Good Railfanning Locations on the RF&P Railroad:
Bowling Green to Taylorsville
1. Paige Road (Bowling Green): I have never been to this location but a couple of times, but there are a couple of ways to get to this location. The first way is via I-95 north; if you are getting there via I-295 north, go to exit 43, and take the cloverleaf onto I-95 north. Keep going until you get to exit 104 (Rte 207 - Carmel Church Bowling Green), and stay to the right. If you are getting there via Route 1, you can take Route 1 north to 207.
Take Rte 207 until you get to Broaddus Avenue. When you get to the end of the road, take a left on State Rte 2, and follow it to Paige Road (State Route 605), and turn left. Stay on Paige Road and follow it to the railroad tracks. Cross over the tracks and find a good place to park.
On that same side of the tracks there are some good afternoon locations, but if you are going to do a morning shoot, you will want to be on the east side of the tracks, therefore you will have to cross the road so be careful and watch for oncoming traffic. You might not get that much warning for northbounds, so it would be good to have a handheld scanner on you at this location.
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2. Penola: From Paige Road, follow your way back to Route 2, and make a right, and follow Route 2 back to Broaddus Avenue. Turn right onto Broaddus Avenue and follow it to the end of the road and make a right onto Route 207. Keep following 207 until you get to Route 601. Then make a left on to Penola Road (Route 601), and follow it down to the Railroad Crossing; the crossing may take a few minutes to get to. This is a low-ground railroad crossing, so you will have to be careful if you have a trailer on the back of your truck.
The tracks curve north immediately after the crossing, so if you are doing video and don't have a radio on you, I would point my camera north, just in case a southbound comes (sometimes if you listen carefully you might hear a horn from either direction), but you will get plenty of warning for northbounds since the tracks are straight to the south. Penola Road marks milepost 33 on the RF&P Railroad, and there is a pair of signals visible to the south, and a talking defect detector about 1.2 miles to the north; you will be able to pick the defect detector up if you have a radio.
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3. Colemans Mill: From Penola Road, make your way back to Route 207, then make a left. Then follow Route 207 to Jct. State Rte 684 (even though you won't be at State Rte 684 yet), and make a left onto Colemans Mill Road (Route 656). Follow Colemans Mill Road to the Railroad Crossing. At this crossing, the tracks curve on both sides of the crossing, but there is a pair of signals to the south, and they will illuminate when a train is getting close, so you should get a little warning for southbounds. Northbounds however, you will want to be ready when the crossing bell starts ringing if you're doing video and don't have a radio.
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4. Ruther Glen: From Colemans Mill Road, follow it back to Route 207 and take a left. Follow Route 207 to Ruther Glen Road (Route 652) and take another left. Follow Ruther Glen Road until you cross over the bridge going over the Railroad Tracks. After you cross the Railroad Tracks take a left onto Railroad Lane. This is an unpaved road that has been known to have major potholes, so drive slowly. There is another pair of signals at this location, and you will be able to see them come on (if you choose a photo opt at the south end of the tracks, you will be able to see the signals come on for northbounds). If you choose a photo opt from the other side of the signals you will be able to see the signals come on for southbounds, and just like Penola, if you listen closely, you might hear the trains blow their horn from either direction. There is also a hill near the other side of the curve, which is good for photos too, but I wouldn't shoot from there in the late spring/ summer./ in ot
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5. Doswell: Like the past three locations, you can get to this location via either I-95 or Route 1. If you want to get there via I-95, take I-95 south from Route 207, and take the Route 30 (Doswell) exit off of I-95. Turn right onto Route 30, take it to Route 1, then take another right. Follow Route 1 to Route 688 and turn right onto Doswell Road. NOTE: Squash-A-Penny Junction is not a good place to take pictures/video as you are on property of the Buckingham Branch Railroad, and the people who work at the old train station don't like you taking pictures there. There is a nice afternoon spot down at the Bakery Feeds plant though, and you get there by turning on to Doswell Park Rd and take it to the Private Crossing, but I would get permission from the people who work at the old train station before doing so.
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5. Taylorsville @ Binns Road: If you get there from the Private Crossing next to the Bakery Feeds plant in Doswell,, Take Doswell Road back out to Route 30, and make a right. Follow Route 30 to Route 725, and take a left. Follow Binns Road (Route 725) until the RR tracks on the right are no longer treed in. Behind where these trees begin is a dirt lane where you can get a good sweeping view for northbounds/southbounds, and the Route 30 overpass is visible on the north side of the tracks.
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