CSX Charlotte Runner

Runaround at Kodak can only handle 28 cars in clear. Untill I get a chance to talk with a friend in Roch., I'm only kicking in senarios which fit what I have done in the past up there. I'll get back when I findout what was going on. From the photo's there appears to be a fair amount of cars at the West yard, and they appear to be a mix of coal hoppers and other cars. So I'm thinking the B766 may have outlawed or Goodman St. yard couldn't handle the cars, so they were left in Charlotte untill there was room and this job doubled it all together and brought it in.

Is the Old Way still in service? They used to fill the siding, fill the main, take the power through the Old Way to the south end, then double the siding onto the main. If the siding holds 28, that would be 56 they could handle without going north. So I suspect the Old Way is no longer usable?

Where is the Old Way? Map? Thanks!

Chris

There are (were?) two sidings on the Charlotte Branch at Kodak - the passing track on the west and the Old Way on the east. At one time the Old Way turned in an easterly direction crossing Dewey Ave, crossed Palm Street and the Ridge Road and into Kodak. So called because this was the original entrance to Kodak although it served many other customers in that mile or so. The branch is long gone but the last I knew the part of it immediately parallel to the Charlotte branch was still there.

"old way" has been gone at least 20 years..and possibly 30 to 40 years..
This thread:

http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 28&t=79012

Says it was used up to the mid 70's, and it was definitely gone by 1992.
probably torn out sometime in the late 70's or the 80's..

Scot

Agreed Scotty. However, the siding east of the main was considered part of the Old Way. When the branch itself was torn up, the part parallel to the main was retained for use as a runaround. It's been over 30 years since I left Conrail but at the time, that siding was still called the Old Way. Before the branch was removed, the south end of the siding connected to the main via a crossover which was trailing point northbound for the main. So a train could cross Ridgeway Ave, cut off, and back down the Old Way branch. I believe but am not positive that more recently the south end was altered so a southbound move from the eastern siding - the Old Way as it remains - could proceed directly onto the Charlotte main rather than backing through a crossover.

So looking south from Ridge Road, left to right the tracks were Old Way, Main, and Siding. That's speaking from how they were commonly called - CSX timetable may or may not say something different, I don't know.

We used the "Old way", back in '03 and '04. it was rarely in service, poor ties, bad rail, missing anchors, bolts, and so on. At that time we weren't allowed to pull down the "old way' because braking would push the rail right out ahead of us. Not to mention when we did double up the siding and the old way, we would be blocking Ridgeway Ave, while the conductor walked to the headend in a not really nice area. Even then, it was simply, easier and safer just to head to the west yard and perform a runaround move. I can't imagine that track being in service anymore.

It's funny how sidings will acquire a name. In Norwood, the switch stand leading to the northern of three tracks is labeled "Bowry". I was walking through the yard with Bob Reagan, who used to work for the New York Central many a year ago, and he startled at seeing that. "We used to call it the Bowry back then, too."

In the "it's news to me, but probably not to you" department...

I spotted a cut of cars in one of the three tracks between the Lake Avenue undercrossing and Greenleaf Road today (Sunday 5 June 2011). I didn't get any closer to investigate but the consist appeared to be mostly open hoppers with a few center flows.

This is the first time I've been up in that area in some time and certainly the first time I've seen any rolling stock spotted there in a while. The previous times I've been out there, the trackage between Lake and Greenleaf has been empty. I guess that means that the Charlotte Runner is still at least nominally active. The photos on the previous page of this thread provide better evidence as well!

My view was during a record-setting (for me, anyway) bike ride that also took me to Turning Point Park (site of the former B&O/BR&P coal and steamboat operation), past the truncation of track of the Falls Road at the Erie Canal, and about as close as I'll ever get to what's left of the Lehigh Valley platforms in Downtown Rochester, but that's another topic for another day...

I have noticed a lot of cars laid up in Kodak`s yard(visible from ridge road), it looked like there is some construction due to the number of construction vehicles on some sort of retaining wall inside the yard....

I saw a couple of MOW workers near the McCall Rd crossing this afternoon. They were tightening the nuts and bolts of the rail joints. It was a manual operation using an older power tool that was essentially a gas engine powering a large socket wrench, via a drive shaft. It was on a horizontal triangular frame that spanned the rail gauge with small flanged wheels on each side. I asked them how much distance they were covering and they said about 3 miles worth. They were following up on a track inspector's discovery. They also said the track speed was being reduced from 15 to 10 mph. I didn't think they even went that fast, but I'm glad to see that maintenance continues on the line.

That device is often known as a "nut runner".

On a related note, it appears that the fate of the Russell Generating Station will be demolition:

http://innovationtrail.org/post/what-do ... -one-wants

Russell Station - the coal power plant on the shores of Lake Ontario near Rochester, that's been shuttered since 2008 - will now be demolished.

New York's Public Service Commission (PSC) announced on Thursday (14 July 2011) that plant owner RG&E has six months to draft a plan for demolition and environmental cleanup.

Thursday's decision by the PSC is actually part of a larger order issued by the regulatory agency. Here's what it boils down to:

It's a tough time to be selling power plants.

"Right now, the economics are such that it's not economical to build another [plant] or retrofit that plant to generate electricity," says RG&E spokesman Dan Hucko of the Russell Station property.

So much for converting to gas.

Around mid afternoon today, I saw a couple of locomotives, one being a slave unit, pulling a set of 30+ continuous rail carriers northbound, across Dewey Ave, towards Charlotte. They were transporting one continuous rail. Two of the cars had perches with seating available and an employee was in one of those seats. The rear flat car had a shack on on it with another employee inside. Anyone else see it or know the destination of the rail?