wasn’t sure if this was a private road or public or where one ended and the other began.

At this point, I’m tired and hungry. Time to call it a day. I turned around and headed to Coudersport to get something to eat and rest. Then I punched “Home” into the GPS and two hours later I’m home.

Greatest trip I’ve done in a long time. I won’t hesitate to do it again. Be patient as it will take me a little time to get through the pictures and post them. They will be worth the wait.

Well, as I say to all my passengers at the airport, "Thanks for waiting."

It took me awhile to decide whether to just post the still photo's or create a movie out of them. As I though about doing a movie, I thought forget it. Too much work. But I opened up Windows Movie Maker and dabled a bit and I realized I got slowly sucked into completing the movie. This movie does not contain any ground shots. Strickly aerial. The ground shots will be taken care of later. Near the end of the video I hightlighted the section that I skied on so you'll at least have a clue. Snow makes for a great highlighter. When the leaves grow in, I doubt you'll see anything from the air unless you know exactly where to look.

While dealing with all the photos and getting them lined up, I noticed that the r-o-w leading down from SB4 to 5 and from 5 to Galetaon appear to have a couple of wash outs possibly. I didn't ski that far so I don't know for sure. Maybe next year.

Hope you guys like it.

Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZO3BpAXJFE

^Very cool!!

Thanks!!!

Any pictures yet?

I thought I posted them a while ago. Maybe it didn't take or it's on another thread. But this link below is the x/c skiing run I took. Fortunately, I didn't wake up any bears and one was close.

http://www.railfan.net/railpix/submit/dansyrcher/

After almost beaching my boat due to anchor problems, I decided I’d rather do something else. So, I decided to head down into Pennsylvania and do some more exploring of the B&S. But first I went back to the Cherry Springs State Park for the astronomy viewing. Briefly, it was amazing. I could see the Milky Way galaxy all the way to the horizon. I could easily see the band of stars we are in and I could just barely see another band further out. I could see things that you just can’t ever see in a city. I stayed the night. The moon came up and lit the whole place up and it was only a half moon. If it was a harvest moon my bet is you can read the paper without a flashlight. Recommended.

I ended up waking up with the sun. About 5:15am. No need to sit around as I didn’t bring anything with me. So I decided to head to Austin, PA to have breakfast at the same restaurant I had lunch at in April. The name of it is Big Mikes. Good service and food.

After packing up, I headed back to the B&S and PA44 crossing. Very over grown and would not be easy or fun to walk. I didn’t. There is an access path/road and I considered going down it. But then I smelled urine in the light breeze. Could be just deer or maybe something bigger. I decided not to go. I didn’t want to end up in the newspaper as the next black bear breakfast. Up the street I noticed a seasonal road so I went down there instead.

I drove down this dirt road wondering where it would take me. I soon realized that I ended up on the B&S ROW so I kept going. The ROW is in pretty good condition [for autos not trains] and rather smooth so again, I kept going. The grass in between the tire tracks is very tall. Above the bumper. I was somewhat concerned about the grass going against the catalytic converter but being 6am in the morning, it was all very wet with dew. I don’t want to be responsible for starting a forest fire.

I came upon someone’s home. Not really a home but more like a cottage. Maybe for hunting season. But it sits right next to the ROW. I’d love to buy this house. Good positioning. After passing the cottage, I came upon a small curve. It was just the coolest thing to drive on this. After the curve came the cut. As I approached the cut, I noticed a tiny rock slide. As I drove through, I kept my eyes open on both walls. My heart rate was elevated…so I kept going. It was more amazing than the curve.

But, because this was a last minute decision to come down here, I never took the time to study the ROW, so I didn’t know where I would end up if I kept going or if something would be in the way. So, at the next wide area, I stopped, walked around the area to see where solid ground was and then turned around.

After getting back on 44, I started my trek to locate Switch backs 2&3. I never found them during my first try from the ground. But this time, I had better knowledge of where they were and I did find them. As I drove along this narrow road [you have to pay strict attention] I got the feeling that I was very near them. I slowed up and came into a clearing. There they were. Not easily accessible from the bottom and I didn’t try. More study is required.

Now I’m getting hungry as I haven’t had anything to eat since 5pm the day before. So off to Austin for breakfast and then onto Switch Back 1 at Keating Summit. Which, by the way, is heavily over grown. In April, you could pretty much see the ROW from Keating Summit to Austin. As I predicted in April, you cannot see it at all with all the leaves on the trees. I knew where to look but it is totally hidden.

On my way home, I stopped in Eldred to check out the WWII museum. Very nice and recommended. I learned a few things from it.


I do plan on returning to the B&S again and driving it as much as possible. I briefly looked at Google SAT/maps and it looks doable from PA44 to the top of Switch Back #3. But next time, I’ll bring the Bronco instead as it may require something taller and 4 wheel drive capability. I wouldn’t do this during dry season due to the tall grass. So maybe in the fall.

The site below has 6 new pictures of my trip down. The pictures start after I turned around and headed back to PA44.

http://www.railfan.net/railpix/submit/dansyrcher/

Great pictures! I can just about smell the forest and feel the morning coolness just looking at them.

The aerial photo showing the switchbacks really tells the story of why they were necessary. Thanks for sharing.

While reviewing the collection of old TRAINS magazines I acquired (10 boxes of mags from Rails and Shafts going out of business sale), I came across this gem:

TRAINS MAGAZINE February 1972 article on the B&S and WAG titled:

SOLE LEATHER LINE
From Switchbacks to Salzberg

I copied it into a PDF to share. Its 3 MBs, so i can't upload it here, so I loaded on my web site:

http://www.RaritanRiver-RR.com/Buffaloa ... /BSTOC.htm

I think i also have part 2, which would be March 1972. I may also have an NRHS Article posted on their NRHS Bulletin publication. I will scan them in too soon.

I didn't take the time to read the articles yet, but I'd say the picture half way down is the bottom of Switch back #5 on the way to Galeton. It never occured to me that they would be operating several trains at a time as the same picture shows coming down or up the switch backs. The land scape sure has changed since that photo.

Thanks for posting.

I just scanned in Part 2!

http://www.raritanriver-rr.com/Buffaloa ... /BSTOC.htm

Its an interesting perspective because its from 1972; the C&PA had just stopped running, and the F units were just getting refinished.

-Tom

I just posted the B&S article from the National Railway Historical Society's 1968 edition of the Bulletin:
B&S: Route of the Switchbacks, by F.G. Tatnall

Its 10 pages of pics and history, from 1968.

http://www.raritanriver-rr.com/Buffaloa ... /BSTOC.htm

...also...there is a nice shot of one of the switch backs!

Thanks for the postings. While x-country skiing, I tried to visualize what it must have looked like with the land being void of trees. Not easy to do. But it is good to know that nature will come back and correct our....behavior.

Actually, I'm surprised that there weren't any landslides with nothing to hold the ground in place. Although maybe there were and just not reported.