Conrail Favorites From an Eastern Tour

During my July 1993 eastern railfanning tour with Marty Surdyk, we caught Conrail trains in a number of places including New York State and Pennsylvania.

Here are a few of my favorite images of the Conrail trains that I made during that tour.

The top photograph was made on the West Shore Line, a former New York Central property, and shows a southbound (railroad timetable eastbound) crossing Popolopen Creek.

I was standing on the Bear Mountain Bridge when I made the image.

In the next image, a northbound (timetable westbound) crosses Popolopen Creek.

The next two images were made in downtown Altoona, Pennsylvania, on the former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline.

The series concludes with an image made at the famed Horseshoe Curve.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Some Amtrak Favorites from a 1993 Trip

On July 3, 1993, Marty Surdyk and myself spent several hours at Princeton Junction, New Jersey, catching action on Amtrak’s ex-Pennsylvania Railroad Northeast Corridor.

On our way back home we stopped at Horseshoe Curve and caught Amtrak’s Broadway Limited.

It was our final stop on the return home on July 5, 1993.

In the top photograph the Silver Meteor comes thundering by.

Next up the Pennsylvanian makes an appearance hauling a deadheading slumbercoach.

The last image from Princeton Junction shows the Silver Star.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Ed’s Pennsylvania Adventure: Part 1

Last week Ursula and I did a six-day trip to Pennsylvania that focused on Altoona and Hershey.

Our first stop was Horseshoe Curve. During our time at the curve from 1:30  p.m. to 6:15 p.m. we saw 21 movements, including 18 trains and three helper movements. Several times there were two trains at the same time.

In the top photograph, the Penn Central heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern paces from Track No. 2 another train on Track No. 3 in late afternoon.

In the top photo below, a stack train eastbound on Track 2 passes a train on track 1. In the next image an eastbound meets a westbound late in the day.

That’s the back of Ursula’s head in the next image of her making a video of the westbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian.

Most of the time the crews are friendly when Amtrak goes around the curve as was evident today from the Amdinette.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Chasing Steam, Amtrak, NS in Pennsylvania

Here are a few are a few highlights from this past weekend. Jeff [Troutman] and myself left about 2:30 p.m. on Friday. Since I drove I made reservations for a Microtel in Clarion, Pennsylvania. We got there about 5:15 p.m.

I wanted to be on the road by 7 a.m. Saturday so we would get to Summerhill to get Amtrak No. 42 since it would depart Johnstown at 9:03 a.m.

Breakfast started at 6:30 a.m., which was perfect. But ice and fogged up windows from overnight delayed our departure by 20 minutes.

Jeff kept checking Julie as we were heading on Pennsylvania Route 219. We were on the far bridge and guess who was about to go under us.

I knew it was P42DC engine No. 86 on head end. And exactly like Agent 86 Maxwell Smart we missed it by that much.

As you can see in photo No. 1 the lighting was perfect of the empty tracks.

Photo No. 2 is of the Everett steam train at Brook Mills on the line heading to Roaring Spring.

Photo No. 3 is at Roaring Spring. There are two photo lines including the road crossing where I shot last September with the station and the Pennsylvania Railroad caboose.

Where I am and looking down to my right I was amazed at what I saw that I never noticed twice last September and last May: A double semaphore turned with slight foliage somewhat hiding it.

Photo 5 shows Everett No. 11 on the return trip from Martinsburg at Route 36 just southeast of Roaring Spring.

After eating lunch we went to Tyrone, Pennsylvania, where we photographed the cabooses located on what used to be the east leg of the wye.

The beautiful stone memorial is in a park between the cabooses and the station.

Saturday afternoon found us in Fostoria, Pennsylvania, along the Pittsburgh Line of Norfolk Southern. This time Amtrak did not elude us.

On Sunday morning it was back to Fostoria to catch Amtrak No. 42 passing beneath the PRR position light signals.

We then spent a little over three hours at Horseshoe Curve before heading home. We saw eight trains and two helper movements.

What was unusual was that the first three trains were two eastbound loaded coal hoppers and one empty hopper train.

Again, the weather was perfect and it was tough to leave.

Article and Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

 

 

Ed’s Trip to Pennsylvania (Part 1)

Amtrak’s Pennsylvanian arrives in downtown Altoona.

I didn’t do any chasing of Nickel Plate Road No. 765 this past weekend since I already had planned a trip to Altoona, Pennsylvania, with my friend Larry Luther.

On Friday, we did Horseshoe Curve and on Saturday we were in downtown Altoona for some Norfolk Southern and Amtrak action.

Later that day we rode the Everett Railroad to Brooke Mills then did a chase of its long excursion of the year to Martinsburg with the locomotive facing forward in both directions. I’ll be posting my images from that outing in multiple segments. Today will focus on the curve and Altoona.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Here comes the Virginian heritage locomotive of Norfolk Southern leading train 20Q around Horseshoe Curve just before 5 p.m. on Sept. 15.

Getting up close and personal with NS 1069.

Cameras are out as the Virginian H unit rounds the curve.

On the other leg of the horseshoe as seen from the park.

Some Norfolk Southern action in Altoona.

Amtrak arrives into the Altoona station.

Some Quality Time on Horseshoe Curve

 

In this second installment of the trip that Akron Railroad Club member Ed Ribinskas took to Pennsylvania last month, we join him at Horseshoe Curve on the Pittsburgh Line of Norfolk Southern.

Ed was there along with his brother in law Karl and his son Owen. They made a day trip to the curve and the Everett Railroad.

While on the curve, Ed photographed Amtrak westbound train No. 43, the Pennsylvanian. It had its standard Amfleet consist pulled by a single P42DC locomotive.

No. 43 passed on the curve an NS manifest freight had had the Savannah & Atlanta heritage unit (No. 1065) in the motive power consist.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

Return to Horseshoe Curve

A Norfolk Southern stack train with a Union Pacific unit in the motive power consist makes its way around Horseshoe Curve west of Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Horseshoe Curve near Altoona, Pennsylvania, is one of railroadings’s most notable engineering achievements in the Eastern United States.

Opened on Feb. 15, 1854, the curve has hosted trains of the Pennsylvania, Penn Central, Conrail and now Norfolk Southern. Amtrak’s New York-Pittsburgh Pennsylvanian traverses the curve daily.

Earlier this year NS cleared quite a bit of brush and trees from around the Curve, thus opening some view for photography.

Akron Railroad Club members Ed Ribinksas and Jeff Troutman venture to the Curve in mid October and Ed shares in this post some of his favorite images that he made that day.

Photograph by Edward Ribinskas

 

WOW — What a Weekend (Part 3)

Before the Nickel Plate Road No. 765 arrived on Monday at the Horseshoe Curve we photographed several other Norfolk Southern trains that passed by. These included the eastbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian. The series of photographs from last weekend concludes with some images of other trains in the Curve.

Photographs by Edward Ribinskas

This is not the Broadway Limited.

This was my perch for three hours.

If the 611 ever makes a comeback, I’ll be trackside to record it.