January 7th, 2006
Laura and I drove down to St. Catherines to meet up with Brian and explore the CSX and NS mains South/West of Buffalo. We caught 23 trains of various descriptions and went home happy as clams with 511 pictures and 21 videos.
Angola, New York
(map) In the township of Evans, New York are the towns of Angola and Derby where the CSX Chicago line parallels a somewhat quieter NS track between nearby Buffalo, NY and Chicago, IL. A great spot for shooting both of these is at Sturgeon Point Road, with plenty of warning from talking defect detectors, CTC signals and headlights.
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CSXT #Q150 crosses Sturgeon Point road with two BNSF units to start the day.
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A CSX westbound heads through with two UP units.
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CSXT #Q640 and #Q273 meet in front of us with the second train of course being on the further track. 640 had 3 CSX units and 273 had a CSX and an NS.
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CSXT #Q114 passes with a UP and a CSX unit.
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CSXT #Q351 passes with 2 UP SD70ACes and another UP unit.
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A unit CSX coal train heads west.
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CSXT #Q117 leaves Buffalo with 2 derated AC6000s.
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CSXT #Q140 passes through downtown Angola just as we finish lunch. No other trains passed as we ate nearby.
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CSXT #Q115 heads out of Buffalo with 2 SD70MACs.
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A CSX eastbound passes with 7 units including one rental and a CSX GEVO.
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CSXT #Q363 passes westbound with another CSX GEVO while NS #309 heads the same direction across the way.
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CSXT #Q386 comes to a full stop in front of us before proceeding.
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CSXT #Q109 passes with another long string of intermodal.
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CSXT #Q378 passes with FURX 3011 leading, formerly CP 5505.
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CSXT #Q120 creeps up behind #Q378, block on block.
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CSXT #L274 passes block-on-block with the two previous trains.
June 24th, 2006
I took Kevin, Steve, Brian, and Laura down to the US for Kevin and Steve's first taste of American railfanning. We worked our way along the coast of Lake Erie all the way to North East, Pennsylvania, stopping at Angola, Dunkirk, and Westfield. Our total haul for the day was around 38 trains, including several that we saw without shooting as we travelled. BNSF's lone "vomit bonnet" led NS #310 through Angola, among other interesting catches.
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A CSX westbound crosses Sturgeon Point Road.
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NS #309 crosses Sturgeon Point.
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A CSX ADM unit train heads West.
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CSXT #Q156 heads for Buffalo.
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AMTK #48 heads for Buffalo several hours late.
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CSXT #Q232 heads east.
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CSXT #Q159 heads West.
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NS #310 sports the Barf Bonnett, one of a few unsuccessful experimental paint schemes of the post-merger BNSF.
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CSXT #Q351 with all UP power heads West.
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A CSX westbound passes through the town of Angola.
June 28th, 2008
We went on an Alco hunting expedition for the Canada Day long weekend, starting with the BSOR, NYLE, and WNYP with a stop at Angola for CSX and NS along the way.
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CSXT Q386 crosses Sturgeon Point Rd.
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CSXT Q274 heads for Buffalo.
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An NS eastbound intermodal crosses Sturgeon Point Rd.
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Another NS eastbound heads for Buffalo.
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NS #309 pulls out of the siding after meeting two eastbounds.
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A UP-powered CSX train heads for Buffalo with 3 transformers behind one.
