Finger Lakes Railway

My son and I are looking to chase the Finger Lakes Railway this Monday. We would like to start in Geneva,NY at the shops.
Understanding that short lines do not have a "schedule" could anyone provide a good guide on what time to arrive in the AM
and what type of activity is typical of Monday operations. Would like this trip to be worth the drive.


Thanks.

In Geneva, you can catch GY1 drilling the yard and making a run to the Guardian Glass plant during the morning. It will also switch the industrial park on the northside of the city during the afternoon, based on my observations.

Also, HW2 will depart Himrod in the morning, go south to switch the salt mines in/near Watkins Glen and return in the afternoon. This train apparently makes the run to Penn Yan... but this doesn't necessarily occur each Monday.

Finally, please be respectful of FGLK- it is private property.

If you go East on Route 5 you can pretty much follow the FGLK line stay on Rt 5 till you come to the Montezuma Refuge and turn Right (South on RT 90) till you come to the village of Cayuga you come to a 4 corners with a Flashing light there if you make a Right the Train Station is at the bottom of the Hill if you make a Left you go to Auburn.

If you decide to go to Auburn keep going till you see a McDonalds go to the 4th traffic light there will be a Kwik Fill Gas Station on the corner Make a Left at that light and you'll come to the Rail Yard on Columbus Street FGLK keeps a Locomotive there for the Auburn Job which starts between 6:30a.m. and 7:00a.m. Once your done at the yard make a Left and go passed the big Blue Building and make a Right on to RT5 and go to the 2ed traffic light and make a Left on to State Street you'll pass the Auburn Prison you go passed 2 Traffic Lights once you pass the 2ed light make a Right hand turn at the 3ed intersection the street gos right up to the tracks make a quick Left before the tracks and pass the Centro Bus garage till you see a narrow pull off with a lot of tall weeds pull in there and you'll have a decent viewing location of the Auburn Job switching Gons in and out of the Steel Mill there. (On a side note do not drive down to the end of the road and cross the tracks it is private property.) The Auburn Job works till about 4 or 5p.m. so you might catch them if your heading back West. listen for the horn as the local job bounces back and forth all over the city between the bottle plant the steel mill and the Yard on Columbus Street.

The Geneva to Solvay train departs Geneva maybe around 9 or 10a.m.?? Not sure but is due in Auburn between 1p.m. and 2:30p.m. if you want to chase them to Solvay you can beat them to Skaneatlas JCT if you stay on RT5 you'll Pass Mill Stone Golf course and factory called Tessy Plastics you come to a traffic light there make a Right onto Jordan Road the tracks are few miles down the road hang a Left before the crossing and you'll see the old NYC train Station there as well.

the Geneva to Solvay Train hits Auburn between 5 and 8p.m. going back West depending on how much work and the number of cars they are gathering up from CSX in Solvay.

Is Himrod-Watkins Glen M-F? What times might be typical for departure south out of Himrod and back north from the Glen? (realizing that it's likely +/- a couple hours at that end)

HW2 "usually" makes the Watkins Glen run on M-W-F, but, depending upon traffic, can run every weekday. Once in a while there might even be a weekend run. Look for it to depart Himrod anytime between 8 and 10 AM. Return is between 2 and 4 PM.

Best places for spotting, IMO, are the Dundee-Shannons Corner and Dundee-Starkey road crossings (both accessible from Rte. 14), the Rte. 14 crossing (park at the Crossing Diner -- good place for breakfast or lunch BTW) and either the North Genora or South Glenora Road crossings. In the Watkins Glen area, the water front (around Captain Bill's and the hotel) and Walmart parking lot (Rte. 414 east on the left across from Cargill) are good spots if it is working Cargill. You can catch some of the US Salt action from Salt Point Road.

Poppyl

For those that don’t already know and or don’t view the Conway Scenic Thread in the New England Railfan Forum; Finger Lakes Railway and the Conway Scenic Railroad are in the process of working out a trade for one EMD unit (GP9 #1751) for two GE units (B23-7 an ex-Conrail unit #1943 and a U23B an ex-Louisville & Nashville Railroad unit #2820). Does anyone have an idea what is planned for these two units? 1943 runs but never made it into regular service because of ongoing problems (electrical) and 2820 is dead; the crankshaft broke in September 2007 and has been a static display ever since.

b&m 1566 wrote:For those that don’t already know and or don’t view the Conway Scenic Thread in the New England Railfan Forum; Finger Lakes Railway and the Conway Scenic Railroad are in the process of working out a trade for one EMD unit (GP9 #1751) for two GE units (B23-7 an ex-Conrail unit #1943 and a U23B an ex-Louisville & Nashville Railroad unit #2820). Does anyone have an idea what is planned for these two units? 1943 runs but never made it into regular service because of ongoing problems (electrical) and 2820 is dead; the crankshaft broke in September 2007 and has been a static display ever since.

best thing to do is follow along on this trend and see whats going on: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=128&t=86820

Good answer, Scharnhorst!

Why would you post in one thread what's been going on in another thread on the same board?

Aji-tater wrote:Good answer, Scharnhorst!

Why would you post in one thread what's been going on in another thread on the same board?

Hmmm, maybe its because I was unaware of that thread.

Aji-tater wrote:Good answer, Scharnhorst!

Why would you post in one thread what's been going on in another thread on the same board?

At the time There was thought to be only 1 Loco coming from P&W which is what the first trend was about but some place along the line I don't think anyone here expected 2 more units to pop up out of no where coming from another rail operator also bound for the FGLK so I can understand someone not knowing about the first trend.

To be continued: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 28&t=90406