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SARE // Fancy Tract Rd
B&P SARE is southbound the old B&O Third Sub heading for Ashford Junction, after having worked the nuclear waste plant cleanup site in West Valley, NY. Former high hood GP9 BPRR 926 paired with an SW1500 powers the train south at Pan Am speeds on this day.
Based out of Salamanca, SARE stands for Salamanca Relief job. They run as a local once a week to serve the old nuclear plant up in West Valley, where excavation of toxic soil is being performed, shipped out in these smaller cobalt colored containers loaded onto spine cars. During the spring and summer months, SARE is also responsible for working the stone quarry in Machias.
B&P's Third Sub hails back to the days of B&O and subsequently BR&P, serving as a former mainline between Buffalo and Ashford Junction. The majority of this route ultimately suffered from washouts and poor foundation, putting it out of service in the late '90s, seeing track torn up in the middle portion during the early 2000s. A portion of the north end is still intact for now, running from Buffalo Creek Yard to just north of Orchard Park, where track south of there was torn up as recently as the early 2010s. Prior to that, rail was still in place through and past the station in Orchard Park. A small number of customers existed on this portion, the last one to be served being 84 Lumber in OP. They saw their last cars some time in 2017. As the story goes, 84 needed to make repairs to their switch and track which put service into question. They elected to make those repairs, only to find out that B&P decided to stop serving them. A few years of no traffic passed on the north end until summer of 2021, when storage hoppers began populating the long dormant track. These were SPMX hoppers bound for a cracker plant being built in Monaca, PA. In fact, they elders being stored all over the B&P, and South Buffalo Railway as well. As of January 2024, the hoppers have finally been fully emptied from the line and shipped out, leaving the feature of that portion of the Third Sub in question.
On the south end, from the time B&P abandoned it as a mainline, the track was cut back to just north of West Valley. At times, the line was also used for storage, but mostly sat empty. Unbelnownst to most people, in 2019 a project quietly began to rehab the south end for future usage, as the nuclear plant in West Valley had struck a deal with B&P to have their waste soil shipped out by rail. Funny enough, one of my buddies who now works for CSX had been touting the idea of how cool it would be to see trains again on the Third Sub back then. I told him he was nuts, but I'm happy to have been wrong. On June 24th, 2021 the inaugural train to West Valley ran. My buddy again just happened to be down in Salamanca for SIRI that day when he noticed extra power and nuclear waste containers heading north. Thankfully they had work at Machias first that day which allowed me to race down and intercept them before they would turn north onto the Third Sub for the first time in over ten years. An eventful and historic day which set in motion a multi-year plan for this clean up effort. In that way, the south end of the Third Sub is at least safe for now.
What wasn't safe, however, was the power seen here. GP9s BPRR 926 and 887 were recently sent to be scrapped at Kovalchick in Homer City, PA last week (February 2024). The two geeps, sometimes split up and paired with an end cab, were the mainstay power for SARE throughout the first half of 2023. They would ride down on BFSI out of Buffalo at the end of each week, then be set out by SIRI's crew come Monday morning, along with the nuclear waste cars. The geeps were sidelined in August 2023 and sat for months until taking one final ride this month. I managed to shoot them on four separate chases of SARE during the early months of 2023. This one in particular was merely a detour on my way south for a musical rehearsal. It is without a doubt my favorite shot I've taken at this spot, and only possible for a few months while the trees are barren. As always, shoot what you can while you can. Here today, gone tomorrow.
SARE // Fancy Tract Rd
B&P SARE is southbound the old B&O Third Sub heading for Ashford Junction, after having worked the nuclear waste plant cleanup site in West Valley, NY. Former high hood GP9 BPRR 926 paired with an SW1500 powers the train south at Pan Am speeds on this day.
Based out of Salamanca, SARE stands for Salamanca Relief job. They run as a local once a week to serve the old nuclear plant up in West Valley, where excavation of toxic soil is being performed, shipped out in these smaller cobalt colored containers loaded onto spine cars. During the spring and summer months, SARE is also responsible for working the stone quarry in Machias.
B&P's Third Sub hails back to the days of B&O and subsequently BR&P, serving as a former mainline between Buffalo and Ashford Junction. The majority of this route ultimately suffered from washouts and poor foundation, putting it out of service in the late '90s, seeing track torn up in the middle portion during the early 2000s. A portion of the north end is still intact for now, running from Buffalo Creek Yard to just north of Orchard Park, where track south of there was torn up as recently as the early 2010s. Prior to that, rail was still in place through and past the station in Orchard Park. A small number of customers existed on this portion, the last one to be served being 84 Lumber in OP. They saw their last cars some time in 2017. As the story goes, 84 needed to make repairs to their switch and track which put service into question. They elected to make those repairs, only to find out that B&P decided to stop serving them. A few years of no traffic passed on the north end until summer of 2021, when storage hoppers began populating the long dormant track. These were SPMX hoppers bound for a cracker plant being built in Monaca, PA. In fact, they elders being stored all over the B&P, and South Buffalo Railway as well. As of January 2024, the hoppers have finally been fully emptied from the line and shipped out, leaving the feature of that portion of the Third Sub in question.
On the south end, from the time B&P abandoned it as a mainline, the track was cut back to just north of West Valley. At times, the line was also used for storage, but mostly sat empty. Unbelnownst to most people, in 2019 a project quietly began to rehab the south end for future usage, as the nuclear plant in West Valley had struck a deal with B&P to have their waste soil shipped out by rail. Funny enough, one of my buddies who now works for CSX had been touting the idea of how cool it would be to see trains again on the Third Sub back then. I told him he was nuts, but I'm happy to have been wrong. On June 24th, 2021 the inaugural train to West Valley ran. My buddy again just happened to be down in Salamanca for SIRI that day when he noticed extra power and nuclear waste containers heading north. Thankfully they had work at Machias first that day which allowed me to race down and intercept them before they would turn north onto the Third Sub for the first time in over ten years. An eventful and historic day which set in motion a multi-year plan for this clean up effort. In that way, the south end of the Third Sub is at least safe for now.
What wasn't safe, however, was the power seen here. GP9s BPRR 926 and 887 were recently sent to be scrapped at Kovalchick in Homer City, PA last week (February 2024). The two geeps, sometimes split up and paired with an end cab, were the mainstay power for SARE throughout the first half of 2023. They would ride down on BFSI out of Buffalo at the end of each week, then be set out by SIRI's crew come Monday morning, along with the nuclear waste cars. The geeps were sidelined in August 2023 and sat for months until taking one final ride this month. I managed to shoot them on four separate chases of SARE during the early months of 2023. This one in particular was merely a detour on my way south for a musical rehearsal. It is without a doubt my favorite shot I've taken at this spot, and only possible for a few months while the trees are barren. As always, shoot what you can while you can. Here today, gone tomorrow.