Eastern Railroad Discussion > A new toy/NS Conemaugh Line

This week, I bought a DJI Mavic 4 Pro, stepping up to the "prosumer" level of drones.  I'd been flying the Spark and Mini series for the last few years, and was ready for a bigger beast.  This machine can fly for 40-45 minutes, and has 3 built-in cameras, getting up to a 6x optical zoom.

So - for a first - I was eager to try a hometown shot by taking off from my front yard, and I was able to snag an NS 596 "double" coal train here in Aspinwall.  I watched the PennDOT traffic cameras on PA 28 while I wrapped up my workday, then quickly took off as the train approached town.  While I missed out on the glint light visible in the background closer to CP-SHARP, this double-length coal train still looks pretty neat snaking along the Allegheny River.  The Pittsburgh Waterworks is on the left below, and the right is the Waterworks shopping center. This section of Pittsburgh is geographically isolated from the rest of the city, and exists due to the Waterworks and reservoir on the other side of the shopping plaza.  The former Brilliant Branch bridge and wye are visible at upper left.

Looking forward to sharing more Western PA drone stuff with y'all over the coming year. Stay warm!
-Alex

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Awesome look Alex - thanks for sharing. Drones are something I'd like to dabble in some day, but, not gonna happen very soon. I like this for an IOTD candidate.

Excellent photo. Does the cold noticably impact battery life on the drone?

The Brilliant Branch was one of PRR's "brilliant" investments.  The line allowed PRR to route through freight trains away from the passenger facilities in the Strip District and Downtown Pittsburgh.

Very nice shot! You should do this same location at night. Looking forward to some more air pixels.

Great aerial shot with your new drone. Looking forward to your Western PA. coverage.
John

Thanks all - So far, it seems that the cold hasn't dramatically impacted flying times, but I haven't spent a lot of time flying this yet.  And I'm careful to return to home before the battery drops below 50% as Li-Ion batteries are known to deplete faster in the cold.
It helps to keep the batteries warm before flying.

I haven't tried night flying with this drone yet, and I probably will wait for slightly improved temps before doing so. I am excited to see how it does in low light though - my previous drone (Mini 3 Pro) did pretty well at night!
-Alex

Does anything use the Brilliant Branch bridge these days?

Posted from Android

train1275 Wrote:
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> Does anything use the Brilliant Branch bridge
> these days?
>
> Posted from Android

The Brilliant Bridge has been out of service for 3+ decades.  The bridge along with most of the Brilliant Branch, will become a trail.  

The southern end of the Brilliant Branch, near the junction with Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh Line, is used to turn Amtrak's Pennsylvanian.

Wasn't the Brilliant Branch reactivated for awhile by the AVR. From what I recall they serviced a transload on this side of the river for awhile, but that has closed and as such, the line has been sold to the community for the trail. It had been shut down for about 2 decades when Conrail stopped using it before it was reactivated. 

chapmaja Wrote:
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> Wasn't the Brilliant Branch reactivated for awhile
> by the AVR. From what I recall they serviced a
> transload on this side of the river for awhile,
> but that has closed and as such, the line has been
> sold to the community for the trail. It had been
> shut down for about 2 decades when Conrail stopped
> using it before it was reactivated. 

Yes, the Brilliant Branch bridge was reactivated in the early 2000's by the AVR in order to reach Azcon Scrap.  When Azcon sold to riverfront developers several years ago, AVR lost its sole customer.  
Here is the last rail being pulled out from Azcon, September 1, 2015.  Several storage moves of sand took place after that until 2025.

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