Eastern Railroad Discussion > Heritage Bonus Day in Pittsburgh

A friend and I ventured to Pittsburgh Saturday morning for a day of railfanning. We were aware that several Norfolk Southern heritage locomotives had been reported to be in Conway Yard so maybe we would get lucky. We did. We spotted six of them (Lackawanna, Central of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Central of Georgia, Monogahela and Illinois Terminal), although just three were on moving trains that we were able to photograph.

The Central of Georgia is the only NS H unit I have not photographed and I passed on getting a shot of it sitting at the fuel rack because it was largely covered up. I've now seen it twice in person but been unable to photograph it. Some day.

The feature H units were NS 1074 and NS 1071, which had teamed up to lead a tanker train (66Z) eastbound. There had been some confusion stemming from posted online information whether this train was going east or west. We drove past Conway and could see it slowly moving east.

We set up in Leetsdale and did not have a long wait. (Photos 1 and 2) That is a westbound tanker train sitting to the right that was waiting for a signal at CP Leets.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/15 03:52 by SDP40F600.

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We decided to chase the tanker train even though we weren't sure we could catch it due to having too travel a busy road (Ohio River Boulevard) with multiple traffic signals. We caught up with the train and even passed it, but I thought for sure we had blown it when my friend missed the turn he should have taken. We had to go out of our way and then navigate a maze of city streets to reach West Park. I could see the headlight of the NS 1074 as we came to a stop. My friend parked on the street -- probably illegally -- and we bailed out.

At the same time a small army of railfan photographers also converged on the Ridge Avenue bridge at the far east end of the park from seemingly all directions. A couple who was cross country skiing in the park asked if we could stop out of the way so that they could cross the bridge on the snow on the sidewalk. We obliged. Fortunately, the train was moving slowly and no one missed the shot. That couple had to be puzzles as to what was going on.

The dispatcher had informed the crew of the 66Z to take it easy to Millvale because another train ahead was getting a new crew. Here is the 1074/1071 duo making its way through the West Park trench.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/15 03:57 by SDP40F600.

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A 67W was also approaching Pittsburgh with the NS 1072 (Illinois Terminal) trailing. We decided to catch it at Leetsdale (Photos 5 and 6).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/15 03:51 by SDP40F600.

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Good stuff!

Michael

Numbers 1 and 3 are great! Photo 1 being my favorite. I love the West Park section of Pittsburgh. Might be one of my favorite spots to catch then at there...

Posted from Android

1072 hasn't been on a 67W, it's been 65R the whole time

Posted from Android

That's awesome stuff. Love the Leets signal bridge and "the trench".


SH

GREAT stuff...!!! Thanks for posting. You had a GOOD day...!! :<)

Very nice.

Like 1 and 3.

Good work, looks like your road trip was worth the effort.
John

Great catches.
JB

Very nice shots, Craig.

Bob Wilcox
Charlottesville, VA
My Flickr Shots

Great series of photos. Congratulations on IOTD.

Ronda Thomas

Great images! Thanks for sharing. Well deserved IOTD.

Don Bowen
Saint Helena, CA

Thanks to everyone for the compliments. They are much appreciated. I enjoyed my Saturday sojourn to the 'burg.