Central Penn Rail Productions

Rocking Down the Colonie Main with Older Locomotives!

SD70MAC Working Hard on Sand Patch Grade

Notch 8 Fast Freight! Heavy Train up the Hill

Winter Trains! Amtrak at Middletown Station

Trains in the Snow! Winter on the Harrisburg Line

East Penn Railroad Heading to Reading Yard

Railroad Crossing Alley - Before the Bridges in Lebanon, PA

Rare Locomotives: Loud SD45-2 & SD40-2 Engines Pull Trash Trains!

Ballast Cleaning Machine & Train

Earlier today. Fun day of chasing of the Fs!

Train Bridges in Virginia

How would you like to live in one of these houses and look up to see a train crossing high above you? (And be even more surprised to see a caboose on the end of one of them!) The Norfolk & Western Railway built many bridges like these on their mainline route between Roanoke, Virginia and Hagerstown, Maryland, currently operated by Norfolk Southern after the 1982 merger between the N&W and Southern Railway. Two of the most prominent bridges can be found in Nace and Compton, Virginia, nestled parallel with the northern range of the Blue Ridge Mountains. Both bridges built in the 1910s and upgraded in the 1930s to handle larger steam locomotives. Train 1: M5T crosses over Nace with a pair of hard-working GE locomotives heading south toward Roanoke. I was surprised to see a few depressed flatcars and a caboose on the rear, owned by the Department of Defense (DODX). Train 2: 18T crosses the mighty trestle in Compton, VA. They have locomotives on the front and in the middle of the train (distributed power). Subscribe to our YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions Filmed: January, 2020 - Copyright Central Penn Rail Productions #railfan #railfanning #trestle #NorfolkSouthern #CentralPennRailProductions

New York Central Heritage Unit Leads LONG Train

This week I caught the New York Central Heritage Unit leading long freight train (symbol 10K) on Norfolk Southern's Harrisburg Line at Richland. On this chilly December morning, 10K had 168 cars with a fairly new SD70IAC buried in the train as a DPU (short for Distributed Power Unit). 10K is a daily mixed freight between Elkhart, Indiana and Allentown, Pennsylvania, which started running in the summer of this year, replacing two trains—16N and 10N—into one long one as a part of Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), which means longer, but fewer trains traverse the Harrisburg Line on a daily basis. PSR typically has this train into Reading between 7-7:30 am, so I lucked out here catching them at Richland just after 8. I really don't go out railfanning here much any more due to the lack of interesting things to see, which is why I mostly stopped the weekly upload videos here on Facebook in order to focus on editing older videos for YouTube. But, I hope you like and share this video with your fellow railfans!

N&W 611 Barking Up Cherry Hill!

https://youtu.be/RNtNBVH43mk N&W 611 barks up the grade at Cherry Crest along the Strasburg Rail Road last Sunday. It was an exciting weekend, so don't forget to check out the full YouTube video if you haven't already for various shots of 611, as well as 475 in the "new" look!

Mega Trains with DPU's - Count Those Cars!!!

Today's upload is for the car counters. I decided to post it here and on YouTube since this is recent footage. Norfolk Southern started running some long trains with DPU’s as part of their Precision Scheduled Railroading initiatives. Some of these “mega trains” have been reaching car counts well into the 200’s and 2.5 miles long. Trains with DPU’s—short for Distributed Power Units—are not unique, as the technology has been around for 60 years, but has been common use for over 15 years mostly out west on the BNSF and Union Pacific in the United States and Canadian Pacific and Canadian National in Canada. But it wasn’t until Spring 2019 here in Central Pennsylvania on the Norfolk Southern Harrisburg Line that DPU’s made a mainstream appearance, with only a few uses dating back to 2014. The clips in this video are all of train 34A, which is a Oak Island, New Jersey to Conway, Pennsylvania (northern New Jersey to west of Pittsburgh), which is essentially a combination of the old 19G and 15T, making two trains into one mega train in order to move more freight with less engines and crews. Most of these trains measure around 11,000 feet (2.1 miles / 3.35 km) in length, but not too heavy on the tonnage (around 10-12,000) as it is mostly empty traffic returning to industries out west. Train 1 - 0:00, 34A - Richland: NS ES44AC 8080, NS SD70ACU 7324 - DPU - NS ET44AC 3600, NS SD70ACU 7301, NS ES44AC 8122 Trains 2 - 3:30, 34A - Wernersville: NS SD70ACC 1802, NS C44-9W 9559 - DPU - NS C44-9W 9224, NS ES44AC 8043 Train 3 - 6:40, 34A - Richland: NS AC44C6M 4008, NS C44-9W 9659, NS ET44AC 3640 - DPU - NS AC44C6M 4120, NS SD70ACU 7339 Train 4 - 9:45, 34A - Myerstown: NS ES44DC 7632, NS SD70ACE 1120 - DPU - NS C44-9W 9273, NS AC44C6M 4045 https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions Thanks for watching! Central Penn Rail Productions 2019

Trinity Railway Express coming into Fort Worth yesterday evening.

A Double Heritage Saturday!

I caught the Conrail and Illinois Terminal hertiage units today! #HeritageUnits If you like trains, like & follow this page for more videos! Also subscribe to my YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions On May 25, 2019: The NS ES44AC 8098 "Conrail" leads intermodal 20Q through Richlanf in the morning. Later that morning NS SD70ACe 1072 "Illinois Terminal" leads a short auto train 18N. Bonus clip: 19G also came a couple minutes later. #railfan #railfanning #Conrail #IllinoisTerminal

Two Trains at Marietta

Last month I caught two trains on the Norfolk Southern Port Road Branch in Marietta, Pennsylvania, with spring foliage beginning its peak. Of the 10-12 trains per day through this location, the majority run at night. However, 66R and 37A ran in the middle of the day due to track work further down the line. This is a formerly electrified line that was built by the Pennsylvania Railroad. Although no electric trains ply the rails today, some of the catenary infrastructure is still in place, including the wires that carry electricity from the Safe Harbor Dam to a substation in Royalton for Amtrak's electrified Keystone Corridor. Taken April 13, 2019

Weekly Train Video - Erie Heritage Unit + Two Hot Intermodals Meet!

Here's another weekly railfan video for you! The Erie heritage unit leads hot intermodal 21M west near Milepost 77 on the NS Harrisburg Line. The pair of SD70ACe's meet counterpart 20K racing east led by NS ES44DC 7626 with NS SD60E 6962 trailing. Keep watching to see a freshly-painted AC44C6M lead empty tank cars west through the same crossing on the following morning. Shot on May 3 and 4, 2019.

Weekly Train Video - Two Trains & Spring Foliage at Hershey

Spring time is here! In the height of the foliage on Easter Sunday, two Norfolk Southern trains pass through Hershey, Pennsylvania on the busy Harrisburg Line between Harrisburg and Reading. The crossing is Derry Road, located at Milepost 99, with the 98 automatic signals overhead. Train 1: 6K4 - Ethanol Loads - Midwest US via Chicago, IL - Seawaren, NJ Train 2: 211 - Priority Intermodal - Croxton, NJ - Atlanta, GA Sorry for my lack of "Weekly Train Video" posts. I have not been out much lately plus I have been busy editing videos for my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions But with Spring finally here I hope to get more videos for you! Thanks for watching!

Spring is here!!!

Arizona Eastern Railroad in Clifton, Arizona

Arizona Eastern Railroad train 203 enters the yard at Clifton to interchange with Freeport-McMoRan Inc (FMI Railroad). Clifton is the end of the line for the eastern portion of the AZER, which starts 70-miles south in Lordsburg, New Mexico. The trains in this region serve as an integral part to the copper production at the massive Morenci Mine, which has been in operation since 1872 (the edges can be seen above the hills as the train pulls down to the station). Not much has changed in this area over the past three decades, when the railroad was still operated under the vast Southern Pacific railway. AZER B40-8's 4006 & 4010 were built as SP B39-E's, continuing the tradition the bringing carloads into town for the mine-operated railroad to pick up. When FMI took the reigns from Phelps-Dodge in 2007, the same old EMD locomotives descend the mountain to pick up trains for the mine. The moment the AZER cuts away from the train, FMI locomotives tack on to the rear for the near 1000' ascent, ~4.5% grade back home.

Weekly Train Video - 20K in the Snow!

Last Sunday, March 3, we caught Norfolk Southern train 20K making its way east through a wet snowfall. With warm temperatures in the forecast, this will probably be the last snow fall here in Central Pennsylvania. Subscribe to our YouTube channel! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions Watch more trains in the snow here! https://youtu.be/q5PswNJzrz8

Weekly Train Video - Union Pacific Train Across Cienega Creek

Westbound Union Pacific stack train ISILBX (Santa Teresa, NM - Long Beach, CA) crosses the Cienega Creek near Vail, Arizona along the "Sunset Route" on February 14, 2019. It's hard to believe a week later this location would be covered in several inches of snow due to a rare heavy winter storm. This extra section of ISILB consists of 5 locomotives (no DPU's) and a short train of marine containers. UP ES44AC 7460 UP SD70AH 9074 UP SD70M 4127 UP AC4400CW 6696 KCS ES44AC 4865

Track Geometry Train with Slug and Passenger Car!

A track geometry train moves eastbound on the NS Harrisburg Line. A slug called "the brick" and a passenger car inspect the tracks, giving real-time feedback to the inspectors onboard to determine whether the track bed is suitable for mainline speed. If not, a 25 MPH slow order is issued until a maintenance crew can arrive with equipment and improve the track structure. Trains like this help Norfolk Southern keep freight moving on their massive 21,500 mile system in 22 states in the Eastern Unied States. NS 38 "the brick" was once an SD40-2 (NS 1620) that was retired and rebuilt into this slug which houses the sensors and inspection equipment.

Weekly Train Video - Pennsylvania Railroad Heritage Unit

The Pennsylvania Railroad heritage unit NS 8102 leads train 20K eastbound through Robesonia, PA on January 25, 2019.

CNJ Heritage Unit on the Port Road

Check out all 20 NS Heritage Units here! https://youtu.be/A37VaY9zP_s The CNJ Heritage Unit leads a train of empty Bakkan Crude oil cans from Delaware, bound for Chicago for interchange with BNSF. The train is on Norfolk Southern's "Port Road" Branch, which runs between Marysville, PA to Baltimore, MD. This former Pennsylvania Railroad line used to be electrified, running dozens of freight and passenger trains daily. Today, it sees a mere 8-10 trains daily. This video was taken 2/28/15 at Marietta. If you like this video and love trains, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for dozens of different kinds of train videos with new content always being added!

Weekly Train Video - Amtrak 43 "Pennsylvanian" at Middletown

Amtrak 43 the "Pennsylvanian" whips past Middletown, Pennsylvania under the wires of the Keystone Corridor between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. The train is passing the future site of the new Middletown train station adjacent to the Harrisburg International Airport. This project has been delayed for years, but recent brush cutting and cleaning of the right-of-way indicates the project is finally a go. A lone Pennsylvania Railroad style position light signal stands along the close track, which today is part of Norfolk Southern's Royalton Branch. The signal is the last of its kind in the Harrisburg area, it too will soon succumb to progress as PTC upgrades force the removal of intermediate signals.

Trains of 2018! A look Back

Trains of 2018 is a look back at different trains and locomotives captured during the year, highlighting the changing of the seasons. From snow to rain, hot summer days, foggy mornings and colorful foliage, we take a tour of the railroads throughout the state of Pennsylvania! This is but a small sample videos taken in 2018, so we hope you check out the many in-depth train videos Central Penn Rail Productions has to offer on YouTube! Thank you for over 1,000 likes on our page! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for 100's of train videos! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions Thanks for watching and happy new year to everyone!

Train Race!!!

Two trains race side-by-side! The ending is cool too! Original Video: https://youtu.be/5ZN5tYIBvlA Subscribe to our YouTube Channel for lots of train videos! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions This is a video I shot back in November 2011 and I am surprised by the number of views it gets every day on YouTube, so I decided to post it here! Since it has been stolen several times, you can now watch it, like it, and share it from the original source! Thanks for watching! The radio noises you hear at the beginning are from my hand-held radio scanner that lets me know when trains are nearby, it was announcing a wayside detector that both trains recently passed two miles to the west of my location.

Brand NEW SD70ACC Locomotive Pulls Heavy Train!

New Progress Rail DC to AC rebuild SD70ACC NS 1801 in special Caterpillar colors leads a heavy train up the hill at Blandon on the Norfolk Southern Reading Line! The all EMD consist includes two Union Pacific SD70M's 3813 and 4108, with EMD 710 prime movers blaring! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more train videos! https://www.youtube.com/c/CentralPennRailProductions This unit was formerly standard cab SD70 2548 built in 1994. The SD70ACC units have upgraded SD70ACe style cabs with tear-drop windows, 4,500 horsepower, and added weight to for the new AC Traction motors.