The Adventures Of The Hebron Any Power Team: Adventures Down South

The Adventures Of The Hebron Any Power Team: Adventures Down South

Adventures Down South

You have to be a bit familiar with "Maine Humor" to understand the title. From what I understand, we ventured to only a few miles from the "snow line", referring to the beginning of the "mid-atlantic snow crisis of 2010" zone. That's backwards. Maine usually get the brunt of the snow and you drive south to get well out of it. Well, over the weekend, the DT&I fan and I hit the Portsmouth, NH region; Palmer, Mass and of course Worcester. No snow problems, just a cold wind.

Our first real stop on Saturday was Neal's N Gauging Trains in Hampton, NH. With plenty of daylight left, but no maps, we struck out toward the freight main. The East Kingston depot was where we made our first contact with the tracks so we followed them back toward Portland. We dropped in on the Durham depot but didn't expect to see much there and couldn't find reasonable parking. Apparently UNH was having some kind of big event and there wasn't any place to park. Onward and upward. We found our way to Dover. A quick check of the schedule pointed to only a short wait. This gave us time to plan shots in this crowded spot. The shot at the top was the best I could do and I had to use the wide-angle lens for it. We followed tracks and the old Sanford & Eastern line back as the light faded. We attempted to find relics in Sanford but didn't have the bearings close enough to linger.

On Sunday, we pretty much made a bee-line to Palmer, MA. Not much CSX action other than Amtrak but we saw 3 of the 4 daily passenger trains. We also watched an NECR unit switch the yard over on Dublin St. Only dull place shots and a couple of detail shots there. Plenty of odd equipment around though.

As you can see by the chronological Amtrak photos on the right, we caught the westbound Lake Shore Limited fairly soon after we arrived. It is gliding by on the main just before it bounced everyone around on the NECR crossing diamond.

Next came the southbound Vermonter. They pulled up on the controlled siding as two westbound units of light power came by on the main. Later on L437 pulled into the yard but had to clear the controlled siding and provide headroom for the northbound Vermonter. The conductor looked mighty cold tramping back and forth between the crossover switches. L437 still had work to do apparently and our time was running out, so we moved on to Worcester. Besides, I've got dozens of shots of trains in Palmer already.

Skull showed up after we had dinner and a few other W.F.P.T. folks made an appearance. It was a bit too cold to stay very long but we put in a couple of hours. Besides the "T" we got to see the Q427 come down and meet the eastbound Q426. That makes about 3 visits in a row that I got to see the two round the curve by Worcester station. Apparently a P&W Bow coal train was sitting outside of town waiting on a crew. That would have made another form of hat trick.

BC

Sunday Afternoons in Maine

This was a typical short day of railfanning in January. Small photo counts result when you get going well after noon and you haven't paid attention to the scanner beforehand. As it turns out, the DT&I Fan and I missed a couple of parked trains at Fairgrounds - as we were to learn later.

Before leaving one must print a copy of the latest Downeaster schedule. This occurs mainly because the last printout is long since lost in the car or amidst stacks of railroad magazines in the livingroom. After a customary stop at Maine Modelworks, one inevitably sees that the next outbound train (the last one before dark no less) leaves at 3pm - which is in 20 minutes. Brain: "Is that enough time? Close call. Try it anyway!" We got to CPF201 with a minute to spare. The flying snow didn't hurt much either. This shot is the only really "worthy" shot I got before dark though I took some detail shots down by Thompson's Point later.

When the train rolled off, two other railfans - Chuck (a local) and Todd (from Lewiston) came over for a short chat. Introductions were made and at least we could say the stop was worthwhile. It was a little too nippy to stand around for very long.

Turned out to be a typical January Sunday afternoon in Maine. Not much happening, but there's always the Downeaster if you are near Portland, have a schedule and leave early enough. Sometimes you get to match faces to screen names too.

BC

Maine Scanner Feed Information

Greetings HAPT Listeners, and Happy New Year -

I switched to the US Weather Bureau for 24 hours, just to broadcast to the
outside world what we're expecting in Maine. The predictions have turned down a
notch from death and destruction, but there will still be enough snow so that
you'll be able to listen to snow operations over the next few days.

I'm noticing 4-5 constantly-connected listeners, not including my own
connection. I'm interested to hear from those who connect all the time. Is the
new strteaming software serving you well?

With snow on the ground, reception has been far-flung and quite clear. In the
past couple of weeks I've heard:

(If you hear anything not listed below, let me know. Also, if you thing I'm
missing any railroads, let me know.)

Guilford District 1 - both sides of conversations, from Portland to Leeds Jct
and up to Stricklands

Guilford District 1 - Dispatcher conversation from Portland to north of Bangor,
and down to Bucksport

Guilford District 2 - Dispatched conversation to Newmarket NH

St Lawrence & Atlantic - Dispatcher and road from Deering to Bethel

St Lawrence & Atlantic - Dispatcher for the entire Berlin Sub, and for the
Sherbrooke Sub in VT

Conway Scenic - Dispatcher conversation

Vermont Rail - system-wide coverage, including AMTRAK at Whilehall NY, thanks to
their St Johnsbury repeater

NHN - dispatcher conversation from Rollinsford to Ossipee

For further information on the Scanner Feed, including maps of the areas covered, scanner location, etc., consider joining the Yahoo Group associated with the feed. There's a link in the list to the right of this post. I have to update the list of radio frequencies. Otherwise, peruse the archives, the Files section, and I think there are a few Pictures also.