October Railfan Trip - Part 5

Just after sunrise it was very misty and the river and forest at the campground seemed almost mystical

Visiting the Pittsburgh Area...by Don Janes

     Now that it's Dec. I guess I'd better finish up the last two days of my October railfan trip. After four great days of railfanning in the Maryland, Pennsylvania and West Virginia mountains it was time to pack up the Winnebago and head back to Carl's place in Sarver, PA for a couple more days before heading home. After a great breakfast in a little diner close to the campground Carl drove over to Dawson, PA to show me a great looking old mansion beside the CSX (former B&O) mainline with the hopes of shooting a passing eastbound.  It wasn't long before we heard the horn of a train and within minutes a CSX freight showed up.  In the lead was a recently rebuilt SD40-2.  After the shot we headed out.   

The old buildings make a nice background for a train photo.  A newly rebuilt SD40 leads this freight through Dawson, PA

        Once the camper was unpacked we headed into Pittsburgh in hopes of catching some train action in the "Steel City".  Like most big cities, Pittsburgh was very busy, even for a Sunday and access to railroad tracks is quite limited.  Carl parked at a great spot on the river where the CSX main ran along the bank and the Pittsburgh skyline provided an awesome background.  Unfortunately no trains showed up but it was a beautiful afternoon and a great spot to just sit and admire the big city and action on the river.

Here we see some of the many tug boats and coal barges that ply the rivers.  Pittsburgh is a city of many bridges being at the junction of the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio Rivers.

     Since it was getting late in the afternoon Carl decided we should head over to McKees Rocks and see if the was any action there.  The sun was dropping fast and our time for taking photos was almost up. Our first stop was the Pittsburgh and Ohio Central RR shop.  There was nothing moving but five engines were tied up in the shop area so we stopped and got some good roster shots.  The sun was perfect so we took a bunch of shots of the engines from different angles.  These vintage maroon, gray and yellow units were a nice change from the CSX blue we had seen all week.

It was almost as if the P&OC crews posed the units for us to photograph.  The orange switcher in the background looks like it is an ex CNR unit judging from the high cab number boards.

A nice family portrait.  Judging from the sign below it looks like Genesee and Wyoming has taken over this line so I suspect these units will soon be painted orange and black

     Once we were done taking photos here we headed for one last spot, high on the hill overlooking Mckees Rocks and the Ohio River.  From here we had a great view of the Pittsburgh skyline and the huge ex PRR "OC" Bridge.  This is now an Norfolk Southern bridge. The structure is double track and has two huge steel girder bridges over the two branches of the river and many deck spans in between them.  At the far end there is an elevated wye on the bridge.  We sat there quite a while waiting for an eastbound train and were a little concerned we would loose the light before one came.  Just before the shadows consumed the bridge a long NS intermodal train crept over the bridge and made our last shot a success.  Once the train passed we jumped in the car and headed back to Carl's place for supper.

The shadows had almost swallowed up the OC bridge just as this eastbound intermodal train came along.

One last look at the impressive Pittsburgh skyline.  The yellow structure in the center is Heinz Field where the Pittsburgh Steelers play football.