Sand Patch or Pittsburg

[Greg P]

Can't decide on which one I"d like to do with my winter break.

Pittsburgh is more populated so more to do but there are A LOT of pictures already on the site from Pitt.

[JRMDC]

Gosh, and there are only one or two from Sand Patch ...

[Greg P]

I couldn't find any actually... :)

But I feel like I see slightly less from Sand patch.

But Sandpatch might not be on ATCS and I know a lot of PITT is.

[JRMDC]

I couldn't find any actually... :)

Maybe you are joking, but I can't tell. If you put "sand patch" in as the keyword for a search, you get 517 hits, most of which are from various spots on the east and west slopes.

Try Foley, Mance, etc. Lots of shots.

I would personally say Pittsburgh, as the geography is more varied. Sand Patch is mostly wedgie and scenics; Pittsburgh gives you many more alternatives in terms of structures and non-rural scenes, and of course there are more than one RR. But it depends on what you are into.

[PLEzero]

but there are A LOT of pictures already on the site from Pitt.

Who cares. Are you really letting how many pictures have already been uploaded to RP from location X determine where you go?

Sand Patch and Pittsburgh are only about two hours apart. Depending on when you plan to be here and how long you plan on staying you could easily do both. As Janusz wrote, Pittsburgh offers a lot more variety but Sand Patch has many things you can't get in the city.

If you're searching for photos from Sand Patch try Hyndman, Glencoe, Falls Cut, Fairhope, Foley, Mance, Myersdale, and Rockwood.

[nikos1]

Pittsburg, it seems you exclusively shoot CSX because of where you live. Pittsburgh there is alot more variety of what railroads you can shoot with NS and some neat shortlines.

[troy12n]

You are doing yourself an injustice if you go there in the Winter versus April-November. From Hyndman-Mance is pretty hard to do in the winter unless you have 4x4 and chains if there is snow on the ground. I've never railfanned in Pittsburgh, so I cant comment. It's been a while since I spent any amount of time in the city.

[JimThias]

You are doing yourself an injustice if you go there in the Winter versus April-November. From Hyndman-Mance is pretty hard to do in the winter unless you have 4x4 and chains if there is snow on the ground.

Ray Lewis just read that and fell out of his chair laughing. ;-)

[bbrant]

Sand Patch and Pittsburgh are only about two hours apart. Depending on when you plan to be here and how long you plan on staying you could easily do both. As Janusz wrote, Pittsburgh offers a lot more variety but Sand Patch has many things you can't get in the city.


What Brad said...

In Pittsburgh, the NS Pittsburgh/Fort Wayne line has a ton of offerings. CSX has some good offerings - though not as much traffic - as well. Other interesting operations are the Union RR and Bessemer & Lake Erie (B&LE is now actually part of CN).

Sandpatch is great if you're looking for a rural/country setting. Although not as much to offer, the S&C branch comes off the Keystone Sub at Rockwood. Generally speaking, the local doesn't run on weekends but you can get lucky sometimes and catch a coal train going to/from the PBS Coals Cambria plant near Shanksville.

Pittsburgh or the patch....either way it's a winning choice.

[Greg P]

I'm seeing Pittsburgh is more covered by ATCS so that may tip the balance. That program is SOOOO addicting.

Of course; the real test will be when the weather reports show up for that week.

The other thing is I'm hearing Robinson Terminal in Alexandria VA is closing, I may try to catch the train in Oronoco Park.

[troy12n]

Of course; the real test will be when the weather reports show up for that week.

That's the problem with that part of the world. There are like 10 sunny days a year.

[asis80]

I'm seeing Pittsburgh is more covered by ATCS so that may tip the balance. That program is SOOOO addicting.......


Yea, but that's no fun!


Love sand patch, absolutely love it. But traffic kills it anymore. Its a nice haul for me , 2 hour drive, so I need it to be worth it. Curfew is killing it too. When this gateway project is over, traffic should increase. I haven't been there in a while, but curfew is up Friday and Saturday's, don't know what traffic is like as of late. Traffic around here hasn't been affected too much by curfew, by the time they get out of new castle (not too far west of the city) curfew is done for the day by the time they get to sand patch (4-6 hours RR time) from here. It's all timing!


When you say Pittsburgh, do you mean in town or around town? There is such a diversity in the city, its amazing. One side of the Ohio river is csx the other is NS. That's where it's interesting. I won't go into the whole detail here, but basically high cars and hazardous cars take a turn across the oc bridge down the mon along csx and meets back up to the mains over by the mills. Truck trains and manifests (without high cars) go through to the Pittsburgh line through downtown and then continues east. AVR runs daily to island avenue. Lots of options. Good luck, pm either me or brad for more info about the area.

Ben