Yesterday I got a chance to tour the Locomotive Shop, Fuel Pad, and Hump tower at CSX's Selkirk Yard. We had a gorgeous day for it, as temperatures climbed near 70 here in eastern NY. We started at 9:00 am and went to the fuel pad and sanding facility. As our guide showed us around, he mentioned that there are plans to break ground for a new fueling facility next year. The current facility can service a maximum of 12 locomotives at one time (depending on the length of the locos). We then moved over to the locomotive shops, and walked through quickly, pausing to watch them change out a wheel/traction motor set on an SD40-2. Since CSX has taken over, less major work is done here, but back when it was a Conrail shop, they did a significant amount of work. Finally, about 10:15 am we headed over to the hump tower. From there, we watched a train being humped and cut into the 70 bowl tracks. This took about half an hour to complete. It was very interesting to see things from different angles (on the ground!) than from the bridge that runs over the yard. The view from the hump tower was very impressive, as you could see about 75% of the yard! It was a good day, and there was a lot of power present, although only a single NS engine accounted for foreign power in the yard. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
Corey, Sounds like you had a great day did you take any pictures while you were there? It is always interesting to see railroad action up close. ------------------ Regards Paul Cassar-# Member number 50 SPAD Investigator #1 ICQ 61198217 http://users.bigpond.net.au/railroad2000
Paul, I started to take some pictures, but my batteries died!! Also, I couldn't get any of the hump bowl, since it is east of the tower, and we were there in the morning. I wouldn't want to take any inside while they were working (because of the flash). The camera died before then anyway. I'll have to wait untill I finish off this roll and get it developed to see what I got. ------------------ Corey Lynch Pres - Rensselaer Model RR Society NEB&W RR http://www.rpi.edu/~lynchc/Railfanning/railfanning.htm - My Site http://www.union.rpi.edu/railroad/ - NEB&W
Corey, Too bad you didn't get any pictures, but it sounds like you had a great time! Chessie ------------------ Harold Hodnett Fan of NS, CSX, and their predecessors! Coming soon: The North Carolina Railfan Web Site http://www.trainweb.org/ncrail/
