Enola Activity

LCJ wrote:
It makes me a little sick to my stomach right now just to think about those days. GOD I hated that place.

You ain't the only one...

Yeah,Can still remember how good it felt leaving Enola , finally pulling out over Rockville bridge with you train, and the sick feeling would just go away.

Has anything happened with the new Lemoyne connection or are they still digging for arrowheads?

Does Enola yard include the part across the river? Where they have engines or is that a different yard altogether?

Enola yard is just on the west shore. Harrisburg Yard (or Gi8) is on the east shore.

So where are they storing all the "economically grounded" cars ? Must be a MEGA-NIGHTMARE working Enola now !
Or did the spirits of the former Indians derail some trains, prompting management to panel together new tracks around the whole bottleneck ?
I want pictures.... of the arrowheads.... lol

The reason that Enola lays as it is NOW is because when PRR built it in 1903-1906 it was tied in to the whole "Low Grade" project which ran from NYC,The Trenton Cut-Off,the A&S and on up into Enola.So during the PRR and PC eras it WAS positioned correctly for those routings.
Amtrak effectively killed that by charging CR for the Electricity to run the GG-1's,E-44's and E-33's plus the high axle-user -fee it charged to run freight over the Amtrak HBG main.CR had no other choice but to use the former RDG main(which CR outright owned) from HBG,Rutherford,Reading then either East to Philly or Northeast to NYC and North Jersey.Essentially placing Enola at an odd angle for direct access from the South which was lined in accordance with the Port Road and A&S.
Had CR been smart back in the 70's they should have built the connector from Lemoyne to the Lurgan Branch back then when it would have been cheaper and entailed much less Red-Tape.

Brian

Well, coming north I stopped by Lemoyne to check on the progress of the connector. This is what I found:

That would be zip, zero, zilch, nada, bubkis, nothing... No one is even sifting for arrowheads anymore. It's been said that the good idea that doesn't happen is no idea at all. Such a tragic comedy when what seems a simple idea cannot come to fruition due to perceived social interests.

The way the economy is, they really don't need the connector track anymore. A year or two ago it would take at least 2 hours to go from Lemoyne-HBG-Rockville-Enola. Now they just shoot you right through. 30 mins and you're knocking on Enola's door. And with the crappy economy,and lack of cars Enola is actually pretty fluid (the last few times I've been there). But they now take the MOPI (17G) into Enola. I guess they're trying to boost car counts.

During my trip I overnighted in Boiling Springs, PA; well within earshot of the Lurgan Branch. During the day and through the night I heard a fair amount of traffic over the line. For my and everyone else's edification, how many trains off the former Reading find their way into Enola?

12R and the 38Q are the only two regulars.

Ouch. If that's the case then I don't feel so bad. Thanks for the enlightenment.

There's also occasional coal trains that go from the west to the south (usually with a layover and change of power at Enola, or at least which end the power is on) and the seasonal grain trains.

I'm just speculating, but I think the connector idea was to go hand in hand with the closing of Allentown's hump, so Enola would gain a few more trains, hence the need for the connector. But that's all speculation on my point.

If my beleaguered memory serves me the initial plan by NS after the split was to utilize Allentown for east-west trains and Enola for north-south. Is this still their rationale? If the Pan Am Southern deal pans out with more car-loads how will this effect north-south traffic?

The Lemoyne Connector is still a good idea and apparently there were public monies available to help it along. Yes, CR should have built the connector two or three decades ago but their business focus was east-west not north-south. NS has both. But as mentioned earlier, the economy is in the dumps and the need is, currently, not there. What does one do? Build the connector while traffic is low thus minimizing impact on operations and hope for a rebound? Or wait for a rebound and rush it to completion? It's times like these I'm very glad I'm not in the position to make these decisions.