April in Altoona - Again!

 Here is a trip I've been trying to write up for weeks.  I'll put the pictures in place and then add the writing as time allows.  The new Blogger software for uploading photos is a pain in the butt in some ways and a joy in others.  It will be a long string of photos with the writing in draft form for a while...

I started out for this particular "April Vacation" adventure on a Wednesday afternoon, intending to stop in Rutland,  VT on the way to Altoona.  I thought I'd check out the Connecticut River valley to see what had changed since my last visit in the 1990's. 

A stop in St. Johnsbury reveals a new paint job on the yard office since the CP Rail days.  Cleaner track too.

The scene looking north hasn't changed much in decades.  Of course it's nice that the trackwork has been cleaned up considerably.  

 The trip south along Rt. 5 yielded a southbound Washington County train of considerable size.  This was after about 4:30pm on a Thursday in case it's a normal time.  I caught a chirp of the F.R.E.D. well south of the Passumpsic RR in Barnet. 

I finally got ahead of the train at South Bradford.  Open places along the track are few along the river so I got quite far ahead of the slow train.  

I was quite pleased with the results of the long wait.  The train was led by a Clarendon and Pittsford unit.  That made it my first shot of anything from that end of the system.  A WACR unit would have been better but this was a good second place catch for me.  The last time I saw the trailing unit was many years ago headed for Bennington and it was pure gray primer then. 

Thursday morning started with a quick recon of the Rutland area and then I was off to do the same thing in Whitehall and Saratoga.  Nothing of note to place here but I did see a lot of fossils.  The first train I was able to stop and photograph was near Sayre, PA.  A local was sitting behind an Italian restaurant done up in a depot motif.  Several cars and cabooses decorated the place.  

I took Rt. 220 south to Tyrone.  I followed some tracks here and there and found the end of the shortline south of Corning.  But again nothing of note.  The same was true for Williamsport and Lock Haven.  Lots of tracks around but I wouldn't know where to start looking for trains.  I made my phone calls when I arrived at Tyrone.  I was in a lull of course but I did hear that something was near.  I got this Maersk shot before the light gave out.  

On Friday morning I was enjoying the usual Tunnel Inn hospitality on the deck when I made the snap decision to photograph a helper going by.  The "throw down" camera took too long to focus but I got a shot of my lonely car sitting in the Inn parking lot next to the bridge.  I was the only one home too.  I needed to meet "The Guide" and "The Fidder" in Altoona, so I couldn't hang around to do better.

We got a little surprise when we got to the station.  We would have gone over there anyway but a 'heads up' from the Fiddler gave it some urgency.  I'd seen on Facebook that the last UP genset to be built at Juniata was ready.  I'd also seen that the PRR heritage unit was ready too.  Imagine our surprise when we saw both sitting ready to depart at the head end of 11A.  We were able to take our time with photos and then head up the line to Brickyard crossing for a few more.  Of course these things don't stay very quiet so there were plenty of other fans around for this occasion.  Brickyard proved to be well lit at this early hour and the train was full of unusual cars.


 We the 25Z as we arrived but as you can see, shiny new units got all of the attention. 

With that excitement behind us we skipped ahead to Cresson and over to Lilly.  We weren't going to see heritage units again but we caught other things.   We caught a helper set heading west before this Baltimore bound 13M "bare tables" train rounded the bend.  They looked good under the old signals on the west end of Lilly.  The second unit is one of a group of former UP SD60's which will be rebuilt and used by NS.  You can see that it's already received an NS "patch" on the cab.

Our next stop was CP W near South Fork.  This is where there used to be a "fly over" for trains to enter and depart the South Fork Secondary.  Now it's just the end of a siding.  We saw helper sets pass and 10G came into the great light.  We also caught 22W down the road at South Fork itself.  From there "the Guide" surmised that we could catch west bound 65D "oil train" at the Jamestown bridge.  This train usually had BNSF power and this guy didn't disappoint.  We actually packed up to leave and along came an empty PPLX Shamokin coal train 641.  At this point on the line you can see a spur heading off to the right.  We could hear activity which turned out to be machinery near a coal loadout.  It also turned out that there were some SD80MAC's loading a string of cars at Sonman's Tipple, but they weren't what we heard at the bridge.  They weren't very accessible for photos but we could see them.


As usual a stop at Cassandra at the right time of day can be very busy.  We saw 12 trains in 2 hours and several were meets.  I think the two trains in the left photo are 26T and empty 861.

Here we see 947 "Roving Track Gang" with it's flat cars of equipment. Among the others we have eb ethanol 66Q.

We eventually found a break in the action so we could head east toward Altoona.  We stopped for some wb's at the Rt. 53 bridge.  21M came by quickly and I later took the opportunity to try working with the old signal bridge for 23M.   

We decided to catch Amtrak someplace unusual so we headed to Gallitzin for a tunnel shot.  It also gave me a chance to drop by my room for a minute.  We pretty much headed to Altoona after this shot.  A swing by Slope and Brickyard gave us a chance to see 64J and 13G.  We had dinner at a good Italian restaurant down by the Juniata shops and called it a night.  "The Fiddler" had to return home at this point.

A P&W auto rack sneaks by.

Saturday was overcast but not bad until later in the day.  We started out by going right to Carney's Crossing west of Cresson.  Unfortunately, I don't know what happened to my carefully typed up train log for the day. (Argh!)
I recall that we caught this first westbound and then stayed around for Amtrak.  While we waited we had another pair of westbound trains.  An intermodal on the middle track overtook the freight on track 3.


All this while we were waiting on the nearby Amtrak.  Luckily they cleared the scene first.  I had time to switch to the other side of the tracks to catch it on the curve.  We would have seen Amtrak on track one but it would have been pretty crowded. 



Our next stop was Portage.  We pulled down in front of a small factory and waited for this eastbound ethanol train.  We set up in front of the signals just as it started to rain.  I managed to catch a decent shot of the helpers from the many poor ones I took.



Back at South Fork, a few trains were sneaking through.  I wanted to try this angle from in town behind the convenience store.  We headed to Summerhill after this.  The rain was playing with us so we decided to sit under the bridge for westbounds.  Naturally the first thing we get is a pair of eastbounds, but the rain had some mercy on us.  We thought we had a eastbound near with time enough to head to the stone arch bridge.  It turned out to be helpers but they were on the bridge.  Thank heavens the leaves were not full yet.

Back to Summerhill for a variety of trains and helpers.






I found this grain train to be fairly photogenic.







Back to South Fork too for some rainy action.

Welcome Daylight Savings Time!

The first day of Daylight Savings Time in Maine turned out to be a nearly 60 degree sunny day, perfect for getting out of the house. The DT&I Fan and I made an impromptu trip out to PAR District One to see the slim pickens in glorious sunlight and actual warmth. A nice change from winter blahs.

Our first leg of the visit took us by the usual sights at Lewiston Jct. Nothing was happening as is now normal for a Sunday on the SLR. I took the opportunity to take this portrait shot of 3007 near the crossing and then pointed the other way for the 805 slug and plow. A prime mover sits under a tarp on the flat car. It's been around a while.

We managed to head over to Danville Jct. and then head toward Leeds Jct. without seeing a thing. However, the scanner told us that our eyes had been deceived. Nearly in Greene, well past Lewiston, we deciphered enough radio chatter to determine that RUPO (Rumford to Portland) was near and it was going to meet PORU (Portland to Rumford) at Fairground siding in Lewiston. Sheesh. Nearly skunked at both ends. Anyway, I turned the car back to Lewiston and we headed to Strawberry Ave. There we saw PORU throw the switch for the siding and head toward us. As you can see at the top, RUPO appeared around the bend right on cue.

We initially began to follow PORU but got to Greene and found the sun angle and shadows to be pretty harsh for photos so we headed to Danville Jct. We figured we can get over to Brown's Crossing at the far end in plenty of time for photos. Well, we were partly right. It turned out to be a pretty long wait. As you can see at the bottom, I took the time to photograph the odd "ferroequinarcheological" artifacts around the area. The sun was headed down and the shadows were growing by the time RUPO came along.

The rail is Bethlehem/Steelton 112lb rail from 1934. The concrete pieces are former signal mast footings. The wiring and pole shots are from the old signal and communications system. Brown's Crossing (right) was closed down years ago but is still visible to some degree. The track signals were removed when Danville Jct. was upgraded so the footings are just sitting discarded. The site is now just out of sight of the newly reconfigured yard.

The day was just a good chance to get some fresh air and sunshine anyway.

BC

Vermont '95 Trip & Slide Dupe Testing

These images are the result of a test I've been doing with some old slides. I purchased an old fashioned slide duplicator for the front of my camera. At $55 I can imagine it won't do the same job as a $600 slide scanner, but I'm testing it here to see if it will do well enough.

The images themselves are from a trip to Vermont in 1995. The drive included places like Rutland, Bellows Falls, Chester, White River Jct., and St. Johnsbury. I'm guessing it was late spring or summer. Everything green has had a chance to grow.

On the right are two shots around the Bellows Falls depot which is a terminal for the Green Mountain Ry. as well as an Amtrak station. Not much has changed but I believe the red building behind the depot in the lower shot is now gone.

I found the images to be interesting because I've been back since and things have changed. I don't think Chester has changed that much but I think the colors are now different. I know that work truck is likely worn out and gone by now.

The old Springfield Terminal bridge has at least been paved over if not dismantled. The track here is still intact and at the time much of the original route could still be seen. Now, development and encroachment has erased much of the old line. The shot below is at Claremont at the Claremont and Concord engine house. The old Springfield Terminal 44 tonner is in it's old ST colors. Turns out it was quite a find, in hindsight. The engine house burned before our return visit.

Below is a Rutland wooden boxcar apparently relegated to shed duty. I don't recall what town it was in but there is a suspiciously similar one in Danbury now. I don't know if it's the same one though. I'll check my pics. The White River Jct. depot looks the same as ever. I think the tracks have been thinned out but otherwise Amtrak still visits.










Here I seem to have a Central Vermont freight house. I recall that it may be next to a brewery, and one day I'll remember which one, but that's all I have as far as location. The sign is hard to read but it does have the CV Ry. part clear enough. I just cannot read the next line.

Finally we have a last stop in St. Johnsbury. I have the now classic view of the granary and depot looking north. The slides pretty much panned the whole weed field that was once the yard area for CP and MEC. The NHVT unit was among those weeds. The old CP Rail yard office was notable as well.












They aren't bad compared to nothing. IPhoto was used to trim the slide corners and enhance the fading colors. I suspect a little more practice and patience will be required to make any improvement. I need to work on even lighting though a lamp has done okay here. However, I do like the price!

If noting else, I got a batch of slides from a 17 year old trip posted! That's something new.
BC

Fair Day in PAR District 2

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