Westbound Schedule

Twice within the past 10 days I've observed westbound traffic crossing over Route 208 in Hawthorne at about 1930 hours. As frequently as I drive on Route 208, I can't recall ever seeing traffic at that time of day.

Was something unusual happening within the past 2 weeks or was I just in the right place at the right time?

Your eyes were not deceiving you. Chances are it was one of the detour trains. NYS&W is operating Q271 westbound and Q156 eastbound between Syracuse and Little Ferry via Binghamton, while CSX does trackwork on the River Line and attempts to lessen congestion while the trackwork is ongoing. The detour trains should be ending with the next several days. the westbound times out of Little Ferry have been determined by a couple of things such as when the inbopund crew is rested, and when the outbound freight, normally moved on the SU-99, is ready and has been added to the Q271 for drop off in Binghamton, before the train continues to Syracuse. Normally, the SU-99 will run anytime after 8PM(2000 hrs), but they are also trying to time the trains to meet each other on the Southern Tier.