Yorkrail / NS weekly coal 510, 511

Updates:

07/24/10: no train scheduled

07/31/10: train scheduled, but did not show (unless it arrived after 10AM and unloaded quickly and quietly). Can anyone verify?

08/07/10: Yes train arrived as scheduled. Leader was OLS-painted unit 9252. See details below.

08/14/10: no train sceduled

08/21 and 08/28: trains are scheduled and should run, with Labor Day shutdown after that.

Saturday, 08/07/10:
I checked out the 510's power on my way to the Cassandra All-nighter and was pleasantly surprised (yet saddened because of the lost opportunity due to being too tired to get out of bed at 5:30AM to catch the 510 on the road).
The 510 had been led from Enola by NS Operation LifeSaver unit # 9252. The 9511 followed elephant-style, with 2506 facing toward York. 2506 would lead the 511.

The 9252 was working solo, and was out in the open by 9:15 AM, at which time a phone heads-up was placed to Marlin M. so the word could be spread. Lots of good photo ops for the only photographer on-hand
9252 quickly went east to grab the 3rd cut, but rather than pulling the remaining cars down to the RR Road crossing as is sometimes done (although not usually with only one unit, working on this 1.1% grade), the unit sat for an hour in an in-accessible spot. But, patience and determination payed off when it came time to head to the mill.

At this time, it was off to the West Slope for me! Lots of good comradery and night 'light-streak' photography to be had, as well as time exposures of some of the remaining PRR signals.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

Update: 08/21/10

The 510 had an exciting lashup of three - YES, that's THREE !!! - D9-40s. Yawn. Thrippple yawn
The 9647 led 9825, with 8954 facing east. 'Nuf said.

As mentioned before, early AM shots enroute to Spring Grove are all but over with due to later sunrise- although I'll give it a try one more time because I'll be in town anyway. Then it's back to checking in during the 1st-2nd cut rotation until next spring. The 08/21 train needed a flash plus 3200 ISO, f5.2 at 1/125) in West York to get distance shots for the purpose of recording the unit numbers. The train made it to SG in light (ISO 400 at f4 at 1/80th), but before the sun crested the horizon

A train is scheduled for 08/28/10.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

UPDATE: 08/28/10

Today's train arrived in SG just before 6AM under the cover of darkness with just a hint of dawn skyglow to the east. However, by the time the first 30 cars were pulled into the mill, it was light enough to shoot at ISO 1600, 1/80th at f4.2.

The 510 was led by 9838, with 9693 elephant-style, and 8466 facing rearward, and 100 cars. 9838 worked the first cut of 15 solo, with 9693 and 8466 working together. The thrill for today was the 8466: an all-blue NS unit with absolutely no painted markings other than the little NS model designation and the road numbers on the cab. 8466 is a former Conrail / GE 'roamer' that once carried the markings for LMS(or LMSX): Locomotive Management Services. LMS, formed in 1994 (?) as a joint effort between CR and GE, had a pool of about 60 D8-40CWs to be used by Conrail during peak traffic needs and roam other systems for the balance of the year.

The 511 was led by 8466, at least as far as Enola: beyond that needs to be confirmed. I heard lots of horns through SG about 11:15 PM Saturday, so it was likely the 511 leaving under the cover of darkness The 511 generally hits the Pitt Line WB on Mondays.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

511 / LMS 8466 update continued from 08/30/10:

Many thanks to friends to the west who have provided updates by sightings and scanner feed audio.

After 6PM Monday, the 511 was approaching Southfork, on the West Slope, where it's number would terminate for this trip. The entire train arrived just as it had left Spring Grove: 8466, 9693 and 9838 with 100 empties. Upon arrival, this power was to pick up loads off the Southfork Secondary and continue west as the NS 578. The SO local crew pulled the 100 empties into SO yard for eventual loading at the Rosebud mine, to become a different train #.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

The 510 for 9-11 2010 was led by 9812 (worked 1st cut solo). Trailing rear-facing (and paired at the mill) were 8423 and 9717. 9717 would lead the 511. All black. 'nuff said.

No train is due for 09/18 because of the scheduled "Co-Gen shutdown" at the mill.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

This weekends train has #9547 as leader, and working the first cut solo. Trailing were 2526 (standard cab) also facing west, and 9626 facing east. 9626 will lead the 511. All black.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

UPDATES:

10-02 10: there was no train/ none scheduled.

10-09-10:Yes, there was a train. Sorry, but the original posting did not show up on-line, and I just haven't had time to re-type it until now. Not sure when the train arrived, but it was about an hour behind in unloading when I checked in on it: by 10:20AM the first cut was still being worked. The 510 had been led by 9377 (which worked solo), with 9261 elephant-style then 8449 facing toward York. The 8449, in a recent coat of paint-complete with the white 'eyebrows'- would lead the 511 outbound. All were in black.

Of interest is that apparently the 9377 took a spin into rare mileage (for possibly the second time this year). From my home, I heard horns at the mP 2.2 crossing of rt.116, but (also for the second time) I could not get away from a project to check it out. When I did get out, a bicyclist who was resting nearby said it was a "black locomotive with no train". Hmmmm...

10-16-10: BLUE in the consist ! NS 9249 led the 510 (and worked solo), with BLUE 8364 (with decent CRQ paint ) elephant-style and NS 9528 facing Yorkward (Yorkward ?). The 9528 should have lead the 511. Naturally, my railfan daughter and I spent some time chasing 8364 around town. She gets just as excited when there's BLUE in the consist. She told me that one day she'll miss the times of seeing Conrail-painted engines

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

Update for last weekend: 10/23-24/10

It being the season for Halloween camping at the various parks, I was unable to check on the train in Spring Grove. However, with the Spring Grove Rockettes Fastpitch Softball still travelling - as luck would have it - our final double-header was at the Emigsville fields, snuggled comfortably between George St. and the NS York Secondary. During the break between games, the 511 's horns blew as it started north from CP FLOUR, maybe a half-mile south of the field. The time: 2:15PM. Not exactly a great shot from the ballfield, but I was able to shoot through the trees to get the unit numbers. All units were in black. Had there been any color, you would have seen me chasing a train with a camper in tow !


The 511 was led by 9810, with the other two units- 9790 and standard cab 2524- both facing rearward. My guess is that the 2524 led the 510 inbound, but I'll need more input to verify that. Oh yeah: exactly 97 cars on the 511. (I wonder if they lost a few somewhere...). Also, my railfan Daughter pointed out that, beginning around 40-something cars, every 10th car was a red Conrail hopper

While fallball does NOT officially keep track of wins/losses and scores, the Rockettes had a Championship season with three ties and only ONE loss (the final game). This last game was almost a give-away as the coaches seemed to play everyone in almost any position... just because. Remember, it's just for fun without keeping any official records.

There is NO TRAIN SCHEDULED for the October 30-31 weekend.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

Update: There was a train last weekend, the same day that I finally broke down and purchased a new home computer after 3 months without one. Now that I'm up-and-running, I can once again post in a timely manner and give heads-ups when something good happens (such as last New Year's trio of 80MACs ).

The 510 was led by 9410, with 9397 and 9882 both trailing long hood forward. Based on this power cut with 9410 working solo, the 9882 in shiny paint would lead the 511.

A train is scheduled for this coming weekend, and with the switch back to standard-time, I might attempt to catch the 510's arrival in early dawn

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

PS- I'm often asked what the scanner frequencies are, so here's a reminder
The lead unit, usually solo, is generally channel 1 (160.335)
The other two as a pair use channel 2(160.695)
Glatfelter switcher GLTX 98 calls on 160.500

Each channel has communication between it's engineer and conductor, as both crews are often working simultaneously. Occasionally there is inter-channel talk between the two crews. The Glatfelter crew occasionally chimes in for approval to make a movement near the coal operations.

This weekend's 510 is already sitting in Enola as of Wednesday evening. No reports on what the power was before Enola, and we won't know what they put on it for the trip down the Secondary until this Friday. Of interest is that the 510 tied-up the PITT line Wednesday morning with brake issues, as reported by my friend Josh Hollands (see below). The 'hill' being referenced is the summit of the grade at Gallitzin, PA, with AR being the still-standing tower where the tracks split for eastbounds to be routed into either of the 2 tunnels before descending to Horseshoe Curve and Altoona.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Mess At The Top

Listening to the feed this morning, it sounds like a 510 loaded coal drag went into emergency as it made its first application at the top of the hill. The head end crew and the rear helper are trying to charge up the pipe and drag the train back west and clear of AR as the head end crew outlaws around 9:30AM. The 21Q's rear helper cut off west of MO and then proceeded back east on Main 2 to AR, where it will become the head end helper for that train. Meanwhile, there is a W6A (extra 36A) that will hold at MO for Amtrak before taking the back way around the mess.

Josh Hollands
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
More to come...
Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

Update 11/13/10:

This week we got a trio of SD60s ! The 6711 (std cab) led the 510, with 6733 (wide cab)following elephant-style, and 6626 (std cab) facing rearward. The 6626 will lead the 511 on Sunday.

Unfortunately, all are black. The wide cab is an SD60I. For those of you imagining a now-rare trio in Conrail Blue, this lashup never could have been, as the 6626 was built for NS.

The 6711 is working solo, with the other two paired-up. Although the train arrived in town just before 6AM (under the cover of darkness even with the standard-time shift), the first cut was apparently delayed by a truck inside the mill, and didn't start unloading until almost 7AM.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

511 follow-up:

More on the 511 (empties) operations: While the 6626 led 6733 and 6711 up the York Secondary and Port Road on Sunday, in Enola the power was turned and the 6711 (the temporary new leader) was replaced with 6179 (Blue) for the westbound Pitt Line run on Monday.

Thanks to Josh H and Cory Z for additional details on this week's trains

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

This weekend's 510, at least from Enola into Spring Grove and back, has the exact same power as last week's train on this section of it's journey ! Last week's 511 had a unit replaced for the 511's westbound run to Shire Oaks, making this a most unusual situation !!! I dont' believe our trains have ever had the same power combo twice (since I've been tracking), and certainly not after being separated for a week...

Leading this week's 510 was the wide-cab SD60I #6733, with std-cab SD-60 # 6711 elephant-style and std-cab SD-60# 6626 facing rearward. The 6626, to be the 511 leader out of town, is in clean and shiny paint. It is the only one in this set wearing 'horsehead' stripes.

As usual in the warmer months, the lead unit is working solo with the others as a team.

Operationally, today had some variety as of this posting. The second cut unloaded two cars closest to the power, then had to pull forward onto the 'Fast Freight Line' bridge - a nice, but not perfect reflection - to work the other end to give GLTX 98 room to move some cars for the mill. After unloading only two cars at the east end, they backed in to the mill again to pick up where they left off with the 3rd car from the power. Radio talk indicated that the first cut had also performed a similar movement.

The woods around the lake are fairly leaf-free at his time, but lots of thorny twigs are hanging into the trails. We saw two large deer, and managed to 'catch' one large deer tic !

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

UPDATE: Thanksgiving weekend there was no train scheduled.

12/04/10: Today's 510 didn't arrive in SG until about 8:20AM:approximately 2.5 hours later than usual. This could possibly mean an extremely late departure for York tonight- Midnight or after- or maybe a daylight run Sunday morning.

Radio chatter indicates that Glatfelter was not expecting the train until 1 or 2 this afternoon, reason unknown to me.

The train was led by NS D9 # 9609, with NS standard cab SD60 #6604 (ex- Southern, with "SOU" on the cab) elephant style, and NS D9 #9624 facing rearward. The 9624 will lead the 511 to Enola. All units are older paint without the 'Horsehead'.

Radio talk indicated that the car heaters in the mill were not turned on, perhaps allowing for one more week with the power working from the west end of the cuts. I'm told that the power cannot sit atop the heaters in the winter, so they must then run around their cuts to push or pull over the dumper from the east end.

Of note at the mill: for increased security, all gates are now kept closed and concrete barriers are to be placed in key locations. Not sure at this point how photography and monitoring the train's progress will be affected...

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2

12/05/10 UPDATE:
The 511 did indeed leave Spring Grove on Sunday morning. When I checked the mill around 8:30, they had all three units together (Indicating that they're on the final cut) with at least two more cars to unload. After finishing, pulling this cut to PLANK, running around to shove the cut west and assemble the long strings of cars, they pulled forward to clear the Colonial Valley x-ing at 9:53AM. After the brake test and the Conductor walking to the head end, the 511 started pulling across Rt. 116 at 10:17AM. Naturally , I chased for a while (seeing at least one other regular fan), although it was very windy and cloudy with lots of small breaks for the sun to shine through. This made it difficult to get an overall decent exposure.

Of note is the seemingly increasing numbers of Conrail hoppers on this train. About 25 of the 100 cars were Conrail; about 25 were NS with "NW" markings, and the balance were newer NS. I saw, for perhaps the FIRST time, an NS car of SOUTHERN heritage: NS/SOU # 78175.

Ted G
WM York Sub MP 2.2