PC local, Monroe County early 1972 ID

There are a series of unlabeled slides in my collection from Monroe County someplace, taken in early 1972. Do any of the locations look familiar? Thanks.

Charles

Are you sure it's Monroe County? If I had to guess, I'd say Newark & Marion. Not too many single stack EMD switchers used on the NYC (PC, CR) around the Rochester area. I think the top photo was taken here:

100% sure that's where CPS said it is. First view is looking west along Pearl Street. Train is heading compass east - not sure if that's east or south by timetable. It's returning to Newark after a trip to Marion. Behind the last car, the track curves to the right, and goes up and over the NYC/PC main line. Route 88 is ballpark 1/4 to 1/2 mile behind the photographer.

Second shot is farther east, east of Rt 88, going by the NYC Newark depot.

Great photos of an elusive branch!

Thanks. I should have said great Monroe county area.

That line was originally built as an interurban line (altho it was never actually electrified). To drive along Pearl Street where the tracks were boggles the mind at the roller-coaster profile. Must have been a challenging trip for an engineer, especially in harvest season when they had a larger train.

Another photo of same trains. In Newark now?

Yes, that would be Murray Street. Train is now on the PRR main, Marion Branch connection is maybe 10 carlengths or so behind it.

Charles, thanks for showing us these great photos!

Google maps shows a small yard just south of the Murray Street crossing...I take it that was the PRR Newark yard? Is that where the train in the photos would have tied up for the day, or would it have tied up somewhere else?

-Aric

That's right, the local was based out of Newark and would tie up at that yard.

I'll pass along an amusing story about that yard, altho we may be drifting just a bit OT. Ontario Midland RR was formed in 1979, and took over the Newark Yard in 1982 I believe. Shortly after, New York State granted money for a rehab of that Newark Yard. New ties, removal of some trackage not needed, construction of a dock for team track customers.

Now if you know anything about track construction, the purposes of ballast are to provide vertical support for the track structure, and to allow good drainage so the ties are not in water. (yes, it also provides lateral and longitudinal support but that does not really enter into this). Well, the specs for the contract are written by the state and that tells the contractor exactly what to do. And in this case, it said replace X number of ties, raise and tamp the track, and drop a given amount of ballast.

And that's exactly how it was done, despite the railroad's protests. The ties were replaced, and the track was raised, lined and tamped - using the same mud, dirt and cinders which had been there all along. And only then was a layer of stone put down, on top. Yes, it looked pretty for a while, but it was NOT under the ties where it would do some good! Bureaucracy can be incredibly frustrating (and stupid!) at times!

Looking at a 1971 topo, there was a siding that fed into a wye in the area where the current connection to CSX is. Looks like maybe the connector uses part of it.

Lots of interesting tracks in this area in that era, be nice to see more pictures.

Occasionally FoldPak had a car which either had a defective door, or was loaded in such a way that it could only be unloaded from one side. If wrong, those cars had to be taken to Wallington and turned on the wye.

OMID gave consideration to re-activating the wye you speak of for such situations, but it was never actually done. I have not been down there for many years but the last I knew the rails were still there in the woods.

Because OMID has both lines up at Wallington they can wye cars there if necessary.

lvrr325 wrote:Because OMID has both lines up at Wallington they can wye cars there if necessary.

Exactly. But Wallington is about 11 miles one way. Having the wye at Newark active would save that extra mileage.

22 miles of fuel and two hours of crew time a few times a year is probably much cheaper than building three switches and rehabbing maybe 100 yards of track that's been out of service 40+ years.

lvrr325 wrote:22 miles of fuel and two hours of crew time a few times a year is probably much cheaper than building three switches and rehabbing maybe 100 yards of track that's been out of service 40+ years.

A few times a year? When Fold Pak was active, they were the largest customer on OMID. They received cars from several suppliers. Sometimes there would be a steady arrival of a few cars a day, other times there would be no traffic for a couple weeks followed by 25 or more cars all at once. Depending on the size of the rolls of paper and how they were loaded, it was quite common for cars to carry a placard "UNLOAD FROM THIS SIDE ONLY". If the car arrived with that notation on the wrong side, they had to be wyed. Reactivation of that wye would have allowed the crew to turn the cars right there in Newark, rather than raking them north and returning them the next day.