-Charlie
As soon as I heard that the Amtrak Exhibit train would be in Altoona and open to the public, I knew I had to go. Unfortunately my dad would be out of town the weekend of the event. So, I called up my good friend Dan who is always willing to go see trains with me and he said sure. A week or two later I found out that the event was to be called "All Aboard Altoona" and NS would be displaying some equipment including the following: Veteran's locomotive, one OCS locomotive, Exhibit car, and two OCS passenger cars! How much better could this be! So, October 12th came and Dan and I headed for Altoona. NS had set up shuttle buses to take you from a lot adjacent to Juniata Shops to Rose Yard where the event was held. We were certainly not disappointed! NS allowed us to go inside everything they had set out including the OCS cars! It was a great oppertunity to get pictures of whatever you wanted. Also, the forecasted rain never showed up! When we were done at the event we went over to Juniata Shops because we had heard that the Norfolk & Western Heritage locomotive was there. Sure enough it was! We saw my friend Jacob at Juniata and he told us that the Central of Georgia Heritage Unit was in Cresson on the siding. So, Dan and I headed for Cresson where we found the unit on a corn train about to head onto the RJ Corman line! We didn't even have to wait five minutes before it started moving. As the long train headed out we had an opportunity to talk with the conductor of the train. He was checking the car numbers and didn't have to stay onboard because RJ Corman appartently sends their conductors in company pick-ups to the train's destination. I had never heard of anything like that and can't believe it's allowed with all the current safety regulations. After the train left we had lunch and went to several other railfanning spots. The first one was Lilly, PA where we saw a set of light helpers and a mixed freight roaring up the hill with four helpers on the back! Next, we went to the Cassandra overlook followed by Portage, PA. All in all in was a great day and a once in a lifetime experience. Enjoy the pictures and watch the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/PittsburghMainline. -Charlie
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The Train Nerd's Blog is dedicated to bringing you the latest railroad news and railfanning adventures of Andy and Charlie!
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December 2023
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