The trip out to Brockway from the east coast involves I-70 to the PA Turnpike to I-99. I try to time travel using this route so that I will pass by Hancock, WV just in time to catch Amtrak Train 30, the eastbound Capitol Limited. This day I was a few minutes early and managed to snag a surprising amount of CSX action. First up was a westbound manifest freight led by NINE(!) locomotives. The first three were ES44AC's #986, #860 and #3020
These were followed by SD70MACe #4558, one of 7 CSX SD70MAC's that have been so far rebuilt with new AC electronics and a power bump from 4000hp to 4500hp.
Behind them were three "YN" painted C40-9W's, #9012, #9016 and #9019, in tow as part of their reactivation process due to increased traffic levels. The 9000-series C40-9W's are interesting as the 50-strong order was GE's first of the Dash-9 era and had some early installment weirdness including Dash-8 trucks.
Two additional locomotives were behind the C40-9W's, C40-10W #5328 and GP40-3 #6561.
The manifest freight proceeded to pass by a local job waiting to head east with GP40-2 #6483 leading.
Instead of getting a signal, a different local freight with 3 locomotives and 4 cars proceeded west under HANCOCK interlocking's eastbound signal bridge. the units included GP40-2 #6445, GP38-2 #2742 and GP38-3 #2059.
The main attraction soon arrived with Amtrak P42DC #71 pulling a 6 car Train 30 all by itself.
While heading back to my vehicle I spotted a pile of plastic composite ties. Hailed as the next big thing 20 years ago, they have so far failed to achieve significant market penetration.
With Train 30 past I proceeded to Brockway about 2 hours away. Arriving in town I was greeted by this large mural, and although it had a depicture of a Baltimore and Ohio steam locomotive, there was no acknowledgment of the famous Monorail that literally put the town on the map.
I walked past a Cold War era M60 Main Battle Tank displayed as a war memorial and into an ice cream parlor to get a cone. The lady behind the counter insisted that not only was there wasn't currently a Brockway monorail, but no monorail had ever existed!
The railroad depot, since converted into a senior center, indicated that had indeed once had passenger rail service, however the disused bed of ties hinted that whatever it was had two rails, not one.
Additionally, the locomotive on the mural, turned CPL signal and permanent speed restriction sign implied that the Baltimore and Ohio had been involved with the city.
However a mile up the road, the remains of WI tower looked distinctly New Haven in origin. Perhaps the Buffalo, Rochester and Pittsburgh Railway that built the line had decided to copy the New Haven's architecture before getting purchased by the B&O.
Arriving in Clarion I couldn't help but visit the abandoned Lake Shore and Michigan Southern tunnel that is known for its spooky mist effects at this time of the year.
The east portal has suffered some additional collapse, but the west portal was still intact. The line was built in the 1920's so that the New York Central system could connect the Midwest industrial centers with the Central Pennsylvania coal fields. The Great Depression put the kibosh on the line before it could be fully finished and after decades of acting as a secondary track the line was abandoned curing the Conrail era.
Unfortunately the ties on the Clarion River viaduct had been damaged by the nearby 50-foot magnifying glass creating a gap that I felt reluctant to cross. However a local Rural Explorer was having no such problem using one of the central truss beams to bypass the trackbed to nowhere.
Well that's the end of my ill-conceived quest to find the Brockway monorail. Next time I'll be back in the Mid-Atlantic with a visit to Iron Hill, Delaware.
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