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