Here’s another change of pace shot from the plain Jane grade crossings. Back in the day, the Pennsy had some unusual names for the tracks in town. My favorite was the Stingy Track. Presumably, it was “stingy” because it wouldn’t hold a lot of cars. I’ve never really known where this track was, but I think it was the one on the right, closer to the building seen here. The clipped rails in the foreground run next to an old loading dock and then cross an alley to what used to be a coal yard. All of this is long gone of course. This stretch of rails is all that’s left. The building, once a hardware supplier, is now a retail furniture store.

Past the clearance point of the turnout that joined the two, the track that I suspect was the Stingy Track was only one boxcar length long. The curve on both tracks was train-set sharp by prototype standards. These two tracks came off a series of turnouts that made up a ladder arrangement for a cluster of tracks serving a Purina Mills facility and a grade separated interchange with the C&O. The Purina plant is still there, now served by truck exclusively, and the old C&O right of way is a lovely hiking trail. There are tons of lessons here as always. So, what do you see?

Regards,

Mike