I was going to add that, but you beat me to it.. the Concrete around the chimney was the location of the power plant in all likelihood. (Similar artifacts on the Southern in Spenser. They ended up tearing that apart because it was full of asbestos..
This is some of the best imagery we have seen to date of the railyard and Renovo. Thank you for sharing the video and images. What people in the area usually call "The Tipple" is a sand and coal wharf. The first wharf was wooden. The Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park owns close to 3 acres surrounding the wharf. It will remain in place along with the tool shed, rail cars, and a piece of the walking bridge. (The power plant will begin just east of the cell tower.) Next to the wharf inside the fence is a "speeder" (gas-powered utility cart) and one of the signal towers that was recently removed by Norfolk Southern. Heritage Park received a Pennsylvania Wilds Rapid Response Grant to design a Renovo Railroad heritage center within the 3-acre park. The "tipple" will be the featured element within that design. A few years ago we submitted the building for eligibility as a worthy artifact to be included on Preservation Pennsylvania's registry and are very happy to have been successful in that endeavor. This designation along with the railroad heritage center design will be helpful to our efforts to fund the restoration of the building and the rail cars.
Thank you for the kind words about the video. And now that I have more info on things that i missed or didn't know I might have to make a return trip and do some more filming. It is my goal with every video that I do on places like this is to document it as best i can with the information that i have. What i really like doing is trying to include now and then shots in my videos of i can.
My friend and I were in Renovo around mid-July this year (2022) and we parked near the coal tower. I walked around on the tracks a bit and took pics with my phone. Your drone footage was EXCELLENT and you gave us some wonderful info about the site. Did not know about the potential plans for the energy plant; hope the local groups will be successful in preserving at least some of the history of this town. Would love to see more of your work. Thanks.
This is amazing. My father worked for the PRR and was assigned to Renovo and worked there from early 1951 to early 1954. We lived in South Renovo and I attended fifth and sixth grade there but had to go to seventh grade in what was Renovo High School and had to cross over to River on the old bridge 4 times a day. Fall and spring-no problem. Winter, different story. I have never been so cold in all my life. That wind just ripped down the river and there was no place to hide. It was a great place and time to grow up and I’ve just been reliving some great memories from 70 years ago
Man this brought back awesome memories from when my grandmother lived on Strawberry Lane on RT-120 many years ago! I can just remember seeing the blue Conrail and NS locos and the yellow glow of the PRR signals!
The drone footage really showed the scale of the former yard. Seeing some of the lines, boxcar & caboose were pretty interesting. In the winter it might be worth walking the line that goes into the woods to see if there's anything left.
From what ive seen the power plant isnt going to be built in renovo. That light tower was at the former train station i lived right across the street from it in the mid 90s. I use to be fond of that town but not anymore that plase is sadly dieing slowly the power plant may of saved it but not now i think in 30 years it will be a ghost town. Imo. Great video thanks for sharing
When I was working for Penn Central I used to have an old WW2 Conductor tell me of taking coal trains from Phillipston Yard in East Brady over to Renovo! He said it was a big time operation in the day. I believe they took the line thru Bennezette Driftwood ,Pa. The brick buildings of the PRR Roundhouse look exactly like the shops in Pitcarin Yard that were still used sparingly when I started railroading. I spent time at Beech Grove ,Indiana an old PRR Facility that Amtrak uses as a huge back shop ,it is a massive building the PRR built rail cars in. Nice footage ,thanks for your video!
Cooks Run was a coal loading spur. The track divided into 3 lines below the loading dock and 3 spurs above the loading dock. Each spur held 35 cars. Loading could be done manually or by locomotive. Due to the grade, loaded cars were secured with hand brakes applied to at least 10 cars. Cars were loaded by 2 Kimatshu loaders.
@@emeraldsoundproductions You can see it being built and where it went on PennPilot. It was between '51 and '61. You can see the coal loading area and 3 sidings.
I've been railroading for 28 years. I think of the old heads that trained me that are now retired. It seems like such a fleeting moment now. To see that picture at 8:44 of the coaling tower and the back shops behind it. I think of someone that spotted those cars to each track and threw those switches and, walked the lead. Now it's all gone and just a memory. Maybe a little sadness, inquisitiveness and happiness coursing through me all at once and, again, individually at different times. Where i work our 100 year old administration building was torn down almost a year ago. There were many stories attached to that building. Just this morning about 12 and a half hours ago me and my crew witnessed our main car retarder tower being demolished. All the people that worked in those towers old heads and new. Memories.
NS meets RJ Corman at Keating Summit. The line west is the Buffalo Line. NS meets with Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad along with Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad up at Driftwood. At Driftwood stands a historic signal bridge that used to guard trains with its unique Pennsy era position lights. Those are gone since 2010s. Signal bridge is what still stands. That is where NS operating trackage ends and from there is WNYP operating the line from Driftwood to Machias, NY via lease. Emporium has interesting PRR landmarks. The out of service position light signal still stands over the line. PRR caboose there for static display. WNYP operates a frac sand yard there. WNYP based out of Olean, NY. BPRR runs to Driftwood from their line out of Dubois. BPRR operates the remaining length to Buffalo, NY also by lease. They abandoned their own line that ran to Buffalo because of steep grades. So they chose to lease the Buffalo Line from Machias to Buffalo.
Sorry......NS meets RJ Corman at the village of "Keating".... NOT Keating Summit. Keating Summit is a good 40 miles north of Keating, on the Buffalo Branch way above Emporium, but south of Port Allegany.
My guess on the scale house. Maybe to weigh coal, propane gas or Diesel fuel going into the yard. Depending on years of service. I grew up with the Santa Fe in my back yard. Thank you for the awesome video from Fort Worth, TX
The scale house was used for weight in motion. It was used to verify the weight of loaded coal cars. That would then determine how much motive power was on the head end and if any helpers were needed during it journey. Also the concrete structure was a coal loading facility for when the Pennsylvania used steam locomotive’s. The coal was gravity fed into the tender after they were serviced in the shops before heading out on their next run.
Interesting. I delivered boxcar doors to that facility in about 1979 i believe it was for berwick forge and fabricating co. Better watch out for rattlesnakes up there. There is an annual r snake hunt around renovo.
Yes. I am very aware of the rattlesnakes up there. Been visiting that area for years. The hunts are in Cross Fork and Morris and yes I do hunt them on my own.
Its amazing , There looks like new Roofing was installed on some of the Buildings ? Perhaps they are protecting something Inside ? or just to ensure the building integrity
According to info found online. The Renovo Shops remained open until 1968, when the railroad moved its repair facilities to Altoona, taking many jobs with it. The yard and remaining facilities were utilized by the successors of the PRR, Penn Central in 1968 and finally Conrail in 1976. Conrail closed what was left at Renovo in 1980. The turntable was removed sometime in the 60's and some of the buildings were removed in the 90's. according to old aerial images.
That "breaker" you mentioned is actually a Fairbanks Morse 300 Ton Coaling tower built for the Pennsylvania RR : ))
I was going to add that, but you beat me to it.. the Concrete around the chimney was the location of the power plant in all likelihood. (Similar artifacts on the Southern in Spenser. They ended up tearing that apart because it was full of asbestos..
This is some of the best imagery we have seen to date of the railyard and Renovo. Thank you for sharing the video and images.
What people in the area usually call "The Tipple" is a sand and coal wharf. The first wharf was wooden. The Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park owns close to 3 acres surrounding the wharf. It will remain in place along with the tool shed, rail cars, and a piece of the walking bridge. (The power plant will begin just east of the cell tower.) Next to the wharf inside the fence is a "speeder" (gas-powered utility cart) and one of the signal towers that was recently removed by Norfolk Southern.
Heritage Park received a Pennsylvania Wilds Rapid Response Grant to design a Renovo Railroad heritage center within the 3-acre park. The "tipple" will be the featured element within that design. A few years ago we submitted the building for eligibility as a worthy artifact to be included on Preservation Pennsylvania's registry and are very happy to have been successful in that endeavor. This designation along with the railroad heritage center design will be helpful to our efforts to fund the restoration of the building and the rail cars.
Thank you for the kind words about the video. And now that I have more info on things that i missed or didn't know I might have to make a return trip and do some more filming. It is my goal with every video that I do on places like this is to document it as best i can with the information that i have. What i really like doing is trying to include now and then shots in my videos of i can.
How exciting! Congratulations! Would very much like to see this town again, and will follow the progress of the heritage center.
My friend and I were in Renovo around mid-July this year (2022) and we parked near the coal tower. I walked around on the tracks a bit and took pics with my phone. Your drone footage was EXCELLENT and you gave us some wonderful info about the site. Did not know about the potential plans for the energy plant; hope the local groups will be successful in preserving at least some of the history of this town. Would love to see more of your work. Thanks.
This is amazing. My father worked for the PRR and was assigned to Renovo and worked there from early 1951 to early 1954. We lived in South Renovo and I attended fifth and sixth grade there but had to go to seventh grade in what was Renovo High School and had to cross over to River on the old bridge 4 times a day. Fall and spring-no problem. Winter, different story. I have never been so cold in all my life. That wind just ripped down the river and there was no place to hide. It was a great place and time to grow up and I’ve just been reliving some great memories from 70 years ago
I'm originally from that town born and raised live in Williamsport now bc there is nothing in Renovo
Man this brought back awesome memories from when my grandmother lived on Strawberry Lane on RT-120 many years ago! I can just remember seeing the blue Conrail and NS locos and the yellow glow of the PRR signals!
The drone footage really showed the scale of the former yard. Seeing some of the lines, boxcar & caboose were pretty interesting. In the winter it might be worth walking the line that goes into the woods to see if there's anything left.
Yeah I'm thinking of heading back there to investigate more now that a viewer gave me info on the spur.
From what ive seen the power plant isnt going to be built in renovo. That light tower was at the former train station i lived right across the street from it in the mid 90s. I use to be fond of that town but not anymore that plase is sadly dieing slowly the power plant may of saved it but not now i think in 30 years it will be a ghost town. Imo. Great video thanks for sharing
my grandfather used to work at them shops
thats an old coaling tower been through there many times when i was camping this line connected and came into Clearfield pa!
This was great! One of the most interesting historic railroad videos I’ve seen. Thanks for the tour.
that used to cross the road there was mines up in there i used to see gondolas coming down there!
When I was working for Penn Central I used to have an old WW2 Conductor tell me of taking coal trains from Phillipston Yard in East Brady over to Renovo! He said it was a big time operation in the day. I believe they took the line thru Bennezette Driftwood ,Pa. The brick buildings of the PRR Roundhouse look exactly like the shops in Pitcarin Yard that were still used sparingly when I started railroading. I spent time at Beech Grove ,Indiana an old PRR Facility that Amtrak uses as a huge back shop ,it is a massive building the PRR built rail cars in. Nice footage ,thanks for your video!
Cooks Run was a coal loading spur. The track divided into 3 lines below the loading dock and 3 spurs above the loading dock. Each spur held 35 cars. Loading could be done manually or by locomotive. Due to the grade, loaded cars were secured with hand brakes applied to at least 10 cars. Cars were loaded by 2 Kimatshu loaders.
Thanks so much for the info, I appreciate it!
I'm the person you talked with at Heritage Park
@@emeraldsoundproductions You can see it being built and where it went on PennPilot. It was between '51 and '61. You can see the coal loading area and 3 sidings.
I'd did look at old photographs and saw that
Yard was humongous when I was a kid
I've been railroading for 28 years. I think of the old heads that trained me that are now retired. It seems like such a fleeting moment now. To see that picture at 8:44 of the coaling tower and the back shops behind it. I think of someone that spotted those cars to each track and threw those switches and, walked the lead. Now it's all gone and just a memory. Maybe a little sadness, inquisitiveness and happiness coursing through me all at once and, again, individually at different times. Where i work our 100 year old administration building was torn down almost a year ago. There were many stories attached to that building. Just this morning about 12 and a half hours ago me and my crew witnessed our main car retarder tower being demolished. All the people that worked in those towers old heads and new. Memories.
Great drone footage!
NS meets RJ Corman at Keating Summit. The line west is the Buffalo Line. NS meets with Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad along with Western New York & Pennsylvania Railroad up at Driftwood. At Driftwood stands a historic signal bridge that used to guard trains with its unique Pennsy era position lights. Those are gone since 2010s. Signal bridge is what still stands. That is where NS operating trackage ends and from there is WNYP operating the line from Driftwood to Machias, NY via lease. Emporium has interesting PRR landmarks. The out of service position light signal still stands over the line. PRR caboose there for static display. WNYP operates a frac sand yard there. WNYP based out of Olean, NY. BPRR runs to Driftwood from their line out of Dubois. BPRR operates the remaining length to Buffalo, NY also by lease. They abandoned their own line that ran to Buffalo because of steep grades. So they chose to lease the Buffalo Line from Machias to Buffalo.
Sorry......NS meets RJ Corman at the village of "Keating".... NOT Keating Summit. Keating Summit is a good 40 miles north of Keating, on the Buffalo Branch way above Emporium, but south of Port Allegany.
Looks to be in pretty good condition. It's a shame a historical railway society can't redo it like Spencer Shops in NC.
The Bessemer and Lake Erie Shops would ne a much better option, in Greenville, PA, would be a much better options. 17 Stall roundhouse there.
Great looking coaling tower :-)
Great vidio thank you
My guess on the scale house. Maybe to weigh coal, propane gas or Diesel fuel going into the yard. Depending on years of service. I grew up with the Santa Fe in my back yard. Thank you for the awesome video from Fort Worth, TX
What is left inside the railroad shop buildings?
The scale house was used for weight in motion. It was used to verify the weight of loaded coal cars. That would then determine how much motive power was on the head end and if any helpers were needed during it journey. Also the concrete structure was a coal loading facility for when the Pennsylvania used steam locomotive’s. The coal was gravity fed into the tender after they were serviced in the shops before heading out on their next run.
Interesting. I delivered boxcar doors to that facility in about 1979 i believe it was for berwick forge and fabricating co. Better watch out for rattlesnakes up there. There is an annual r snake hunt around renovo.
Yes. I am very aware of the rattlesnakes up there. Been visiting that area for years. The hunts are in Cross Fork and Morris and yes I do hunt them on my own.
Plans for the power plant have been canceled.
Good to know. Thanks!
Nice!!
I live there
Nice roof on those buildings.
Its amazing , There looks like new Roofing was installed on some of the Buildings ? Perhaps they are protecting something Inside ?
or just to ensure the building integrity
Building Integrity Sadly
It’s still the buffalo line….. all the way
I am interested to know when these shops and yards closed, if anyone knows? When was it all torn down?
According to info found online. The Renovo Shops remained open until 1968, when the railroad moved its repair facilities to Altoona, taking many jobs with it. The yard and remaining facilities were utilized by the successors of the PRR, Penn Central in 1968 and finally Conrail in 1976. Conrail closed what was left at Renovo in 1980. The turntable was removed sometime in the 60's and some of the buildings were removed in the 90's. according to old aerial images.
I'm looking for an abandoned railroad shop to buy.
I wonder if their is anything inside the buildings.
How often does the town flood?
Not often
We have no sound on this?????
There is sound to it. I just checked, so the problem is on your end.
Well now it works!! So weird
So all they have to do is build gas plant infrastructure inside existing shops and/or rebuild the roundhouse.
Unfortunately I don't think that will happen.
It was proposed to be demolished and build this new power plant.
Coaling Tower
there was a coal washing plant in cooks run
Great vidio thank you