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| PHOTOS: 1/1/17 (1422545) | |||
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PHOTOS: 1/1/17 |
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Posted by kp5308 on Tue Jan 3 21:47:01 2017 The first day of 2017 was forecasted to be clear around here so I put together a three hour tour. It turned out to be longer than that thanks to my wife wanting to take a stroll in the afternoon.I started out at the Norfolk Southern Reading (PA) Yard where an SD70M-2/SD60E set sat at the north end:  As of December 2016 this is the highest numbered SD60 rebuild to be released from Juniata. Some specs for the SD60E are: EMD 16-cylinder 710G3B-IC engine producing 4000HP...EMD EM2000 microprocessor control...EMD EMDEC Electronic Control Unit (ECU)...NS-designed split cooling...CCB 26 electronic air braking system with electric parking brake. All units are equipped with NS LEADER/PTC (Positive Train Control) system:  The south end had the resident ex-Reading GP40-2 #3001 parked near the Spring St. yard office. The locomotive is easily identified as RDG by the rain gutter above the cab side window & the smaller 2300 gallon fuel tank:  Up to Port Clinton to find out if the Reading & Northern repainted any of their recently acquired power. Instead I found the ex-Canadian Pacific 4-6-0 sitting outside the train shed. Built in 1913 by the Canadian Locomotive Company & numbered 1098, RBMN restored it a few months ago for display only. The brakes are operational so it can be towed on its own wheels. The RBMN number for the D10h is 225:  The 3-odd mile tourist line Wanamaker Kempton & Southern was next on my agenda. Buttoned down for the winter is this 103 year old gem. "Boonton" car #582 was built by Pullman in Lot 4298 according to Plan 2848, and was part of an order of 77 cars built for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W). By the early 1960s, many of the cars were considered surplus, and the Erie Lackawanna, the successor to the DL&W, began selling them to tourist railroads and museums. The coach was purchased by the WK&S in 1963 for a grand & was in the inaugural consist when the line opened later that year. The car weighs 108,000 lbs., has a seating capacity of 72, and retains its original Hale & Kilburn walkover seats:  Also part of the collection is Reading composite caboose #92936. Fifty were built during WWII to the "Northeastern" caboose plan but with wood sides to conserve steel. They weighed roughly 41,000 lbs, about 1000 lbs less then the previously built all steel NMl class & according to Company records cost $6.87 less to build. This was more than offset by the increased maintenance of the wood body. WK&S picked up this car & PBl all steel coach #1365 for about 3 grand in '63. The caboose has been resheathed several times in the past 54 years. It was last painted in 2012 with a black underframe & trucks instead of the traditional brown underframe that RDG red cabooses wore:  The WK&S is slowly recovering from a $100,000 embezzlement scheme so if anyone who reads this has a chance to visit the line stop by. Click HERE for their website. They do a spectacular job & could really use our support. Topton is next where a smoking widecab leads an NS container train past the approach signals to the new crossover at Lyons. The goal of having all the reverse signaling/PTC hardware installed between Reading & Allentown before the ground freezes has been reached. No word yet on a projected "live" date for the project:  Over at the Allentown & Auburn shop Lehigh & New England S2 #611 has been going through testing of traction motors (all good)& generator (works but will need rebuilding). A complete steam cleaning inside & out has been done & the battery box has been emptied & patches have been welded in place:  Karen & I then walked the Temple Hill Trail where we found a surviving Allentown & Reading Traction concrete shelter:  And shot this eastbound NS double stack at Blandon led by a member of the only new locomotive order placed by the carrier in 2016...fifty ET44AC tier 4 GEs:  The westbound has been waiting for the stack train to pass so I squeeze the last shot of the day off before the train gets the high green. Penit & I then head for home to get ready to watch those Green Bay Packers:  |
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