ON THE BRIDGE PT2

A now and then look at traffic on the bridge into town...

In the early 70's, traffic could get a little heavy at times.

Among the old Fords and Chevys; an iconic Greyhound Scenicruiser bus traveling into town.

Modern day traffic can still be heavy! Note the truck traffic, including one making an in-town delivery of lumber from Smitty's Lumber.

Compare Tony's tow truck today with the top image, taken 40 years ago.

As the UPS truck rolls out, the pizza truck rolls in!

Finally, another Greyhound bus; note not only the modern style of bus, but also Greyhound's classy new look!

TOWN LIFE PT4

A woman talks on her cell phone while waiting to cross the street. Meanwhile, yet another (very) satisfied customer leaves the Hickory Pit Bar-B-Q. And a kid manages to convince his mother that they should go into Miss Amy's Candy Store -and experience "Death By Chocolate"!

A tractor-trailer rolls into town with a load of mulch for the local farming supply company.

UPDATE: It's official, the local furniture store is now an Ashley Furniture HomeStore.

Her car now ready, another happy customer gets ready to head home in her freshly tuned-up Mazda Miata.

A flamed Camaro has pulled into Tony's, and is ready for the service bay.

Tony and his son talk over the Camaro, while Jimmy prepares to change a tire on the Ford Focus. Like the Camaro, the Focus is customized as well- with black rims to match the body paint!

THE NEW GEN-SET ARRIVES

Hillsdale Yard's new gen-set locomotive has arrived!

Newly delivered unit 300 sits in the yard, awaiting its crew. Note the white-painted roof, a rarity on any AP&W locomotive. 300 also has a pair of roof top a/c units, and three exhaust stacks for each of the three 700hp gen-set engines. Number 300 is the AP&W's very first gen-set locomotive, and it's assigned to right here in Hillsdale!

Ricardo and Bob prepare for their day with the newly arrived gen-set. This is what Bob does nowadays when he's not asleep! Job security will help keep you awake -all day even!

With Chris on the ground helping, Ricardo and Bob begin working the yard.

The cars are for DCF12, the City Fizz local.

Later, they head out for Farmingdale, with a short cut of cars for the ethanol plant.

With a short string of The Anderson's covered hoppers loaded with corn for the ethanol process (it's made from corn), unit 300 leaves the yard. While FEL30 normally takes care of Farmingdale Ethanol, on occasion, a small numbers of cars get moved between Hillsdale and Farmingdale. Officially these trains are called EHF00; Extra, Hillsdale-Farmingdale.

PASSING TRAINS PT5; THE DINNER BELLE

The America units roll their train into Hillsdale Yard, towards their meet with the Dinner Belle.

The yard crew stands by to perform the run-by inspection, as C-DB47 passes the Dinner Belle. Just as the Belle's engineer turned of the F-unit's Mars light for the meet, C-DB47's engineer also turns off the ditch lights on his engine; it's the same as turning off your bright headlights when you meet another car on the road at night (common courtesy).

After passing the other engine, C-DB47's engineer turns the ditch lights back on, and throttles up heading out of town, a long string of double-stacked 40'-45' containers in tow.

After the long intermodal passes, the Dinner Belle's engineer cuts the Mars light back on, and throttles up. The Mars light swings back and forth to attract attention to the train, especially at grade crossings; they were used on many locomotives, freight and passenger, from the late thirties up until the early eighties, when many railroads stopped using them. Today, ditch lights serve this purpose.

With it's three car train in tow, the F-7 huffs its way through the yard. In this modern day and age, there's something about seeing a 70+ year old locomotive still earning a paycheck!

The Dinner Belle rolls out of town. Between the domes and the rear picture window, the passengers will have some great views of the southwestern Pennsylvania scenery!

PASSING TRAINS PT4; THE DINNER BELLE

One of the most popular excursion trains in the area is The Dinner Belle.

Officially train DB-P103, the westbound Belle rolls under the bridge into town.

Two forms of "tour-transit" are shown here; The Dinner Belle, and a tour bus. Which one would you prefer?

The train slows to a stop in the yard for a rare meet; usually this train rolls right on through. Note that the upper Mars light is off.

The passengers in the rear car have an enviable view through the large picture window! Normally featured on  track inspection cars and business cars -and this is an ex-business car- the big window has been a big draw for the train. When people pay good money for a good view, profits rise!

And the train that's being met is an intermodal, CDB47, led by, appropriately enough on this Fourth of July weekend, by the America units!

Today's CDB47 is loaded with international containers bound for the Port of Baltimore.
To be continued in Passing trains PT5...