Four trains at Wells and other Pan Am adventures

Hi everyone - at Brad's request, I thought  that I'd post this epic day of good luck railfanning.

 

Monday April 15 found me on the road headed for Greenfield Mass for work. At around 1 PM I had to pull off the turnpike to be on a conference call, and as I was near Wells, I decided to take the call along the tracks by the old station, knowing that I would see the two mid day Downeasters that meet at around 1:20 if on time.  However I was not quite expecting the 4-way meet that I witnessed.

 

1:05 POED takes the siding

 

 

1:20 hot on his heels comes Downeaster #684 into the same siding

 

 

1:25 moments later, Portland-bound Downeaster #683 swings by on the main track:

+

 

1:35 - then the icing on the cake  - PAR2 and PAR1 with a very short freight.

 

 

Back on the road, one hour later I touched down at the Bradford MBTA station, just in time for three movements in the space of less than 30 minutes. Evidently I had overtaken #684, as it rolled around the curve past the original depot, just as I was setting up

 

it was followed moments later by an MBTA afternoon local, which made a station stop at 2:43, and then met SEPO with CSX ES-44's, just west of the station

 

 

SEPO passed the station at exactly 2:50, which you may be aware was the exact time of the fateful Boston marathon explosion

 

 

I ended my windsheild tour of the B&M at East Deerfield around 5 PM, exactly as intermodal 22K was arriving from Mechanicville with NS power.  Five of the newly shopped NS SD-40-2's were in good sunlight on the ready tracks, making the yard look more like Roanoke than East Deerfield

 

 

 

the cherry on the sundae came as the final act of the day, when #77 and a GMTX unit eased into position alongside the new NS power. At that point I took my last picture and decided to quit while I was ahead.  Not a bad haul for a net of 2 1/2 hours of random hit-and-run railfanning