Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Heritage Unit...Ultimate "Home" Locale shots

There's an interesting discussion on the recent 1074 thread about where people would like to get the various units on "home" rails...I have a few spots in mind of my own for some of my favorites:
-MGA 8025: Now that the shot at Time PA on the Manor Branch is "poled in", my preference would be coming down the street in West Brownsville PA.
-SOU 8099: coming through one of the many big cuts on the former CNOTP "Rathole" Line in Kentucky
-CR 8098: Anywhere between Johnstown and Altoona but maybe coming out of the renovated tunnels at Gallitzin...one of the crowning achievements of the Conrail Era.
-VGN 1069: Rolling over one of the big viaducts just west of Clarks Gap near Covell.
-PC 1073: Passing the gritty now closed blast furnaces at Mingo Jct...although I think the shot I got of the PC passing under the bridges at East Pittsburgh has a nice "PC" feel to it.

What are some of your "must get" home rail shots for your favorites?

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"Pennsylvania" 8102 passing under any three- or four-track PRR Position-Light signal bridge. Shouldn't be that hard to do, if they'd just put it in the Pittsburgh-Baltimore coal pool instead of imprisoning it in Bluefield Helper service. And just imagine nailing the 8102 crossing the Susquehanna at Havre de Grace in sweet morning light on a late-running export coal train!

Similarly, getting the "New York Central" 1066 under a set of NYC-style searchlights or Type Gs would be optimal. Obviously I hope to catch it in Toledo sometime, but a signature location for it might be leading #20E out of Elkhart on the big curve there by the depot, or leading westbound trailers off the Cuyahoga River drawbridge in Cleveland.

Time could be short, meanwhile, to get the "Nickel Plate" 8100 passing one of the surviving bracket-post signals on the Fostoria District. Yeah, it was trailing behind NKP 765 when the steam engine passed all those signals back in June, but that doesn't satisfy my jones for it in command of a revenue freight in that territory.

Wholeheartedly agree, BTW, about the 8025 leading a train down the street in West Brownsville. That's been my #1 hope for that unit since NS announced they were doing it.

Reading on the Reading

Photo #1 stopped at West Falls on a 506 loaded coal train waiting for a crew

Photo #2 stopped at Swedesford on a 507 empty coal train waiting for crew

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That's an excellent photo of PC 1073 with my favorite Pittsburgh area bridge (the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge) in the background.

I'd like to catch

PRR 8102 or PC 1073 on the Mon Line in the South Side with the former Duquesne Brewery in the background, Pittsburgh Line in the City of Pittsburgh, Horseshoe Curve, Buffalo Line near Renovo or in Tyrone, PA

NKP 8103 and NYC 1066 on their home rails in Cleveland

Next year's Steamtown Railfest would be an obvious place & time for DL & W 1074.

I don't have a picture as of yet, but, as I was a kid in the early to mid 70's and had grandparents with a house whose yard backed right up to the PC Harrisburg to Pittsburgh line just west of Mapleton, I reckon I'd like to catch the 8102/1073/8098 coming either out of Jack's Narrows west-bound or east-bound heading towards them, right there in Mapleton. Great scenery back-drops either way.

NYC 1066 at Little Falls in the Mohawk Valley, New York State.

The shot at Time, PA on the ex-MGA Manor Branch is pole'd in? Dang!

nycman Wrote:
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> NYC 1066 at Little Falls in the Mohawk Valley, New
> York State.


You mean the NYC Heritage is on CSXT?

qnyla Wrote:
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> The shot at Time, PA on the ex-MGA Manor Branch is
> pole'd in? Dang!

Yeah, Consol put up a pole line along the south side of the tracks running from the big cut back towards Fork. I have not been there in person since it went up, but initial reports are not sounding good.

8025 down the street in West Brownsville has been done:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=412002&nseq=3

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=411792&nseq=5

The poles at Time are distracting, but can be worked-around to get the classic scene.

CR6444 Wrote:
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> nycman Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > NYC 1066 at Little Falls in the Mohawk Valley,
> New
> > York State.
>
> You mean the NYC Heritage is on CSXT?

No. This is nycman's ideal location to shoot the 1066, not its actual location.

I probably would have suggested an upstate New York location, too, except that the main line east of Cleveland is all CSX, which makes such an appearance improbable (notwithstanding the one Heritage-unit detour move that has occurred three months ago involving an eastbound NS intermodal train with, if I recall correctly, the MGA unit).

PittsburghMike Wrote:
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> qnyla Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The shot at Time, PA on the ex-MGA Manor Branch
> is
> > pole'd in? Dang!
>
> Yeah, Consol put up a pole line along the south
> side of the tracks running from the big cut back
> towards Fork. I have not been there in person
> since it went up, but initial reports are not
> sounding good.

Pics here: http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?2,2926141

I'm REALLY hoping the Wabash unit gets to Decatur for the annual Santa trains so we can see it teamed up with Monticello's Wabash F7, 1189A. That'd look mighty good in front of the old passenger station.

NZ

Taken 11-17/12. Poles at Time, PA. on the left. Still has some potential IMHO.
John



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/25/12 04:15 by jmbreitigan.

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jmbreitigan Wrote:
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> Taken 11-17/12. Poles at Time, PA. on the left.
> Still has some potential IMHO.

Agree. Because the poles climb the hillside where the photographer is, instead of being right along the right-of-way, the shot still works. It's just not as pastoral as it was before.

Savannah & Atlanta on any former S&A mainline trackage. This may be the rarest opportunity of the 20 heritage units for home rail running.

Jay

garr Wrote:
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> Savannah & Atlanta on any former S&A mainline
> trackage. This may be the rarest opportunity of
> the 20 heritage units for home rail running.
>
> Jay

Oh, I'd guess the Illinois Terminal unit would be the hardest to catch on true "home" rails, as about all that's left of actual ITC-owned track is secondary and industrial trackage in Decatur and the East St. Louis metro area. SD70ACes make pretty crappy switchers.

Now if you count trackage not owned by ITC but where they had trackage rights, e.g., the former Wabash/N&W between Decatur and Springfield, then the chances goes way up. In that case I would concede the S&A or the original NS units might be the toughest catches, with the CNJ unit not too far behind.

NZ

PittsburghMike Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> There's an interesting discussion on the recent
> 1074 thread about where people would like to get
> the various units on "home" rails...I have a few
> spots in mind of my own for some of my favorites:
> -MGA 8025: Now that the shot at Time PA on the
> Manor Branch is "poled in", my preference would be
> coming down the street in West Brownsville PA.
> -SOU 8099: coming through one of the many big cuts
> on the former CNOTP "Rathole" Line in Kentucky
> -CR 8098: Anywhere between Johnstown and Altoona
> but maybe coming out of the renovated tunnels at
> Gallitzin...one of the crowning achievements of
> the Conrail Era.
> -VGN 1069: Rolling over one of the big viaducts
> just west of Clarks Gap near Covell.
> -PC 1073: Passing the gritty now closed blast
> furnaces at Mingo Jct...although I think the shot
> I got of the PC passing under the bridges at East
> Pittsburgh has a nice "PC" feel to it.
>
> What are some of your "must get" home rail shots
> for your favorites?

The first and only time I got to see any of the Heritage units so far would have been my third choice. SOU 8099 coming across the CNO&TP bridge from Ludlow KY into Gest Street Yard here in Cincinnati. It was third in a consist of three although for a perfect picture I would have have it to leading. Unfortunately I was driving a crap busroute 33 till after midnight on a warm Friday night and seeing the Southern unit was truly the highlight of that night.

I guess my first choice would be the N & W unit coming under the cantilever N & W position light signal at Gallia Street in Portsmouth Ohio. Second would be the Conrail unit going under Northlawn at Moraine Yard which was heavily reconfigured by Conrail. Third was the Southern as described above. Fourth would be the Penn Central around Buckeye Yard. Then what Toledopatch and Pittsburgh Mike came up with pretty much.

Jim

If and when the CNJ unit comes east on the NS mainline into NJ, then it will operate over the ex CNJ bridge across the Delaware River between Easton, Pa and Phillipsburg, NJ so this one should be quite possible.
RWJ

> Now if you count trackage not owned by ITC but
> where they had trackage rights, e.g., the former
> Wabash/N&W between Decatur and Springfield, then
> the chances goes way up. In that case I would
> concede the S&A or the original NS units might be
> the toughest catches, with the CNJ unit not too
> far behind.
>
> NZ

NebraskaZephyr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> garr Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Savannah & Atlanta on any former S&A mainline
> > trackage. This may be the rarest opportunity of
> > the 20 heritage units for home rail running.
> >
> > Jay
>
> Oh, I'd guess the Illinois Terminal unit would be
> the hardest to catch on true "home" rails, as
> about all that's left of actual ITC-owned track is
> secondary and industrial trackage in Decatur and
> the East St. Louis metro area. SD70ACes make
> pretty crappy switchers.
>
> Now if you count trackage not owned by ITC but
> where they had trackage rights, e.g., the former
> Wabash/N&W between Decatur and Springfield, then
> the chances goes way up. In that case I would
> concede the S&A or the original NS units might be
> the toughest catches, with the CNJ unit not too
> far behind.
>
> NZ

NZ,

About the same for the former S&A trackage. I am not familiar with the track layout in Savannah which is the best chance for the S&A unit to be on namesake rails but I doubt there is any former S&A mainline trackage that is what is considered a true mainline today.

The best chance may be getting a photo of the S&A unit going under the bridge that carried the S&A over the Southern(CofG?) in Waynesboro, GA. That is if the bridge still stands. It has been a couple of decades since I last explored that part of the railroad.

Jay