MILEPOST
= EP 52.5
ACCESSIBILITY = EASY
AMENITIES = LODGING, FOOD, GAS
PHOTO ANGLES = SOMEWHAT VARIED
From
left to right: H15 crew rounds the es-curve by the grade
crossing with a coal train destined for Brunner Island; H95 heads
west on no. 1 track after coming off of the York Secondary at WAGO; 33A
heads west just after lunchtime with some nice fall colors in the
background.
York Haven is home to WAGO, an important junction on the Port Road. The town itself sits at the end of Route 382. From Cly, you can either turn left onto 382 from 262, or you can turn left onto River Drive, which is in the town of Cly itself. 382 turns into Landvale Street (you would turn right onto Landvale if you used River Drive), which then snakes its way down to the tracks. There are some weird intersections on the way down, so watch your signs! The railroad crossing here is probably the best place to take in the action. This crossing sits between an es-curve and a tangent with a distant view of WAGO. Track level photos are pretty good, and you can also go up the street a little and shoot from there for a higher perspective.
The junction at WAGO consists of two other lines. One is the York Secondary, which runs south from here to its namesake city. This is the ex. Northern Central trackage. Traffic on the branch is limited to a daily local(H95) which runs to Enola and back, and a weekly coal train (510) which usually runs on Friday nights. Sometimes the empty train (511)will run up the secondary on Sunday mornings. The other track is the industrial lead to the Brunner Island Power Plant. The plant receives coal quite often, and from a few different sources as well. The plant is often worked by the H32 or H24 crew from Enola, which will bring a loaded coal train down from Enola, and return with empties. Also of note, the plant has an old GE 65 ton switcher which is remote controlled and is used to pull the coal hoppers into the rotary dump. They also have an SW9 that is remote controlled. They are visible from Wago Road, but they are behind a chain-link fence. Taken pics around the plant is pretty easy, as Wago Road parallels the yard tracks. I don't know if I'd hang around too much in one place (there are regular security patrols), but if you see something good there is room to pull over and snap a photo or two.
