I’d be hard-pressed to think of a location where you’re virtually guaranteed of seeing more intense switching action than Poorhouse Yard in York, PA. Both NS and York Rail have yards in town, Windsor Street and Lincoln, respectively. Every weekday morning, starting at around 8 am, they exchange cars back and forth at Poorhouse, located between Lincoln and Windsor in York’s historic district. One minute you’re shooting NS power, twenty minutes later it’s York Rail. Back and forth, non-stop. What’s especially nice is that all of this can be taken in simply by standing on public property at the crossing at North Queen Street.
In the image above, NS SD60E (ex Conrail) is hard at work. The old Ma and Pa line can be seen splitting off on the right just in front of the tower. About twenty minutes after taking this shot, the NS unit had gone back to Windsor Street and York Rail re-appeared on the scene.
Queen Street (where I took the photo) runs north/south on the left side of the photo. Poorhouse Yard sits on the south side of the wye and is in the upper right.