Norfolk Southern’s 30th Anniversary Steam Trips in Pennsylvania in August: Nickel Plate Road steam engine 765 will be operating on 2 weekends in August in Pittsburgh and Harrisburg on employee-only trips. The Pittsburgh area trips begin on 8/11, with 3 trips being operated from Conway Yard to the Ohio Connecting Bridge and return. On 8/12, there are 2 trips from Conway to Homewood Junction. Monday, 8/13 is the ferry move of the train from Conway to Enola across the former PRR Middle Division via Horseshoe Curve and Altoona and Lewistown. Harrisburg area trips begin on Saturday 8/18 with 3 trips from Enola Yard to CP Capitol near the Harrisburg Amtrak Station and return. Trips are expected to operate at 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm. On Sunday, 8/19, 2 trips will operate from Enola Yard to CP Capitol. Monday, August 20, will be the deadhead move from Enola Yard to Pittsburgh again via Lewistown, Altoona and up and around Horseshoe Curve. If you wish to see the NKP 765 operate over Rockville Bridge or around Horseshoe Curve or just trackside on the old Middle Division, this is your opportunity.
NKP 765 at Garrison, OH, on 7-30-12, photo by Travis Giles
NKP 765 at Bellevue, OH, on 7-21-12, photo by Michael Wierowski
Note NS heritage unit 8100-Nickle Plate Road behind 765's tenders.
Tracking NKP Steam Engine #765 by the Minute (GPS via On-line, iPhone, DROID & Twitter)
Whilst enjoying the attached photo that Ken Heyl recorded yesterday of #765 on its eastbound ferry move on the old PRR Ft. Wayne Line at Perrysville, OH (east of Mansfield), you may wish to try out the various electronic methods available to track the position of the famous, 1944-vintage Lima-built locomotive. When #765 is in motion, the 400-ton engine's GPS tracker updates every 60 seconds. The engine and train are presently stored, until their employee-only trips this weekend, at Conway Yard, along the Ohio River (no public access). At mid-trip, to return to Conway on the Saturday trips, the locomotive and train will be turned on wye tracks located at the Ohio Connecting {"OC") Bridge spanning the Ohio at Brunot Island, along PA Route 65, just downstream from The Point in Pittsburgh. To return to Conway on the Sunday trips in the other direction, the equipment will be turned on wye tracks located at Homewood Junction ("Wood"), which is immediately west of the PA Route 18 / I-76 (PA Turnpike) interchange. The only mention I see of times (below) is when they are scheduled to begin, "Trips are expected to operate at 9 am, 12 noon, and 3 pm." I have no further information, such as which are the expected departures on days with only two runs. The Ft. Wayne group that owns the engine may have that info., if you ask via the comments on their website (below).
http://fortwaynerailroad.org/locate.html
http://fortwaynerailroad.org/mobile/
NKP 765 and NS 8100 at Perrysville, OH, on 8-7-12, photo by Ken Heyl
Revised NKP #765 PGH Schedule this SAT & SUN (changes, new details) via fallstonflagstop.com
Extremely rare opportunity to witness a large, main line steam locomotive in action on multiple runs in the Pittsburgh-Beaver Falls rail corridor (former Pennsylvania Railroad Ft. Wayne Line). There are various methods (laptop, Smart phone) available to electronically track #765's position: when in motion, the famous, 1944-vintage Lima-built engine's GPS tracker updates every 60 seconds.
The engine and train will operate on NS employee-only trips this weekend out of Conway Yard, along the Ohio River (and PA Route 65). As far as I know, the entire train is still to be turned on the wye tracks located on the approaches of the Ohio Connecting {"OC") Bridge spanning the Ohio at Brunot Island, along PA Route 65, just downstream from The Point in Pittsburgh. On trips in the other (westbound) direction through Rochester and Beaver Falls, the equipment will be turned on the wye located at Homewood Junction ("WOOD"), which is right adjacent to the Pennsylvania Turnpike's Beaver Valley Interchange (junction of PA Route 18 / I-76) south of Koppel. The Homewood Viaduct, carrying Norwood Drive over both the PA Turnpike and the NS wye at WOOD should afford very good views of the engine from above but, for that reason, will also likely become a rather crowded vantage point.
Saturday will see three round-trips, at 9 am, Noon and 3 pm. Sunday will have just 9 am and Noon runs before the engine and emptied train are forwarded east as a daylight 'dead-head/ferry move' through Pittsburgh, over Horse Shoe Curve, and through Altoona to Enola Yard for next weekend's employee trips around Harrisburg.
Though the engine may be turned on the Conway turntable between the Saturday and Sunday PGH runs, this is located on heavily-patrolled private railroad property. Viewing and photography should be conducted at all locations from public property.
http://fortwaynerailroad.org/mobile/