Bennington PA 10.08.18: Critter-Infested

[@litespan466]

2 years ago in April I drove all the way to the cemetery , hiked a short distance to the overlook . Be advised there are timber rattlers in the area .

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

On one of my first visits there, we found a full-length snakeskin hanging off the side of the ledge where I place my tripod. On a separate trip, I was hiking back and face-planted into the leaves after tripping over a log. There were no snakes around, but I have never gotten to my feet faster than I did that day.

[@litespan466]

We were with 2 young freight conductors. from csx , they were railfanning the NS port road line. One of them stepped on a copperhead . Kid jumped in the air and the snake struck bottom of his boot

[@Mikey300]

I wonder when the last time was that the eastbound Pennsylvanian went down The Slide. That would be something worth seeing, but it would require Track 2 to be out of service (between MO and MG, I think).

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

Good question, I'll have to ask around and see if anyone can recall when that last happened. They would certainly need to cross back over at some point to board at the station in Altoona.

[@Mikey300]

Google Maps appears to show the crossovers required to get from Main 1 to Main 2 just (railroad) west of ALTO, and I would suppose they would continue to exist with the new CP ALTOONA. Why didn’t they call it CP-ALTO, if they had to put a “CP” on it?

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

A distinguished railfanning colleague of mine came through and produced a picture of his taken on August 10, 2015, when he caught the Pennsylvanian starting down the grade past AR Tower.

[@iusetano]

Excellent video Dave. You made good use of the light. Capturing the colour of the leaves added to the viewing.

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

Thanks! I changed up my technique a little for adjusting saturation, and I really like what it does for the foliage. Sadly, this was about the most leaf color I saw in any location this year.

[@iusetano]

@@FastFlyingVirginian I caught no colour in the fall of 2018. The weather sucked. So much rain and then cold. I'm hoping for an improvement in 2019.

[@mark_wooley001]

great NS video 👍👍 ... hope to visit this location someday

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

It takes a bit of care and effort to get there, but it's worth the trip. I'm not sure I would recommend it for a casual train-watcher, but for someone looking for a good photo and video location it's well worth it.

[@debbiedarrah6518]

Where's the critters?

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

It is a reference to the track maintenance machines that were parading down the mountain in the first part of the clip.

[@JTTheRailfan]

Cool mow looked like ballasting eq. Did you have to hike to this location

[@FastFlyingVirginian]

You can drive as far as a gate blocking motor vehicle access to the gamelands, then its a hike back through the woods.

[@JTTheRailfan]

@@FastFlyingVirginian ok I'll have to check it out next time I go on a trip in PA thanks. I looked up looks to be right around the corner from tunnel hill