Every year on my birthday, I travel with my fellow railfans, to Cresson, PA for our annual railfanning trip. This just so happens to coincide with the Altoona NScale Weekend. This year’s edition did not disappoint with excellent weather the entire time. I got to get a cool birthday present for myself, get some great drone shots, and even do some astroimaging!
A Nice Start
As is our tradition, my good friend and I head out listening to our “official” playlist of heavy metal and hard rock tunes. We always try to stop by various spots on the way over. Before we began our trip, we had to stop by Sheetz for breakfast (like we always do). While there, we noticed the P&LE Heritage Unit on the TOC line doing some switching.
Zanesville, OH
Our first stop on the way to PA was in Zanesville, OH to get a look at one of the last GE “Super-7” in revenue service owned by the Ohio Central Railroad. It was parked in the yard just south of I-70.
A little further south in the yard, we saw Buffalo and Pittsburgh #3889 (SD60M), #3881 (SD60I), and #3890 (SD60M) resting in the morning sun.
A Different Route
This year, we decided to take an alternate route as we wanted to go into Pittsburgh to check out some of the stops there. So we hopped off of I-70 to OH-7 up through Steubenville and East Liverpool, OH, into Beaver, PA, and then to Conway Railyard.
Homestead, PA
We were not able to get many pictures from Conway, so we headed south into Pittsburgh and stopped by Homestead, PA to get a late lunch and took some pictures at the station in Homestead.
Duquesne, PA
A favorite stop for us is Duquesne, PA where the Union Railroad has a yard and is always busy. Brandon was able to get some great pictures of the URR doing switching.
Our Destination, Cresson, PA
Soon afterwards, we made it to our destination, The Station Inn. I brought the Inglenook Siding switching puzzle along to enjoy switching cars while I watch trains. But first, we had to get dinner at our favorite Cresson easting establishment, Vito’s Pizzeria. I always get a picture at “CP Vito’s” a sign made by the Conrail Historical Society.
Most of the time we spent time on the porch while we were there, I would bring the switching layout out and enjoyed some switching.
Cassandra, PA
Every year, we always make an effort to head down to Cassandra Railroad Overlook at night to get some great views of trains clawing their way up the mountain (from the west) and coasting down (from the east).
This year, I brought my Seestar S50 Smart Telescope and got some views of the sky and the sky was clear enough for some cool pictures. Who says you cannot combine hobbies? It was surreal to have a telescope taking pictures 10 feet above freight trains passing by underneath!
Horseshoe Curve
When heading to Altoona, it is advisable to stop by Horseshoe Curve. We got to see many trains there including a Conrail Heritage Unit.
Tyrone, PA
Another popular spot for us is to visit Tyone, PA. We usually stop by Sheetz and get lunch and enjoy the afternoon at the Amtrak Station.
Drone Shots at Cresson
My Birthday Present!
As many know, I love switching and operations. To add to this enjoyment, I decided on getting a ProtoThrottle from Iowa Scaled Engineering at the NScale Weekend. To interface with my Digitrax systems, I had to get the MRBW-WIFI reciever and the Digitrax LNWI as well. That evening, I got everything hooked up and it worked wonderfully!
All in all, a very enjoyable trip with great friends at a wonderful establishment. I am already looking forward to next year!