Railfanning Allentown Rail Hump Yard

[Schuylkill Valley]

Who in here railfans at Allentown rail yard ?

Tell us what you see?

Len.

[Schuylkill Valley]

Dose any one out here know the Radio Frequencies between the Hump operator and the Engineer of the hump set ?

Len.

[metman499]

I've done the hump many times. It's by far my favorite yard to photo. Plenty of action, even if it's just the hump and there seems to be an increasin gamount of foreign and leased power there. Of course originally being from NJ it was always neat to see a unit about to be delivered to Transit or even MARC waiting in the yard.

[RR_Fan]

I railfanned there many many times already. I have a few pictures from the area but I have yet to scan them. I plan on going there on Saturday morning to see whats going on.

Take Care.
Jeff

[Dougster]

I know there used to be a spot where you could sit and watch the goings on at the yard on the road on the west side of the yard. Is it still there? Where else can someone go to watch the yard operations there and be safe and legal?

Doug

[RR_Fan]

I visited the Allentown area on Saturday, like I said. Saw alot of blue and saw many trains. Allentown Yard was packed.

Jeff

[obsessed railfan]

Yeah, I was on the old canal towpath last weekend trying to get a good shot but everything is grown shut. There is a good shot by the hump and departure yard but you still get some tree branches in the way. darn. I did catch CP 410 by chance arriving after 11AM. Yup, that yard was packed!

[RR_Fan]

I know there used to be a spot where you could sit and watch the goings on at the yard on the road on the west side of the yard. Is it still there? Where else can someone go to watch the yard operations there and be safe and legal?

Doug

Doug,
Sorry for the delayed post. I believe you are thinking of CP-Burn (Ex-Reading East Penn Junction). NS Police have chased many railfans away from that area. I for one never got in trouble by the NS PD but I do advise to stay away from that area as many people have got warned for being on that property. Many people used to jump right in front of the trains to get pictures and such and this infuriated NS. They have NO TRESPASSING signs up but many people ignore them anyway. Again to be on the safe side I would stay away from that area.

Take Care.
Jeff

[cjvrr]

There was a spot, with a bench that overlooked the hump yard. It was on the raod that parallels the yard. When I first started visting the yard about 20 years ago, it was one of the many places fans could hang out.

I guess over the years the bench rotted away and the view became somewhat overgrown. You can still see some of the yard from the spot but it is not as clear as it had been.


Chris

[Rooneth3808]

Len,

If my information is still right, the Lehigh line is channel 1 (160.800), the Reading line is channel 2 (161.070), the yard drill jobs are channel 3 (160.860), and that then makes the hump channel 4... 160.980. I don't expect that you'll pick up much traffic between the hump crew and hump operator, only when starting out, or if something went wrong.

I trained as a conductor trainee (one of the many, apparently) on the hump for a while. I found myself on the other end of the railfanning . I can't really say anything was weirder than my second day on the hump, cutting the cars, and the Allentown Train Meet was that weekend....railfans galore! I felt like a minor celebrity, hehe .

About railfanning the area. I still love the canal path...both for being able to see the trains, and just for the exercise. Have to go in April though, before the leaves grow back in like a few of you said.

Also, for those more adventerous types..."One Bullet Bob" retired and hasn't been replaced (the NS Police officer, a really great guy ). I'm not sure if there are any CP Police still in the area, so you might be dealing with local police now.

Alright, back to building routes...
~Roon

[metman499]

There are still NS police in the area. They come out from Croxton on a nonregular schedule.

[obsessed railfan]

Do they still let you in by CP-ALLEN anymore?

[Schuylkill Valley]

Hi all,
I sit all over up in the allentown area. I sit at the park by the Lehigh canal bridge , CP Allen, CP. Ham., up at the hump and park at the stone paking lot across from the Hump office - not tower . I also sit at CP. Beth . and CP Burn at the trucking out fit off NS ROW .

Thanks for channel 4 .

Len.

[Hal]

Who in here railfans at Allentown rail yard ?

Hey, I've got a general question regarding the Allentown yard...

I've ridden the towpath trail a few times, and I have occasionally learned "enforced patience" i.e. waiting for the grade crossing to clear while they shuffle freight cars. . .

I'm quite curious what the relationship is like between Norfolk Southern and City of Allentown and the neighbors regarind the crossing?
No signals, no gates, but I don't see many problems- even though there's a large park there and a fair number of people seem to use that area.

I'm curious about this because I'm interested in the similar location in Philly, where CSX is fighting with Philly to close grade crossings.

Is this kind of crossing harder for CSX to deal with than Norfolk Southern?

Hal

[nick_anshant]

CP Ham is somewhat of a good place to sit. You won't see too much except when the changers in the yard pull up there while switching. You will also catch the CP/CN trains that run to and from Allentown, and the locals that run up the Lehigh Line.

Right at the hump you can pull into the gravel parking lot and watchs trains roll over the hump. In Bethlehem there is an excellent spot right along the main line by the new Flyers Skate Zone, right next to the old steel mill. Here you will see all trains that run to and from Allentown along the Lehigh Line east, and all intermodal trains that bypass Allentown on the other side of the river.

If you go across the grade crossing at CP Ham and down along the Canal, you can go under the tracks at the west end of the yard, and there is a park that you can go park in on the right. Here you are right next to the tracks and you can see all manifests into and out of the yard, and the trains that are switching. The bridge across the river is an excellent photo op for all trains that run to Allentown. These are the 3 main spots I watch when I take trips to Allentown.