FALL STEAM!

 As the leaves turn, the last excursion train of the fall rolls through behind big steam!

Extra 1645 rolls through Hillsdale on its way from Pittsburgh to Cumberland.

Engine 1645, a 2-8-4 Berkshire, leads the way.

Car 11, the power car, is next, providing head-end-power to the train.

A Santa Fe full-length Big Dome #551 is the first passenger car.

B&O's Moonlight Dome is next.

The next full-dome car is the Appalachian car Tennessee.

Next is the Milwaukee Road's Super Dome car #53.

The final two cars are operated by Railcar Charter Service, including this observation car.

The return trip occurs later that evening.

With all of the domes in the train, the spectacular colors of southwestern Pennsylvania were in full view!

Next week, a look around town.

INT THE YARDS/CARPACK

 A look at some of the freight cars that pass through Hillsdale Yard...

A pair of well-worn boxcars sit in the yard, after returning from the paper mill. They carried scrap paper to the mill, now they are loaded with new paper products, including cardboard boxes.

An ex- Golden West Service car also sits in the yard, having also been loaded with paper products; in this case, paper towels.

A pair of cement hoppers sit in the yard, waiting to be picked up by a passing freight.

The first one is a leased GATX car, showing its age with the rust along the upper side.

The other hopper is a Blue Circle Cement car. They both delivered to Allante Ready Mix.

A trio of carbon black hoppers sit in the yard, after being picked up from Pete's Plastic. A large order for black sporks was the reason they were there. Note the roof of the first hopper is almost solid rust! It is obviously the oldest of the bunch, and was, in fact built nearly 20 years before the other two. It still has its as-delivered paint, which is why there is so much rust on the car after 40+ years.

A lone plastic pellet hopper sits in the yard. While it still has yet to receive the FRA-compliant conspicuity striping, is does have the modern scourge of vandalism on the side, along with rust streaks.

PASSING TRAINS PT11; OM518

 As mentioned last week, another oil train is rolling through Hillsdale...

OM518, the east-bound crude oil train, enters Hillsdale Yard.

Today's power is a trio of BNSF Dash 9's. The train was delivered to the AP&W in Chicago by the BNSF; it changed crews, but not power.

The lead unit has been repainted into the new black and orange "Powerbar" scheme, the other two are still in their as-delivered green and orange paint.

Just as the power has stayed with the train, so too has the buffer car, an old BNSF hopper.

Chris performs the ground inspection of the train at a safe distance as it rolls past.

The long string of crude oil tank cars follows.

The cars are the newer variants, with end shields to reduce punctures during derailments.

Another old BNSF hopper brings up the rear.

The EOT flashes as the train rolls on its way to Baltimore.

Next week, the final excursion train of the season!

FALL TRAINS

 The trains of fall are running again! And not just the grain trains either...

DB-P103, the Dinner Belle, returns from Cumberland.

With domes on both ends, the train is especially popular during the fall, and a full-length diner car, second from the end, is added to the consist. With actual meals cooked onboard -not pre-cooked food packs- riders get both a restaurant-quality meal and great views of Southwestern Pennsylvania!

And for an extra fee, you can sit in the rear car, and catch the view through the large window -or relax in the reclining seats in the dome!

Another train is EX34; the steam excursion, behind 4-4-0 34. While the train runs from spring through summer with just the two open coaches, the closed coach is added during the fall season to meet demand. The AP&W's line between Pittsburgh and Cumberland runs through a lot of rural -and undeveloped- country side, crossing plenty of creeks, streams and several rivers, making it an ideal route for rail tours -just so long as they don't interfere with the profitable freight trains!

A true fall train is HL06, the local oil train, which now originates in Uniontown.

Led by genset 300, the train of tank cars rolls through the yard on the way to the Snake Oil oil dealership with a load of heating oil for the winter ahead.

A "borrowed" NS 60' boxcar is on the head end as the required buffer car. Whether NS knows about this or not is unknown.

As usual, the tank cars are of the GATX "Tank Car" design, interconnected by hoses to allow the train to be loaded and unloaded as a unit instead of one car at a time.

Bay window caboose 4368 brings up the rear, also as usual. This caboose is usually assigned to this train when it is running fall through spring; during the summer months it often works local and transfer freights between Pittsburgh and Uniontown.

Next week, another oil train -this time a big one!

PASSING TRAINS PT10; GX408 PT2

 The rest of GX408...

An Northern Oklahoma hopper, purchased second hand, is followed by a car leased from GATX by the Union Pacific. The CMO reporting marks were inherited from the CNW with the 1995 merger. The Northwestern, in turn, got them when they merged with the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha -aka the 'Omaha Road'- in 1972, after nearly a century of control.

More UP hoppers. The first one has high, "anti-graffiti" reporting marks, while the second one is another leased car with CMO marks. The UP uses the CMO marks on leased hopper cars.

Another UP hopper with the reporting marks in the traditional location.

A set of Greenbriar Leasing hoppers, with GBRX reporting marks.

More GATX leasers, this time with GACX reporting marks.

Finally, a set of DM&E (Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern) cars bring up the rear. The DM&E Was formed in 1986 from lines spun off from the C&NW, and was acquired by the Canadian Pacific in 2008, though many of its hoppers are still seen across the country to this day.