July In Review - Skull Visits!

It seems my June and July were hectic enough to prevent me from catching up on a few adventures with fellow HAPT members. Since August is well under way, I thought I'd catch up on the big stuff. I did get the two posts on Cobo and the WW&F but I missed the big times had with Skull and a more recent trip to Reading, PA. The sheer volume of photos slowed progress. I found some more material for future monthly oddities too. I'll start with Skull's visit...

The previously posted trips that Skull mentioned were actually quite fun! We started right off with a visit southward to Rigby, Saco and Wells. We made attempts to see what we could in the yard (without trespassing of course) and moved along to Saco. We managed to get to the depot with few moments to spare. An outbound train was not long in arriving. Apparently it was also hauling all the spare equipment to Southhampton for servicing too. The extra "cabbage", cars and "mud missle" were tacked on the back of the normal train. Here we see a green dot (Skull) watching the proceedings.

On the way home we caught some of the newer SD's visiting at New Gloucester. The one seen here was sitting on the siding for quite a while but we managed to be around after the re-crew. This one tested the abilities of my camera because the sun was setting rapidly. I had to go back for the monopod but wished for a tripod.

We got some "intel" that the former Conway Scenic F units were on the road with an OCS. All we could do about it was confirm that the units were not in Rigby (apparently they hid on the old Eastern line in South Portland) or on the road somewhere in between. Skull did not hear anything go by in the night either. But, we also knew the OCS was running and had approximate times and destination - Freeport. Off we went in the morning.

On July 1st, we figured the first good place to catch the train would be Sligo Rd. in Yarmouth, just up the line from Royal Jct./CPF 185 where the Brunswick line begins. It's a relatively safe place to stand next to the tracks and not raise any suspicions. There's a place to park and a public sidewalk to stand on. Well, other folks had the same idea. Skull and I were figuring out where to stand when two hi-rail trucks showed up. I turns out they were going to flag the crossings. We stayed out of their way but they were friendly enough. Before too long another car of railfans shows up. One of the two turned out to be a local character who's been chasing trains out of Brunswick for at least 4 decades! The older maintainer recognized him right away and the show began! They gave each other a friendly hard time right up until the OCS came along. That really lightened the moment since the workers probably wouldn't otherwise want to mess with railfans. We got some pointers on where else to go from the whole bunch and headed up the line as soon as the OCS went by.

We didn't figure correctly on speed and time of the OCS so we totally blew it as far as catching it on the run into Freeport. We wandered around just about every crossing we could find and then found the train hidden in trees downtown by the Chamber of Commerce. Well, we camped out on the Route 1 bridge until it backed down to Royal Jct. Only a couple of other fans were out. We stood in the sun for a hour or so before the train backed out of town. Luckily, the lights on the head end were lit too. You can't really tell which way the train is headed.

We thought Yarmouth Jct. would be the ideal next spot to wait. The train wasn't moving as fast in reverse though so we had a wait. Meanwhile, people are wondering if a special train is coming. We confirmed their suspicions. We even had a local cop at the nearby car dealership ask if one was coming. He and quite a few others stayed around until the train passed. The other railfans went over by the old GT Ry. crossing while we stayed by the road crossing.

Once the train reached Royal Jct., it then proceeded east to Waterville with the F unit forward again. We caught the train at the Penny Road overpass in New Gloucester and then tried for Danville Jct. but virtually tied in reaching the diamond. This train wasn't waiting around for anyone. We then raced ahead to Hackett Rd. at the east end of Rumford Jct. and caught it going by #517, which used to handle OCS trains with #516. Nice to see both in Pan Am blue and "side by each". We figured the next best hope was to blow through L/A and catch the train in Greene or Leeds Jct. We couldn't seem to catch up to it so it's a good thing we planned it that way. It hit the mp 157.2 "Lady in the Woods" detector just as we passed the area over on Rt. 100.

Then progress went slow. Apparently the track east of Lewiston is bad enough that even the OCS had to slow down. We stood around at Leeds Jct waiting longer than we thought we would, but the wait was worth it. The lighting was dramatic. We had been trying to raise the DT&I fan to see the train. He met us at Leeds Jct. just after the train passed. We could hear it blow for the Cressey Rd. crossing. It was time for supper and that railfan day ended pretty much right there. SEWA was ahead of the OCS and was going to take the siding at Readfield, but that was far off and we were hungry.

The next day we drove to Millinocket, Derby, NMJ, and had dinner with Joey and Charles H. at Dysarts. Not much to show for it in the way of photographs though. We were skunked worse than last year, which was pretty bad. It was a great day for a drive in the Maine woods though.

More local stuff on the 3rd. But, being the usual stuff, I'll refrain from showing much of it. I like Skull's shot of the GP15's better than mine.

It was good to have Skull around for a few days. We managed to get in some slides and video with the Wheelman and Videoman. But most of all, we had a fun time just hanging out in Maine.

BC