Well, here it is! My first batch of photos from the Southern
Tier. I have almost 100 photos from all along the Tier, and I have finally put
together the first photo album. During the summer, I will add more photo albums as I
scan the mountain of pictures that I have. As I am going to my summer cabin near
Narrowsburg, NY, I will also railfan the line very often and take more pictures whenever
possible.
NYSW train 258 sits at CP-Narrows early in the morning of
July 6, 1997, waiting to meet its counterpart, train 257. CP-Nobody, located at MP
121.0, marks the eastern beginning of four miles of double track that go through
Narrowsburg, NY. This switch is a spring switch, which is typical of most between
Port Jervis and Binghamton. The little green light means that the switch is sprung
properly: for the diverging track.
Fourty-five minutes later, train 257 enters the block, lighting up
signal 120W. The aspect, red-over-green-over-red, is typical of most areas between
Port Jervis and Binghamton where the single track becomes double.
At 6:58am, westbound train 257 shows up with one-sixth of Susie-Q's
locomotive roster. Pulling 257 were B40-8 4004, B40-8 4002, SD45 3634, and SD45
3618.
Here is another view of train 257. You can see train 258 waiting
in the background. Note that the signal has already changed to red.
Seven minutes later, train 257 clears and 258 starts heading
east. In the lead are SD45 3614 and SD70M 4054.
Here is a view of SD70M 4054 on train 258. Note the knocked-out
number board on the right.
On Thursday, July 10, 1998, four days after the above pictures were
taken, my friend Peter (to whom this web site is dedicated) and I went on a railfanning
expedition to town by bike in the early morning. We were there hardly four and a
half hours, but we saw four trains! The following pictures are from that trip.
Our first catch of the day came less than half an hour after we
came. At 7:50am, eastbound NYSW train 256 showed up. This shot was taken from
behind the curve just east (south) of Narrowsburg Lumber. Leading 256 were SD70M
4054 and SD45 3614. Train 256, like all Susie-Q trains, can occasionally have
manifest freight in the front, as was the case in this picture. Again, note the
knocked-out number board on the right, as seen in the previous picture.
After train 256 went by, we heard of train 257 (crew change) on the
scanner. For over two hours, there was nothing and we started losing
hope. Then, at 10:35, another eastbound, probably either train 252 or SQ-100, made
an appearance. Leading it were B40-8 4004 and B40-8 4002, elephant style.
An hour later, at 11:38, a westbound showed up. This was probably
either train 259 or SQ-99. Leading it were SD45 3612, SD45 3634, and CP Rail SD40M-2
5497. Besides manifest freight, there was a string of autorackers, which is
typical of SQ-99. This train stopped for about 10 minutes with the last 15 cars
still fouling the switch. My guess is that the crew needed something to eat!
Here is a close-up view of CPRS "Dual Flags" SD40M-2
5497. Note that it is actually an SD45 (which probably explains the "M" in
its model designation).
Finally, at 11:56, train 257 showed up with a colorful engine consist
in the lead. Pulling 257 were StL&H (CP Rail) SD40 5542, NYSW SD70M 4050, and NS
GP60 7107. At the time, StL&H 5542 was one of only few CP Rail engines painted
in the StL&H paint scheme. The fact that there were no manifest freight or
autorack cars ahead of the double-stacks (or anywhere in the consist) is characteristic of
257.
I would like to thank my father, Mykola, for scanning these pictures and thus making
this page possible. Please send any photos that you may have from the Southern Tier
to Bohdan O. Yaremko.
