Railfanning CSX on the Philly Sub and High Line near 30th St

Hello all,
I may be in the vininity of where both the Philadelphia Sub and High Line pass 30th Street Station this coming Friday. What is the traffic like for southbounds. thank you.

If you can get your hands on a copy of ATCS Monitor you can monitor the Philadelphia subdivision.

The Harrisburg line is not radio code controlled, so you'll have to pray for some favorable luck. CSX in New Jersey is also not radio code controlled, so you can't track southbounds. If you could position yourself for a northbound, you could see the dispatcher line the switches to get onto the high line, then the train would disappear from ATCS. There's also a Norfolk Southern Harrisburg Monitor, but I think it ends in Allenton.

Good Luck

I park on Walnut or Chestnut St adjacent to the High Line. There is not much rhyme or reason to movement on this line, mostly, but not always CSX, but CSX can use the line across the river and go through Park jct. I have noticed that there is sometimes a south bound around 7:30 Am and a north bound about an hour later. You can hear on your scanner as the northbound clears CP Field or a southbound CP Zoo. Tune into the CSX Trenton Line channel.

I'll be in the area between 3:15 and 4:15 p.m this Friday. thanks for info.

I didn't know you would be there in the PM. There is a northbound CSX that goes through the area, sometimes, at that time heading northeast up the Trenton Line and also possibly a south bound coming from the NS Harrisburg line. The CSX sometimes uses the Park Jct route on the other side of the river.

I think your best bet would be to go across the river and try and find some trains on the CSX tracks that parallel the Schuylkill River Trail. If you're lucky, you might be able to catch Q174, Q370, Q410 or Q438. You might see Q405 cross the river but thats farther south at CP Field. You'd definitely see Q191 if you stick around later in the evening. That train always uses the highline to access the Greenwich Yard in south philly.

Today in the afternoon there was a trash train that lit up the switch at Vine and then took 45 minutes to make its way up to River.

Also a NS light engine move, of some more unusual high nose engines.

Hello,
I'm back, and will be taking a trip to PHL. I'm going to be at 30th Street Station between 9:30 and 10:10 a.m. this coming Sat. Should I expect to see anything on the High Line and Philly Sub? Thanks.

I usually stay there a lot longer to make sure I get at least one shot. Sat AM is usually a pretty good time, though earlier is better. A CSX has been going from South Philly to Pavonia (Camden) regularly via the NEC and has sometimes done work at Frankford and could be on the High Line between 7:30 and 8:45 AM Other than that it is a crap shoot.

kevikens wrote:I usually stay there a lot longer to make sure I get at least one shot. Sat AM is usually a pretty good time, though earlier is better. A CSX has been going from South Philly to Pavonia (Camden) regularly via the NEC and has sometimes done work at Frankford and could be on the High Line between 7:30 and 8:45 AM Other than that it is a crap shoot.

S. Philly-Pavonia is C-759. CSAO runs it back to S.Philly usually as SP-18. That train has been a regular on CSX since the CR break-up.