Railroad Forums 

  • Short line operations in the Southern Tier

  • Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.
Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New York State.

Moderator: Otto Vondrak

 #270  by NS3737
 
At the moment I am scheduling an about two weeks trip through the Southern Tier next autumn. Since I have a special interest in short line operations I like to know what kind of operations can be found there. More in particluler when do these operate? Operations using Alco power do have an egde. A non railway related question is when do the fall colors in that area reach their peak?

As to main line actions what can be found on the NS Southern Tier line, I like to get some more photos it in the Canisteo Valley and the bridge in Letchworth state park. Also the ex NYC&StL main line from Buffalo has my interest, any hints to good photo locations on that one are appreciated.

 #417  by scottychaos
 
there are 3 main shortlines along the southern tier..

the biggest and bestest for Alcos being the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville..
its a bit north of route 17 (I still cant accept I86! it will always be route 17 to me!)
they have alcos in 3 locations,
In jamestown on the WNY&P, a few centuries there..
and their only 6-axle century is based there..
on the Bath & Hammondsport in Cohocton,
(Alco S1's and the stored MLW636 and C-636's)
a few miles further north is the main LAL yard in Lakeville..
you can stop into the office there and sign a release, then walk around to take photos..not much is out in the open on weekends though..
The LAL is the "holy grail" of Alcos in the north east!
S2, RS1, many centuries..

If you go up to Lakeville, you should also head over the "Rochester & Genesee Valley railroad museum" in Industry.
they have an operating RS3m, RS1, and S4,
all in beautiful condition.

Next is the Wellsboro & Corning and Tioga Central in wellsboro, PA.
On route 15 south of Gang Mills.
They have the D&H bicentennial RS3m, a few Alco S-series switchers and a few RS-1's..
engines can be found in 2 locations..the main base for the passenger excursions north of Wellsboro, and the yard of the W&C in Wellsboro proper. there was a RS1 stored there last time I was down there..

then the "other" tioga central in Owego..(now called the Tioga Scenic? the 2 lines are, or were, related..)
they have some MLW RS's there..not sure what they have anymore..
the Owego & Hartford frieght line also runs out of Owego..as far as I know, they just use an EMD switcher..
im nto sure if there are any operating Alcos in Owego anymore..
Owego is the least interesting location IMO..

I dont really know when these lines will be running though!

if you want to get up into the Buffalo area you also have the New York, Lake Erie & western..they have a few centuries and the FPA's..
Buffalo Southern also has several Alcos.

If you are heading further east into the Catskills, the Delaware & Ulster railride in Arkville NY has a gorgeous D&H RS36, and 2 S4's..

so those are your main Alco hotspots along the 'tier..or close to it..
Buffalo
Jamestown
Cohocton
Lakeville
Industry
Wellsboro (PA)
Owego
Arkville


Scot

 #436  by Otto Vondrak
 
Once you leave NY 17, you're not really in the Southern Tier anymore... and while visiting the LAL in Lakeville is very entertaining, it's not exactly "a few miles up the road." If you start up 390 north from Painted Post, it's a good hour up to Lakeville.

If you are planning a trip and want to see trains, the best way it to call up the offices of the railroads you want to visit. Let them know you would like to take pictures of their trains, sign a release, all that good stuff. Most likely they will be able to give you a rough idea of when they are running.

Visit: http://www.lalrr.com for contact info for the LAL, B&H, and WNYP.

-otto-

 #444  by nessman
 
Check my website - have plenty of shortline info for the area you're looking at.

 #459  by scottychaos
 
Otto wrote:Once you leave NY 17, you're not really in the Southern Tier anymore... and while visiting the LAL in Lakeville is very entertaining, it's not exactly "a few miles up the road." If you start up 390 north from Painted Post, it's a good hour up to Lakeville.

-otto-
its not quite that far..
but it would be 45 minutes anyway...
its 55 miles up 390 from the 17-390 split...(at Kanona) thats 45minutes at 75mph..

and Lakeville is only 38 miles from Hornell, if you head north at Hornell..
maybe not technically in the southern tier..but close enough to be worth the side trip!

Cohocton is only 10 minutes up 390 from 17..
so if you are going to make the short jaunt up there..might as well go another half-hour up to lakeville..

Scot

 #523  by railwatcher
 
As was, any of the LAL family is worth a visit, be sure to get permission to be on the grounds. As for your other question, the autumn colors, can be from the third week of September to the second week of October, naturally based on Mother Nature. Have a good trip.
 #1630  by NS3737
 
Thanks all so far. at the moment I am puzzling about how much time I can spend over the whole trip so some expansion to the north will be no problem. the LA&L family of short lines has my interest anyway. As a mater of fact my first encouter with the short line phenomena all the way back in 1994 was with the LA&L. As for options I might take it even a bit furhter to the north into the Rochester and Buffalo areas. So any suggestion on that are also welcome!

Greeting from accros the Atlantic.

 #1679  by bwparker1
 
Quote text: [As for options I might take it even a bit furhter to the north into the Rochester and Buffalo areas. So any suggestion on that are also welcome!]

You can see quite a bit in the Buffalo Area. You can get up colse and personal to the area's only active hump legally in Buffalo. Ask more questions and people on the list can give specifics.

Brooks

PS how do you use the Quote Text feature correctly?

Thanks

 #1692  by scottychaos
 
bwparker1 wrote:Quote text: [As for options I might take it even a bit furhter to the north into the Rochester and Buffalo areas. So any suggestion on that are also welcome!]

You can see quite a bit in the Buffalo Area. You can get up colse and personal to the area's only active hump legally in Buffalo. Ask more questions and people on the list can give specifics.

Brooks

PS how do you use the Quote Text feature correctly?

Thanks
Brooks,
if you just click on "quote" when you reply, it will insert the whole thing in quotes for you..
if you only want to quote certain parts, you can then just delete what you dont want..
or you can create your own quote blocks by typing [*quote] the text you want to quote goes here [*/quote]
do it without the stars (*) I had to addd those in otherwise the forum would think its a real quote and do this!
the text you want to quote goes here
basically you just need a "quote" box in the front, and a "/quote" box in the back..

Scot