Photographic Locations Railroading In The Reading - Harrisburg PA Area v96.08.01 This covers the entire CR Harrisburg Line from Reading to Harrisburg, Pa. System radio frequencies are: 160.860 (Harrisburg East Dispatcher - CP Blandon / CP Titus to CP Tara); 160.800 (Harrisburg Terminal Dispatcher - CP Tara to Pittsburgh Line); 161.070 (Lehigh Line Dispatcher - Reading Line To CP Blandon); 160.800 (Main Line Dispatcher - Harrisburg Line to CP Titus); 161.070 is used for yard at Spring Street (Reading Yard). READING YARD is still in existence. Lots of cabin cars all around. Oley Tower is still there - MOW base. Traffic note (trains and motor vehicles): Several trains come through the yard to make setouts/pickups. Sunday afternoon (late) and evening has very light motor vehicle traffic on the city streets. There are several parking lots off of N 9th St to pull into. The mainline runs on this side of the yard. Unfortunately, the sun angle is bad at this time of day. READING YARD is called SPRING STREET YARD today. Defect detectors are at Blandon (Reading Line), Mona and Sinking Spring (Harrisburg Line). Photography spots at Reading Yard are not easily listable. It's one of those places where you can try all the angles. A couple of pointers: Get a good Reading city map. Watch out for those one-way streets! Shots behind the Getty gas station on N 9th St are good in the a.m. There is a parking area there. Uncertain of ownership. It provides a decent view of trains coming through the yard. Not very scenic, though. Afternoon affords some shots of equipment at the shops from the 6th St. side, but not much in the way of freight traffic. A nice spot to shoot the WYE is from the 5th St. bridge (Rt. 222 business). Afternoons are prime. [A fabulous distant photo can be taken from Mt. Penn at the Pagoda overlook. Best in am.] Spring St. is a bridge under the railroad. The yard office is here. Shots are at your own risk here. I don't recommend it. Besides, there are other places to shoot which are better and more suited. Some shots can be had from the new Reading Station Outlet Mall parking lot. I also don't recommend videotaping anywhere around the yard unless, of course, you like to get all those big city sounds! READING AREA INTERLOCKINGS Trains can be both easy and difficult to chase around Reading as there are essentially six different routes that trains may take, depending on their origin, destination and stopping points. These routes are: Allentown to Philadelphia - CP BELT, CP TULP, VALLEY JCT, CP CUMRU (or) - CP BELT, OLEY, CP WALNUT, CP TITUS Allentown to Harrisburg - CP BELT, CP TULP, VALLEY JCT, CP WYOMISSING JCT (or) - CP BELT, OLEY, CENTER, CP WYOMISSING JCT Philadelphia to Harrisburg- CP TITUS, CP CUMRU, VALLEY JCT, CP WYOMISSING JCT (or) - CP TITUS, CP WALNUT, CENTER, CP WYOMISSING JCT The reverse routes are inferred. OLEY, CP WALNUT, & CENTER make up the WYE in Reading Yard. The difficult part about chasing trains here is not knowing the train symbol. Without the train symbol you must rely on radio chatter or guess your best as to which route the trains will take. The easy part is the slow train speed and congestion working in your favor. How to get there: VALLEY JCT - Take Buttonwood Av. from the city, go under railroad, turn right into parking lot. Very tight shot - not great. CP TULP (W) - Rt 422 (Business) to Park Rd (near VF Outlet stores), go over tracks on bridge, right on No Wyomissing Blvd, left on 4th, right on Windsor to end. Secondary vantage point just under bridge on No Wyomissing Blvd. Windsor St location is cluttered and tight. Might be OK for effect shots. Secondary location best for morning westbounds. Nice curve. Starting back on Monroe, go away from tracks (don't go under bridge), turn left on Blair Av, , turn left on Carbon St, go to end. CP TULP (E) - Park Rd to Rt 422 East to Rt 222 East (Warren St Bypass), just across bridge make right where right lane dissolves, make right onto Lehigh St, left on Wayne, right on Columbia, left on Monroe (at park entrance), go under tracks, right on gravel road. Shot of bridge afforded here. There's a bike path to walk along. Best for broadside shots until about 14:00. It's somewhat closed in, though (the bridge, that is). CP TITUS & CP CUMRU - I've left these locations to RAILPACE. There was a good article about these in an issue last year, I think. CP WYOMISSING JCT - Rt 422 (Business) to Berks Pl (one block west of N Wyomissing Blvd). NO LEGAL ACCESS here. Best place to shoot is from the parking lot next to the Wyomissing Fire Dept on 422 Business about a half mile west of Park Rd. This location has a decent sun angle. Afternoon westbounds are prime. Radio frequencies are 160.860 (Road); 161.070 (Yard); 160.980 (Reading & Northern). As a reminder, talking defect detectors are at Blandon (Reading Line), Mona, and Sinking Spring (Harrisburg Line). Excess height detectors are at CP Titus, Wyomissing, and CP Belt. READING AREA MAP (Looks best with 50 line display) < TO ALLENTOWN TO PHILADELPHIA > ----------------------- / R E A D I N G Y A R D \ --------------------------------------------------------------------------- \ \ CP BELT OLEY \ / CP WALNUT CP TITUS / \ \ \ / / \ \ \ / / \ \ \ / / \ \ | CENTER / \ \ | / \ \ | | \ \ | | \ \ | | \ \ | | \| | / \ | / \ CP TULP VALLEY | / CP CUMRU ---------------------------]|[-------------------------------- \ JCT / | (TURKEY PATH) TO PHILADELPHIA > ------ / | \ / | \ / | | | | | | | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \ | \| CP WYOMISSING JCT | TO HARRISBURG V FROM CP CP BELT TRACKAGE WEST LAUREL \ \ TO READING YARD \ \ / ._._\______\_________________________________SINGLE TRACK____________/ / \ \ / _._._._._._\___________\______________________TWO RUNNER______________/ READING & NORTHERN \ \ / CONNECTION \ \ SWITCHING LEAD______________/ \ \ \ \_______TWO_____________ \ \ \_________ONE_________ \ \ \ \ \ TO VALLEY JCT VIA CP TULP We'll start out at WYOMISSING JCT and head west. Essentially, the railroad parallels Rt 422 west all the way to Hershey, the furthest distance between the two being about a mile. LAWN: LAWN is in the town of West Lawn, accessible only from Rt 422 eastbound. Heading east out of Sinking Spring, 422 Business (Penn Av) diverges from 422 East (Bypass). Take 422 East. Pull off the road under the Penn Av bridge. Basically, this is just an eastward facing switch on the westbound main with no crossover. The east end of the siding is terminated at WYOMISSING JCT. The railroad stays close to 422 through the entire town. By the way, when you see the old foot bridge 100 yards west of LAWN, don't get your hopes up. It's condemned. SINKING SPRING: Heading west out of West Lawn, Sinking Spring offers a few places to view or shoot. The first is the Dwight St bridge. Park at the Pizza Hut or wherever. Heading west again, turn left at Boscov's (department store) onto Rt 724. Go under tracks, turn right on James St. At stop sign turn right onto S Hull. Grade crossing # 1. At stop sign turn left onto Columbia. Grade crossing # 2. Make first right onto Woodrow Av. Grade crossing # 3. At this grade crossing you will find the Sinking Spring defect detector. Also, you'll notice the Akron Secondary swinging off to the south (it never gets to Akron, PA). The Akron Secondary is now operated by the Lancaster Northern Railway. Getting back onto 422 west, look for Beacon Dr. There's a ShurFine Market (grocery store) just past it. Turn left on Beacon then right on Butternut. At end is a nice view across a field. From here it gets "countryish", with a couple of towns in between. Back to 422 west, turn left on Krick Lane (the other side of the ShurFine). This location makes for a nice, slightly tight photo. WERNERSVILLE: Going back onto 422 west, turn left onto Church Road (just past the Shell gas station). Grade crossing with a double "S" curve at both ends. To the west also is a view of Wernersville Station. Speaking of the station, the next location west of Church Road, it is owned by a car dealer which has left it in disrepair (watch your head). This is truly a place to wait for a train (many others do). You generally won't have to wait long, except if you're looking for one you can ride into Reading! The freight house (or so it seems) is now A&M Pizza, a "what-a-window-seat" kinda place. The pizza is good (the white pie, at least), too. There is a nice shady spot to sit at on, of course, "the other side of the tracks" to steal the phrase. It can be accessed by road by crossing at Werner Street, the crossing at the east end of the station. Shots can be had from almost anywhere, here. Continuing west on 422, turn left onto South Elm St. This takes you trackside at a lumber company. Interesting under-the-ex-bridge shot to the east with the station in the background. Sun is on the wrong side all day except in the summer in the late evening. The next place west is Furnace Road (a few blocks from Elm). Nice tree lined curve to the west. Eastbounds in the AM! The lumber company is to the east. This is a bridge. Heading west on 422, pass Worley Lumber and make the next left onto Point Road. The road goes under the railroad and doesn't really afford a decent photo. It might be o.k. to sit and watch on the south side, though. Back out to 422 west (monotonous, isn't it?). The next road west is Grand Av. Take this to the end and stop, quick! The folks that live down here must nail their dishes to the shelves to keep them from falling off every time a train goes by. The road at the end of Grand Av might as well BE the railroad. The next location west off of 422 is Sportsman Rd. This is a nice wide bridge (there's actually room to park on it) with tangent rail out both directions. Standard photo procedure. Be advised, however, that Wernersville State Hospital (mental health clinic) is right up the road, though they aren't permitted out this far. Finally, going back out to 422 and heading west there is a choice. The first is to stay on 422 until the first public access, the second is to turn left onto Old West Penn Av (the street that cuts off on an angle). Old West Penn keeps you closer to the railroad and may afford a couple of photo possibilities between warehouses and such, while 422 doesn't. The sun is always on the other side, though. ROBESONIA (My Home Town): Coming off of Old West Penn onto 422 west, look for The Blue Velvet Restaraunt. Make the left just at the restaraunt onto Freeman St. This crosses at grade on tangent rail. Nice shooting here. Wide open space. Standard photo procedure. Continue on Freeman St and make the first right onto Meadow Av. Cross the phantom railroad crossing and make the next right onto South Church Street. Go under tracks, make the next right onto Ruth Street (note: sometimes Ruth Street is closed off here - go up one more block to Oak St). Notice the park on your right. It offers wide open (well, almost - poles are on this side) rail photography, with the sun on the wrong side except in the early morning when eastbounds are perfect shots, a nicely placed covered picnic area (eat, watch and shoot) with a low fence at the tracks, a playground for junior, etc. A nice family place! At the east end of the park is South Robeson St. Turning left will bring you to (you guessed it!) Rt 422 and the local UniMart for munchies, drinks, and fuel. A quick comment: "Standard Procedure" means best shots are eastbounds in the morning, westbounds in the evening, whatever you can in afternoon. Before getting into Womelsdorf, we'll pick up at the western edge of Robesonia. Following Rt 422 west (OH NO! NOT AGAIN!) from GettyMart, look for a "billboard farm" on the left. At this point the railroad is about 75 feet from the road. There is a ridge between the road and rails which is deceptive. It appears as if no shot is possible due to brush. It fooled me at first. Climb over the ridge for a pleasant surprise. Nice long curve both ways. Standard procedure for shots but, the ridge is on the north side of the tracks. WOMELSDORF Heading west from the billboard farm on, yep, 422 (the last time for about 20 miles or so), go past the Heidelberg Family Restaurant about a quarter mile and turn left onto Hill Rd (there's a gas station at the corner). Hill Rd has a bridge over the railroad. Don't park on it, unless your car has no value! Tangent rail to the west, distant curve to the east. Standard photo procedure. Continuing to the "T", turn right onto Ryeland Rd. Road parallels the tracks about 3/4 mile. Watch for graveled opening on right near end. This is the location where Womelsdorf Station used to be. There's a siding here which is used by local jobs. Tangent rail both directions; south side exposure. Standard procedure. Note: CR sometimes parks MOW equipment, excess hoppers, and local trains here, effectively blocking any photo possibilities (the siding is south of the main). Follow Ryeland Rd to the stop sign, turn left onto Bethany Rd. This winds around a farm or three. The railroad is visible through a couple of open areas which make for nice across-the-field shots (telephoto). Watch for street on right (E. Memorial). Turn here. You'll see a rather large factory type complex. This is a brick plant. Turn right just before the complex. There's no street name sign here. Follow this (bumpy) road around the factory to grade crossing. Nice sweeping curve to the west, tangent to the east. Standard procedure. This is the "Klopps" siding location, if you hear it mentioned on the radio. Continuing out this road, you'll come to a reverse "Y" in the road. This is Rt 419. If you wish to get to the nearest (and only) McDonald's, turn right (actually, it's go straight). Follow signs for 419 North. It jogs through Womelsdorf and comes out at Rt 422, where the McD's is. Note the ex CR, ex PC, nee NYNH&H, now painted Reading, cabin car on the lot. NEWMANSTOWN If food isn't important (read: the defect detector in Myerstown just sounded), turn left at the reverse "Y". Rt 419 South crosses the railroad on a bridge about a quarter mile up. Nice curve to the east. Tight, in between the treelines to the west. There's also a fence on the west side. Be careful. Rt 419 has traffic. Just over the bridge, turn right onto Alumni Av. At stop sign turn right onto Ash. Across the field shot just before the grade crossing for westbounds. Standard procedure at the crossing. Back out to Alumni, turn right, go to stop sign, turn right onto Sheridan Rd. SHERIDAN After passing a few openings between houses and trees, look for a road on right just as you start down a steep hill. This road (more like a wide driveway to the apartment building here) will take you trackside at the Sheridan shanty. Still operative, the shanty is manned whenever trackwork closes down either main and reverse running is necessary. Sheridan is essentially the only full crossover location between Wyomissing and Wall (Lebanon). The crossovers are hand operated! Nothing like "mainline railroad", huh? Relatively wide open area for photos. Tangents both ways. Standard procedure. Just don't get the operator nervous if he's there. I've not spoken with anyone there myself, so I don't know how they might react. Back on Sheridan Rd, continue down the hill, noting the neat three bore fill on the right. Nothing on the other side, really. RICHLAND Sheridan Rd becomes E. Linden St. Go about 3/4 mile, watch for open area on right with nice across the field shot. Turn right at intersection. One of my favorite photo spots is at the crest of this road (Sonnen's Lane; with no street name sign, incidentally). Also, at the grade crossing is a nice spot for westbounds. Go back to E. Linden, turn right. About a half mile up look for a CR's/Texaco station on left. Make the following right onto Main St. Main St intersects Race St at the grade crossing which intersects those 90 deg streets at 45 deg on a curve, no less! I had the opportunity one day to sample the cuisine {8-)} at Joannie's Restaurant. The place is on So Race Street right at the grade crossing in town. The view is good from any of the tables along the northeast wall. Nice windows. The food is typical for a little place like this. The prices are reasonable and the service o.k. Following Main St up hill, it curves sharply right. Look for Elm St on left and turn here. Part way down, a northside field shot is possible. Elm St later crosses under the tracks. Not much for photos. MYERSTOWN Follow Elm St to stop sign, turn right on Royer's Rd. At the stop sign on Royer's Rd turn right onto Weavertown Rd. This road has a bridge over the railroad with curve to the east and little curve to the west. Be careful on this bridge. Standard procedure. Continuing on Weavertown Rd, go to stop sign and turn left onto Railroad St. The Myerstown defect detector is visible here. Standard procedure. Heading south down Railroad St, turn right onto Lengle Rd (Railroad St ends here). Follow Lengle to end. Turn right on S College St (Rt 501). Just before going under the railroad turn left onto King St. You can also get there by going north on Railroad St to Stoever St or Richland Av and turning left. Follow either one to S College St and turn left. Go under tracks and make an immediate right onto King St. King St parallels the tracks (essentially) for about three miles. There are a few across-the-field type shots to be had along this road. Continuing west on King St you'll see Fairlane Rd. Don't bother; it's a bridge under the tracks. The next Road west on King St is Ramona Rd. By all means, BOTHER! Nice fairly open shot, tangent to the west, mild curve to the east. Only drawback is the shots are wider from the north side of tracks. Also, to the west you'll see only curvature in the "y" direction. Heading west on King St again, the next road is Prescott Rd. Another don't bother bridge. The next road west is East St. Another good spot. Tangent both ways. To the west you'll see Lebanon Chemical, which is at railroad location Avon (about half a mile away). Avon is the name of a Lebanon suburb. Nice open spot with eastbound signal to the east. Also, to the west you'll see CR's microwave/repeater tower for the area. The next and final turn off of King St is in Avon at S 15th Av, which is at the west end of Lebanon Chemical. There may be a line of setouts/pickups (as many as 36, which I've seen at one time) on the siding. LEBANON There are many grade crossings throughout the city of Lebanon. I'll just give a brief description of each. It would be a good idea to get hold of a city map. Most of these crossings can be accessed from either Lehman St or Cumberland St (E Lehman and E Cumberland at the east end of town). Also, take note that many streets are one-way. We'll go east to west. All crossings have tangent rail both ways except for a very mild curve at N 11th Av to the east. Most crossing shots are tight. N 11th Av - ok from the north side. N 8th Av - ok from the south side, in shopping center parking lot. N 5th Av - Ex-steel mill in background from north side to the west. Lincoln Av - Ex-steel mill, small yard, industrial branch (used). N 4th St - Interesting trackage? N 5th St - ok and somewhat more open. N 7th St - Refurbished station to the west, cluttered shot. N 8th St - Station, C&L building (Strickler Insurance, not near). N 9th St - Cityscape, Rt 72 northbound only - may be hectic here. N 10th St - Cityscape, Rt 72 southbound only - may be hectic here. N 12th St - Widest crossing yet, approach signal for Wall to west. N 16th St - Deserves longer description: Wall interlocking and small yard here. May be GP and SW-anything locomotives parked here. Wide open for westbounds, nice curve and yard shot for eastbounds. Note that many alley-ways in Lebanon may offer other possibilities. I am limited in bytes at this point to try listing them all. There are plenty of eateries around, one in particular called "The Railroad House" is located off N 8th St right at the tracks. The food is take-it-or-leave-it. WEST LEBANON: Head back toward Lehman St. Turn left on Lehman, cross the tracks, go just past ex-Cleaver Brooks Boiler Factory and turn left on 18th St. This will take you trackside. Turn right at end and follow tracks (main & yard). This is Scull St. Good north side access. Follow Scull St to 20th (it ends there) and turn right. Turn left on Church St. At 22nd St turn right then left to remain on Church St. Church St ends at 25th. Turn left, notice the old bridge abutment (ex Pine Grove RR?), go under tracks. Follow to sharp left curve. Nice wide photo location. Tangent to the west and curve to the east. There may be freight cars parked here on the yard lead which would block any shot of the main. After bending left this road takes you to Rt 422 where you turn right to head west. CLEONA: Turn right onto Morningside Av, then left at the end onto Pine. This gets you closer to the tracks, although there are houses between the road and the rails. Follow Pine around (you're forced left) to Maple St. Turn right on Maple, look for Cyrus St. Turn right, make the last left, follow your instincts (the roads jog down here). Eventually you'll wind up on Pine St again. Take Pine as far as you can go (you'll run up against a one way street). There's a parking area here, shots are so-so. Continuing along, turn left where you're forced to, then right at the stop sign. Go to next stop sign and turn right again. There's a bridge here. Nice view to the west (tangent). East view is ehnhh. Continue up road (Center St) to Hill Church Rd, about half a mile up. Turn left and look for N Mill St (3/4 mile). Turn left. Nice view just past the cemetery. 100 feet or so up on hillside with 120 degree view of RR. Follow N Mill down to grade crossing. Good photo area. Crossovers, sidings, timetable location Cleona. Follow road out to 422, go west. ANNVILLE: Look for Napoli Pizza. Turn right onto Weber St. Go to grade crossing. Standard shooting, tangents both ways. Go back toward 422 and turn right onto Maple St. Then turn right onto Moyer St which takes you to an unprotected farm crossing. Standard shooting. Return to Maple and turn right. Turn right onto the second or third street and take it to end. Turn left onto alleyway against cornfield. No shots. You could just remain on Maple and look for Ulrich St, which you'll come to on the alleyway anyhow. Take Ulrich to the grade crossing (industrial). Historical scenery in the form of an old cement outfit (still active). Very nice long straight stretch to the east. Go back toward Maple but turn right onto Sheridan Av. Turn right onto Railroad St. At end is the cement outfit. Turn left, parallel tracks into college dorm parking lot. There's a walkover bridge across the tracks here. It's all fence, unfortunately. Go to end, make last left you can, go to Sheridan, turn right, then right again onto White Oak St (Rt 934). This takes you over bridge. Shots are tight. On other side of bridge is an access road on left. This appears to be the old road, since it comes up to an old set of bridge abutments. There also are some interesting rails-in-cement pads there (maybe part of the power company sub station there?). Go back out to White Oak and go back over bridge to Sheridan. Turn right, then right on Lancaster St. This takes you to the bridge abutment on the south side. At end turn left onto Summit St. After you're forced left, make the first right onto an alleyway. This keeps you close to tracks with some photo possibilities. Not great, but possible in an emergency. Follow this road around (forced left). Finally, turn left on Sheridan, then right on Cherry. Take Cherry to 422. Turn right, go a half mile to the Wimpey Minerals sign at Clear Spring Rd. Turn right onto Clear Spring Rd. Go over bridge and park on other side. The rest has been covered in Railpace. But for clarity, this is where Millards is located. Most of anything to be seen here is from this bridge. MOUNTAINS of minerals!! Departing from Millards, continue north on Clear Spring Road. Make the next left onto Syner Rd. (It should be noted here that you may want to get back onto 422 west if you need to get past the quarry quickly. There is no access to the railroad on either side of the quarry.) Syner Rd will bend and wind around the north side of the quarry. Eventually, you'll come to a stop sign (a few miles). Turn left here onto Palmyra-Bellgrove Rd. Go to the next stop sign and turn left again onto Old Forge Dr. PALMYRA: Old Forge Dr will bring you to a grade crossing west of Wimpey. By the way, Wimpey is HUGE! It takes about 10 minutes to get around it (this way, at least. It would be quicker up 422.). Standard shooting at this crossing. Continuing, make a right onto Broad St or get onto 422 west. Broad St will keep you closer to the tracks. Turn right onto Franklin St then left on E High (just to keep close). You'll eventually be forced left. Go to stop sign and turn right (Broad St). Go to next stop sign and turn right again (Grant St). Grant St has a bridge over the railroad. Typical screen fence on the sidewalk side. Not a bad shot from the edges, though. Tracks are tangent, essentially. Over bridge, turn left onto Spruce St. This road also can be accessed from Old Forge Dr. Follow Spruce to a one-way street named Chestnut. Make a left. At the end you're forced right. Just around this turn is the reconditioned Palmyra Station. There was an ice cream & sandwich shop at one end [up for sale 7/14/96 -- addendum courtesy of Ed Hein], and a who-cares? type of business at the other. Continuing, go over the grade crossing here to 422. To the west by the way, is railroad location Palmyra. Take 422 west to Lingle Av and turn right (there's a traffic light here). HERSHEY: Lingle Av goes over the tracks on a bridge. Nice view, but bridge should be deemed dangerous as there is no sidewalk. Turn left at stop sign onto Gravel Rd. Turn left again at next stop sign onto Rt 743 south. Take 743 to where it cuts off to the right. Go straight at this point. That will take you over the tracks on a bridge. This bridge has heavy traffic, so be careful if you shoot here. Great shots both ways. To the west is a sweeping curve. Mostly tangent to the east. After going over the bridge (Laudermilch Rd), turn right onto Derry Rd. This will take you to THE Hershey grade crossing. The Hershey factory is to the west for great shots of for-certain location eastbounds. There is a small yard to the east. It should be noted that this is the crossing where circus trains unload and load when they're in town. Continuing on, turn left onto Trinidad. At the fork, bear left. Take it to the end and turn left onto Park Av. At this point you'll be between Hershey Amusement Park and Zoo America. Park Av will bring you to a bridge over the tracks. Great views from here either way. This would be called the "Hershey Curve" if there were one. Perhaps there is, now that I've said it! After viewing the sights and taking some shots, continue out to 422. Turn right. This is Chocolate Av, as betrayed by the "kiss lights" along the street. Rt 422 bends to the left about 3/4 mile up. Go straight at this point to remain on Chocolate Av. Now there are two options: The historical route and the "get-me-there-quick" route. The latter of the two routes is simple. Stay on Chocolate Av. The railroad parallels the road with nice open photo spots for about half a mile (after you go under the bridge). The historical route would be to turn left onto Swatara Av, the first left you can make before you go under the railroad. Take this to Hockersville Rd (the end, really) and turn right. At the tracks you'll find the old "Swatty" (Swatara) Station. There is a business occupying it now. Shots here are so-so. Following the road around along the tracks you'll loop back toward 422. Turn right onto Reese Av (parallels 422) and follow it until you come to "Friendly's". At this point get on 422 west. Go a few hundred yards and turn right onto Sipes Av. Take this toward the railroad where you'll be forced left (Mae St). Mae St jogs right-left and then parallels the tracks. You'll find a couple of spots to shoot from on this side of the tracks. Chocolate Av is across the tracks from you. Taking this road to the traffic light will bring you to the same road as Chocolate Av. If you took the "get-me-there-quick" route down Chocolate Av, turn left at the end and go under the bridge. The traffic light will be Walton Av & Rt 39. As a point of interest at the intersection of Rt 39 and Walton Av, there is a Pizza Hut with a great view from the north side booths. A new Holiday Inn is being built across from the Pizza Hut up against the railroad. Might be a great place to stay! Hope it doesn't ruin the view. HUMMELSTOWN: Take Walton Av to Cameron Av and turn right. Before the end, turn left onto 2nd St. Tracks are visible now and then. At Railroad Av turn right. There is a grade crossing here. Typical shooting spot. To the west is some of the old right of way of the Middletown and Hummelstown with trackage). Make the next left onto Wall Av. Then left onto Duke St. Here's another crossing. To the west is the Hummelstown defect detector (talking) and to the east, part of the Middletown and Hummelstown wye. Continue to 2nd St and turn right. Take 2nd to Old Farm Rd and turn right. This takes you to a grade crossing at the east end of railroad location "TARA". The bridge over the Swatara Creek is in view (albeit a straight over view), and would make a fine photo. Head back out Old Farm Rd toward Main St. Turn right, go over the creek, then turn right onto Pleasant View Dr. Cross the Beaver Creek and make the next right onto Overview Dr. This takes you to what I would call (if I could spell in French) the "piece-de-resistance". This location is at the west side of TARA and makes for a fabulous shot of a westbound coming through an S-curve over the Swatty. To the west is a tight curve which offers a great shot of eastbounds, as well. Go back out to Pleasant View and turn right. Go under bridge, bend left onto Derry St. Go through first stop sign. Turn left at next stop sign onto Milroy Rd. Take it to the end. RUTHERFORD: At the end of Milroy turn right onto Grayson Rd. Bear right at the fork to remain on Grayson. This parallels what was the Reading's answer to Enola Yard. Rutherford was a huge yard in it's heyday. The mainline divides and goes around the ex-yard on both sides. You can get into trouble if there's a meet here. The mains are about a quarter mile apart in the middle! To really appreciate what once was, turn right at the traffic light onto 69th St. This takes you across the "great expanse". What an "eerie" feeling 8-) (wrong railroad, huh?). On the other side of the bridge is Derry Road again. Turn left at the light. Following the railroad on the left, you will see places to pull into where you can gain some access to view the remains. Nothing much to see at all. Very depressing. Eventually, following Derry Rd you'll find several roads you may wish to explore. I'll take you down most of them. First, 43rd St will take you to a bank parking area. If you go around to the south corner of the lot, you'll come to some old bridge abutments. Just beneath these you'll find railroad location "RUTH", the west end of the yard. It's photographable, not too photogenic, but interesting to note. Loop through the parking lot and go out 46th St to Derry, turn left. Take Derry to 40th St and turn left. There's a bridge here with good wide open shot availability. The signals for RUTH are visible to the east. HARRISBURG: Continuing west on Derry, turn left onto 29th St. There's another bridge here that's fenced in. Shots are difficult. We're well into the "Burg" suburbs now and can expect difficult shooting at times. Take 29th to Paxton St and turn right. Go to 19th St and turn right. 19th St bridge has sidewalks on both sides and no fence. However, this may be dangerous due to much traffic. Tangent rail both ways. Continue up 19th to the traffic light and turn left onto Brookwood. Go to 17th St and turn left. Another bridge, but fenced in. May be able to shoot from the edges. Continue up 17th to the light. Turn right onto Paxton St, go under Rt 83, turn right at next light onto 13th St. This bridge is open with sidewalks on both sides. Decent shots obtainable here. Tangent to the east, curved to the west with CP Capitol just out of sight. Continue up 13th St to Berryhill St. Turn left and follow Berryhill down to the end. This is Cameron St. Looking along the railroad, the tower at Capitol is visible. HARRISBURG & WEST: This is an addendum to the original reports in order to include points around and west of Harrisburg. Harrisburg & Enola have many places to see and shoot. I do not intend to cover them all, but I'll highlight some of the "usual" spots. The city of Harrisburg is quite congested, but there a few places to see/photograph trains. Hope you have a street map for this section! The first spot is the Market Street bridge. This bridge runs over the "confluence" of CR's Harrisburg Line and the Royalton Branch, which Amtrak uses. The station is right here. Views of the old PRR bridge over the Susquehanna River can be had here as well. A visit to the station would be nice, if they let you down onto the platform without a ticket, which they won't. There is a public road that will get you near Harris tower, but I can't recall it's name. The next spot is "the picnic table" in Lucknow. Take Front Street north out of Harrisburg. Go under I-81 and look for Rt 39 (traffic light). Turn right and look for 6th St and turn right. Look for Lucknow St and turn left. Fabulous view and picnic spot near the TV loading facility. Go back out to 6th St (if your self-control allows ) and turn right. Go back to Rt 39 and turn right. Check out the view from the bridge over the tracks. Turn around and go back down to light at Front St. Turn right and watch closely on the left for a gravel & dirt pulloff (boat launch). Nice southside Rockville Bridge shot (distant). Back on Front St heading north go under railroad and turn right onto Roberts Valley Rd. You'll drive right through the WYE on the east end of the Rockville. The north leg of the WYE is the Buffalo Line. If you get lucky you might see a train on it. Go back down to Front St and turn left. Get on I-81 south, cross the river, and get off onto Rt 11/15. At this point you may want to head south on 11/15 to view Enola Yard. There are eateries and such here. When you're through with that head back north on 11/15 and after crossing I-81, look for a billboard on the right. Behind that billboard is a path you can walk up to the top of "the mound" for a wonderful high shot of the Rockville (afternoon best here). Back on 11/15 north go to Marysville and turn left onto Rt 850. Now this gets tricky here. Turn left at stop sign then bear left and go under tunnel. This goes under the railroad (old Marysville Yard). Go right at end of tunnel(s) and follow to Rockville Bridge. There's a boat launch just before it. Good westbound shots here. Continuing southward on this road you'll come to "the iron bridge", which is (still?) closed to vehicular traffic. Nice spot to shoot trains in and out of Enola. Head back out to Rt 11/15 in Marysville and head north (west). There are several places you'll see where shots are available. Famous spot is at the Decoven Diner in Cove. Also, check out Duncannon station. You'll need to get off 11/15 for this. I'm a bit foggy on west of here -- I can find it by eye -- but I'm not up to snuff on the street names. Too bad, too, since I can think of a few nice spots. Look for Aqueduct, Newport, Thompsontown, Mifflintown. Perhaps I'll do a Harrisburg to Altoona report sometime. But for now, I think the 75 mile stretch I've covered should keep one busy for a while. And so I'll close with best hunting wishes for the brave. I can be reached through TRAINNET or by e-mail at 103235,636@compuserve.com. Craig Hobschaidt