Finger Lakes Railway (FGLK) Discussion - 2012

lvrr325 wrote:Auburn branch near Martisco has quite a bit of weed growth going between the rails, too. May be a system-wide issue.

Maybe FGLK is going the "natural" route. LOL. Kind of like NYS DOT not mowing shoulders and medians.

Right now the ROW between the RTE 14 crossing and Himrod looks about like it did after the PRR ceased.

Poppyl

the short stretch of track that leads to the fertilizer plant off of Columbus Street in Auburn looks like its been out of service for months with all the high weeds but they still park a locomotive in the small yard there which is weed free.

I was going to ask what if anything I might expect to see Himrod-Glen next weekend, but it sounds like probably nothing if the recent posts are any indication

Does your weekend include Friday? If so, don't give up hope yet. I believe that they ran down light late Friday morning and brought a few cars back up later in the afternoon (probably those that went down on Wednesday) so there still is some traffic on the line. I'll keep my eyes and ears open to see how things unfold and report in around mid-week.

Action on either Saturday or Sunday looks highly unlikely as a pass by both plants this weekend indicated that they were not in operation. If the plants, particularly US Salt, are not operating on the weekends, that may partially explain the apparent fall-off in rail traffic -- no reason to take cars down on Friday and then return again on Monday. This week should be a good indicator as we are well past any workload impact of the mid-week July 4 holiday.

Poppyl

unfortunately no, I would only be in the area later in the day Sat. and most of Sunday. So unless things really pick up, it doesn't sound too promising! But I'd still be interested in any updates and I'm sure others would too.

I can't say that I have seen any GNWR 2 bay hoppers passing from Geneva to Solvay they seemed to have died out with mostly Winchester & Western and N&W 2 Bay hoppers going to the bottle plant.

Strangle enough there is a 2 Bay BNSF Covered Hopper sitting on the siding at the new Team Track on Seymour Street which has me wondering who the car is for. I often see one 3 Bay hopper there from time to time but a 2 bay has me wondering.

GNWR = Genesee & Wyoming = more than likely salt service cars.

Yes, GNWR hoppers are used at US Salt.

Still not sure if the Himrod - WG pattern has changed. FGLK went down very early Monday AM (around 7:30) and returned by 11 AM. Given the elapsed time, they probably dropped some hoppers at US Salt. Wednesday AM they ran north, either to PY or back to Geneva. Couldn't tell as I was south of Himrod when they left. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Poppyl

One week's experience is certainly not indicative of a "permanent" change in the Himrod-WG traffic pattern, but this past week's schedule was Monday and Friday. Given the elapsed times on both days, I'd speculate that FGLK dropped cars at US Salt on Monday morning and picked them up Friday morning. The Himrod yard was pretty clean this weekend which is unusual as there often are some empty salt hoppers and a couple of boxcars waiting to go to WG.

We'll see what the new week brings.

Poppyl

seems like Finger Lakes is running trains on Saturdays between Geneva and Solvay I heard them last week and one yesterday unless there going to Solvay on Saturdays and returning to Geneva on Sundays any ideas as to whats going on?

I will be staying on Keuka Lake during the 3rd week in September.

Any suggestions as to when I could see a train in Penn Yan?

In my teens, I once took a train from Newark, NJ to Penn Yan on the Pennsy.
Would love to photograph a FGLK train while I'm visiting.

Thanks,
Lee

That's a tough one to answer, Lee, as traffic to PY is sporadic at best -- the occasional covered hopper to Silgan Plastics and grain hoppers to the operation just north and across from Morgan's. Lately, the grain business has been fairly busy filling cars with soy beans. They are probably making room for the new crop which should start arriving in a month to six weeks. Once the harvest starts, I suspect that their priority will shift from shipping out by railcar to receiving in by truck.

If FGLK makes a run to PY, it is usually on Tuesday or Thursday with M-W-F "usually" Watkins Glen days. For example, yesterday they ran to WG. This morning they ran the WG traffic from yesterday up to Geneva.

I don't know how far you want to get away from the lake in September, but my suggestion would be to show up outside the Himrod yard between eight and nine AM and see what's going on. You may end up chasing the action in the direction of WG, however.

BTW, FGLK sprayed the ROW south of Himrod late last week. The tracks have reappeared from among the weeds. Thanks to the FGLK MOW crew.

Poppyl

FGLK also spayed the Auburn area with weed killer as well.

poppyl wrote:If FGLK makes a run to PY, it is usually on Tuesday or Thursday with M-W-F "usually" Watkins Glen days. For example, yesterday they ran to WG. This morning they ran the WG traffic from yesterday up to Geneva.

I don't know how far you want to get away from the lake in September, but my suggestion would be to show up outside the Himrod yard between eight and nine AM and see what's going on. You may end up chasing the action in the direction of WG, however.

Since you mentionned the run from Himrod to Geneva, what day(s) of the week does it operate? As usual, I understand that shortlines are rather variable operations... but I'd love to catch the FGLK local on the Corning Secondary.