Eastern Railroad Discussion > Last days of fall color on the CSX Keystone sub...

...Happened the first weekend in November immediately following Halloween. A short family weekend trip to the Laurel Highlands of Pennsylvania afforded some nice late color views.
1. Amtrak P030 rolls past the hamlet of Confluence just as the morning cloud cover clears away.
2. A single unit and a DPU are sufficient for the Q138 to take the "Hi Line" at Draketown.
3. Low fall water levels allow for a walk into the Yough River basin for a panoramic shot of Q348 rolling through Draketown
 

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Photo two makes excellent use of the curve around the lake.
Bob

4. Q216 is taking the Low Grade today at Hernedsville, PA. Until a few years ago in the CPL days, the signal here was "WM Transfer", now CSXT calls it "Pulpwood".
5 & 6. Speaking of the WM, the Confluence area is filled with great reminders of what once once, including the Great Allegheny Passage trail. A 2.5 mile hike from Markleton is perfect for a family outing and allows some great views of the Casselman River, the Pinkerton High Bridge, and a walk through the WM Pinkerton tunnel on the trail. That big cut in photo 6 is the daylighted former B&O Pinkerton Tunnel...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/19 17:31 by DJ-12.

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Of course, any good hike involves a lunch break while Dad shoots some trains.
7. Q217 west behind a single unit approaches the cut at Pinkerton.
8. Q136 approaches the other end of the cut beyond another single unit.
9. The DPU on Q136 motors east into the cut. CSX has fully embraced DPU operations on this line. The 1x1 configuration on intermodals is very common nowadays.

Thanks for looking!

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Sure it was P030, not 448/48?  I'm just basing this on the single level viewliner cars on the headend.

MdRailfan Wrote:
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> Sure it was P030, not 448/48?  I'm just basing
> this on the single level viewliner cars on the
> headend.

Yeah, I’ve seen that a couple times on 30 the past month where There have been coaches ahead of the bag. I don’t know what the deal is with that.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/18/19 18:11 by DJ-12.

Great stuff Mike! Some of my favorite places there, I'm always amazed at how few Draketown shots I come across, certainly the under-rated portion of Sand Patch by the masses. Keep up the good work.

Scooter

I honestly didn't know and just thought it might be something else.

DJ-12 Wrote:
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> MdRailfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sure it was P030, not 448/48?  I'm just basing
> > this on the single level viewliner cars on the
> > headend.
>
> Yeah, I’ve seen that a couple times on 30 the
> past month where There have been coaches ahead of
> the bag. I don’t know what the deal is with
> that.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Great stuff all around! Trains 29/30 are commonly used to shuttle equipment from the east coast to Chicago and/or Beech Grove. Deadhead equipment is almost always ahead of the baggage car.

Jon

Outstanding images ! They sure moved alot of dirt when they daylighted those tunnels.

The Laurel Highlands are beautiful year round, but takes on a very special “feel” during the Autumn season. You captured it beautifully!

Great shots!

Great stuff...!!  Thanks for posting.