Special K for lunch

Special K for lunch

Heading out to CSX at Edinburg at lunch time can be hit or miss.  With only about an hour for lunch, the 10 minute run leaves only about 45 minutes to catch trains.  Usually, 2 trains is a good day, anything  more is great...zero unfortunately is all too common.  Monday Apr02 2012 wasn't too bad.  With a 90 minute lunch, it was tempting to go to Enon Valley instead.  I'm glad I didn't.  Soon after I leave the office, I hear a K311 departing New Castle...should be able to beat him to Edinburg...considering the slow order at the Rt224 construction site.  Within a few minutes CSX 608 and CEFX 1048 roll by with 102 loads of coke from U.S. Steel at Clairton destined for their Gary Works.  Signal work around mp64 had two track occupied with MofW trucks.  The dispatcher announced that as soon as K311-01 clears the interlocking at Haselton, an eastbound would cross over and run one track to New Castle.  As 2 o'clock approached, it looked as if this extra long lunch would yield only one train.  

As I packed up the tripod a horn to the west gave a sense of relief.  In a few minutes another K train, comes east billowing a fine white cloud as it passes.  K904-01 is all stone from National Lime & Stone at Carey, OH destined for their distribution yard on the AVR at Glenwood yard near Pittsburgh.  As soon as his 60 cars pass, its pedal to the metal back to the office (just a little late).

Third Times a Charm...

While, I enjoy the sound of 20 cylinder EMDs as much as the next guy, following the last real SD45 on the B&P this morning would have been an easy choice if it was not still in the ex-SP "crap" paint.  Hence, when I heard about a 400 coal train coming east, I thought I could make up for the mediocre shot I got a month earlier on the Conemaugh.  The fact that he took the Bayard branch meant I wouldn't get him at my usual location...New Galilee.  So it was down the valley to see if he was into Conway yet.  Low and behold as I was crossing into Rochester, I see the crossing gates going up in Bridgewater...there goes his tail end!  I rush over to West Conway only to have him stop for clearance into the yard.  After waiting about 20 minutes, my first attempt at a shot is foiled by a yard job.  Strike one.

Ok, so off to East Conway to salvage the morning.  These trains load at Peabody Coal's North Antelope Rochelle mine complex in Wyoming's Powder River Basin and run as C-NAMCSC0 on BNSF to Chicago.  Running as NS 400, ultimate delivery is to the Constellation Energy (ex-Baltimore Gas & Electric) plant in Chase, MD...one of the longer hauls in the country.   After another 20 minutes or so to change crews, it becomes obvious that 37A pulling in will ruin that shot.  Strike two.

Last chance...race down Rt 65 to the signal bridge just west of Ambridge.  Thanks to some nice recent clearing by Dave, we have a hit!

Stacks and Spines....the I's have it

Sunday Dec11 2011 opened sunny and had interesting representatives of the pre-Christmas rush.

First up, NS I0V-10, a Maple Heights to Harrisburg extra section of Detroit to Harrisburg 20V was mostly K-Line and COSCO stacks bound for the port of Norfolk, rolling through Pittsburgh's Southside.

After a trip to Costco...it was over to Glenfield to catch an extra section of Elizabethport to Chicago 25Z, running as NS I5Z-10, that was all empty spine cars (ok, maybe a few wells)

The Greenwich Rainbow

Dateline: Nov12 2011, Greenwich, OH

Who would think this was CSX in Ohio?

Leading the parade of foreign power was empty Linden, NJ to Chicago, IL (for CP) ethanol train K637-10 with 2 ICE SD40-2s leading a CSX SD40-2

  Next up was Selkirk, NY to Willard, OH Q371-11 with CSX and leased power with some Honda Auto-Max cars on the head end

The color parade continued with a trio of mixed units on Cumberland, MD to Toledo, OH freight Q355-11

Western flavors are added with BNSF units on N860-07 coal empties from First Energy in Cleveland heading back to the Powder River Basin in Wyoming via BNSF in Chicago

CSX and UP power finishes off the rainbow on another empty ethanol train, K683-09 from Sewaren, NJ to Chicago, IL (Clearing Yard)