Another Shade of Gray

Or alternatively; "Temporary Relief From The Normal Dullness" on District One.

George Melvin's annual slide show in Readfield gave us an excuse to get out and about on a very nice spring day. In fact I went the whole day in a t-shirt and no jacket or sweater for the first time this year. I didn't linger outside the car or a building for very long once it got dark though. The slide shows were absolutely first rate yet only semi-formal.

Waterville seemed like a logical place to go since our destination was about half-way there. There was quite a gaggle of fans at the parking lot - all with the same idea roughly - waiting on a westbound (top photo) with a lease unit on the point. That added a bit of color to the visit, albeit a dull shade of gray. What really made it exciting was the eastbound train parked at Readfield that the other fans told us about. The westbound guy in Waterville wasn't going anywhere until the eastbound arrived.

Arriving at Readfield a bit later we first headed to Luce Road since it crosses the middle of the siding. There we saw the back end of the train in the distance. We also heard the scanner chatter indicating that this guy was getting his form-D to leave. Back to the other crossing by the detector. Good timing. As you can see he began to roll after we arrived. This was a golden chance to get shots of these newly acquired, former Kansas City Southern units as they passed.

Not a news scoop, but we weren't left out for a change!

As I said before, the slide show and digital images were excellent. There were nationally known people showing or watching such subjects as the Bangor and Aroostook; CN's P.E.I. operations; Abo Canyon, Raton Pass and Tennessee Pass. In a sense it's depressing to see so much that has radically changed. But, it's always good to view any place when it was still under previous management.

Now the last thing to add is the odd track car sitting in Waterville. It's apparently some form of track geometry or just plain work car. Obviously it had been to the big city, based on all the art found on it. With all the new gray found on the line this day, who had time to pay attention to this rig?



BC