Conrail (CR) 6804 - EMD SD50

Conrail 6804 - Westbound at Downing Avenue

Conrail 6804 - Westbound at Downing Avenue

CR 5454 & CR 5458 on a summer evening

UHC746 NB at Carson Road

The LV coming north(timetable west) from Sayre ran down the Cayuta Creek valley. Like many in that area, it was long, deep, and narrow, hemming in the railroad and NY 34. WACG01 is down in it as it heads north at Lockwood.

Conrail blue rolls along the blue Susquehanna as the train progresses toward Owego near MP 231.

The Lehigh Valley station had not seen a passenger since 1961, and had served a variety of other purposes since then, mostly as a restaurant-several of them, as they never seemed to take hold. WACG01 sits outside the 1881 station as the crew gets back on after running around the train for the trip to Ithaca.

Many small towns in this agrarian region had feed mills of some sort. Spencer was no exception. WACG01 blows past as it rolls coal to Ithaca.

WACG01, a coal train with a Gang Mills crew headed for the NYSEG plant in Ithaca, rolls though the truss bridges at the north end of Sayre yard, which can be seen in the distance. C 628s would look a lot better here.

There was not much left of the LV west of Allentown. Some local activity on the line was most of it, but the through trains were largely a memory. West of Sayre, the line was largely abandoned and pulled up, except for one segment that had some heavy duty traffic, from Sayre to Ithaca, which saw three coal trains on a typical week. Heres one of them behind a pair of SD 50s rolling along next to NY 34 near Lockwood.

WACG01 rolls past a dairy barn at West Danby.

Wide panoramic views were hard to come by on this segment of the Valley, but there was a good opportunity here at West Danby as WACG01 rolls toward Ithaca.

WACG01 rolls north at Spencer, leaning into the curve that takes the tracks north along NY 34.

WACG01, a local called to move coal to Ithaca, rolls past a stubble corn field south of Ithaca behind a pair of SD 50s. Note the PC hopper in full markings third head car.

WACG01, a Gang Mills based crew that handled the coal from there to Ithaca, has combined with a train that was left in Ithaca yard by a previous crew. The whole train, now with four units, will head up through town to the NYSEG Milliken Station north of Ithaca. Note the hoppers and conveyor at far left. The other coal customer on this line was Cornell University, high above Cayuga's waters. Conrail would spot loaded hoppers here, which would be emptied into a pit, with the conveyor carrying the coal up to be loaded into trucks for the ride up the hill to the college. There were 17 cars spotted here this day.

The ex LV line in Ithaca has a stretch of street side running through town. As in most places where this occurs, the traffic lights are set so that when crossing protection is activated, they set up to prevent vehicles from turning onto or crossing the tracks. The trains, however, make all the lights, no matter what color.

BUOI has done its work at Binghamton and is now headed toward Oak Island, where it will arrive some time in the early morning tomorrow.

TV11 WB at MP 251

SD 50s doing what they were bought for, rolling heavy trains across the main lines. The trailing unit is one of Conrails ten C30-7s, a model that sold well elsewhere. CR would acquire its step brother, the C30-7A, which got 3000 HP out of 12 cylinders.

Conrail 6804, CSX 8112, Southern Pacific 9273, Conrail 8174 at Sidney Oh. Date is a guess

Empty Somerset coal train.Buffalo Line bridge in background.

Conrail powfr makes an appearance in Provo,Utah.