On the last two days of my trip through the northeastern US and central Canada, I camped overnight near Olean, New York, in hopes of catching one of the more difficult to catch and rarely-seen railroads of the northeast.
WNYP has a reputation, at least on the forums and videos I scoured to research for my trip, of not being terribly friendly to railfans, perhaps because the six-axle Alcos the road once rostered inspired intense mania among foamers. Fortunately, their yard at Allegany parallels a walking trail, and the shops are clearly visible from it (perhaps to discourage trespassing). WNYP once rostered, according to Trains magazine, seven M630s and 636s. On the day I visited, I could only (barely) see two of the ex-Cartier units (a few leased units were likely returned), since displaced by former CSX AC4600CWs.
With just that 2012 magazine article and a few videos with no dates to go on, I was not optimistic about my chances for seeing any trains. Fortunately, I had a scanner, and was able to figure out that the two locomotives I observed in the yard were likely building a train. I headed down to the junction east of the yard to determine where the train was heading. Soon, a pair of four-axle Centuries rounded the curve, heading south onto the Driftwood Main, and the chase was on.
...but only for a short while. I had no spots prepared, and with traffic unusually heavy (and several small towns with low speed limits and police intervening) I gave up and checked in to my campsite, then meandered south without a real plan until a horn suddenly passed in the other direction. I reversed direction and eventually caught what turned out to be a light-engine move of AC4600CWs at the border. This seemed most unusual, but I had no desire to wade back into traffic for three engines heading back to Olean. Thus, I returned to my campsite, but after scouring Google for the next day's spots, realized that the Alcos I had seen earlier may have branched off to service the Farmer's Valley Branch, which ran triweekly. Finally with a piece of hard intelligence, I headed back out to try and catch the Alcos.
I caught up with the Alcos at the end of the branch, getting ready to head back to Olean. Once again, I quickly reversed course and set up at a spot, but unlike the Driftwood mainline, the Farmer's Valley branch (a) had less road traffic, and (b) had a much slower speed limit (i.e. I could have done more than one spot before the branch reconnected with the main line). Eventually, the pair of C430s meandered out of the woods, and the chase was once again on.
As it turns out, WNYP 432 is the last active Alco in a prior owner's paint; unlike ten years ago, when Trains ran their piece, most of the road's four-axles are in the attractive corporate livery instead of former BRC, Milwaukee, CP, CN, Minnesota Commercial, Morrisville and Eastern, or Arkansas & Missouri paint. This crossing at Eldred on the Driftwood main would be the last place I caught the train; while I somehow beat the consist to Olean, I ran the wrong way and missed my shot. The next day would also prove less-than-successful, with another light-engine move of AC4600s going to an unknown location on the Driftwood main. On the whole, not my most successful day, but given my lack of research and assistance, probably as good a turnout as I could have expected.
