Southern Tier - West of Binghamton

SST wrote:I have had terrible luck trying to catch a train out of Buffalo through Lancaster. Just poor timing on my part I guess. Haven't seen a train for a month. Well, last night [6:40pm] I got my fix. As I was headed east on Erie St in Lancaster and as I crossed over the tracks, I looked down the row and could clearly see the signal. Solid green. I looked in my rearview mirror and I could see the train coming. So I pulled over at the sginal [+/- MP410.5] and waited for him to catch up.

The gates came down and as he passed by, I accelerated to keep up with him. 3 engines pulling a long train of piggy back trailers. To keep up, I was doing 47mph but had to stop at Ransom Rd. I had to race to catch up then stop again. Accelerated again but didn't try to catch up with the enignes. As we went around the bend, I could see the signal at Town Line Rd. From a distance, it looked like Green over Red. I had to stop at Town line becasue there is no more eastward movement without crossing the track. So, I waited until the entire train passed before heading home. As the 4th or 5th car passed this crossing, the signal changed from Green over Red to Red over Red.

Erie st is a great road to chase on especially due to the close proximity of the row to the road.

its not easy to chase them down that road...

you will able to know when a train is leaving bison. use ATCS... and put yourself in good position when u see train is leaving bision in ATCS

alsorailfan wrote:On the way to Horseheads Sunday (10/13) somewhere east of Corning, spotted an eastbound work train with orange/red equipment. Tried to get off I-86 ahead of the train but it was moving way faster than I thought so didn't get a picture of it. (Couldn't get back on the same exit without serious back tracking so followed a road east which took me past Curtis(?) or some war plane museum for those who know the area and where I got off FYI)

Chris

You must have been near the Elmira Regional Airport, Curtiss Museum is in Hammonsport. It sounds like you likely got off at Keifer Road. At one point there was a bridge over the railroad here, but it has been closed for the last five years or so, while the town and railroad fight over who is responsible for replacing it.

thurs nite I heard of a new (to me) train 10t , is this a new train or an extra? plans on my scanner said to park at cp corning for a recrew.

10T/11T used to run years ago. They were like the 38T/39T but I believe they ran on opposite days. They still had the CP power and freight, just from Bethlehem and Allentown not Oak Island I believe.

thanks you andy !! Ifelt like the kinks song anlong the dial ! I would love to here any C.P. & N. S . trains on the the tier !!! THANK YOU!!!

38T is probably your best for catching CP power on the Tier. It normally gets to Gang Mills late in the morning or early in the afternoon.... but I have seen it early in the morning at CP Cass and running east through Gibson after 4 PM. 39T is harder to pin down - that train seems to show up at any hour of the day or night.

BTW, I'd heard rumors of 38T and 39T occasionally stopping at Gang Mills to do some work. I got visual confirmation on Saturday 12/28 when I saw 38T working at Gang Mills. Unfortunately, the power was a little too far east for photos.

Good luck today. Due to a skd change in my errands, it caused me to pass through this area 2 hours early. As I crossed over the tracks on Erie St, I could see the triagle of lights only a locomotive can make. I pulled over at MP412 and watched him pass. Westbound into Buffalo.



Funny thing though. After the locomotive passed the signal [not the whole train] at roughly 410.5 the signal changed to solid green for opposite direction traffic. Coming from Buffalo. The light stayed illuminated for several minutes even after the whole train passed. I thought maybe a train was coming out of Bison and I'd wait for it. I drove up to the signal to get a picture of it and then it went dark. In short, it was a westbound train with a green light for eastbound traffic that went dark.

This happened to me before leading me to believe a train was coming. When I actually got there the train had already passed. While sitting there waiting for the train to come looking at the green lit signal, it suddenly went dark.

With CSX, I usually see a signal lit green and after the locomotive passes through, the signal turns red and after the train clears, it goes dark.

SST wrote:Good luck today. Due to a skd change in my errands, it caused me to pass through this area 2 hours early. As I crossed over the tracks on Erie St, I could see the triagle of lights only a locomotive can make. I pulled over at MP412 and watched him pass. Westbound into Buffalo.

What time did you see it? I was out in the Linden/Middleybury/Dale during the early afternoon on Saturday. The signals were lit green for westbound traffic, but no train came while I was there.

SST wrote:With CSX, I usually see a signal lit green and after the locomotive passes through, the signal turns red and after the train clears, it goes dark.

NS uses NORAC signal rules, while CSX uses SBD signal rules. Could that difference affect what you saw? Hopefully, someone with better knowledge of signal rules (than me) can explain it.

NS doesn't use NORAC signal rules. Actually, NS uses 3 different sets of signal rules depending on where you are. On former Conrail lines, NS uses what they call Conrail signals (go figure). Very similar to NORAC.

The signal changing to clear while the train was still passing is weird. Must be how it the signal is setup.

malfunctjct wrote:NS doesn't use NORAC signal rules. Actually, NS uses 3 different sets of signal rules depending on where you are. On former Conrail lines, NS uses what they call Conrail signals (go figure). Very similar to NORAC.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm still learning signals.

Oh BTW, the increase in BNSF units on the Tier is apparently due to the oil trains. NS power runs straight through to the loading sites in the Upper Midwest,so BNSF owes alot of HP hours in return.

lotta rumurs going around were I live , (hornell n.y.) bout n.s buying the c.p line to abany -- any truth ?

railbird steve wrote:lotta rumurs going around were I live , (hornell n.y.) bout n.s buying the c.p line to abany -- any truth ?

That rumor has been going around for years. If something was going to happen, I figure there would have been some sort of official announcement by now.

Amtrak 520 GP38H-3, an Amfleet diner, and P42 203 departed Binghamton at 1725 bound for Elmira to pick up a new Viewliner II. Supposedly leaving in the next couple days, I'll post when I find out when.

ANDY117 wrote:Amtrak 520 GP38H-3, an Amfleet diner, and P42 203 departed Binghamton at 1725 bound for Elmira to pick up a new Viewliner II. Supposedly leaving in the next couple days, I'll post when I find out when.

"A new ViewlinerII?? just one?? all of that for ONE new car?