Valley Forge

Hey Guys

I'm new here so, I wanted to know about railfanning Valley Forge, ethier station. Is there a fair amount of traffic in the area? What time is the best to railfan, the earlier the better? I am visiting some family in West Chester, and I knew the Harrisburg line ran through Valley Forge Park. Any Help would be appreicated!

Thanks
Tommy S.
Tjsingle

Long Live Conrail

Unfortunately, there isn't really that much on the Harrisburg Line south/east of Reading. There seems to be about 5-8 trains in daylight not counting locals, coal trains, and slab trains (14G, 34M, 38G, 39G, CSX Q190, and occasionally 30J, 17G, and Q191). Mornings are probably the best.

cr9615 wrote:Unfortunately, there isn't really that much on the Harrisburg Line south/east of Reading. There seems to be about 5-8 trains in daylight not counting locals, coal trains, and slab trains (14G, 34M, 38G, 39G, CSX Q190, and occasionally 30J, 17G, and Q191). Mornings are probably the best.

Would you say it is still worth the trip?

I definitely would give it a shot, but that's just me. BTW, if you need frequencies, they use 160.800 at Valley Forge.

I was at Valley Forge last April and the train station was closed as they are rehabbing it. A quick read on the Valley Forge Park's website indicates the area around the station is still closed off.

I was able to see an eastbound (loaded) coal train roll through while I was there:
http://octrainguy.rrpicturearchives.net ... id=1225387
http://octrainguy.rrpicturearchives.net ... id=1225390

There was a picnic area east of Washington's Headquarters that I ate lunch at. There was a trail that lead off into the woods, but I didn't walk it so I don't know if it brings you at or over the tracks at all.

I stop at Port Kennedy Station next to the 422 bridge over the Schuylkill from time to time - it's fairly easy to access with a little parking area, although the sight distances aren't as good as those at the Valley Forge Park station. The presence of trains has been pretty hit or miss for me on the whole, although I've also seen some fairly rare locomotives roll through, including a silver and red Santa Fe locomotive and a pair of almost pristine BNSF locomotives.

Spent the afternoon relaxing in Valley Forge with the kids Saturday. I was last there in April 2008 and my son was disappointed that the station area was closed. So, I promised him we'd return once all the work there was done. Well, with great weather, this was the day to go. He got a a chance to railfan there, and my daughter had open space to runaround. Got there later than expected due to traffic, but but after about an hour, we saw NS 39G with D9-40CW 9766 and D9-40C 87540.

I also saw NS 38G head east with SD70 2528, D9-40CW 9817 and SD70M-2 2712. We were actually leaving the Washington Headquarters area when I heard the train coming. Fortunately, they were slowing as they approached Abrams Yard, so I was able to photograph them at the "Valley Forge Park" station. This was shortly after 4:30 p.m. The weather was great and I was happy to be able to enjoy it. My son was happy, he just wished for a few more trains....

[Blast from the Past]

...here is a train you won't ever see in Valley Forge or Port Kennedy ever again....


I copied this pic off a site a long time ago, and lost the credit info. If anyone knows the site or the owner, please give them credit.

Anyone have an idea on the year that photo was taken? I'll have to take an "after" shot from the same perspective the next time I'm down there.

The key to the date is probably that the platforms have been fixed up, probably for the Bi-centennial, but the Port Kennedy station name hasn't yet been changed to Valley Forge Park, which happened when the Valley Forge station lost passenger service. I'm guessing 1976.

That picture is from the excellent Blue Comet site (it's not my site) and the date on the caption states 1976.

Here's the link to the picture: http://www.thebluecomet.com/rdgRDCptken1.jpg

The link to the complete Reading page is: http://www.thebluecomet.com/rdg.html

I thought I zoomed out a bit more than I did, but that's probably due to the fence separating the platform and the tracks. Here's a photo from April 24th of NS 38G heading to Abrams Yard. NS 2712 as trailing unit

Here's the comparison between then ('76?) and today.




btw, I was there for about 2 hours this afternoon and saw no trains (but did listen to a gem of a Phillies game on the radio)

theWatusi wrote:Here's the comparison between then ('76?) and today.

Superb comparison & contrast! Thank you for arranging the "before and after" so skillfully.

The foliage encroachment is really a shame. It makes photos much more challenging. Perhaps it doesn't matter that much...even though we're no longer limited to uber-slow films like Kodachrome 25 and 64, there's also a heck of a lot less trains to see 30+ years later.

Here is another great find from trains.com:
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Valley Forge Station 1957 - Boy Scouts of America Jamboree

http://www.trains.com/ctr/objects/images/bs-2.jpg
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Here is a link to the full article

http://www.trains.com/ctr/default.aspx?c=a&id=220

-Tom