Railfan Trip to New England - Final

Hi, Saturday, May 6, was the final day of the trip. We spent it photographing the line between Binghamton and Syracuse on the New York, Susquehanna & Western Railroad.

We met up with Brian Plant at Lisle, NY (above and below) where we photographed BH1 with a matched set of four SD60s. Brian was kind to guide us around for the morning run of BH1 northbound.

He then lead us to Marathon (above and below),

Blodget Mills (above and below), and

Cortland (above and two below) where the crew stopped to do some switching.

Underway again the train continued through Homer,

passed some nice farms north of Homer (above and below),

past Goodale Lake, north of York, NY and

Preble (above and below).

At Tully we went for brunch while the train continued on into Syracuse. After brunch Brian headed south to photograph a railfan trip on the Reading and Northern and we headed for Jamesville, NY.

BH2 showed up after a short wait

and proceeded to work a stone quarry there (above and two below).

Continuing south we shot the train at Homer,

Whitney Point (above and below) and

Chenango Bridge. Thanks for looking.

Railfan Trip to New England - 5

Hi, Friday, May 4 was spent on the Housatonic Railroad. Although the weather was mostly cloudy the day was very successful as we had the opportunity to photograph three different jobs, one with a two unit locomotive, multiple times.

After getting information at the railroad's yard we headed south looking for NX-12. We found it on the south side of New Milford, CT where it was picking up cars brought up by the job out of Danbury. As we could not find a way to reach the track without trespassing we returned to New Milford (above and below).

The speed of the train varied with the condition of the track but it was an easy chase. We caught it at Hatch Pond in South Kent (above and below),

Kent,

West Cornwall (above and below),

and Falls Village, all in Connecticut. As we were close to the yard in Canaan at this point and could not find another photo location we liked, we went looking for another train.

We had been told that NX-11, which works local industries, would either be up at the Specialty Minerals quarry, where they mine limestone and dolomite, or behind the police station. We found the train switching behind the police station (above and two below).

We then moved to an area with what looked like Bradford Pear trees.

Next up was the train passing the union passenger station. At one time the Central New England, running on the opposite side of the station from where the photo was taken and the original Housatonic crossed here. Both became part of the New York, New Haven & Hartford. The part of the station out of the photo to the left was destroyed by fire in 2001 and has been rebuilt.

The NX-11 crew then went up to work Specialty Minerals (above and below).

Returning to the yard we caught NX-12's power coming in.

After lunch NX-13 ran up to Pittsfield, MA, shown here passing the Bradford pears.

We caught it south of Sheffield, MA (above and below)

and behind Sheffield Pottery in Sheffield, MA (above and below).

Having missed the train at Stockbridge, MA I settled for a station shot. Thanks for looking.

Railfan Trip to New England - 4

Hi, Thursday, May 3 Jim Kleeman and I photographed the Massachusetts Central.

This was my first visit to this railroad so I was especially pleased to have this opportunity. Fortunately, Jim had been here before and so knew the good photo spots.

After learning the train had left town and would be switching at their transload facility in Gibbs Crossing, MA we headed there. Eventually the train pulled up to the crossing where we waited (above and below). On of the crew got off the engine and came to speak to us. He asked if we were friends of Steve Carlson and told us Steve had called earlier asking that they watch out for a couple of older gentleman who were friends of his. We were able to learn the operation plan for the day from this crewman.

Our next stop was the crossing just beyond the yard.

The crew stopped to switch in Ware, MA. One move was accomplished with an 0-2-2-0 producing two man power.

After crew was done switching they put their train together and left town.

There is a nice open spot in South Barre where Rte 67 crosses the tracks (above and two below).

On arrival in Barre the crew backed a cut of cars down a steep grade

to an industrial park behind these buildings (above and three below).

Then the locomotive went back to the train and brought down a load of pipe.

We stopped for lunch in Gilbertville in what looked like the former station. When we heard the train blow for a crossing north of town we ducked outside for a photo.

Parked on a siding in Ware is former Southern Railway 2100, an NW5. All in all, 13 were built, ten for the Great Northern and two for Union Belt in Detroit. Four remain. We were told Mass Central intends to repair number 2100 and return it to service. However, there is no timetable for doing this.

The last business to be switched was Kanzaki Specialty Papers in Ware.

After spotting its cars the engine returned light.

We noticed this old factory building at Thorndike in the morning as we drove to the transload at Gibbs Crossing. It is the home of O. C. Lighting (above and below).

Our final location was the place in Palmer where the Mass
Central interchanges with CSX (former New York Central/Boston and Albany). The New England Central (former Central Vermont) crosses CSX here and the former station is now a restaurant. While we waited for the Mass central we heard a horn on the New England Central. On going to check it out we found these two GP38s in pre G&W paint.

Finally the Mass Central crew arrived at the interchange, backed its cars east out of site and returned with its pickup (above and below with the pickup).

Thanks for looking.