2 trains and a boat
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Luckily, the car needed gas. Nearby the gas station I’m currently fueling up at are a set of freight tracks which are used by the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR, pictured above. I’ve driven up to the pump and discovered this train passing by, driven away from it and witnessed the train arriving…
This time around, after topping off the tank, I parked the car in an industrial driveway and sat around in it for about a half hour, eventually getting lucky enough to catch a shot of the thing as it steamed along.
A Class 2 regional railroad, Wheeling & Lake Erie is a modern operation started in 1990 that uses the name of Jay Gould’s original 1880-1949 company. W&LE ended up becoming part of Norfolk Southern, until the larger company started selling off parts of its portfolio of assets and in 1990 the modern company was born. They serve areas of Northern Ohio and Western Pennsylvania, and now I have a photo of one of their trains. Apparently, their Engine 6982 was built in 1971, and rebuilt in 1995. It’s apparently an EMD SD40-2, but not being a true railfan – just a guy who likes to take pictures of trains – I had to look that one up.
If you disagree with make, model, etc. you’re probably right, so please share it with the rest of the class in the comments section.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was at a fairly cool location in Pittsburgh which I’ve visited in the past – West End Overlook Park – when I noticed a CSX train hauling cargo down the Monongahela River toward its intersection with the Ohio River. That intersection is more or less in the shot above, I guess. Those orange and black shapes at bottom left are barges of coal.
Twice I got lucky with trains. Twice in one afternoon. This has been driving me nuts, as a note, being surrounded by cool railroad stuff and not having the ability to get some shots of it because I’m driving or my timing is off. There’s always something. Saying that, I’ve begun to develop an idea of when some of these trains seem most likely to come through, and where I should be lurking about to get my shots of them.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I promised a boat in the title, and there you are. There’s a towing operation based right about where the West End Bridge, pictured above, is found. As of yet, I haven’t figured out how to get down to their base and say hello. Saying that, I know where they are, so that’s some sort of progress. Things here are beginning to become “familiar.”
Back tomorrow.
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The Newtown Pentacle 
Great pics.
Amazing that a 50+ train engine has a complete pedigree – found on http://www.nsdash9.com/WEroster.html
Someone sure loves these things. I agree.
dbarms8878
April 12, 2023 at 9:09 pm
Speaking of the rivers, have you acquainted yourself with the Gateway Clipper yet? Its the Pittsburgh equivalent of the Circle Line.
Jon H
April 13, 2023 at 8:19 am
I have, and as a matter of fact have bought some tix for upcoming Carrie Furnace “Rivers of Steel” boat tours. One goes Allegheny, the other Mon – that one is supposedly all the way back to the mill in Braddock.
Mitch Waxman
April 13, 2023 at 9:21 am
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2 trains and a boat
April 14, 2023 at 12:16 am