Nostalgia & History > Pennsylvania shots from 1981

During the Summer of 1981, I spent almost an entire month in Pennsylvania with a friend of mine and his Father. He owned 3 houses in about a 5 mile radius all located approximately an hour or so South out of Pittsburgh and our reason for heading back there from Southern California was to do some maintenance work on those 3 homes. I was only 15 at the time and had just started to take slides so this was a Great opportunity to try and photograph some different railroads. On a couple of occasions we "borrowed" one of his Dad's cars and ventured out in search of some trains! Being over 30 years ago and my only time visiting that area, I am not positive about the information that was written on the slides so any additions or corrections would be welcome:}
1)At Jefferson, PA which I have as being on the Monongahela Railroad, we ran into a Northbound loaded Detroit Edison coal train with four SD40's on the point. With their very different number series, the 002, 001, 004 and 005 lead this train.
2)Mid-train helpers were SD40 003 and U30C 021. I am not sure if these were manned or remote helpers but I don't see any antennas on any of the engines for remotes nor the long "snoot" nose to house the Locotrol equipment.
3)The old, derelict depot at Jefferson.

Three More posted Below..................



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/12 08:55 by SP8595.

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On another outing while waiting at a crossing in Millsboro, we heard a train approaching but curiously it sounded something like a vacuum cleaner!
Turned out to be four Pittsburgh & Lake Erie MP15DC's leading a loaded coal train, Sure didn't see anything like this in California!
4)P&LE 1594, 1591, 1593 and 1579 at one of the few open spots in this area, a grade crossing.
5)Going away view.
6)Caboose 510 still in NYC "Jade Green" brings up the rear.

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I diDn't thInk DE had anY remotes bacK then nor anyonE else at that time. Surely They Were manned.

The DE mid train units were remoted. Certain ones were set up as lead remotes. If I remember correctly, the trains were split at the mid train units, and went to two different loading areas. I miss seeing those DE trains.

That station is located in Mather PA, not much has changed since '81 except for the roof

ernie

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Yes, this is Mather, PA on the MGA which is right next to Jefferson, PA, so you were not off by much.

1. Here is a view of the station in 1989 with MGA power headed south with an empty train.

2. Here is a view from 1990 showing the general area of the station. The town in the background is Jefferson. This shot was taken from the top of a gigantic gob pile called the "Mather-horn".

The DE trains did indeed run with mid-train remote helpers. I believe they started running that way in 1970 when they started loading on the MGA on the then-new Waynesburg Southern Branch. The DE trains were typically 140 or 144 cars long and used 125 ton DEEX cars making for some VERY heavy trains. Note that every-other car has two blue ends, meaning rotary couplers on both ends. The non-blue ended cars did not have rotary couplers at all. So when a DE car was set-out, two cars had to be set-out. I believe these were one of the first utility-owned unit coal trains. There was an article in Trains Magazine in 1970 or so written by, I believe, David Hamley that covered details of these trains.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/18/12 19:44 by qnyla.

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