Bennington PA 08.16.14: Hard Rock And Heavy Metal Encore

This time, there would be no moping about the pumphouse in Cresson, waiting for the clock to run out. For the final location of our August visit to the Pittsburgh Line we returned for another look at Bennington Curve, hoping to match the success we had on the 14th. Surpassing it would be fine, too, no complaints there.

At 3:19, we started off with a warmup exercise. The sound of a fast-approaching westbound built in the distance, and everyone rushed to get their cameras powered up, focused, and aimed in the right direction - just to catch SD40Es 6313 and 6315 as they ran light to their next helper assignment. We had much more warning when the first train appeared 25 minutes later. The wail of dynamics and the groan of brakeshoes under duress filled the air as C44-9W 9144 and SD70M-2 2688 gingerly descended track 1 with a loaded crude oil train. SD40Es 6303 and 6304 held tight to the rear buffer car to help keep the speed in check. We transitioned from one fossil fuel to another at 4:15 as ES44AC 8138, C44-9W 9007, and C44-9W 9023 negotiated the Slide and Benny with a loaded coal drag. If those first two numbers look familiar, it's not a coincidence - we saw the 8138 and 9007 two days before, headed west through Horseshoe Curve with empty coal hoppers (see 'What Is And What Shall Be'    • Altoona PA 08.14.14: What Is And What Shal...  ). Perhaps it's the same hopper consist as well? The coal's weight warranted a four-unit helper on the rear - SD40Es 6326, 6309, 6306, and 6312.

The coal drag turned out to be the leading edge of a big wave. We could still hear the SD40E quartet working away through the trees when the sound of their effort was replaced by the roar of a westbound. No light helper tricks this time - SD60E 6912, Union Pacific SD70M 4430, and C44-9Ws 9830, 9962, and 9292 charged upgrade on track 3, leading a hot consist of UPS and FedEx intermodal business. Thirteen minutes later at 4:38, C44-9W 9808, SD70ACe 1029, and C44-9W 9546 followed with another intermodal, with a solitary doublestack dotting a consist of trailers and single-level containers.

As the clock marched on towards 5, we got wind of two westbounds queued up to leave Altoona. That was all well and good, but our attention became much more focused when we heard them calling the same signals seconds apart. At 4:53, the first of the pair came into view on track 3, fighting towards the summit behind 'Barcode' SD70ACe 1111, BNSF ES44AC 5856, and NS SD70ACe 1093. The second westbound joined in a minute later, led by ES44DC 7642, a Canadian Pacific SD60, and another unidentified (but conventional cab) NS unit. The tail ends of the two passed by a similar margin; the train on track 3 required no helpers, but the one on track 2 had an assist from SD40Es 6302 and 6325. A parallel upgrade meet with each train sporting foreign power seemed like as high a note as we could ever hope to end on, so we said our goodbyes and headed for home.