Eastern Railroad Discussion > Slow go for Valley Girl on Train 294

Checking the Heritage Units site Tuesday morning, I saw that Train 294 led by the Lehigh Valley Heritage unit passed Horseshoe Curve at 6:37. I made the 1 1/2 hour drive to Cove. I wanted to be at a location west of Harrisburg. A train's progress through Harrisburg is unpredictable. Long delays are possible. Having no further info on the progress of 294, I didn't dare go west of Cove lest I overrun the train. In the hour and a half that I was there, lots of trains passed, mostly westbound. It was now about 3 1/2 hours since 294 had passed Horseshoe Curve. Where was it? Finally, my curiosity go the best of me. I drove to Duncannon. There, 294 laid behind the trees stopped at CANNON. Given that I had seen no trains parked at Banks, I was puzzled as to why 294 was sitting in Duncannon. I returned to Cove. Finally, the Harrisburg Terminal told 294 that he could ease on down to Cove. 294 moved at little more than walking pace and stopped west of Cove by an open spot next to Route 11/15. My first shots were there. 294 stopped and held its position while other trains in both directions passed including the gargantuan train 10K that Sam Scannella perceptively describes as a land barge. Finally, around 12:30, the Terminal gave 294 permission to proceed to Banks, some three miles distant. It did and promptly stopped at the signal. Circa 1:00 pm, a van arrived with a new crew. In a few minutes, the new crew informed the Terminal that it was ready to go. The Terminal said that he needed to "find a path" for the train. After another half hour, that path appeared and the train headed east. A minimum of four hours to progress eight miles. As a friend later told me, this was probably not a priority intermodal train for NS.

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The following shots were at Cove, Banks and Marysville.

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Nice shots! It didn’t roll through Topton on the Reading line until after 5!!

Posted from iPhone

Can you just imagine how long it would have taken this train without PSR?  How did \
things ever move before that?  
As it turns out, I could have left work and gotten them somewhere along the way, but,
I figured that they were bound to pick up the pace sooner or later.  Apparently, NOT!!
John R

And apparently, that must not be unusual for that train.......as I was at Cove on Monday 3/29......and 294 sat there from 1202 pm until 137 pm waiting for their recrew at that location.
 

septacarczar Wrote:
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> And apparently, that must not be unusual for that
> train.......as I was at Cove on Monday
> 3/29......and 294 sat there from 1202 pm until 137
> pm waiting for their recrew at that location.
>  

294 is such a crapshoot here on the Reading Line. I’ve seen it just after 7 in the morning and as late as 9pm while walking my dogs. It is definitely not a premium train.

On the bright side, today’s 294 had the Interstate unit leading. Based on how the LV unit turned to lead 23M today, I’d bet there’s a good chance the Interstate leads 23M tomorrow.

Posted from iPhone

Well, NS certainly didn’t waste any time flipping it. Looks like it got taken off at Harrisburg, spun, and is now leading 21T westbound, already climbing the mountain west of the Horseshoe Curve.

Posted from iPhone

The girl is showing her Age,How old is she now ? Scoobydoobydoo

Here she is almost brand new on 6/15/12.

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reel_smooth Wrote:
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> Well, NS certainly didn’t waste any time
> flipping it. Looks like it got taken off at
> Harrisburg, spun, and is now leading 21T
> westbound, already climbing the mountain west of
> the Horseshoe Curve.
>
> Posted from iPhone

And 8099 met it in Cove, Pa....:<)