For those of you in the Pittsburgh area, this is our version of the Allegheny Valley Railroad Washington Local. Beautiful locomotives by MTH
Good old Brentwood !! Went to BHS high school. Go Spartans. Show more AV.
CNJ 3676 posted:My favorite "small" railroad would be the Navy operated system serving Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Bob
Pretty Cool operation... They now have Genset diesels as well!
I've been the engineer on the Pike for about 8 years now and also have those units. I still wish we had those on the real AVR!
Gentlemen,
My favorite small RailRoad will always be the WAG (Wellsville, Addison & Galeton) my Great grandfather was one of the Engineers and drove the Shay Engines during the great logging era. After the logging was completed, his every day route took him down thru the Pa Grand Canyon and back up thru to New York. Some times the Train started in New York, some times right in Galeton, Pa. On one of the days he had to drive up to New York to start the Route, he pulled off the road that ran along side WAG RR Track, and passed away in big his Buick Car. His WAG RR buddies found him there as they brought the train down thru to Galeton, Pa. The men on the WAG RR gave my Great Grandfather the nick name (The Gray Hound) when he was a young Engineer, he was tall and very quick. For many years after his passing the old timers called the pull of stop where they found him in his Buick, "The Gay Hounds last Stop."
My 2nd favorite small Rail Road is the Union Rail Road, it's HQ was located in East Pittsburgh, Pa for the better part of my life, and my Uncle John Parker was it's Superintendent for many many years. I was allowed to crawl all over these Engines as a young child, with my Uncle John. I never knew till later how lucky I really was.
PCRR/Dave
One of the Union RailRoad Switchers, repainted in Blue & White, Originally the URR Engines were Green & White. Been trying to get a picture of the Green & White historical Engine & Caboose, however each time I see it, I have no Camera with me.
Clark's historical picture of my Great Grandfather bringing the big logging Trains down the Switch Back near Galeton, Pa, in the 1800's. You see the blocking Shay Engine, out front of the full logging consist, it was a very dangerous run down the mountain Switch Backs.
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The Oregon California & Eastern was probably the last big-time logging railroad in the USA. I saw the last of the SP operation in 1974 before the railroad was sold to Weyerhaeuser in 1975. Weyerhaeuser ran their last log trains in 1990.
East Switchback
crossing the SP main
Last log train 1990
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CNJ 3676 posted:My favorite "small" railroad would be the Navy operated system serving Naval Weapons Station Earle in Monmouth County, New Jersey.
Bob
Bob:
I grew up in a neighborhood very close to the spot where the New York and Long Branch RR tracks pass over the NAD Earle (now NWS Earle) tracks.
A picture of this overpass is shown in the Google satellite photo below (in the red circle):
Due to the relative infrequency of the Navy Trains (as we used to call them), we would high-tail it to the Navy tracks whenever we heard the distinctive horn just to watch them go by. That soccer field wasn't there when I was growing up, but the baseball field at the top left of the photo was. We'd throw our mitts down and run like hell to get to a spot where we could see the Navy Train.
Precisely once during my boyhood, we happened to be standing *on* the NY&LB RR overpass when a Navy Train passed underneath and we were able to watch the tops of the boxcars passing just a few feet beneath where we were standing. It remains one of the best days of my life.
The other highlights were the 2-3 times the train was clearly carrying some sort of live load. Normandy Road, which can be seen at the bottom of the photo, runs parallel to the tracks the entire length of the trackage. When there was some sensitive cargo, Normandy Road would be lined with a vehicular armed escort as the train made the trip from the pier at Leonardo inland to the depot.
Thanks for sharing these.
Steven J. Serenska
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Two, Strasburg RR and New Hope & Ivyland RR! In addition to their tourist services which both are most known for, they also offer freight service along their respective tracks in Lancaster and Lower/Middle Bucks Counties, PA.
My favorites were all bought up or defunct so I won't jinx any more.
The Florida Northern Railroad (fnor) on ex ACL later SCL track between Reddick Florida and Candler Florida. These pics (I did not take them) are taken within 30 yards or so from one another, but about 35 years apart. In Ocala Florida where street running can still be seen as the Florida Northern serves several industries in town. Up until 1970 the same track seen SCL daily passenger service. 
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The Wisconsin Southern goes right by my boyhood home and delivers a lot of cars to the Menards factory near Iron Ridge, Wi. Mark the Menards guy: how about some WSOR cars?
All of them 
Shortlines and tourist railroads are my favorite types. Big Class I's and II's are much more interested in moving big cuts of cars from division to division. I like seeing where the railroads meet the local customers. I'm especially found of shortlines that also run tourist ops. In fact that is the theme of my model railroad. Running prototypical scheduled passenger operations with local freight mixed in. Up close and personal railroading.
Some past and current favorites include the Ohio Central, Wheeling & Lake Erie, Wisconsin Great Northern, North Shore Scenic Railroad, Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad, Huckleberry RR, New Hope & Ivyland, Reading & Northern, Middletown & Hummelstown RR, Wilmington & Western, Little River RR, Strasburg RR, and many more. Yeah I know a lot of those are scenic tourist RR's. Oh well... It's a dream of mine to own my own tourist RR someday.
Being from western New York my favorites are South Buffalo Railway, Buffalo Creek, Niagara Junction Railway. Fourth would be the WAG.................Paul
The Utah Railway as those boys aren't scared of too much power!
