Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) Discussion

2201 was holding down Geneva yard duty today viewed from 20&5.Dead line pretty much the same B23-7's 2307and2300 U23B 2280 B23-7's 2303&2301 GP9's 1701&1703. A lot of tanks in the yard "new customer" perhaps don't know that's all.

How's business these days? Seemed like a good chunk of their power were on a storage line in Geneva when I was down there yesterday for the opening weekend for Watkins Glen International, buried among freight cars.

Remember they picked up those SD38-2s and have been using them for road trains. That rendered some GEs surplus.

Found this summary of planned FGLK infrastructure work for 2016 on the Progressive railroading web site:

2016 MOW budget: $2.7 million
2015 MOW budget: $2.6 million
Reason for budget increase: More tie installations this year.
Rail: Replace or install 7,400 linear feet of new and 2,000 feet of relay rail with 78-foot, 136-pound rail.
Unusual trackwork project: Install a wye track in Geneva, N.Y
Sidings: Build 2 1,200-foot sidings in Seneca Falls, N.Y.
Grinding/surfacing: Surface 20 miles.
Ties: Install or replace 20,000 wood ties.
Ballast: Install 25,000 tons.
Bridge work: 2 new bridge decks timber and rail.
Facilities: Install 3 new 136-pound turnouts to realign west end of Geneva yard for more efficient switching.
MOW equipment to purchase or lease: Hi-rail log loader and front-end loader.
Unusual MOW project: Continue a transload yard in Seneca Falls.

Interesting. There used to be a wye for the old Corning Secondary to join the Auburn Road. Will they rebuild that, or put something in where the new connection to the Lehigh is I wonder.

My guess is it will be on the connector to the Lehigh because it should be cheaper and won't possibly require another grade crossing of Border City Road. Plus the old one has been gone so long it's likely neither they or NS own the property any longer.

Appears two of the new turnouts for the west end of the yard are already there, waiting for installation.

Unless their plans have changed, the leg of the wye which will be installed is from the Corning Secondary southbound to the Auburn Road eastbound. This has been on their "any day now" list for at least 5 years, and at one point there were bundles of new ties laid out for the project along the north side of Border City Road.

Many factors affect planned trackwork, including budgets, derailments, new customers, urgently needed repairs elsewhere, available manpower, etc. I expect that at some point the project will likely be accomplished. Just when, I would not bet money until you see a train actually using it.

lvrr325 wrote:Remember they picked up those SD38-2s and have been using them for road trains. That rendered some GEs surplus.

That is indeed the case. FGLK President Mike Smith was the speaker at the RGVRRM annual dinner last month. He told the audience (which included both museum members and paying guests like yours truly) that parts for the GEs are becoming hard to find. Thus some of them will be parted out to keep the healthier GEs alive. FGLK has been acquiring SD38-2s because they are inexpensive and reliable... so the trend towards more EMD power will continue.

The Waterloo Rotary Club chartered a special passenger train as part of Waterloo's Memorial Day weekend festival. It made two runs a day from Waterloo to Cayuga and back. This route included the causeway and bridge across the northern end of Cayuga Lake. FGLK used its own coaches (still in good condition) with power at each end of the train. My partner and I rode the first run on Sunday - before the rain started. She and I enjoyed the trip and hope that FGLK will be running more group charters.
David

B23-7 #1989 is currently assigned to Himrod.

Railyard move? Finger Lakes Times

Brief, fair-use:

Railyard move eyed from city to town
Camera favors long-term goal of removing tracks for housing, walking/bike bridge across Routes 5&20
...
“It should be the long-range goal of the city to move substantially all of the Finger Lakes (Railway) train yard and storage operations currently located on the north end of Seneca Lake to an area north of the city and town of Geneva, where it may be better accommodated and shielded so that its visual, noise, light and other negative impacts on the populace and the Geneva region is reduced,” Camera wrote.

Camera said removing the tracks, which traverse the city and the adjacent Seneca County town of Waterloo — Finger Lakes Railway’s headquarters are in Border City — would allow for Ward 6 housing development and give the city the chance “to pursue a wide, pedestrian/bicycling bridge-ramp across 5&20, linking the Lakefront Park to the new development and to the ward.”

“We need the rail head off of Seneca Lake,” Camera said Wednesday.

Surprisingly, Camera’s suggestion seems to have the support of the railway.
...

Interesting..
I wonder where they would move the yard? the article doesn't say..
Sounds like the idea is to remove the yard tracks alongside the north side of the lake..keeping only one NS track,
probably keep the FGLK engine house where it is now..
Then move the interchange yard East of the engine house? perhaps in the space between Welch road and Serven road?

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Scot

Maybe replace the track between East X and West X? But with a bridge instead of a grade crossing for Rt 14?

Since FGLK is agreeable to the move, would that explain why they may rebuild the wye at North Street? Such a move would allow FGLK to access the Auburn Road in either direction, and facilitate a new yard on the ex-Fallbrook north of the city. Also, how would this effect the LV line that runs from Border City to the former Army base?

Why is Camera more concern about that than the on-going violence in town lately? - couple murders, missing persons, rape (I think they had big news about that) and recently 50 some kids were fighting in town)... Geneva is really ugly town. only thing is beauty is the park along the lake. The track actually divided the beauty and the ugly...

The East X-West X connection faces the wrong way.

The problem, of course, is Finger Lakes doesn't own all that track. NS owns at least the main track right up to Geneva. And at least one track must remain to continue south on the Corning Secondary, or whatever NS is calling it.

Since that track must remain, connections to the former LV and the current connection to the Canandaigua line have no real reason to change, either, although the latter could be connected to NS's line north of the city fairly easily in a manner that allows trains to head directly west (compass north here).

The yard north of town it appears would not be easily expanded due to bordering wetlands. Likely an all new yard would be required closer to Packwood Road.

I really don't understand what they expect to build here, frankly even with all the tracks gone there's not a heck of a lot of space there, other than one section south of where the LV crossed North Street, and there's at least two industries in there that would have to be bought out.

My guess is it's a pipe dream and the railroad knows it. Plus they can let NS be the bad guy and say no.