Trackside at Elfrida...

[doctorwayne]

I had not even made it to the water tower when the loco, another Grand Valley Consolidation, rolled out of the tunnel.


The brake shoes on the cars were smoking slightly (the run from South Cayuga to Elfrida is all downhill (the locals joke about that one), so once the train is moving and all on the downgrade, a brake application is made, then the hogger plays the throttle against the train brakes, keeping the slack stretched.
I'd been told that the train was mostly empties, either for GERN (this line's largest shipper) or for interchange with the TH&B.

First up was an empty stock car:


...followed by a couple of loads...




...empty covered hoppers for GERN...




...an empty ice service reefer, destined for Hoffentoth's main ice house in Lowbanks:


...and empty interchange cars for the TH&B:










I was surprised to see the Northshore's own caboose carrying the markers, as it's usually on the tri-weekly coal trains that move after all of the day's other traffic has finished.


Well, I still had plenty of time before lunch, and the switching probably won't take too long, so I figured I'd stick around. The first move was to spot that stock car at the pens directly across from the water tower. Here she is backing along the passing main:


With the handbrake set on the stock car, the loco moved west to gain access to the industrial area:


The first task was to pick up a couple more empties from local industries...


...then back, with them in-tow, to pick up this empty reefer at the cannery.


Carefully pushing the two empties out onto the main...


...and with the empty reefer in-tow, they couple on to the car now at the front of the train:


...and grab two cars, a load of firebrick for the stoveworks and a carload of jars for the cannery:


The firebrick is dropped at the stovework's dock, with the carload of jars now in the spot formerly occupied by the reefer.
Meanwhile, the loco, having dropped the two empty boxcars west of the far switch, backs along the passing main, picks up the now-loaded stock car, then pulls ahead on the main to push her train until it couples with the two empties.


After pulling the train back into the clear, she hustles up the passing main, and couples the loaded stock car onto the front of her train. After a brake test, she whistles-off and heads west. After checking with the operator, I head for town and a bite to eat. The next train due, in about an hour, will be an eastbound through freight.

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