CP Rail Observation and Question

[JWKessler]

I live a few hundred feet from the old D&H - now CP rail - line between Binghamton, NY and Oneonta, NY. Specifically I'm in Nineveh Junction. As a result I get to hear and see train activity on this line regularly.

I've notices that over the past few months that pretty much all of the activity on this line has been NS powered. About 2 months ago I spotted a train sitting on the Afton siding with a couple of CP locomotives up front, but everything else is NS.

Maintenance of way vehicles (trucks etc) are all marked CP rail however.

I've also noticed a major increase in train traffic over the past week or so. At time we hear or see a train every half hour or so, though the activity varies throughout the day.

I recall reading in one or both of the major rail fan mags about the new "Patriot Corridor" which will run between Chicago and Boston, using the old D&H as one leg. I havn't heard much about that since however, and I haven't seen any discussion of that on this forum.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone here has information on this line.

 

[Soo6617]

I live a few hundred feet from the old D&H - now CP rail - line between Binghamton, NY and Oneonta, NY. Specifically I'm in Nineveh Junction. As a result I get to hear and see train activity on this line regularly.

I've notices that over the past few months that pretty much all of the activity on this line has been NS powered. About 2 months ago I spotted a train sitting on the Afton siding with a couple of CP locomotives up front, but everything else is NS.

Maintenance of way vehicles (trucks etc) are all marked CP rail however.

I've also noticed a major increase in train traffic over the past week or so. At time we hear or see a train every half hour or so, though the activity varies throughout the day.

I recall reading in one or both of the major rail fan mags about the new "Patriot Corridor" which will run between Chicago and Boston, using the old D&H as one leg. I havn't heard much about that since however, and I haven't seen any discussion of that on this forum.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone here has information on this line.

NS has trackage rights over the line from Sunbury, PA to Mechanicville, NY. In return CP has trackage rights over NS from Chicago to Detroit. So CP only operates a small number of trains. The NS trains keep the line viable for the D&H, and is why they are still part of CP.

 

[JWKessler]

NS has trackage rights over the line from Sunbury, PA to Mechanicville, NY. In return CP has trackage rights over NS from Chicago to Detroit. So CP only operates a small number of trains. The NS trains keep the line viable for the D&H, and is why they are still part of CP.

Thanks for the information! I found it interesting how much CP traffic seems to have fallen in the past year or so and how much NS has picked up. I've since learned that the Patriot Corridor only includes the Pan Am lines west of Albany though the CP/D&H and NS Southern Tier lines will be feeding traffic into the corridor.

I've also noticed a big increase in auto carriers on this line over the past few months. We used to see them back in the days of the Penn Division and I had heard the renovations in the Belden hill tunnel were to allow those through. After the Penn Division closed down the Auto Carriers seemed to go away as well, though we saw (and still see) lots of double stacks which probably wouldn't have fit through the old tunnel.