Any time the DT&I Fan and I wander down to District 2, it is a crap shoot. We rarely see freight moving. The Downeaster is easy enough to predict since they have a schedule to keep. It's all that freight that has to sneak into Maine somehow that one really seeks down there. So Thursday Feb. 23rd was no exception. Expectations were low.
At least the weather was good most of the day. This was a "deja vu" trip, like one year before during school vacation, minus the stop for buffalo wings and touristy stuff. We actually found 2 freight trains to photograph this time - EDPO and SEPO.As we arrived in the Portland area, we could only hear a PORU leaving on the scanner. That was "normal" for District 1 so we opted
to take our chances at the other end of Rigby in District 2. The usual stops either side of CPF 201 and Winocks Neck etc. yielded nothing. The scanner was quiet. Moving down to Seavey Landing Rd. was better. At least we caught a NB Downeaster crossing the Scarborough Marsh at high tide. I'd only been there at low tide before. Quite a difference for photos.
After this train passed we knew we had a bit over an hour before it would return south and meet a northbound at Saco. We dropped by Ocean Park which we hadn't visited since film days. The old signal bridge at the end of the siding is still there but new signal masts are in service right next to it. Next stop was the Saco Transportation Center. The well known landmark is famous for it's wind generator boondoggle and the massive development project that got derailed by the recession.
But it is still a very attractive station and features bus service, museum displays indoors and a generally pleasant environment to hang out in for a while. We parked and walked over to Rapid Rays for lunch.After a short wait we captured the daily 1:05 NB and 1:12 SB as they passed the station. This time they didn't waste any time passing at the siding around the bend. I was out of place for a picture of the SB so it's hardly worth posting. I've never had much luck with southbounds at Saco.
We decided to continue south from Saco to see what happens. We had some time to wait for the next passenger train but we had a gap which might allow freight to sneak through. We got down to North Berwick to
check out a location I knew about. Before we could make the turn we heard a whistle. It could only be a freight. So I raced down to the Main St. crossing by Hussey Manufacturing and we saw the freight that turned out to be EDPO (E. Deerfield, MA to Portland, ME). I didn't get a shot but DT&I Fan appeared to. We quickly loaded back into the car and reversed course for the Wells Transportation Center. We got there in the nick of time. I didn't set up very well and the lighting was awful, but I salvaged enough of this one shot. The train didn't slow much and did not stop so we figured he was trying to make Rigby before Amtrak needed the mainline. As you can see he was on the mainline with no intention of stopping.
With our one freight behind us, we figured we'd return to North Berwick to catch a SB Downeaster at the curve behind Hussey. We had a little time so we figured we'd scout south for other locations. As we passed the block signals at the Rt. 4 crossing, we noticed they were lit and red. This meant something was around. Could it be another freight? We moved further south but that also took us away from the track, enough to miss a 100 car train apparently. Almost in South Berwick we heard the detector back at the Rt. 4 crossing go off. We got all the way into South Berwick before we found a crossing to investigate. Nothing. We missed it. Who would have guessed a second freight could sneak through. 
(It was a poor place to shoot anyway as it turned out). We had time to return to North Berwick for a shot of a SB passenger rounding the curve. The "cabbage" looks like it struck something hefty recently. You can see the Rt. 4 crossing and signal ahead of it in the distance.
Well, it was time to head north again. Not many hours of daylight left this time of year. We hoped that we could intercept that mystery freight before it got to Rigby. As it turned out, we heard an interesting story develop on the scanner. That mystery freight turned out to be SEPO (Selkirk, NY to Portland, ME) and those often had CSX units pulling them. It was directed to take the siding at CPF203 and take about 20 cars with the power into Rigby. They needed to leave enough room so that the Downeasters could still pass on the siding. To us that meant they would probably pull up near the crossing at CPF201 where the double crossover was located.
We got to the crossing but the train beat us to it. The units were stretched out into the woods, out of camera range. A few local railfans were also there to witness the set out. We decided that the overpass at CPF200, the west end of Rigby Yard, was our best bet. We met another local fan there with the same idea. However, it was a long wait with a cool wind chilling us down slowly. The light was beginning to give out on us and the shadows were getting long.
With this shot done we moved over to the other end of Rigby. The train was on the bypass track so it beat us to the other end. However, it was instructed to back in on track 3, so all we had to do was wait on the Rt. 1 overpass for it to return. It was just a matter of whether or not the sun would drop out of sight in the process. As you can see, it held on long enough.
"That's the unmistakeable sound of an SD60M." (below right)
Not a bad day really. A good day for a drive in southern Maine anyway. Few spectacular shots but enough novelty to make the day worthwhile.
BC
