western Pennsylvania

I am planning a trip to western Pennsylvania this year. Where ar the best places to go in terms of traffic volume, accessability, and safety. I know Pittsburgh has alot. How far is Conway from Pittsburgh. What about Beaver Falls?

MR77100 wrote:I am planning a trip to western Pennsylvania this year. Where ar the best places to go in terms of traffic volume, accessability, and safety. I know Pittsburgh has alot. How far is Conway from Pittsburgh. What about Beaver Falls?

Conway is about 45 min Northwest of Pittsburgh....Beaver Falls and Fallston, probably another 10-15 minutes past Conway Yard. Dave Williams http://groups.yahoo.com/group/nsaltoonajohnstown

Do you include Erie, PA in Western PA? If so, you may want to check out the CSX mainline up there between the NY and Ohio borders - LOTS of traffic on that line. You also get the bonus of the GE plant & test track on the east side of Erie.

A little southeast of Erie is the town of Corry, PA where the Western New York and Pennsylvania crosses the Allegheny and Erie. You may also want to consider photographing the Bessemer & Lake Erie before it is completely taken into the Canadian National fold.

Mr. Espeelark's suggestion of Erie is also a good one. You may want to travel a little further east to the town of Northeast, PA where the Lakeshore Railway Museum utilizes the old NYC depot. Both the CSX and NS can be easily viewed from that location in relative safety.

And if you go just a little further east from Northeast, PA, to just before the NY line, there is a road off to the south, right by Mobilia's Fruit Farm that has a nice single lane bridge over the CSX tracks that makes for a great photo perch! If you have your scanner you can hear the defect detectors talk to you from both directions before the trains pop into view. Also at this location, the NS mainline is about 30 ft to the south of the CSX overpass so you're in "double bonus" situation!