Uploaded December 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
In September and December of 2015, we paid a visit to the Buffalo Line between Harrisburg and Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where we caught many different mixed freight trains with assortments of Norfolk Southern locomotives and some foreign power. The most notable catches are the trains originating on Pan Am that run to Enola with their locomotives leading.
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This former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline was once busy between the famed Enola Yard all the way to Buffalo, New York, but today, this single track mainline has been broken down between different railroads. Norfolk Southern runs the majority of their traffic between Enola yard and Northumberland (Norry), including the switch at KASE in Sunbury which is the connection to the newly acquired Sunbury Line to Binghamton, NY. North of Norry, traffic dwindles, with some coal traffic out of Keating and locals severing other industries along the line. The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad intersects at Driftwood, which also sees traffic from the north from the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad from Olean. No traffic uses the line north of Olean, thus leaving it a fragmented line, to which Norfolk Southern spun off north of Driftwood in 2010.
Despite the decline in traffic across the line, and no more through traffic directly from Buffalo to Harrisburg, some of the history of the line is still evident—the PRR era position light signals still guard many of the passing sidings, but not for long, as they will be replaced by newer signals capable of PTC integration.
Video and Train information:
0:40 - On a cloudy afternoon, we're located near the south end of the Buffalo Line at MP 300. 14R flies north with a relic GE locomotive leading, NS Dash-8-40C 8755 and NS Dash-9-44CW 8930.
2:20 - Rain starts falling as 30T heads south by the farm at Milepost 300 with a colorful mix of locomotives.
3:45 - A "Clear Signal" is lit for a southbound 11R at SF in Sunbury. Notice how the track runs right through the middle of town, with many grade crossings. 11R would be our chase train for the day, with Pan Am and CR power mixed in with a bunch of NS locomotives. Power for 11R is:
MEC SD40-2 609
NS SD70M 2591
CP ES44AC 8924
NS SD40-23383
NS SD70M-2 2649
5:55 - 11R eases through Herndon, passing the mill and Thoroughbred Transfer facility on the right.
7:00 - 11R enters the siding at N. MILLER, where it would tie down for the rest of the day.
8:15 - 11R sits tied down on the siding at S. MILLER.
8:30 - 14R heads north past the signals at S. MILLER doing every bit of track speed with a short train powered by NS Dash-8-40CW 8457 and NS Dash-9-44CW 9207.
9:20 - The sun starts to set as a cool blue sky of fog is quickly shattered by the beaming lights and Leslie RS-3L horn from 11A. This southbound manifest train just left Northumberland (Norry) and is bound for Conway Yard near Pittsburgh. Power for the train is NS SD80MAC 7208 and SD60E 6970.
11:20 - For the second foggy December day in a row, a Pan Am SD40-2 leads 11R down the Buffalo Line, so we were in position to chase the train south, starting at SF interlocking in Sunbury, which is still guarded by position light signals. The leader on this train is a newly acquired SD40-2 which was one of five rebuilt QNSL units that were delivered to Pan Am at the end of summer 2015. It has a very unique sounding Nathan K5LA horn that almost sounds like a Leslie build. Power for the train is:
MEC SD40-2 3400
NS Dash-8-40CW 8320
12:30 - 11R splits the position lights at S. MILLER.
13:55 - It was a bright and sunny day all along, but because of the fog hugging the Susquehanna River, you wouldn't be able to tell otherwise along the Buffalo Line. However, at Rockville, the fog parts enough (you can see the edge of it in the background) to get a nice sunny shot of 11R's final approach to Enola as the train is about to enter the Rockville Bridge. The track that keeps going straight runs to Harrisburg, via the last remaining miles of the Pittsburgh Line.
15:15 - The fog still lingers further north on the Susquehanna River as southbound 30T takes the siding at N. FERRY to meet the 14R at S. FERRY, which is where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Buffalo Line, near the US-322 / PA-147 interchange. We did not include 14R in this video since the shot was nearly identical to the 10A we caught later in the video. Power for 30T is NS Dash-9-40C 8770 and NS SD60M 6768.
16:30 - After meeting the 14R, 30T is seen splitting the automatic 299 position light signals, highballing south, only to tie down a few miles south of here at WYE.
17:40 - A solid trio of ex-Conrail SD60I's lead 10A north through Milepost 300 after meeting 30T at STONEY. Power for 10A is:
Thanks for watching!
In September and December of 2015, we paid a visit to the Buffalo Line between Harrisburg and Sunbury, Pennsylvania, where we caught many different mixed freight trains with assortments of Norfolk Southern locomotives and some foreign power. The most notable catches are the trains originating on Pan Am that run to Enola with their locomotives leading.
Like us on Facebook!
facebook.com/CentralPennRailProductions
Fan funding: The icon in the upper right corner allows you to make donations to this channel. We'd be more than thrilled by your extra support!
This former Pennsylvania Railroad mainline was once busy between the famed Enola Yard all the way to Buffalo, New York, but today, this single track mainline has been broken down between different railroads. Norfolk Southern runs the majority of their traffic between Enola yard and Northumberland (Norry), including the switch at KASE in Sunbury which is the connection to the newly acquired Sunbury Line to Binghamton, NY. North of Norry, traffic dwindles, with some coal traffic out of Keating and locals severing other industries along the line. The Buffalo and Pittsburgh Railroad intersects at Driftwood, which also sees traffic from the north from the Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad from Olean. No traffic uses the line north of Olean, thus leaving it a fragmented line, to which Norfolk Southern spun off north of Driftwood in 2010.
Despite the decline in traffic across the line, and no more through traffic directly from Buffalo to Harrisburg, some of the history of the line is still evident—the PRR era position light signals still guard many of the passing sidings, but not for long, as they will be replaced by newer signals capable of PTC integration.
Video and Train information:
0:40 - On a cloudy afternoon, we're located near the south end of the Buffalo Line at MP 300. 14R flies north with a relic GE locomotive leading, NS Dash-8-40C 8755 and NS Dash-9-44CW 8930.
2:20 - Rain starts falling as 30T heads south by the farm at Milepost 300 with a colorful mix of locomotives.
3:45 - A "Clear Signal" is lit for a southbound 11R at SF in Sunbury. Notice how the track runs right through the middle of town, with many grade crossings. 11R would be our chase train for the day, with Pan Am and CR power mixed in with a bunch of NS locomotives. Power for 11R is:
MEC SD40-2 609
NS SD70M 2591
CP ES44AC 8924
NS SD40-23383
NS SD70M-2 2649
5:55 - 11R eases through Herndon, passing the mill and Thoroughbred Transfer facility on the right.
7:00 - 11R enters the siding at N. MILLER, where it would tie down for the rest of the day.
8:15 - 11R sits tied down on the siding at S. MILLER.
8:30 - 14R heads north past the signals at S. MILLER doing every bit of track speed with a short train powered by NS Dash-8-40CW 8457 and NS Dash-9-44CW 9207.
9:20 - The sun starts to set as a cool blue sky of fog is quickly shattered by the beaming lights and Leslie RS-3L horn from 11A. This southbound manifest train just left Northumberland (Norry) and is bound for Conway Yard near Pittsburgh. Power for the train is NS SD80MAC 7208 and SD60E 6970.
11:20 - For the second foggy December day in a row, a Pan Am SD40-2 leads 11R down the Buffalo Line, so we were in position to chase the train south, starting at SF interlocking in Sunbury, which is still guarded by position light signals. The leader on this train is a newly acquired SD40-2 which was one of five rebuilt QNSL units that were delivered to Pan Am at the end of summer 2015. It has a very unique sounding Nathan K5LA horn that almost sounds like a Leslie build. Power for the train is:
MEC SD40-2 3400
NS Dash-8-40CW 8320
12:30 - 11R splits the position lights at S. MILLER.
13:55 - It was a bright and sunny day all along, but because of the fog hugging the Susquehanna River, you wouldn't be able to tell otherwise along the Buffalo Line. However, at Rockville, the fog parts enough (you can see the edge of it in the background) to get a nice sunny shot of 11R's final approach to Enola as the train is about to enter the Rockville Bridge. The track that keeps going straight runs to Harrisburg, via the last remaining miles of the Pittsburgh Line.
15:15 - The fog still lingers further north on the Susquehanna River as southbound 30T takes the siding at N. FERRY to meet the 14R at S. FERRY, which is where the Appalachian Trail crosses the Buffalo Line, near the US-322 / PA-147 interchange. We did not include 14R in this video since the shot was nearly identical to the 10A we caught later in the video. Power for 30T is NS Dash-9-40C 8770 and NS SD60M 6768.
16:30 - After meeting the 14R, 30T is seen splitting the automatic 299 position light signals, highballing south, only to tie down a few miles south of here at WYE.
17:40 - A solid trio of ex-Conrail SD60I's lead 10A north through Milepost 300 after meeting 30T at STONEY. Power for 10A is:
Thanks for watching!
