pjkaz177
L035 // 84 Lumber, Tonawanda, NY
Niagara Yard's afternoon industry road runner L035 spots one loaded TBOX at 84 Lumber's Tonawanda, NY location at last light following heavy rainfalls which left behind a small gift in the gauge.
Prior to 2022, daylight shots here were hard to come by, with steel coil customer DKP almost always being the first stop for this job on the southbound journey. DKP was located about a mile south of 84 Lumber, however on track two rather than off of track one like all the other customers L035 caters to. With the closure of Kenmore Yard's office in late 2020, this job's former iteration Y234 was moved to Niagara Falls as its base, merging with a job already based out of Niagara at the time Y203. DKP was one of the most consistently worked customers on the Branch, almost always on the three days a week it was allotted. With 84 Lumber more of as-needed stop, DKP took precedence since the remainder of the evening's work is otherwise off of track one. On days when the crew had both to work, they would do DKP first thing, spin the train at Blackrock and head back north on track one (barring a necessary shove move into the Kam Siding at CP 8), complete their northbound track one work, lock in on the Lockport Industrial Runner north of 84, run around at the end of the industrial, open back up onto track one at QDN 14.1, then work 84 Lumber as their last customer stop on the second trip south to spin again, before returning north to Niagara. In this order of operations, 84 was virtually always left in the dark. In March of 2022 CSX made sweeping symbol changes across its system, converting Y203 to L035. In summer of that year, DKP succumbed to supply chain shortages and took a pause on rail service for a brief time, returning for a few months before finally giving it up for good. Ever since, 84 Lumber is now always the first customer L035 can work going south, with no work off of track two required any longer. The only things left to work on track two are the myriad of customers jutting off of Kenmore Yard (or what's left of it), covered by first shift Niagara job Y136 these days. Both that job and L035 share the same PTC power five days a week, unless Y136 is late to return after L035 goes on duty. But that condition is only fulfilled if there are two PTC units at Niagara, which up until this year has not been a regular thing since the symbol changes in 2022. A brief history of operations for ya.
Only once in April 2021 did I ever hear of DKP skipping a day of rail service, which allowed for my first opportunity to shoot 84 Lumber, and ultimately failed as I didn't find the right path back to the tracks in time. The closest access points to the spur are either walking south straight down the right of way from the nearest road crossing, or my preferred and much more discreet method, climbing down a small embankment behind the storage unit lot directly next to 84, emerging right onto the switchback siding into the customer. On that particular occasion I instead elected to drive right into 84's lot and walk the tracks next to the building, which was met with a disgruntled employee informing me they were locking up at that moment. I was not afforded another chance for over a year till May 9th, 2022 as part of a full sunrise to sunset unforgettable day of railfanning. This was a special circumstance which saw both 84 and DKP worked back to back. Due to repaving projects for the major road crossings on the Lockport Industrial in North Tonawanda, the customers on the industrial would not be getting served that day, leaving L035 with only three customer stops all within three miles. Being up at Niagara at the time of departure, I spotted the loaded centerbeam they had with them from afar and my face lit right up when they told dispatch their first stop would be 84. Following their stop there, they would go down to CP 9 and use the handthrow crossover switches to switch to track two, then shove back north a mile to DKP. Their last stop that day was Aurubis on the Kam Siding at CP 8 after turning the train. With all three customers switched well before sunset, it was an early trip back to Niagara for the quit. That was 2022 though. The shot above is 2025. The only other thing to note is that box cars have separate designated placement spots than centerbeams for unloading. The engine doesn't normally get this deep into the spur, as half the time they work here with other cars on the head end, sticking out a bit on the curve. It certainly made for a unique angle, and one I haven't seen again this year, nor ever before that evening. The puddle reflection perfectly still between the rails was just a little bonus. I swear I never start off these posts thinking I have that much to say, but the details naturally flow forth.
L035 // 84 Lumber, Tonawanda, NY
Niagara Yard's afternoon industry road runner L035 spots one loaded TBOX at 84 Lumber's Tonawanda, NY location at last light following heavy rainfalls which left behind a small gift in the gauge.
Prior to 2022, daylight shots here were hard to come by, with steel coil customer DKP almost always being the first stop for this job on the southbound journey. DKP was located about a mile south of 84 Lumber, however on track two rather than off of track one like all the other customers L035 caters to. With the closure of Kenmore Yard's office in late 2020, this job's former iteration Y234 was moved to Niagara Falls as its base, merging with a job already based out of Niagara at the time Y203. DKP was one of the most consistently worked customers on the Branch, almost always on the three days a week it was allotted. With 84 Lumber more of as-needed stop, DKP took precedence since the remainder of the evening's work is otherwise off of track one. On days when the crew had both to work, they would do DKP first thing, spin the train at Blackrock and head back north on track one (barring a necessary shove move into the Kam Siding at CP 8), complete their northbound track one work, lock in on the Lockport Industrial Runner north of 84, run around at the end of the industrial, open back up onto track one at QDN 14.1, then work 84 Lumber as their last customer stop on the second trip south to spin again, before returning north to Niagara. In this order of operations, 84 was virtually always left in the dark. In March of 2022 CSX made sweeping symbol changes across its system, converting Y203 to L035. In summer of that year, DKP succumbed to supply chain shortages and took a pause on rail service for a brief time, returning for a few months before finally giving it up for good. Ever since, 84 Lumber is now always the first customer L035 can work going south, with no work off of track two required any longer. The only things left to work on track two are the myriad of customers jutting off of Kenmore Yard (or what's left of it), covered by first shift Niagara job Y136 these days. Both that job and L035 share the same PTC power five days a week, unless Y136 is late to return after L035 goes on duty. But that condition is only fulfilled if there are two PTC units at Niagara, which up until this year has not been a regular thing since the symbol changes in 2022. A brief history of operations for ya.
Only once in April 2021 did I ever hear of DKP skipping a day of rail service, which allowed for my first opportunity to shoot 84 Lumber, and ultimately failed as I didn't find the right path back to the tracks in time. The closest access points to the spur are either walking south straight down the right of way from the nearest road crossing, or my preferred and much more discreet method, climbing down a small embankment behind the storage unit lot directly next to 84, emerging right onto the switchback siding into the customer. On that particular occasion I instead elected to drive right into 84's lot and walk the tracks next to the building, which was met with a disgruntled employee informing me they were locking up at that moment. I was not afforded another chance for over a year till May 9th, 2022 as part of a full sunrise to sunset unforgettable day of railfanning. This was a special circumstance which saw both 84 and DKP worked back to back. Due to repaving projects for the major road crossings on the Lockport Industrial in North Tonawanda, the customers on the industrial would not be getting served that day, leaving L035 with only three customer stops all within three miles. Being up at Niagara at the time of departure, I spotted the loaded centerbeam they had with them from afar and my face lit right up when they told dispatch their first stop would be 84. Following their stop there, they would go down to CP 9 and use the handthrow crossover switches to switch to track two, then shove back north a mile to DKP. Their last stop that day was Aurubis on the Kam Siding at CP 8 after turning the train. With all three customers switched well before sunset, it was an early trip back to Niagara for the quit. That was 2022 though. The shot above is 2025. The only other thing to note is that box cars have separate designated placement spots than centerbeams for unloading. The engine doesn't normally get this deep into the spur, as half the time they work here with other cars on the head end, sticking out a bit on the curve. It certainly made for a unique angle, and one I haven't seen again this year, nor ever before that evening. The puddle reflection perfectly still between the rails was just a little bonus. I swear I never start off these posts thinking I have that much to say, but the details naturally flow forth.