Wind turbine train east bound on CSX - 6/10

I haven't done much railfaining in a while so today I headed over to the Frontier Yard. As I came through the Thruway Mall parking lot, I saw something really strange moving alont the tracks. Never saw this before. As I got closer, I could see that the two UP locomotives were pulling a load of wind turnbine blades.

I'd say about 60 blades or so. I stopped counting at 20. Each blade used 1-1/2 flat cars and each blade overlapped the next blade. Every two blades overlapped each other on one flatcar. The base of the blade was bolted to a metal frame which in turn was anchored to the flatcar. Further up towards the blade tip, the blade sat in a v-harness so as to provide flixibility as the cars go around a curve. Pretty cool and unusual looking especially as the train was further away. Not squared off like pulling a normal freight car. Very curvy.

What's the word on the hump? Doesn't look like it is in use at all. The rails are showing corrosion so therefore I assume no activity. It also appears that the first tower on the hump has reflective insulation in the windows, as if it is sealed off.

A CSX double stack train pulled up under Harlem Rd for a crew change. When he departed, so did I.

I saw it eastbound thru Corfu a little after 6:00 last evening. Strange to see one going east. They shipped a few windmill trains out of Dansville this past spring, all going west. These took an R&S and NS routing. Was this eastbound on CSX a return? Or a totally different project?

CSX has had several wind turbine assembly trains. All Westbounds, this winer and spring. Eastbound is certainly an unusual move.

They had at least one train go to the port of Oswego for shipment

Farmer Joe wrote:I saw it eastbound thru Corfu a little after 6:00 last evening. Strange to see one going east. They shipped a few windmill trains out of Dansville this past spring, all going west.... .....a totally different project?

I spotted a string of 40 or so 89' flats all with empty wind turbine blade racks headed north on the R&S at Paul Rd on the evening of May 5. The next morning the same string of empties was spotted rolling west on the CSX at CP 380, this time with CSX power.

Seems an odd routing for empty blade racks.

...FB

i saw an eastbound with an up lashup earlier this spring. i think it was in april.

That train that was originally mentioned was X988. I shot it over in Churchville. It was destined for Rochester, where that night R&S picked up the train and took it to Brooks Ave. Yard. It was still sitting there as of 3ish on Sunday.

Charlie

I think I photographed that train at Brooks Ave yard today. I'll post a copy here after I'm done downloading the shots.

I caught that on the 10th at the Amtrak station in Depew. It was 2 UP engines no. 4113 & 4903. I even filmed the whole thing. I counted 36 blades, enough for 12 wind turbines.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcZaY8Lagwg

On the way into the office this morning saw a west bound parked on track 4 at the Depew station.
All (2) CSX power.

Um, the W Bd at Amtrak Depew on track 4 was the E980-17 empty hopper train out of Roseton, NY, with engines CSX 26 and 588. I parked it there about 6:15 this morning and the outbound crew just departed around 9:40am. It wasn't a windturbine train. A Q381 was also parked on track 3 with BNSF power, and a Q627 on track 1. No crews available.
Now, back to the empty windturbine cars. When I went through Rochester around 5am, I saw a string of these empty blade flats on the siding between CP 369 and Rochester Amtrak. Is there a wind farm being built some where South and/or West of Rochester?

roadster wrote:Um, the W Bd at Amtrak Depew on track 4 was the E980-17 empty hopper train out of Roseton, NY, with engines CSX 26 and 588. I parked it there about 6:15 this morning and the outbound crew just departed around 9:40am. It wasn't a windturbine train. A Q381 was also parked on track 3 with BNSF power, and a Q627 on track 1. No crews available.
Now, back to the empty windturbine cars. When I went through Rochester around 5am, I saw a string of these empty blade flats on the siding between CP 369 and Rochester Amtrak. Is there a wind farm being built some where South and/or West of Rochester?

could it be that they came from R&S yard? they had long string of windmill wings last week but the string got shorter and shorter each day. I wasn't sure if R&S were bringing few cars at a time to Dansville... But now that you mentioned about one sitting in siding. I am wondering if that one is 2nd set of string for R&S?

I would expect that they did indeed come from the R&S since the R&S brings cars to Goodman st., everynight for interchange.

The train I noted above was on Monday and it was not blades, it was big sections of white pipe, one to a car, I assumed it was the base sections. My bad if not wind turbine related.
Chas

opps, sorry clight385, I didn't take notice the you pasted Monday morning. My apologies. You are correct, while not blades, they were pylon sections. In fact I saw that very same train being held at Herkimer in the "wide spot" for opposing traffic moves, Saturday evening.