Eastern Railroad Discussion > CSX Hudson Valley....Saturday at 'the listening post'

This past Saturday was an absolutely perfect day to be out and about in the Hudson Valley of NY....With the heat and humidity of Summer mostly behind us now, I am getting back into hiking mode as I prefer the cooler days of Autumn and early Spring for my railfanning hikes.

I spent last Saturday up at my spot atop High Tor Mountain which overlooks the Haverstraw area of NY and the CSX River Sub. The overlook requires a 3 mile hike along the ridgetop on an old woods road which is part of the Long Path that runs North from the Fort Lee NJ area up to the Northern part of NY State. I arrived at the overlook around 815AM and remained there until 5PM.....The overlook offers a 360 degree view of the surrounding area and skies were deep blue from horizon to horizon. Temperatures were around 80 but a nice breeze from off the river kept things pleasant up at the overlook and I had brought lunch and 3 liters of water along to keep my thirst and hunger at bay.

Where the listening post term comes in is a nickname that I have given to this particular location at River Sub MP31.5 due to the very good scanner reception. With my Yaesu radio, I was able to monitor River Sub chatter including signal calls from CP-1 in NJ all the way to Auto-72 at Highland, NY and I even heard some signal calls as far North as CP-102 at Alsen, NY on a couple of trains with good radios. Being elevated, while far enough South of the mountains of the Bear Mountain area allowed for good reception to the North.

First up...a Southbound Q008 rounds the curve and heads South through Haverstraw, NY....Just North of that curve is CP-33...Dave Williams



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/29/14 21:37 by dwi189.

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Shortly afterwards, a Southbound Q439 made its appearance at Haverstraw.....Dave W

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Some more pics of the Q439....Dave W

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I had a 7 mile visual heads up of Southbounds from the listening post as trains were visible in the CP-38 area at Stony Point, NY...Colorful stacks from a Southbound Q162 were seen earlier that morning....Dave W

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I also had a visual heads up on a Southbound Q010 which followed the Q162....These trains were running the new lengthened doubletrack segment running 5 miles from Stony Point to Haverstraw....Dave W

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A Northbound Q434 rolls past the former NYC Station at Haverstraw....Dave W

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A Q410 heads North a bit later....Dave W

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And finally to wrap up the day shortly before the 3 mile hike back to the car.... As afternoon shadows were lengthening around 5pm...a shot of a Southbound CSX Q711 with a C40-8 standard cab leader....Dave Williams

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Cool pics!! I like when people go the extra mile (three in your case) for creative shots!

zfan Wrote:
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> Cool pics!! I like when people go the extra mile
> (three in your case) for creative shots!

Thanks...getting out of the car and spending the day out on foot is my favorite kind of railfanning....Dave W

Posted from Android

GOOD stuff Dave...!!! Thanks for sharing.

ns1000 Wrote:
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> GOOD stuff Dave...!!! Thanks for sharing.


Thanks....Fall colors are popping early this year in the Bear Mountain area so I hope to get up to some of my other overlook spots in the near future if weather cooperates....Dave W.

Posted from Android

Dave, I always enjoy your photos from "on high." Looks like the fall colors haven't hit Haverstraw yet, sure looks pretty green there. Our little hiking group did over 4 miles yesterday on one of the well maintained trails at Cape Perpetua, here in Oregon. The forest is great, so quiet, and beautiful. If you ever get out this way I'd be happy to show you the hiking trails, which are many and very scenic. Unfortunately, no trains nearby.

nycman Wrote:
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> Dave, I always enjoy your photos from "on high."
> Looks like the fall colors haven't hit Haverstraw
> yet, sure looks pretty green there. Our little
> hiking group did over 4 miles yesterday on one of
> the well maintained trails at Cape Perpetua, here
> in Oregon. The forest is great, so quiet, and
> beautiful. If you ever get out this way I'd be
> happy to show you the hiking trails, which are
> many and very scenic. Unfortunately, no trains
> nearby.

Thanks.....colors are popping much faster just upriver from Bear Mountain on North....It will be an early peak this year in te area due to lack of rain over the past several weeks....Dave W

Hi Dave,
Nice pics as usual... Does that lumber company in your pics get serviced by rail?

Steve

bluesboyst Wrote:
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> Hi Dave,
> Nice pics as usual... Does that lumber company in
> your pics get serviced by rail?
>
> Steve


Hey Steve...Yes...Beckerle gets serviced by the CSX local....Hard to see in pics but there is a set of rails in the blacktop to the right of the yellow lumber truck....The end of track bumper has a bobcat parked against the bumper....Dave W.

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