Amtrak Train 30 Cab Ride - Pittsburgh to Connellsville

This is an unpublished head end video dating from early 2004, taken aboard Amtrak Train 30, the Capitol Limited, as it makes it way from Pittsburgh, PA to Connellsville, PA. Due to the darkness of the winter morning, my friend never sold this video as a DVD and then left the business shortly thereafter.
Enjoy the remaining B&O CPL signals still in service between SINNS and SODEM as well as the P&LE signals between BRADOCK and SINNS.

[@michaelmorley9363]

Love the drag race at about 23:00 with the BNSF unit. That must've woke up the neighborhood.

[@therookie9276]

Definitely haha

[@Sublette217]

I was a sleeper attendant on 30 in this period. I love this video - it brings back MANY memories. I would have been making up berths at this point.

[@frankconnelly8880]

can I ask you if you can tell me about which way the south bound trains go,like if I was going to Orlando,florida would my train cross over or stay on the same side as the station?

[@charlesheier277]

Amtrak is comfee !!

[@bobpaulino4714]

America had an absolutely amazing transportation network. The idea that everyone 'needed' the convenience of personal transportation, the abundance of vehicles, and society's shift to instant gratification after WW ll along with the subsidized interstate highway network (after Eisenhower had seen the autobahn) were all factors in the demise of our intricate system. I personally wish we could go back ---

[@amtrak706]

Wow that is one of the best K5LAs I have ever heard! Very clean sounding and perfectly in tune. Awesome to listen to the echo of it blasting around overpasses and buildings.

[@PositionLight]

I know, right?

[@diegopacheco3314]

That's because it's smack in the middle of the city

[@daveporter8351]

Some of the best videos I ever got were behind st. Vincents...on the high bridge in latrobe....and in loyalhanna. Conrail 94

[@Erzahler]

I do like watching cab ride videos as a general rule. A couple things that bring me back to these two video subjects: 1) The position light signals, of course! 2) The snow. I grew up in Colorado in the 1970's, railfanning the Burlington Northern and the ATSF (and the occasional Rock Island until it stopped running in 1980). I considered myself fortunate for having railfanned the L-O-O-O-O-N-G BN coal drags in those cold winter months as they came through downtown Colorado Springs (especially, when I was older, having supper with friends at Guiseppe's Old Depot Restaurant!). And from my bedroom window, I could hear the throbbing of the GM 567 prime movers echoing off of the Rampart Range! This video reminds me of those times. 3) Conrail Blue. What could be better than looking out the window at a long Conrail coal drag? I'm sure you eastern mountaineers miss all of that awesome "Conrail Quality" blue as much as we rocky mountaineers miss the forest green of those BN diesels (the EMDs and the Alcos). Just as BN green meant raw power out west, the same could be said for Conrail Blue back east. So, Jersey Mike, as long as you keep showing these two videos, I'll keep watching them.

[@PositionLight]

Thank you!

[@georgesealy4706]

I grew up in California, PA, which is near Connellsville. So, it was interesting for me to take this train ride. Winter in western PA is exactly as we see it in this video: snow and many dark, gray days when the sun is just a little bright spot behind the clouds. I have been in all the towns along which this train travels. The Youghiogheny River mentioned by the guys in the cab is a beautiful river and is a favorite for white water rafting further upstream.

[@wurlitzer1538]

Really neat as you head through the city going by three different types of signals from the Pennsy, B&O, and P&LE all within a couple miles!

[@conrailbostonline6048]

Great video! I used to get stuck at or near the crossing gate (on purpose) every morning when this train went through West Newton Pa! Early 2004 however, i was in Iraq. Rolling through West Newton brought back some great memories! Thank you

[@richardfazio2417]

I've grown up in the Pittsburgh Westmoreland County area and it's actually cool to see how that train ride is I didn't think it took that long though but it's pretty cool to see all the areas by trains you that I used to go on as a kid and as a young adult

[@christopherbentley7289]

My first ever U.S. train journey on YT and what a treat it was! I usually follow those in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, having a close connection therewith via my music blogging interests, so this - to some extent scenery-wise - fairly took me back to my favourite trip to the Czech Republic and Slovakia in January 2017 what with frozen-over rivers (-21°C in Žilina!)! You'll probably gather from that spelling, 'favourite' and my use of °C and not °F that I'm on the other side of the Water! ;-) I also loved the way that the houses were right beside the track, which is also typical of what one sees in those countries, more so than here in the UK.

[@PositionLight]

Glad you enjoyed the trip xD

[@christopherbentley7289]

@@PositionLight I'm forwarding the link on to my brother. I think he'll be as amazed as he was by another very snowy one I linked off to him of the Křižanov-Studenec trip, in the Czech Republic, taken on the very same day (18th January 2017) as I'd been on a train from Bratislava to Žilina over the border in Slovakia, during which journey I noticed that the very large Váh had its banks frozen-over. Three days later I was closer to that route when I went on a train from Praha hlavní nádraží to Žďár nad Sázavou, where the Sázava was completely frozen-over! A very recommendable scenic trip in winter, passing through what some in the Czech Republic consider to be the nation's most beautiful rail station, at Světlá nad Sázavou.

[@shauntrailskinner9645]

@@PositionLight Great video, although the "coughing" drove me nuts.🥴

[@B-and-O-Operator-Fairmont]

I never cared that this video lacks some of the "polish" of the Final Product. It is always a pleasure to watch this anytime I want to take a cab ride over former B&O trackage. The videography is still quite good, the details (signals) show up well, and the sound is superb. My only minor complaint is I wish he had kept the tape running early on to see that RoadRailer go completely by and the signal at Solomon change from STOP to Approach Medium.

[@johnt8060]

Great video. My father was a fireman on the P&LE during the days of the steam engine. He worked the same route. I would take him from Connellsville to DC in the fall. We would have dinner in Union Station if time allowed then catch the west bound back to Connellsville.

[@OldSchool-px1xk]

I have watched this now a couple of times, still finding it one of the best US cab ride videos on KZbin

[@PositionLight]

+OldSchool1500 Thanks.

[@WSchamps]

+Jersey Mike's Rail Videos Do you have to live in a big city to get a job with Amtrak? And do they require you to have a degree in anything to be a conductor or waiter?

[@PositionLight]

+1979WSchamps I'm sure a degree helps, but railroads still have entry level positions. Crews are often based out of major cities so living there will be a big plus.

[@davarph]

Living in Cali on the Mojave desert gives incredible train watching 24/7, but not the feel of my past NE home and grey wintry days that are great to nap!!! 😂 This video is great to watch and end up dozing off to. It’s not boring, it just reminds me of how warm and dreary things were.

[@daveporter8351]

What a ride....I love it...absolute pros

[@GVMGVM-dl1iu]

Thanks for posting. These videos are always relaxing to watch.

[@ChadQuick270W]

Superb! Thanks so much for shooting this video and for sharing it with us. Great ride through Pennsylvania

[@AdamKlimchock]

This is awesome, my friend! Thank you so much for sharing this!

[@stripervince1]

Boy those old seaboard position lights 🚥 need to be updated. I was a conductor for CP on the other side of Pennsylvania some years ago on the Sunbury sub, on NS track going to Harrisburg, we would get some of the wildest signals you ever saw. Shit like medium, medium, approach medium, or three flashing diagonal yellows over a red yellow and green. We had to break out the signal chart many times. As soon as we got back to CP (D&H) territory along the susquehanna River, it was normal single head H2 signals again. Excellent video. Lots of great stuff. Signals, talking to dispatchers, switching. I'm retired now but boy was Pennsylvania great for trains, but dreary and ickey. Florida's better. UPDATE after watching this video again, I can’t believe how old, dirty, dreary, filthy and depressing Pennsylvania was, this is a great train video, but it’s so gray, it looks like it’s in black and white. Yuk. Don’t miss the place one bit

[@stevenmichael2845]

Very nice video, saw a lot and learned a couple things along the way.

[@donaldmilhoan6379]

I really enjoyed watching this video!!! Thank u so much!!! Beautiful PA.

[@Andrew_G4CH]

Oh wow.. I didn't know that the PGH -> HAR and PGH -> COV runs split so early on.. Thanks for the share!

[@LouisDefaux]

2004-2019 your awesome video isn't growing old hasn't aged a bit and always please us.

[@Theoriginaltkg2902]

Used to ride over this route at night on the B&O Capitol Limited and Ambassador and once or twice on the Shennandoah . They made better time, but, of course, back then it was their railroad!

[@ebt12]

Very enjoyable video. I'm happy to see it was published in some form for us to see. An advantage I see of this being taken in Winter, despite the low angle of the Sun and many places in shadow, the lack of vegetation and leaves on the trees allows for objects that would be hidden in Spring and Summer to be seen.

[@nostalgiarailvideos4612]

1:00:10 You are going through the HOG PEN and right past Jackmp294.5's house. This is also the location of a Railstream Web Cam. Awesome!

[@refunchecked2722]

Just took this exact route just a few days ago. It’s amazing watching it from such a different time, seeing everything that’s different and everything that’s barely changed at all. Buildings and bridges above and below. Some of the roads and the state of some buildings are still practically identical

[@ericn9vjg]

Been on this route as a passenger many times. Cool to see it from the engineer POV. Thanks.

[@moonspots01]

Wonderful! I love those B&O CPL signals. Since this is from 2004, they are probably mostly gone now?Also, at Glenwood, the line splits to the right across the Mon. It once went all the way to Wheeling, WV and was very, very busy. I lived above Streets Run valley and used to love watching the trains. There were two tracks then as well. Great memories. You never really leave the 'burgh...

[@davehollick3926]

My parents now live less than 100 yards from this line near mile post 304. My mom grew up in West Newton.

[@RWSBaden]

@Jersey Mike, thank you for posting the two Amtrak videos between Pittsburgh and Cumberland. I live in the Pittsburgh area and I'm very familiar with all of the railroads that serve Pittsburgh. It was nice to see the route of Amtrak's Capital Limited from the engineers point of view, thank you.

[@nedseagoon2826]

I would say this is the BEST video from Drivers view from a AMTRAK train I have seen. Once you get use to the terminology used, it is amazing how much information there is. The weather may have been disappointing but to me who has never seen snow from a train, it was quite spectacular. Any more like this ?

[@PositionLight]

+ned seagoon This has a part 2 and I just posted a Raritan Valley Line video. BTW, what terminology?

[@nedseagoon2826]

Part 2 certainly is a WOW. This route through the valleys of the Appalachian Mountains ( have I got this right?) certainly is spectacular . Terminology used in USA a lot different .Thanks. Ernie

[@flyingspotscanner]

Know this route from watching trackside. Great to see it from the head end. Thanks!

[@henrylewis1256]

Jersey Mike's Rail Videos I truly Enjoy watching Both parts of these videos,This must have been quite a Incredible Journey to be able to ride and film inside of these Amtrak Trains What view And the scenery in these videos are amazing I keep watching the videos over and over again at least 25 times +, It seems like I'm inside here too the engineer was real friendly,Nice Job I'd sure would like to see more just like these from 7 years ago Thanks for sharing.Stay Safe 👍👍👍👍👍

[@joijaxx]

Thanks I enjoyed this video, I love trains 🚂

[@GevoGenesis92]

That's one hell of a horn show!

[@Dansvideos03]

I’m obsessed with this video now!

[@sandmankelley9663]

I look forward to watching this video. Thanks for posting~!

[@parkerjon29]

Love the sounds in this video!

[@ACLTony]

That is a sweet sounding K5LA horn. Neat because a number of Amtrak's K5s are in serious need of retuning.

[@skeetjeffcitysub86]

ACLTony yes they are in need of tuning

[@KutWrite]

Ahhh... Memories. I trained as a freight conductor through there in 1998. I ran, between Cumberland and New Castle. Funny to see some of the old position light signals still operating. Tey were replacing them with Chessie color-light signals. Now, it's Chessie all the way through. The house they used for exteriors for "Buffalo Bill's" house in "Silence of the Lambs" is just east of West Newton. It was either at about 1:08 or 1:15, I couldn't tell. It'd be a yellow house on the left side of th picture in this video. I remember there was a disused third track, a siding, that was still active when they shot the film. There was also a caboose in someone's yard across the tracks (on our right). But I didn't see the caboose in this video. Later, in 2006 - 2009, I was one of the "Operator V.I." folks, like the one you hear PO030 talking to at about 1:32 in this video. All but one of us got laid off when they finished the signals and put the area under Dispatcher control. Due to the shutdown of coal mines (EPA regs) 129 train crew also got laid off that day. Tough for a little town like Connellsville.

[@douglasalan5783]

Thrilling to watch. Some slow going in the first 15 miles leaving Pittsburgh. So many interlockings. Quite a departure from the NEC.

[@jamesmiller6834]

I know Connellsville from my childhood. Dad's father was engineer on B & O from 1905 until 1954. My Mom's dad was the station master at Smithton until the mid to late 40's.

[@danielcarter5973]

This was truly a good trip,it seems so real because it is

[@jmcfarlandjr]

Great video. Really enjoyed it.

[@irelandbloke]

Excellent videos !

[@werksdesign]

Great video. Thanks for sharing.

[@RollerCoasterLineProductions]

Great video. The trains route leaving Pittsburgh was driving me nuts. Watched this video while using an interactive RR map on my ipad to follow along. Very interesting and informative

[@PositionLight]

Thanks! Glad it was helpful.

[@mikegonzales8458]

two thumbs up great videos and great railroad videos

[@elendtrainrally9017]

This is what we're waiting for. The magic man is back! Amtrak leaves Pittsburgh and the crowd goes wild! Is the cafe car open? It is!

[@TravisSteamAddict91]

Thank you SO much for sharing this.

[@PositionLight]

howardkevinm What, post a cab video?

[@tomassoc127]

that as well as along such a historic piece of rail.

[@RenegadeChauffeur]

Used to date a girl in the Pittsburgh suburbs. LOVE seeing the Pittsburgh area. Great video!!

[@theaveragerailfanner7447]

cool to see what the route from Pittsburgh looks like. I'm in Illinois.

[@mikeyjoe44]

As real as it gets. HIGHBALL YOUR ROLL-BYE. It was nice going through My old neighborhood, rather what's left of it.

[@GevoGenesis92]

56:17 Shout-out to the UPS Driver for waiting safely for the train to pass.

[@TessasDaddy7132]

Love the Conrail locomotives at the beginning.

[@bigB6flyer]

That side by side meet up with the BNSF was really cool.

[@davidausterman5915]

Thx for posting this up

[@scottmihalsky3612]

Fantastic video

[@supplysarge]

Enjoyed the ride!

[@yamahonkawazuki]

this sound is so mesmerising.

[@johnainsworth6483]

Guy Mitchell,"pawnshop on a corner in Pittsburg,PA" Good Luck getting THAT song out of your head!!

[@herzschlagerhoht5637]

Fantastic, thank you!

[@blackwaterken]

To all those commentators complaining about all the horn blowing, To not do that would invite car-train accidents and the ensuing lawsuit by the surviving family members wanting retribution for killing their family member! Simply spoken, getting the distracted person's attention, before they kill themselves!!!!

[@CrazyBear65]

For someone like me, who grew up in and around Pittsburgh, this video is cool as fuck. I'm watching you pull out from the station, and I'm going, "You're going east, following the East Busway. Hey! There goes a slinky bus! Now you're going thru Panther Hollow. I did a lot of drinking and partying there in the early 80s. Walked thru that tunnel, tripping on purple microdot! Down thru Greenfield, thru Hazelwood, under the Glenwood Bridge, Homestead High Level Bridge.. Yep, fished all along there. Thru McKeesport, turn left.. You're on the old B&O mainline going up the Yough, anat. Fished all along there too. B&O ran right past my aunt & uncle's house in Dawson. I used to watch the big blue EMD F7s going by in the early 70s. Stayed in Connellsville for a minute, in a rat hole building right by the tracks. The roof was infested with pigeons. That was it on the left there, right before you stopped. Your video brings back a lotta memories for me dude. Thanks for posting it. I subbed.

[@PositionLight]

So glad you found it enjoyable!

[@amtrakamerica1913]

Nice train race!

[@Dansvideos03]

I watch this every day

[@PositionLight]

Thank you!

[@sergeyp5297]

благодарю автора за интересное видеопутешествие...) еду дальше - в Cumberland...

[@frankconnelly8880]

since you were driving the train,would you know if the amtrack trains going south cross over the river or stay on the side where the amtrack station is?

[@TH-jt8eb]

Great video. Serves as a time machine compared to Walt Berkos head end video from 1985-86 on this route. The graphics were difficult to read at times.

[@drummerboi74136]

i love trains nice video

[@alexander1485]

shame there are general rules that allow a person not to do this, id be doing it all the time if i could ;)

[@user-wm7bc3yh7c]

At 22:55 that was a cool little surprise.. imagine how loud that must have been with both blowing at the same time

[@timothystark4475]

Yeah! I rode that train many times before.

[@ianowen2543]

Brillent video

[@Narpets2112]

Love the video and thanks for posting. Question: what is the single light on top of the position light masts for?

[@PositionLight]

Bill Griffin The B&O Color Position Light system uses the color-position of the central target to indicate block state and then uses the orbitals to indicate speed. The 12 o'clock orbital is lit for full speed movements.

[@Narpets2112]

Okay, thanks.

[@jeremydes100]

All these people complaining about the speed or lack thereof..remember two things.1. Europe was almost annihilated in ww2 and needed to be rebuilt. Newer infrastructure. In America it's not like that.2. Amtrak is a federal institution..enough said. But still a great video!!!

[@SupernalOne]

don't blame Amtrak speed on the Federal Government, the track is owned by CSX and their freight traffic gets priority

[@DanielleMoren]

jeremy desrochers meh, sweden didn't suffer in war, and yet we still have a up-to-date rail system

[@KutWrite]

You're mistaken. I was a Control Operator at VI (Connellsville). Every CSX train had to yield to Amtrak. If in doubt, or it seemed at all like they'd slow down an Amtrak, we pulled our trains over to let Amtrak zip by. I pissed off more than one train crew by being even slightly cautious. Passenger trains often have a higher speed limit, too on the same track as a freight. Thus, we have to let Amtrak by to not make them go slowly behind a freight. Now, as to track maintenance, you'd be right. Passenger trains need much wider curves and smoother rails to make, say 80mph. That costs a LOT of money to upgrade, and CSX has to pay that themselves. Only Amtrak gets a subsidy. They do pay to use the rails, though it ain't much. If it were up to the freight companies, they'd let Amtrak build their own right of way.

[@douglasfrazier2856]

thanks for that correction, glad to hear it from one who knows

[@froggleggers1805]

compare the distances and size of the country, that is why.

[@SupernalOne]

ha, at 1:02:27 I thought there was about to be a wreck, the train obviously is falling over

[@48censor]

I like this on my big 42 inch screen tv

[@daveporter8351]

My gr uncle ...marv would have loved this...erie Lackawanna and pennsyin50s n60s in oil city pa

[@harrychest4303]

Is this the the old PAT line? I have a video of the PAT with their comet cars, and F Unit in the front, plus about 3 passengers

[@michaelmorley9363]

The PATrain used this line west of Laughlin Junction to Versailles.

[@MS-xi7zg]

Ha! When I was a kid one of our dares was to walk through the Schenley Tunnel from Oakland/Panther Hollow to Bloomfield. It was pitch black and a bit creepy.

[@ebt12]

The signals at East Schenley and Field were replaced in early July 2016.

[@mikegonzales8458]

I love the railroad I love to ride on trains

[@juanratliff9000]

Mike Gonzales I like trains to and my favorite line is the Northeast Corridor I saw a lot of freight trains and passenger trains and work trains on the Northeast Corridor near New Brunswick New Jersey near County Interlocking

[@vettebecker1]

great job, love the BNSF race at 23:00. At 1:02:27, I thought we were derailing!!!

[@coolleo149]

It’s not that. It’s because the camera is not leveled correctly

[@raucousraptor]

great video, but I wonder how smooth it was? Everything go well?

[@eltoro6688]

SWEET Train Race through Braddock at 23:13!

[@SixFeetUndr101]

Yeah that was cool! Almost as if they were drag racing! =]

[@Dansvideos03]

I really like the bell!

[@amtrak706]

I agree, the late 90s GE steel bells were really cool sounding. Dash 9s and AC4400/AC6000s also have them, as do some of the early GEVOs

[@michaelwynne7335]

What do the milepost markers look like? I've been looking, but I can't see any.

[@PositionLight]

Iron pylon things?

[@BrooklynPerson30000]

interesting to see so many cabooses in 2004

[@KutWrite]

On CSX their doors are welded shut. They are used only as "shoving platforms," a place for the conductor to stand and watch while trains make long rearward moves. He even has his own horn to blow for crossings. They are regarded nostalgically by the crews, though.

[@thenekom]

I've only ever seen them switching the Mon line, they go as far south as Newell, I think it's just a local. Haven't seen any on unit coal trains, CSX or otherwise, since I was a kid.

[@victoriacyunczyk]

Here in Chicago we still have trains with cabooses, like a local on the Santa Fe main line that still runs with an ATSF caboose. A few days ago I filmed it in Joliet, IL, with crew inside the caboose.

[@shawndepaoli224]

Their are lots of tracks

[@NS9213]

What River is that that always appears on the Right during this video? Great head end view of the CSX Main.

[@PositionLight]

Youghiogheny

[@NS9213]

Thanks Mike.

[@chefjaike]

squirrel ftw!!! :)

[@bagnome]

I liked that racing there around 23 minutes.

[@iflick7235]

Some sad little towns on this route. One home looks as if you could walk out the front door and get hit by this very train.

[@KutWrite]

Yeah, I used to be on train crews through there & felt badly for them when we blasted our horns at 2am. Some towns, like McKeesport, have horn restrictions, so we didn't blow there. Speaking of run-down homes, The house they used for exteriors for "Buffalo Bill's" house in "Silence of the Lambs" is just east of West Newton. It was either at about 1:08 or 1:15, I couldn't tell. It'd be a yellow house on the left side of the picture in this video. I remember there was a disused third track, a siding, that was still active when they shot the film. There was also a caboose in someone's yard across the tracks (on our right). But I didn't see the caboose in this video.

[@CrazyBear65]

Sad little towns... Like Dawson, where my aunt & uncle used to live. Their house was about 50 feet from the B&O tracks. I used to watch the trains go by when I was a kid in the 70s. We used to fish all along the Yough, over on the other side, until they took the tracks out and made it into a goddamn yuppy bicycle trail...

[@richardleverett5932]

CrazyBear65 p

[@mikechermonitz3065]

CrazyBear65 sad little towns that made America.....how soon we forget.

[@Theoriginaltkg2902]

Used to be in the wee hours at night they would just whistle 6 shorts like 00-00-00 when i used ride through there on 19 & 20 , but guess that all changed after 1968.

[@jamesmdean1987]

Between 59:00 and the 1 hour mark, the train passes through a town where a railfan has uploaded several videos from. One of my favorites being Amtrak 145 in the lead but I am unable to find it, nor can I remember which railfan it is on here.

[@jschruefer5668]

+James Dean I know who you mean, it should be jackmp294.5

[@michaelsandford1015]

good video

[@davidmurray6829]

@Jersey Mike`s Rail Videos My question for you is: While Filming Amtrak Trains from Pittsburgh,PA to Cumberland,MD in the year of Early 2004- What Month did you film Amtrak P42DC Cab ride from Pittsburgh,PA to Cumberland,PA During Winter of Early 2004?

[@PositionLight]

January.

[@davidmurray6829]

@@PositionLight In January Is it the year 2004?

[@PositionLight]

@@davidmurray6829 Yes, 2004

[@nycsubwayproduction3507]

Was you on a P40DC or P42DC locomotive

[@michaelparker5059]

Great Video WAY TO BLOW THAT HORN cal Amtrack Enginers Dont Blow Thim Like U DO GOOD JOB.