MM&A Oil

Tonight we visit Foster, Quebec on the ex-CP Sherbrooke Sub, now operated by the Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railroad. This was originally a part of Canadian Pacific’s line from Montreal to St. John, New Brunswick which ran through Maine. The MM&A, which struggled to survive in its early years of existence, is enjoying an upsurge in run through business recently in the form of crude oil unit trains destined for the Irving refinery in St. John. Needing to acquire additional locomotives to handle the heavy oil trains, MM&A turned to CP to lease engines, mainly worn out SD 40-2’s. In several instances however, the photogenic ex-SOO LINE SD 60s have been leased! It is one of these instances that brings me here to Foster tonight, as well as the previous night, LOL! One of the ex-SOO SD 60s to have been rebuilt and painted in CP colors was the leader on an eastbound manifest train two nights back, and I was hoping to catch it passing through this excellent night photo location in Foster. Visiting Foster after a couple years I thought I knew what to expect from spending many nights shooting passing trains here, but after jumping out of the car and looking around, I found my mouth hanging open! Ha,ha,ha! All that fresh snow! As we all know, even the best laid plans can fail. In the best of road conditions, it’s a bit more than two hours drive up here from Hinesburg, VT, and the previous night found me short of setting up the lights by twenty minutes when train #1 passed by after eleven pm. Tonight I arrive even later, due to snow covered roads, and eleven pm finds me on the scene. I would have had misgivings if not for my friend Frank Jolin, who assured me I had plenty of time to set up via cell phone, as Frank had heard the time #1 was called earlier at Megantic, Quebec further east. You step out of the car here, and it is silent. Not just quiet, it’s silent. Once I finished tweaking the lights for the last time, I could hear #1, blowing an air horn for a crossing way off to the east, the time was 00:43. It would be fifty six minutes before it passed in front of me here at Foster! It was not until I heard that air horn blowing for the last pair of crossings east of me that I could happily conclude it was the unique toned air horn found on the SOO SD 60s I used to shoot often on the nearby D&H. It was then that gratifying feeling arose of knowing I had ‘em cold! Standing atop the step ladder in a snowstorm in the middle of a lightly used street, one hand holding the extra large brightly colored “Golfing” umbrella purchased in La Grange, Kentucky, the other hand steadying the camera mounted on a tripod, which rests on a platform laid across the two upper struts. What could possibly go wrong? ha,ha,ha! The humor of the moment strikes me followed by the wonder that the operation produces such pleasing night photos! It seems like a long wait after #1s engineer blew for the crossing at the east end of Foster, adding to the drama. Then out of the silence, I hear EMD and GE prime movers close by, headlights appear below the crossing, and I fire off the lighting as #1s engineer blows for the crossing. He notches out his locomotives, and I’m thinking............oh, this is gonna be good! Years ago I remembered trains restricted to ten mph here. Due to the track improvements needed to support the heavy unit crude oil trains train speed is easily thirty mph here as I noticed last night! With a last long blast of the air horn, CP 6042 emerges from the dark into the street lighting, is over the grade crossing and I’m trying to judge its speed as closes in on flash units positioned on the far side of the track which will light up the house.............what a sight and sound! As 6042s cab passes last flash unit I fire off the lighting, capturing the image. Success! I wore a smile on the trip back south tonight! Special thanks to Frank Jolin for his help in obtaining this image! Shot on March 3, 2013 at 01:39 in Foster, Quebec. Please enjoy!

Gary Knapp