Freight Train Through Jenkintown

On Monday night, January 9, I got off an outbound train at Jenkintown around 11:15 p.m. Just as I was about to go down the steps to the tunnel, a train came through in the inbound direction from the Glenside direction. We could hear the horn first, and the closest thing to any SEPTA horns that it sounded like was a push-pull horn. And as the train approached, it certainly sounded like the weight of a push-pull with a diesel locomotive.

It actually turned out to be a fairly short freight train that had two locomotives. Someone who was with me who knows a little more about these things speculated that this train may have been longer but had dropped cars off somewhere (or maybe was going to pick some up).

I don't think I'd ever seen a freight train go through Jenkintown before, but then again, I've rarely been there this late at night, either. Is this fairly common? Where would this train likely have been coming from or going to? Maybe from beyond Lansdale on the "main line" (i.e., not the Doylestown branch)?

Thanks for any answers anyone can give me on this.

That may have been C 746 coming from Lansdale or that little 2x4 outfit in partnership with New Hope and Ivyland running light to South Philly

Transfer move between Woodbourne and Lansdale yards.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pennsylvan ... n_Railroad

Just like scotty said, that was a C746 move between Woodburne and Lansdale. PN has no trackage rights to South Philly Yard.

historical pic http://nomis.rrpicturearchives.net/show ... id=2418059 ...

scotty269 wrote:Transfer move between Woodbourne and Lansdale yards.

Thanks to all who have replied. So I guess if I had stayed there long enough, I would have seen the train come back on the outbound track and head in the West Trenton direction.

rslitman wrote:

scotty269 wrote:Transfer move between Woodbourne and Lansdale yards.

Thanks to all who have replied. So I guess if I had stayed there long enough, I would have seen the train come back on the outbound track and head in the West Trenton direction.

Yup. I have a video of it somewhere around here. If I can find it, I'll upload it here.

Apparently, Trainview is having a good laugh at our expense. This was on the boards at Market East last night...

Silverliner II wrote:Apparently, Trainview is having a good laugh at our expense. This was on the boards at Market East last night...

They must have been delayed while strapping on the GG1 to get them through the tunnel.

That is a GREAT catch!!

glennk419 wrote:

Silverliner II wrote:Apparently, Trainview is having a good laugh at our expense. This was on the boards at Market East last night...

They must have been delayed while strapping on the GG1 to get them through the tunnel.

That is a GREAT catch!!

Although I may be missing the joke, is that train number for a freight train?

DeltaV wrote:

glennk419 wrote:

Silverliner II wrote:Apparently, Trainview is having a good laugh at our expense. This was on the boards at Market East last night...

They must have been delayed while strapping on the GG1 to get them through the tunnel.

That is a GREAT catch!!

Although I may be missing the joke, is that train number for a freight train?

Yes, C746 is a CSX freight train that runs between Woodbourne Yard in Langhorne and Lansdale. It usually runs on the West Trenton and Lansdale/Doylestown Lines, reversing direction at Jenkintown.

DeltaV wrote:

glennk419 wrote:

Silverliner II wrote:Apparently, Trainview is having a good laugh at our expense. This was on the boards at Market East last night...

They must have been delayed while strapping on the GG1 to get them through the tunnel.

That is a GREAT catch!!

Although I may be missing the joke, is that train number for a freight train?

nomis wrote:Just like scotty said, that was a C746 move between Woodburne and Lansdale. PN has no trackage rights to South Philly Yard.

historical pic http://nomis.rrpicturearchives.net/show ... id=2418059 ...

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know how they get out of Woodbourne yard? Last night while driving south on Rt 1 through Langhorne, I noticed the numberboards lit on two separate diesels on adjacent tracks at the north end of the yard but was moving too fast to get any numbers. I'm not aware of any interlockings between CSX and SEPTA below the yard so I would assume they come out of the north end of the yard, through Woodbourne station and then reverse at Wood interlocking? Guess that is all the more justification for having units at both ends of the train as they're actually doing a double reverse. Obviously if they have a high car and need to come up the ramp to the Morrisville line, that's also the logical move. I did hear diesels and horns around 11:00 last night at Rydal and Rices Mill (plus the railfan greeting below Rices Mill) which were obviously the C746 move. Sounded like they were working pretty hard coming down the West Trenton line.

glennk419 wrote:Just out of curiousity, does anyone know how they get out of Woodbourne yard? Last night while driving south on Rt 1 through Langhorne, I noticed the numberboards lit on two separate diesels on adjacent tracks at the north end of the yard but was moving too fast to get any numbers. I'm not aware of any interlockings between CSX and SEPTA below the yard so I would assume they come out of the north end of the yard, through Woodbourne station and then reverse at Wood interlocking? Guess that is all the more justification for having units at both ends of the train as they're actually doing a double reverse. Obviously if they have a high car and need to come up the ramp to the Morrisville line, that's also the logical move. I did hear diesels and horns around 11:00 last night at Rydal and Rices Mill (plus the railfan greeting below Rices Mill) which were obviously the C746 move. Sounded like they were working pretty hard coming down the West Trenton line.

That would be the only way to access Woodbourne Yard from the south. A similar move has been occurring with Silverliner V hand offs at Woodbourne as well. A SEPTA diesel holds south of Woodbourne Station on 1 Track while the CSX yard crew brings the Silverliner Vs north out of the yard on the CSX main, crosses over at WOOD, then reverses back down 1 to the waiting SEPTA unit. Then the CSX units make the same move in reverse back to the yard.

I'm curious if a crossover from the CSX main to at least 2 track south of CP-FAIRLESS would be worthwhile with C746 having to regularly make the reverse moves through WOOD. I haven't been up to West Trenton in a long time but I believe a new facing point crossover from 2 to 1 was installed in TRENT interlocking to provide more flexibility for CSX moves. I also believe that crossover forced the interlocking limits east (north) and required a short extension of the catenary as well.

wagz wrote:I'm curious if a crossover from the CSX main to at least 2 track south of CP-FAIRLESS would be worthwhile with C746 having to regularly make the reverse moves through WOOD. I haven't been up to West Trenton in a long time but I believe a new facing point crossover from 2 to 1 was installed in TRENT interlocking to provide more flexibility for CSX moves. I also believe that crossover forced the interlocking limits east (north) and required a short extension of the catenary as well.

That may complicate things when you get into who would control the interlocking. If SEPTA had control, 2 Desk would be constantly having to reverse the traffic flow to display signals for CSX. Likewise if NI controlled it (and then with all that desk has to deal with on the River Sub too, watch SEPTA timekeeping fall apart)...
The new crossover at Trent is finally completed (for the past year, the section of rail between the two tracks on the crossover had not been in place), but that is it. Aside from the new signal head on the eastward distant signal to Trent on #2 track, no other work has been done yet. Work on the new westward signals to accommodate the newly extended interlocking limits has not even begun yet; no digging for signal mast bases, nothing. I am thinking the speed restriction will remain until the new interlocking is cut in.

Around 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday night, June 27, while a passenger in a car on Philmont Avenue, I saw a freight train headed in the Philadelphia direction about to pass Somerton Station. Is this the same run in the other direction, although much earlier in the evening? And would it have had an odd train number instead of C746?