by SST
After flying last night I decided to do some ground exploration. Dragged out the bike and headed to Amtrak Depew. I picked up the West Shore and followed that into the Sonwil [NYC] track to see if there was any activity. None to report. Looks like the new road for the Genesee/Sugg intersection is moving along. There is a trailer flat bed with poles on them that either will be for signs, traffic signals or railroad signals. The wiring is in place in the concrete foundations but nothing has been assembled. The track has not been disturbed….yet.
While pedaling my way to Amtrak I realized I haven’t checked out the bridges being installed on the NS line over Broadway. Finding a spot to view the area here’s what I found. The current layout of the rails has not changed. Coming from the Bison yard, the DL&W track still goes over its original bridge and is jointed rail. The parallel track is welded rail and joins and replaces the DL&W rails going across the bridge. After the bridge the welded rail goes to the right and the jointed DL&W rail resumes. As for the ERIE/NS main, that bends towards and then parallels the DL&W as it crosses the DL&W bridge and then goes moves to the right to pick up the original row.
They have currently installed two new bridges. I don’t know if any rails or ties are on the bridges. Without busting some serious rail property issues I couldn’t see them. I doubt it though. The ground around the bridges is currently being built up. Dump trucks were bringing in fill. I would guess they have to raise the ground level by 7 feet. This is on the east side of Broadway. Nothing being done on the west side yet.
I then hung out at Amtrak and caught a few trains. They were moving traffic westbound on the eastbound track. The rush I get when those trains pass the station only 5 feet away moving at 40 or 50mph. As those piggy back cars go by, you gotta really trust the train crews and hope they’ve done there job in chaining/locking those trailers down. Even though I was standing behind the yellow line, if one of those trailers came off the car, there ain’t no way me or anyone would survive.
Coming home I came down the West Shore from Dick Rd. I ended up walking much of it because of the ballast. The former Peter J. Schmidt warehouse must have had some upgrading to its sewer/drainage system. Someone cut a 50 foot section out of the single track section and didn’t replace it. Just threw everything into a pile. They still have a rail siding with rails from the garage to the edge of its property. After that, it’s ripped up.
I always wondered how far the crews come up the western wye along Sonwil so I explored that too. The farthest they come is to the driveway entrance to the test track behind Veridian [Calspan] as evidence of fresh sand on the rails. There is also a tree growing in the row on the opposite side of the driveway. Actually, the rails and switches are set up that they could get all the way to P.J. Schmidt if all the obstructions weren’t in the way. Many of the ties look pretty bad though. Probably be crushed under the weight of a train.
I was going to venture to the Frontier Yard today but the wind is really strong and I didn’t feel like butting heads with it. Next time.
While pedaling my way to Amtrak I realized I haven’t checked out the bridges being installed on the NS line over Broadway. Finding a spot to view the area here’s what I found. The current layout of the rails has not changed. Coming from the Bison yard, the DL&W track still goes over its original bridge and is jointed rail. The parallel track is welded rail and joins and replaces the DL&W rails going across the bridge. After the bridge the welded rail goes to the right and the jointed DL&W rail resumes. As for the ERIE/NS main, that bends towards and then parallels the DL&W as it crosses the DL&W bridge and then goes moves to the right to pick up the original row.
They have currently installed two new bridges. I don’t know if any rails or ties are on the bridges. Without busting some serious rail property issues I couldn’t see them. I doubt it though. The ground around the bridges is currently being built up. Dump trucks were bringing in fill. I would guess they have to raise the ground level by 7 feet. This is on the east side of Broadway. Nothing being done on the west side yet.
I then hung out at Amtrak and caught a few trains. They were moving traffic westbound on the eastbound track. The rush I get when those trains pass the station only 5 feet away moving at 40 or 50mph. As those piggy back cars go by, you gotta really trust the train crews and hope they’ve done there job in chaining/locking those trailers down. Even though I was standing behind the yellow line, if one of those trailers came off the car, there ain’t no way me or anyone would survive.
Coming home I came down the West Shore from Dick Rd. I ended up walking much of it because of the ballast. The former Peter J. Schmidt warehouse must have had some upgrading to its sewer/drainage system. Someone cut a 50 foot section out of the single track section and didn’t replace it. Just threw everything into a pile. They still have a rail siding with rails from the garage to the edge of its property. After that, it’s ripped up.
I always wondered how far the crews come up the western wye along Sonwil so I explored that too. The farthest they come is to the driveway entrance to the test track behind Veridian [Calspan] as evidence of fresh sand on the rails. There is also a tree growing in the row on the opposite side of the driveway. Actually, the rails and switches are set up that they could get all the way to P.J. Schmidt if all the obstructions weren’t in the way. Many of the ties look pretty bad though. Probably be crushed under the weight of a train.
I was going to venture to the Frontier Yard today but the wind is really strong and I didn’t feel like butting heads with it. Next time.