Pennsy - from Scrap to Shiny

Pennsylvania Railroad 19103 X-54 insulated boxcar was built at the Pennsy's Samuel Rea car shops in 1961 and donated to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania by Conrail in 2001. Rust on the car door above was due to a few years of lying on the ground in a Philadelphia yard. Restored in 2007 by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2007 and put on display inside the museum's rolling stock hall in Strasburg. This building, when it opened in 1975, was the first building in the United States built as a railroad museum.

Penn Central Made to Look New

Penn Central - former Pennsy - 32367, a class H34A covered hopper was built in Pennsylvania Railroad shops in Altoona in 1955. It is painted and lettered now as it was during its Penn Central days when it was dedicated to locomotive sand service. Restoration completed in 2007 by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, who received it as a donation by Conrail in 2001.

Reading Commuter Restoration

Reading #800 class EPa multiple unit electric coach was built by Harlan & Hollingsworth of Wilmington, Delaware in 1931. Restored cosmetically by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, PA in 2008. 11,000 volt, 25 Hz AC power was collected by pantograph from the overhead catenary. The two 300 horsepower AC traction motors are on a single truck. The other truck is unpowered. Below, in 2006 just before going into the restoration shop. The only unmodified EPa car preserved, it was a gift of the Philadelphia Chapter NRHS in 1980.

SEPTA - The Look Survives

Reading electric MU trailer car is wearing the livery of SEPTA, the Southeast Pennsylvania Transit Authority. SEPTA inherited the former commuter rail systems of The Reading, The Pennsylvania Railroad, Penn Central, and Conrail. Below, today's look of Silverliner 3 MU cars at the westbound platform at Paoli station.

Union Pacific in the Wilderness

Near Green River, Utah, the UP tracks parallel Interstate Highway 70. This is also the route of Amtrak's California Zephyr from Chicago to San Francisco. Before Amtrak the California Zephyr was operated by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy RR from Chicago to Denver, Denver & Rio Grande Western RR from Denver to Salt Lake City (the same route pictured here) and the Western Pacific RR from Salt Lake City to Oakland via the Feather River route. In Utah, the train follows the southern rim of the Book Cliffs to their end near Helper. The train then crosses the Wasatch Range, cresting at Soldier Summit. Today's Amtrak Zephyr uses the former Southern Pacific Donner Summit route rather than the old WP; trading one scenic route for another.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #7

The engineer of #8595 EMD SD50 is waiting in the Manilla helper pocket for the train to clear the switch ahead so that he can drift down to the train, couple up to the rear and take the ride down to Cumberland to wait for another Westbound needing a push.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #6

Taking the last slot in a string of 6 engines, CSX 8701 END SD60 is getting on in years but is still well suited to the demands imposed by the road's mountain routes.

The route taken by the railroad has been known for centuries. It was surveyed by the Army in 1824 for the C&O Canal. The Army estimated it would take 13 years to dig a 4 mile tunnel under the summit for the canal using the pick and shovel technology of the day. The capital poor B&O considered the same plan in the early 1900's but it died for lack of funds.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #5

An odd addition to this train's engine string is CSX #4527 EMD SD70MAC. I say "odd" because it is the only AC powered unit in a string of 6.

The Eastern Slope of Sand Patch is easily accessible by roads, some of which are gravel but in good condition. A 4x4 is the best way to tour the area, but an automobile is alright if you are careful. Remember, if you are going to poke around, that the woods are home to rattlesnakes, copperheads, and the occasional black bear. Be careful, and be safe.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #4

CSX #102 is a road slug. I cannot find this road number on any CSX locomotive roster so maybe it's just headed to the scrap pile. I do not what type of locomotive this was before rebuilding as a slug. Alco?

Road slugs take advantage of diesel electric locomotive surplus power available at low speeds. Take a mature diesel, remove the diesel, generators, cooling, dynamic braking, cab, and air compressor and you have a frame with traction motors below. Replace the removed mechanicals with ballast like concrete, get power from a "Mother" locomotive and you have a unit with as much as double the tractive effort at speeds of less than 35 MPH or so. CSX has somewhere around 150 road slugs and 30 or so yard slugs.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #3

Following the lead pair of Evolutions is this EMD GP39 CSX #4286. I thought this engine might be a "Mother" unit for the road slug whose nose is visible behind the Geep. My photos fail to catch whether the big power cables for powering the slug are there.

Your best guide to this part of Sand Patch, the Eastern grade, is the September 2000 issue of Railpace Newsmagazine. Rails and roads are both highlighted on detailed USGS topographical maps. All my photographs in this blog series were taken at the spot marked as "Manila Access Road" on the map.

CSX on Sand Patch grade #2

Right behind the lead locomotive CSX #5475 GE ES44DC makes the second of a matched set of big power engines to power this train down the Wills Creek valley into the Potomac River valley at Cumberland, Maryland. Just to the right of this engine's nose the gray paint of an SD50 can be seen waiting in the helper pocket between the two mains. When the train has passed the helper will couple to the rear on the fly for the trip back to Cumberland.

If you have a scanner when visiting Sand Patch tune it to 160.230 Mhz. (AAR Ch. 08). Train crews will acknowledge all signals on the air with the dispatcher. Other frequencies are 161.25 and 160.785. While your scanner will work in the Wills Creek Valley, your cellphone won't unless you go to a hill top.

CSX on Sand Patch Grade #1

This eastbound train, headed by CSX #5445 GE ES44DC, is at Manilla at the East Portal of the Sand Patch Tunnel at the summit of the Sand Patch grade. I have seen Manilla published with one L and two L's.

This route was built in the 1860's by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. As far as timing and connections at Pittsburgh, the B&O lost to the Pennsylvania Railroad in the race to cross the Allegheny Mountains. It is one of the legendary meccas for American railfans. It even draws train-spotters from overseas. Climbing north and west from Cumberland, Maryland the CSX mainline over the Alleghenies to Pittsburgh, PA ascends over 1500 feet to crest the summit at Sand Patch, Pa. (SA tower, now gone, was one of the last manned interlocking towers on this historic B&O grade and it stood across the tracks from the summit marker.