CSX-Oak Point/Fremont

I don't know how long it would take them to get to stamford.They likely run at whatever the top speed is for freights so if you can find that bit of info, you can make a reasonable estimate (might be a question for the amtrak or metro north forums). I can tell you P&W' usually moves quite a bit faster over hell gate than CSX does, so those guys definitely are a bit more heavy on the throttle.

Anyway - P&W left again tonight around 6:30-6:45. Long train easily in the 70-100 car range. I'd imagine with the MN derailment further north they might have encountered delays further up the line.

As for tomorrow's 2081 move, I'll post here if I'm online and see the inbound train come along. The outbound usually comes back over the bridge 2-4 hours later, though it's been much more on the 2-3 hour side the last few months. They used to stop for lunch down by fresh pond though I think they've stopped doing that after someone fixed the fence from the tracks up to the street they'd get food at.

From what I've heard all trains are terminating at South Norwalk heading eastbound
Westbound's are terminating at Bridgeport
I believe it's 60mph for freight but not sure

I saw the P&W gravel train again Friday night a little after 6:30. It's running reliably around 6:30pm over Hell's Gate Bridge. It had 4 loco's--two blue units, others ex-BNSF. I should get out my binoculars and take a closer look...its about 1.5 miles from my home. I would guess about 80 cars. And I would guess an unscheduled layover at Oak Point given the derailment problems further north...hope no one was badly hurt.

Where does the gravel train go after leaving Oak Point yard

ccutler wrote:I saw the P&W gravel train again Friday night a little after 6:30. It's running reliably around 6:30pm over Hell's Gate Bridge. It had 4 loco's--two blue units, others ex-BNSF. I should get out my binoculars and take a closer look...its about 1.5 miles from my home. I would guess about 80 cars. And I would guess an unscheduled layover at Oak Point given the derailment problems further north...hope no one was badly hurt.

You and Dogbert are very lucky people to catch this train. If you are saying this train reaches the hells gate around 6:30pm, then I was waiting by the tracks from 5:45pm until 6:20pm underneath roosevelt av overpass, and I still saw nothing....however if this train left FP at 6:30pm like dogbert said earlier, then I definitely missed this one. The second time in a row -.-

This morning 2081 left on the outbound csx move around 11am (I totally missed the inbound run earlier).

P&W did end up stopping at Oak Point (they usually don't) and laying over. The train was still there as of this afternoon, with the power parked near CSX's locos. 2 GEs and the 2 SD60 leasers. 2081 was with the 2 SD40-2's from this morning's run to fresh pond. I assume it'll be leaving to go north tonight.

As for the P&W train, I'm guessing the crew was taxied home. Maybe they'll come back for it sunday night? All depends on when the line is open I suppose. You can get good photos from the street, pushing a lens through or over the beat up fence. (never go down the ramp there, besides the csx cops, the local nypd cops routinely go in the yard).

I imagine the stone trains will be a bit off schedule next week due to this derailment. All those empties sitting in oak point ain't getting filled. They'll probably have something loaded ready to come south when the tracks are open, but will need the trapped empties for later in the week.

csx8851 - you must have just missed it. It was 6:30, 6:45 at the latest going over hell gate. P&W moves pretty quick, so roosevelt ave is just a few minutes away from the bridge. CSX you can usually hear coming from further away, P&W not so much. Whenever I actually go trackside I bring along something to read and give it an hour to an hour & a half. Catching one is tricky. I can't count how many times I struck out over the years. I assume you got down under roosy ave from the bqe exit ramp? One of the few times I caught a CP train was down there.

As far as P+W's FPCH,figure on that will be stuck there at Oak Pt yard till the NTSB releases the wreck site,there is NO set time line
for restoration at this point. And the Danbury-Derby Jct detour is a lost cause(HRRC's track is the "pits")

That's true about the Housatonic track
Having seen it for myself
And I'm sure its only good for 10mph running

DogBert wrote: csx8851 - you must have just missed it. It was 6:30, 6:45 at the latest going over hell gate. P&W moves pretty quick, so roosevelt ave is just a few minutes away from the bridge. CSX you can usually hear coming from further away, P&W not so much. Whenever I actually go trackside I bring along something to read and give it an hour to an hour & a half. Catching one is tricky. I can't count how many times I struck out over the years. I assume you got down under roosy ave from the bqe exit ramp? One of the few times I caught a CP train was down there.

Actually Dogbert, I just used roosevelt av as a point of reference. When it comes to railfaning for P&W, im actually waiting at the 41st av bridge, which is just one ave away from roosevelt av. I wanted to see the stone trains at least once, since the last time I saw one was back in middle school. (im 16 btw now). FPCH is the only train i can see now that I know their schedules and this community and people like you keep me informed of the traffic movement when I can't get down to the tracks myself. Apparently since I have been leaving the tracks at 6:20pm, I'm missing the train as you mentioned before, by like what, 10 minutes lol. Waiting around for Y102 is fun because you can hear them coming, however since P&W moves fast, my window of chance is lowered. So ima try your idea of bringing something to read while I wait an hour or so. Keep me posted on when CHFP arrives inbound that way I know when FPCH departs....hopefully next time, I get to see this train.

I'll keep this thread as up to date as i can. I'm sure you'll catch it soon. Back when I was your age it was just a bit before the internet, so there really wasn't anything to go on other than luck and chance encounters. It can definitely be annoying hanging around waiting for one of these trains especially if it might not even be in town. I try to find some quiet spot by the tracks to read or write or something while I wait.

I don't think I'd even bother trying this coming week - that mess on metro-north is going to make things strange for a few days.

Ct Gov Malloy in a news conference(heard on WCBS stream) stated MNR will have regular service this Wed,(05/22/13)
Track rebuilding should be done sometime on Tues,P+W will restart FPCH/CHFP after MNR allows freight ops thru
the wreck site.

the P&W northbound trains are very reliable for railfanning purposes [ex-the recent MNCR problem]. Don't worry you'll get to see it, and when summer rolls around you'll also get to see the also-now-reliable morning runs of CSX to/from Long Island.

Too bad you like freight trains and live in Long Island...much more freight in Bound Brook NJ.

I know, NJ is full of freight traffic heck some mainlines even get the whole package. However I live in Queens, NYC not Long Island and yes, I can and I do see Y102, the return CSX run from fresh pond. However its just these P&W trains that I wish to see since I haven't caught my first. But I know I will some day...lol

FPCH usually hits Metro North territory somewhat early. If you head up to New Rochelle on MN near CP 216 around 2000 chances are really good. PW from Cedar Hill usually traverses Metro North territory later on. They seem to dispatch PW around that time or a bit later at CP 216 to enter Metro North trackage. Give it a week or so to get back to normal after the incident last Friday.

Now that the tracks are fixed and trains are running through, any idea when the first CHFP will come into town?