ABOVE: On April 2, 2010, the BT-3 crew headed north to Petrolia to work a short day on Good Friday. RIGHT: BPRR 887 crosses Chicora Trestle as seen from the north end on October 30, 2009. ROSS JACK PHOTOS
come to a “T” intersection. Make a left turn there onto St. Wendelin Road. The Northern Sub is just off to the west. St. Wendelin follows the track north about a mile, before heading west and cross- ing the tracks. Do not cross the tracks but continue north on Fallecker Road, following the tracks north.
After going about a mile, watch for a road which comes in at a sharp angle from the right. This is Welter Road. Make the hard right turn onto it and head east. After going about a mile, Welter Road comes to a “T” intersec- tion. Make a left turn onto Game Re- serve Road. it soon turns into Game- land Roads. Continue north about three miles until it crosses over the Northern Sub on a bridge. A stop here will provide some great sound effects as BT-3 works uphill. About a half-mile from the bridge over the Northern Sub, Gamelands Road meets up with Route 68. Chicora is now only three miles away. Make a right onto Route 68 and head toward Chicora.
It’s now decision time. As mentioned earlier, all the wooden bridges are lo- cated in and around Chicora and not all can be worked on one trip. Some scout- ing is needed to determine which angle to shoot. Route
68 passes under Chicora
Bridge on its southern end. A number of different angles can be worked of this bridge, both from Route 68 and from the cemetery located at the southern end of the bridge. If one were to get re- ally lucky, you might be able to make it
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up to Iron City Trestle before the train arrives.
To get to Iron City Trestle, continue north on Route 68 into Chicora and head up the hill into town. Near the top of the hill, make a left turn onto Cen- tral Avenue. It heads west and passes under Iron City Trestle. Be forewarned that it’s less than a mile of railroad from Chicora to Iron City, but you will have to travel farther through town. Even at the slow speeds the train must observe, with heavy traffic through town it’s only the lucky who can get both shots.
After passing under Iron City Tres- tle, Central Avenue comes to West Slip- pery Rock Street. Make a left and head north. You’ll be following the tracks out of Chicora. After going less than a mile, make a left onto Hazelnut Road. It will
follow the tracks north. Stay on Hazel- nut Road until you come to the inter- section with Cherry Road. Make a left onto it and follow it back east to the overpass with the Northern Sub. To get to Petrolia from Cherry Road, head east. At the next intersection, make a left turn onto Fairmont Road. It turns into Route 268 in about a mile and is soon reaches Karns City. From there into Petrolia, Route 268 follows the Northern Sub.
Operations can change when con- struction crews are working on the trestles, with trains running Monday to Thursday and no train on Friday. On Mondays the train leaves Butler around its normal time. Some days the train outlaws in Karns City and re- turns in the next morning. On Thurs- days they take a big train up and an ex-
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