Heads Up Thursday Night, 9/21 and Friday Morning, 9/22

Just got this tip from a well-placed RR employee friend.

NS will be running a 21G westbound tonight between Croxton and Port Jervis. As of the time of this post the 21G should be on the NJT Bergen County Line out of Croxton around 9pm tonight. The NS crew will take it as far as Port Jervis where an NYS&W crew will take the train the rest of the way west via the Tier. The NS crew will then taxi to the motel in Matamoras, PA to await the arrival of eastbound 24Z sometime Friday morning.

The 24Z will be brought east to Port Jervis by a NYS&W crew and handed off to the NS crew who will bring it the rest of the way east to Croxton. I don't have any estimated times for the 24Z but remember that the NS crew will have to be legally rested before they can be called again. On top of that NJT will not let the train run until after the morning rush hour is over. Factor in the trackwork between CP-OV and CP Howells and between Harriman and Suffern and it might be a while before the 24Z is on move. I asked my buddy if there was a chance that they might route the 24Z down the Hudson Secondary and the NYS&W. He said he hadn't heard of that, but that anything is possible. He's working 2nd trick tonight and will keep me informed....I'll update things if need be.

This is due to some type of track washout in western PA though my buddy wasn't exactly sure of the location. As far as he knows at this point this appears to be the only detour to come down the Southern Tier and Bergen County Line. Any remaining detours will most likely be via the CSX River Line.

BTW, I'm a former train dispatcher and my buddy has been in engine service and train dispatching for several RR's over the last 10 years or so....his information has never steered me wrong yet.

Keep those cameras handy!

The NS 3 track main line was blocked by a massive landslide that covered the adjacent Rt 65 highway and the railroad up to 30 feet deep. It was located just east of Conway yard and was caused by a WalMart construction project that had graded the hill side improperly. It was closed from 1PM yesterday until 4:30 AM this morning when Hulcher was able to open one track. Some detours were being made over the W&LE to Rook Yard to the Clairton Branch of the W&LE and then onto the NS Mon Line at Clairton Pa. Amtrak's Capitol Limited yesterday was routed over the original B&O pre-Amtrak routing through Ohio and then down CSX ex P&LE line through Pittsburgh. Rain is predicted for this weekend and will complicate the cleanup project so the railroad may have to be shut down again. I saw some news helicopter video that showed trains backed up in Conway yard and beyond waiting for clearance through the slide area.

Thanks for the info. I was fortunate enough to coincidentally been on that train, and wondered where in the heck I was in the middle of the night.

We passed through Pittsburgh in the morning rush, but it was really really neat to ride this alignment and get an AM shot of the skyline through the windows riding the P&LE alignment.

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