I didn't make it to Bennington Curve in time to catch the Interstate heritage unit again, but it wasn't for lack of trying. With as much speed as I could safely muster in the snow - i.e., not breaking traffic laws while keeping the car upright and facing the direction of travel at all times - I made it to Tunnelhill, bounced down Bird Eye Road, and trudged through the woods - and got there just in time to see that orange-and-cream face rounding the curve on track 3. I was too preoccupied with safely lowering myself down to my perch to launch into a Yosemite Sam-like tirade of frustration at losing the race from Tipton. I was also too preoccupied to consider what else might be coming.
It was 12:30, and I had not been standing on the rock very long when the headlight of an eastbound appeared out of the mist on track 2. ES44DC 7552, SD60M 6802, and ES44DC 7704 had a mixed intermodal consist well in hand as they squealed through Benny and continued on their way down the mountain. As the last cars approached I could see another eastbound in the distance on track 1, but in deference to negotiating the infamous 'Slide' it looked like it was barely moving. As the tail end of the intermodal disappeared around the curve, the sound of the well cars faded into a dull roar - hang on a minute...
SD60E 7021 and SD70ACe 1166 were already working hard when I watched them haul their loaded slab train through Tipton, and now they howled at the top of their lungs as they clawed their way around the curve with their heavy consist. The pair passed the outcropping just in time to meet SD70ACe 1167, C44-9W 9214, and SD70M 2613 heading the other direction with a manifest. The dance continued until SD40Es 6331 and 6330 shoved past on the rear of the slab train, meeting sister units 6327 and 6305 in the distance as the latter brought the rear of their train safely off the Slide.
The show wasn't quite done yet. Seventeen minutes later, another roaring crescendo built in the east as a westbound fought its way up the mountain. The familiar profile of a Dash 9 poked out from behind the trees, followed by another - and then the engines kept on coming, eight units in total: C44-9Ws 9272 and 9620, SD70M-2 2657, SD60M 6805, SD70M 2623, GP38-2 5342, SD40-2 3366, and SD60I 6718. On the rear of the long parade of mixed freight, SD40Es 6325 and 6326 sang their own powerful duet as they shoved on towards Gallitzin. The dead in Bennington Cemetery could finally go back to sleep.
#trains #train #railfanning #railroad #pennsylvania
