Innkeeper Note…  The Pennsylvania Railroad Technical and Historical  Society [PRRT&HS] will hold its annual convention in HARRISBURG, PA this weekend.  Speculation is that the NS 8102, Pennsylvania Railroad Heritage unit, will be on display there.  This is totally UNCONFIRMED at this time.  An ALTOONA crew spotted the NS 8102 at JBS early Thursday morning.  It returned earlier this week from the Train Show in CHICAGO.  We’re intrigued to find out whether or not there is any truth to this admittedly plausible rumor.

Speaking of that return trip, it has perhaps drawn the most interest yet in any Norfolk Southern Heritage unit’s travels.  There’s something exciting about seeing a ‘new’ Pennsylvania Railroad’ diesel ahead of two SOUTHERN F’s from the NS Office Car Special fleet.  So much so that two of our contributing photographers captured images of that train on Sunday [5/12].

ROBERT A. SHOOK caught the NS 956 under the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge in PITTSBURGH.

TONY KIMMEL got his shot as the NS 8102 led its companions past ALTO TOWER in ALTOONA in what could be an historic photo.  ALTO may close at almost any time.

Innkeeper Note…  Norfolk Southern rail traffic was brought to a complete halt during the early morning hours of Wednesday, May 16th by a massive warehouse fire in ALLIANCE, OH.

The crew of one of the stopped trains told us they first heard the Amtrak engineer and conductor discussing over the train radio whether they should call in a fire alarm.  The warehouse in question was located adjacent to the Norfolk Southern mainline, which made it necessary for the railroad to shut down all train operations in both directions for several hours.

The resulting back-up and delays impacted CONWAY YARD nearing the Noon hour, with crews outlawing, Short Turn Around crews ['dogcatchers'] being called, and outbound crews waiting in some cases several hours for their incoming trains to arrive.

Following is a local account of the fire from Fox News…

ALLIANCE, Ohio — Fire crews are trying to determine what caused a massive warehouse blaze early Wednesday morning in Alliance, Fox 8 News reports.

Alliance Police Sgt. Michael Yarian says that at 1:19 a.m. authorities received the first call about flames shooting out of the three-story building on Rush Street.

Officials believe the structure in question was abandoned, but there are other businesses are nearby. In fact, part of the PTC Alliance Corp. factory across the street was evacuated.

Crews from several neighboring communities were called to the scene to help control the fire.

There are no initial reports of any injuries.

source:  Fox News Channel 8 Cleveland, OH

Innkeeper Note…  Regular visitors to this site know how much we love the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railroad.  KEN HEYL was particularly fortunate to grab this shot of three W&LE EMD’s and an Orange-and-Black unit westbound at NEW LONDON, OH.

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Passing HERE at The FALLSTON FLAGSTOP Railfan B&B this [Sunday] morning…  the Norfolk Southern EXHIBIT CAR, along with two Office Car Special F-units, all led by the NS 8102, PENNSYLVANIA Heritage unit.  This train was on its way back from the TRAIN DAY festivities in CHICAGO, and was returning to ALTOONA, PA.

Other NS Heritage unit activities…  The NS 8098 CONRAIL unit is in ROANOKE.  The NS NKP 8100 is returning from BALTIMORE with an empty hopper train.  And the NS 8104 LEHIGH VALLEY unit is in BALTIMORE after delivering the NS S62 loaded coal train.

TONY KIMMEL photographed the NS 9025 in SOUTH FORK, PA last week.  Why is this significant?  Rumor has it that the NS 9025 may become the MONONGAHELA RAILROAD Heritage unit.  We’ll keep an eye on her!

And perhaps counting backwards today, we finally get to CSXT #1, the Spirit of West Virginia.  TOM BOYLAN saw it in BOUGHTONVILLE, OH as it approached the CSX division point yard at WILLARD, OH.

Please wear weather-appropriate clothing and closed-toe shoes as the site is still a railroad facility and has rough condition. (which includes gravel and walking in grass areas) Children must be under the supervision of an adult at ALL times. Visitors with disabilities are welcome but should know that the site and equipment are NOT ADA-accessible.

Here are this year dates for 2012 Open Houses: 
All Open houses this year are on Saturday from noon to 4 pm.
Last tour begins at 3:30 pm.
Open house are open during rain or shine.
May 12, 2012
September 29, 2012 This included the 3rd annual Car show (also look under car show tab)
November 25, 2012

Innkeeper Note:  THANKS to BILL NIXON for sharing this information…

Steam Train on Oil Creek & Titusville, July 14 & 15

All during that ‘endless’ two weeks, several of our contributing photographers have been keeping their lenses pointed at Norfolk Southern’s Heritage units.  But first let’s take a look at Norfolk Southern’s OFFICE CAR SPECIAL, which made an appearance in our area on Monday [5/7] as it headed back to ALTOONA, PA from its duties hosting guests and dignitaries at CHURCHILL DOWNS.

ROBERT A. SHOOK caught the NS OCS at one of his favorite photo locations–under the George Westinghouse Memorial Bridge.

TONY KIMMEL caught the OCS closing in on its home base in the Miscellaneous Building as it was passing ALTO TOWER for perhaps the last time.  ALTO is closing very soon.  That will be a sad day indeed.

TONY had earlier captured the NS 8103 NORFOLK AND WESTERN Heritage unit on an NS 862 loaded coal train at CASSANDRA, PA.

Closer to home, HARRY GAYDOSZ was in NEW GALILEE, PA when the NS 8104 LEHIGH VALLEY Heritage unit passed through heading an NS 776 loaded coal train.  BTW, for those fans who were positioned at ROCHESTER, PA awaiting the NS 776, the engineer of that westbound who blocked your shot told us that he did in fact feel bad about doing so.  But he ‘had the signal’ and so was required to move east.

Finally, TOM BOYLAN offers this shot of the NS 8100 leading an NS 688 coal train passing the old White/Westinghouse plant in MANSFIELD, OH

Innkeeper Note:  We have LOTS MORE photos and news items to share.  Stay tuned!  Most of our digital problems are resolved, so we’ll be adding updates on a daily basis.  THANKS FOR YOUR PATIENCE during our outage!

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JACK KUIPHOFF was in position for this special move on Thursday [4/12] when this most unusual freight train came past his house in WEST NEWTON, PA.  JACK lives at M.P. 294.5 on the CSX Keystone Sub, about an hour and a half ‘track time’ east of The FALLSTON FLAGSTOP Railfan B&B [we're located at M.P. 29.5 on the CSX Pittsburgh Sub].

Following is part of the CSX Bulletin Order which accompanied this move…

W94011 (no restrictions) is moving from New Castle  to Roselake and should be treated like an intermodal train. Be aware of the location of this train as
he travels across your territory. Crews are to be   called at least 1 hour prior to the arrival of the  crew change at New Castle, Crestline and Avon.

Any unplanned stops will require immediate attention/response to restart the train. Roselake will need  to communicate with the BN to make sure we have a
proper transfer of equipment (power stays with the  train).

A move of a Gun barrel previously on the USS Arizona being shipped to Phoenix, AZ for new WWII memorial/museum.

Here’s JACK’s note with the video link…

Got it past the house yesterday, but I have no idea where it is today…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJmOMWvABzY

Jack

Thanks to our many railfan photographer friends, we are receiving a large number of PHOTOS of Norfolk Southern’s new ‘HERITAGE’ units.  And we say, ‘Bring ‘em on!’

For example, HARRY GAYDOSZ caught the NS 8103 NORFOLK & WESTERN unit leading an NS 746-11 loaded coal train out of CONWAY YARD and on to BELEWS CREEK, NC by way of CLEVELAND and BELLEVUE, OH.  HARRY first captured this beautiful blue unit twice at ROCHESTER, PA, then again at NEW GALILEE and at ENON VALLEY.

Great work, HARRY!  That NS 746-11 eventually went on to ROANOKE, VA, which is the latest location report we have on the NS 8103.

Next, we welcome TOM BOYLAN back with a great portrait shot of the NS 8100 waiting to clear the CSX diamond at ATTICA JCT., OH with an NS 835 empty hopper train.  That train eventually terminated at ALTOONA, PA.

That was actually the second assignment for the ‘Nickel Plate Road’ NS 8100 since our last report.  Previously, it led an NS 80G-12 coal train from WILLIAMSON, WV to CARNEYS POINT, NJ.

HAROLD MICKLEY was not to be outdone, however.  HAROLD captured that same NS 8100 from a slightly longer perspective.

Other Norfolk Southern ‘Heritage’ UPDATES…  Our CONRAIL NS 8098 was last seen in MINGO JUNCTION, OH having made a steel coil transfer run earlier today from MINGO JCT. to WEIRTON, WV and return.  The NS 8098 had originally arrived in MINGO JCT. having delivered steel coils on the NS 60T-10 via ALLIANCE, OH.

Not seen in our area to date…  The NS 8101 in CENTRAL OF GEORGIA paint first took coal empties from KNOXVILLE, TN to ANDOVER on the NS 719-10. The unit is currently on a mine run, U5J, at DORCHESTER, VA.

And the SOUTHERN ‘Heritage’ unit, the NS 8099–which may have the most striking paint scheme of all to date [although we realize we'll have huge differences of opinion on that comment] has been, of all things, in HELPER SERVICE all this time on Norfolk Southern’s POCAHONTAS DIVISION!

OTHER ITEMS…

Of interest to MODEL RAILROADERS…

For those interested. a few years ago I had a special run of Union Railroad H21A clamshell hoppers cars. This car was basically a steam era car used from 1927 into the early diesel years being retired in 1958.

I’m going to now have a run of URR H-6 class (HT21) offset hoppers made. This car is of the 4500-4999 number series used from 1967 thru 1971 when they were leased to the B&LE. There will be 12 road numbers available for this car. There is a photo of the car in the Morning Sun book the URR in color on page 26.

Like the last kit this will be a Bowser Special run only available through me. A single car will sell for $14.95. For the whole series of 12 cars will sell for $150.00 plus shipping. I expect this kit to go fast.

For those interested I’m taking pre orders. Drop me an email at <tracksidephotos@yahoo.com> The kit should be available for shipping in the first couple of weeks in July.

Thanks again guys.
Scott Schaller

Looking for some GOOD FOOD, or perhaps an OUTING?

CRHS [CONRAIL Historical Society] announces its annual Spring Rail-B-Q’ open to the public on Saturday, May 5, 2012 at the Oliver Township park, Newport, PA..MP131 on the NS Pittsburgh Line…

More details:

http://thecrhs.org/events/CRHS-2012-Spring-Rail-B-Q

E-8 powered ecxursion from Washington Union Station North on the NEC, then North on the NS Port Rosd through Enola, East across Rockville Bridge to Harrisburg, then onto the Royalton Branch and on back to Washington DC…..

For those interested in riding….or shooting from trackside.

https://www.crhstrips.com/susquehanna-limited/about-the-susquehanna-limited

The fifth in the series of Norfolk Southern ‘Heritage’ units arrived at CONWAY YARD Wednesday morning in the consist of the NS11A.  The 11A is always a train to watch as it brings diesel units from JBS/ALTOONA to CONWAY.  The NS 8103 is painted in the colors and graphics of the NORFOLK & WESTERN, and we rate it as still another in the superb renditions Norfolk Southern is creating to celebrate their 30th Anniversary.

Your Innkeeper caught the NS 8103 from both sides!  Note the unusual placement of the number–a little different from typical practice, with the famous N&W logo appearing under the cab window.  In addition to the NS 8103, Wednesday’s 11A also brought a freshly-painted SANDERSVILLE Railroad SW-1500 switcher as the last unit of its lash-up.  SAN 1500 is now sporting a revised paint scheme.  The Georgia short line is best noted for its transportation of kaolin clay.