OK, so I’m looking for some serious motivation to get back working on my HO layout. I thought some train watching would help, but this is proving difficult too. I live just outside Philly and there is a single track CSX line that runs nearby. Catching a passing frieght is a real crap shoot, as #1 I don’t know how to find out when they are due to go by and #2 I don’t know how to listen to the radios and decipher what I’m hearing( I do have a scanner ).
Are there any busy places in or around Philly or its northern suburbs? Please help a newbie railfanner.
Any help and or suggestions greatly appreciated.
Where around Philly do you live?
I have been to Harrisburg and Altoona Pa for railfanning and I always get reinspired to do work on the layout.
NS has a double track that runs through Berks county - plenty of places to catch freights all day long in the Wernersville-Robesonia area, parallel to the south side of 422.
Okay… What major roads are near your house? Any nearby landmarks? If I could find out what line you live near, maybe someone could give some more advice on that line or other lines in that area.
The line I referred to in my original post is the one that parallels the R-8 SEPTA line up to the Cheltenham Station and then continues on through the northeast.
I live in western Chester County and can give you some guidance south and west of Philly.
South:
Wilmington has several places to watch. Fox Point Park which is right on the Delaware River is good viewing for SEPTA, AMTRAK and NS runs the occasional freight during the day between Wilmington and Philly. Wilmington itself has both an NS and CSX yard, plus the AMTRAK locomotive shops. There is a service road between the AMTRAK shops and the NS yard that is public access and allows some decent shots of the NS yard and several rail related industries. The views into the AMTRAK shops is dependent on what they park in the way, usually some derelict. You can also try your luck on the weekend with the cement company right at the beginning of the service road. The employee I talked with was agreeable to allowing me to drive down trackside and photograph 7 NS units sitting pretty. Just don’t stray off the cement company property. I know of a railfan that got in a world of stink on NS property (not me!!). The CSX yard is much harder to get too and not really worth the effort for the return. NS is also active during the week switching the Port of Wilmington. There are a multitude of road crossings and parking areas to catch the switching action. You can not however drive into the Port area. My suggestion is to drive down on a weekend with a good map, and check things out. Truck traffic on weekdays, when you do not know where you are going, will run you over. South out of Wilmington also runs NS Delmarva sub which runs south to Dover, DE and all the way to Salisbury, MD and then becomes the Eastern Shore (now something else?) with car floats to Little Creek, VA. Only a couple of trains a day on the Delmarva, but usually big 6 axle units pulling.
A couple of side notes on Wilmington are the Wilmington and Western tourist line and the Penn Eastern/Penn Reading Lines. Both roads terminat