Road trip suggestions...

Hope someone can be helpful to a Brit who doesn't really know his way around yet... I have to take a trip from near NYC to Pittsburgh and back. Are there any interesting shortlines or hotspots not too far from my most likely route? (I-78 - > I-81 -> I-76).

I like to shoot video, so the ideal would be someplace with a lot of daytime freight action, grinding slowly up a hill at full throttle... maybe an Alco shortline also if there's any in that area?

Thanks!

Mike

If mainline action would be acceptable to you, Harrisburg and Enola is a good hotspot located off of Rte 81....The Horsehoe Curve area near Altoona-Johnstown is also within an hour of Rte 80 to the North or the Pennsy Turnpike to the South. CSX Keystone Sub and Cumberland is within an hour of the Turnpike also...

As David suggested, the CSX Keystone Sub is a great spot. I was at Mance, PA back in December, my first ever trip to Sandpatch, and caught a trio of SD40-2's screaming up the 1.94% grade heading west with a manifest freight. You could hear the train easily 10 minutes before it got to our spot due to the heavy curvature in the area. Not an ALCO shortline, but quite the symphony nonetheless.

On the west slope around Salisbury Jct and Meyersdale, eastbounds will be clawing up the 1.5% grade to the summit, often times with pushers also locked in run 8. Even eastbounds out of Connellsville have about a minimum 0.72% grade to deal with until they hit Confluence where it stiffens some. Possibiities are endless.

About 3 miles north off of the Hamburg exit (exit 29B, same exit as Cabela's) on I-78 is Port Clinton. It's the main office for Reading Northern. If you go in the office & get a visitor badge, you can walk around & take photos.

A little off subject but, about 10 miles north of Port Clinton is Pottsville, home to Yuengling, "America's Oldest Brewery"


M.T.

You can take I-280 to I-80 into Pennsylvania. Take I-80 to the US Route 220 exit, go through State College (Brooks Parker can give you some advice about the lines in that area). 220 South eventually becomes I-99 near Altoona, you can then take Route 22 from Altoona to Pittsburgh.

The NS Lehigh Line is relatively close to Rte 78 in Western New Jersey including Pattenburg, where a Tunnel is located. In Pa, one spot to view the Line is Macungie...It is accessed by exiting Rte 78 at the Trexlertown exit onto Rte 100 and heading South on 100 for several miles....There is a grade crossing and a small railfan type park in Macungie to watch trains....Expanding on the Enola discussion a bit, Exiting Rte 81 onto Rte 11/15 South will bring you to Enola Yard...Driving along 11/15, if you have a driver while you shoot, you can shoot pics of Enola Yard..or park in one of the shopping center lots, and walk across 11/15 and shoot into the yard from roadside. The "old iron bridge" overlooks the West end of Enola and offers viewing ports through a chainlink fence. The Rockville Bridge can be shot from either side of the river, via River Road on the Enola (West Shore) side, or via Front Street on the East Shore in Rockville....This just scratches the surface of good spots in the Enola-Harrisburg area...depends on how long you plan to spend there...There is a motel directly across from Enola Yard...Quality Inn Riverview. There is also a trackside motel in Wormleysburg, just South of Enola which is adjacent to the NS Port Road.... Another railfan oriented Bed and Breakfast along the same lines as The Station Inn in Cresson is in the process of being created near the Rockville Bridge itself, but that is still a year or so from completion.

When do you plan to go?

One suggestion would be the East Broad Top Railroad. Narrow gauge steam railroad in Orbisonia, PA. It is truely like stepping back in time 80+ years when you visit this line. Its an easy line to chase and plenty of scenic venues.

I would say you could cover the operation well in about 2-3 hours.

The Rockhill Trolley Museum is next door too.


http://www.ebtrr.com/

cjvrr wrote:When do you plan to go?

One suggestion would be the East Broad Top Railroad. Narrow gauge steam railroad in Orbisonia, PA. It is truely like stepping back in time 80+ years when you visit this line. Its an easy line to chase and plenty of scenic venues.

Thanks for all the suggestions guys - I'm really into Big Noisy Diesel Freight action on serious mainline grades, or 'interesting' old diesels, especially Alco, on shortlines. Narrow gauge steam doesn't really float my boat, sorry.

Altoona and Mance sound like the kind of places I'll want to go! How many trains am I likely to see per hour in the daytimes around there? Any particular time of day better than others? - for instance, is there a mid-day 'dead time' like you often see on the CSX River Line?

Mike

I just came back from Altoona. There is a little bit of a lull around mid day but it's not as bad as the river line. It is busiest in the morning and after 2 in the afternoon.

You have many options. Along 1-78 in Pennsylvania, the railfanning options are mainly freight. The Lehigh runs parralel to it. Allentown Yard isn't far away. I think as you get west of Allentown, is when you are paralleled to NS's ex-Reading Harrisburg line. The line passes through Reading, Lebanon, Annville and other places in the Reading and Harrisburg service area. There are a lot of trains.
I-76 puts you near the passenger action, between the philly area and Harrisburg. However, there is a freight line, the Trenton Cutoff, which runs parallel to 76 for some time in the Philly area. Not sure how many trains run on that. Amtrak's Keystone Corridor isn't terribly far away from 76 once you leave the greater Philly area. If you have a car and want to fan that line in Lancaster county, then you are in great shape. lancaster area has a lot of open areas where you can get shots of Amtrak. You will see mostly motors because the line has been upgraded to all electric operations at 110 mph. The Keystone corridor trains do push pull operations now. You will get to see the former Metroliner cab cars in action.

Mike,

Sandpatch seemed to be similar to what Devil 505 said about Altoona. The parade up to around 11:30-noon was pretty good then all went silent until maybe 2:30.

I'll PM you later with a map showing the Sandpatch grades and a general layout.

Traffic through Altoona averages around 60 per 24 hrs....flow varies...lulls can happen at any time...I considered myself fortunate this past Sunday as I counted 27 trains on the NS Pittsburgh Line between 9AM and 5PM that day....