Hoping to Get the NKP PA and Settling For NS’s Southern, Reading Heritage Units

The Southern heritage locomotive passes BE Tower in Berea on Friday.

At Chatfield on the Sandusky District

North of Attica

Crossing the CSX Mt. Victory Subdivision in Marion.

The Reading heritage unit leads an NS stack train through the Cleveland area.

This past Friday I went to Berea in hopes of catching the Nickel Plate Road No. 190, a restored Alco PA1 locomotive on its trip to a new home in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Unfortunately that would not happen as it was still sitting in Indiana. However, I did have the Reading heritage leading a westbound train.

It had been recently repainted but has been out on the road for just over a month and is accumulating road grime.

About an hour behind it was the Southern No. 8099. It had just been rebuilt after being in a rollover derailment almost two years ago.  It was its very first trip hauling train 746 a unit coal train for Bellows Creek, North Carolina. It looked very sharp.

I got both at Berea and ended up chasing the Southern as far as Marion. Maybe the NKP PA will come this weekend.

Trains magazine reported on its website that the PA spent a week in Clearing Yard on the Belt Railway of Chicago.

It was spotted on Norfolk Southern in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday trailing four NS and BNSF units.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Railfanning the Youngstown & Southeastern

On Wednesday I railfanned in Youngstown.  After striking out with Ohio Central I saw two trains but couldn’t get photos of them. I hit pay dirt with the Youngstown & Southeastern.

I saw the Y&S train approaching the South Avenue underpass but could not stop in time for photos.  I did catch him at the Dewey Avenue overpass and then several more times as the train headed south.

The top image was made from Dewey with the train climbing a stiff grade here. The series continues with the train passing a church, which is kind of an iconic spot on the line.

Then there is a zoom shot from the same location that really emphasizes the trackwork and finally running down a enter median strip which shows the lines interurban heritage.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

NS 9-1-1 on the Conway Mingo Jct. Local

For the past several weeks the Norfolk Southern 911 Honoring First Responders engine has been assigned to the C65 local between Conway and Mingo Jct.

This past Saturday I managed to catch it leading.  Here are a few pictures.

The top image shows the local crossing the bridge at Yellow Creek. The second and third images were made of the train coming by what’s left of the steel mills at Mingo Jct.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

Scenes From the EBT Winter Spectacular

There may not have been any snow on the ground to indicate that it was still winter, but the Winter Specular at the East Broad Top Railroad in Pennsylvania was, in a word, spectacular. Scores of traveled to the historic narrow gauge railroad to witness and photograph the triumphant return of steam to EBT rails. Here are some of the many scenes from the event.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

Looking at EBT Infrastructure

During my visit at East Broad Top Railroad I took a little time photographing the right of way details.

The top image is Pogue Trestle which will be restored hopefully later this year. The railroad is making great progress working south from Rockhill Furnace in this regard.

The second and third imagea are in the yard at Rockhill Furnace.  EBT used Harp switches, which don’t have points like regular switches but instead the rails move to line up the route.

This an example of a 3-way Harp switch, which is very rare.

The third image is the old coal dump at Mt. Union. This is not owned by the EBT Foundation so I’m not sure what the future holds for this but it is in a deteriorated state.

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Trolleys on Parade

East Broad Top wasn’t the only railroad running at Winter Spectacular. The Rockhill Trolley Museum also put on a show.

And put on a show they did with pretty much everything that runs pulled out of the carbarns and taking its turn.  

This included the Brill Bullet, a 1931 built streamliined interurban car. It’s design was one of he first to use a wind tunnel.

Also running was the 1941 built Liberty Liner one of the two Electroliner sets built for the North Shore and sold to the Philadelphia & Western after that line shut down in 1963. 

Over 100 people ode the Liberty Liner on it’s only trip on Saturday. 

Article and Photographs by Todd Dillon

Salute to the Diesels

While steam is the star of the show it can’t go on without the diesels.  On the East Broad Top the M-1 and M-7 were a big part of this year’s Winter Spectacular.

The M-1 handled passenger trips in between runs of the No. 16. The M-7 helped in moving consists and switching.

On the Western Maryland Scenic, No. 558 a GE B40-8 led trains on the reverse move from Frostburg.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

Chasing C&O 1309 on the WMSR

After chasing the morning freight run on the East Broad Top Railroad, we made our way to Cumberland, Maryland, for another steam engine.  Chesapeake & Ohio No. 1309, which has been painted temporarily in its original colors, was running trips last weekend.

We chased the return trip from Frostburg and the afternoon trip to Helmstetters Curve. Here are the results. Enjoy.

Article and Photograph by Todd Dillon

Daybreak Tour on the EBT

Sunday morning at the East Broad Top Railroad Winter Spectacular was an early start, arriving at Rockhill Furnace at 5:30 a.m.  We were part of a limited group called the hostler tour.

This would give us access to the EBT crew doing early morning maintenance and getting ready for the day’s runs.

Of course this made for some excellent photo opportunities as well.  Here’s a few.

Photographs by Todd Dillon

More from EBT Winter Spectacular

Here are some more highlights from the Winter Spectacular on the East Broad Top Railroad starting at 8 a.m. with a photo freight and then at 10 a.m. with a passenger train evert two hours after until the last trip at 4 p.m. was pulled by East Broad Top No. 16.  The alternating hours starting at 11 a.m. were run by the M-1 a Brill doodlebug. The photos shown here were made on Saturday.

The top image shows the train Rockhill Furnace just after 8 a.m. The next two images are returning at Runk Road. The last two photographs were made of the passenger at an overhead bridge.

Photographs by Todd Dillon