With 2016 coming to a close, and a week off from school, my dad and I took December 27th as a day of railfanning. We got up early, well before sunrise. A friend with ATCS noted a trio of westbound Norfolk Southern trains on the Lake Erie District. We raced to North East, PA to intercept.
We got to North East around 6:45am, arriving at a car repair shop on Washington Street, with some street lights to shine the rails. At 6:52am, the cantilever signal activated, and NS 205 raced by us under the command of a D9-44CW and an ex-Conrail D8-40CW. After 205 cleared, the defect detector at QD 68.2 on CSX read off a “No defects” and 35 mph train.
We raced over to the opposite side, and at 7:00am, a CSX manifest slowly hobbled through North East, with a CSX ES44AH and ex-Conrail D8-40CW slowly building speed. By the time the train cleared, and we returned to the other side, NS 145 was within range. At 7:12am, 145 raced through North East with a Canadian Pacific duo.
From there, we moved up a mile or so to Bort Road. An old wooden bridge, soon slated for demolition and no replacement, stands to guide vehicles over CSX. This leads directly to a crossing with Norfolk Southern's Lake Erie District.
We were only there for a few minutes, when at 7:39am, CSX’s Q090, the Salad Shooter, as local railfans call it, raced by with UP ES44AC #5395 leading UP AC4400CW #6488 and UP SD70M #3974.
Amtrak 48 had left Erie at 7:47am. By the time he came to North East, NS 23K could be heard a couple miles up. I set up on the opposite side of the NS tracks, by the grapefield. I pressed record on the camera in time to get Amtrak’s passing as 23K rounded the bend with a Canadian Pacific ES44AC leading a BNSF ES44C4 and BNSF D9-44CW.
Things quieted down for a little under an hour before L227 came around with SD40-2 #8181 leading D8-40CW 7730. Things went quiet again until an eastbound CSX intermodal raced by at 9:29am with CSX AC4400CW #376 leading SD70MAC #4795 and AC4660CW #660.
Thirty-one minutes later, Q393 dragged itself down the Erie West Subdivision with AC4400CW #560 leading D8-40CW #7697.
We lingered for a few minutes, then went to Cemetery Road on the west side of North East in hopes of catching NS local C62. At 10:36am, we saw Q022 race by with ET44AH #3310 leading ES44AH #721 and AC4400CW #215. Q020 promptly followed about ten minutes later with a duo of ES40DCs.
We went to lunch, then while stopping at Subway to grab some dessert (their cookies are amazing!), we heard a crackle on CSX with a train coming through. We sped back to Washington Street and just made it for a westbound manifest. CSX ES40DC #5121 was leading ES44AH #834 and D8-40CW #7364. After, we promptly returned to Cemetery Road.
We were at Cemetery Road for a good half hour, when at 12:06pm, CSX S256 came through with SD50-2 #8565 leading SD40-2 #8135.
We began to make our course up to Westfield, when we heard a train trip the Ripley Defect Detector. We swung in at a crossing at the state line with plenty of time. It was Q127, enroute from South Kearny, NJ to North Baltimore, OH, with ES40DC #5211 leading AC4400CW #537.
We went to Westfield but saw nothing. Then, we heard the dispatcher tell NS 316 to go in the hole for some NS eastbound action. NS 309 was up in Silver Creek as well, and NS 287 was leaving Bison Yard. We raced to Rogerville Road, at hamlet called Forsyth.
At 1:17pm, Q158 raced east with ET44AH #3321 leading ET44AH #3281. Five minutes later, NS 206 raced east with a D9-40CW duo.
At 1:47pm, CSX responded with Q264, eastbound autoracks from Toledo to Framingham, MA with a D8-40CW duo, #7840 and #7753. NS 26R was chasing his tail end with BNSF ES44C4 #6628 as the lone power.
After a little bit of lingering, NS 316 finally dragged out of the siding at Whitehouse and passed us at 2:10pm, with NS ES44DC #7702 leading UP SD70M #4118.
Around twenty minutes later, CSX K142 passed us with BNSF “Fakebonnet” #758 leading BNSF SD70ACe #9146.
Our stay at Rogerville Road continued when a westbound CSX intermodal passed at 2:54pm with a CSX ES40DC, CSX AC4400CW, CSX ET44AH, CSX AC4660CW and a CSX ET44AH. NS 22K promptly followed 10 minutes later with D9-40CW #9432 leading D8-40CW #8408.
We proceeded back to Gale Street in Westfield, our usual spot. Q119 passed at 3:24pm with ES44AH #874 leading AC4660CW #665. Eastbound manifest NS 14M passed at 3:39pm with D9-40CW #8963 and D9-40CW #9325. He went in the hole at Pomfret for 309 and 287, so we sped to Pratt Road.
At Pratt Road, we were quickly greeted by Q008, with SD70MAC #4708 leading ES44AH #890. NS 309 passed three minutes later with SD60E #6999 leading SD70M #2631.
NS 287 would be our last train, and he passed at 4:58pm with NS D9-40CW #8904 (with a very awesome Nathan P5), NS D9-40CW, 9373, and ES44DC #7605.
That would finish off our final planned outing of 2016. Here’s to 2017!
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRRxyk-uRMI
~AK
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