Final shift at the historic SOO Line Building

I just got home from working my final shift at the historic SOO Line Building. CP is moving its US operating headquarters from the 1915 built SLB to a more modern office building on the same block, which was recently christened Canadian Pacific Plaza. On Saturday, administrative offices made the move. The crew callers moved Sunday. On Monday, the Minnesota, Dakota and Portal desks were moved. Tuesday and Wednesday saw the movement of the DM&E desks and this morning, the Elgin, C&M, Wisconsin and River Desks transferred to the new building. As usual, the D&H was last. A week ago, there were 14 dispatchers, five chief dispatchers, eight crew callers, two caller managers and two superintendents on each shift. When I arrived at work this afternoon, all that was left was the D&H North, D&H South and the NEUS Chief all huddled together in the back corner of a now empty and half dismantled office. George Costanza's quote from Seinfeld, "Its like Hitler's last days in here!", seemed quite appropriate.

One interesting thing I realized is that today will probably be the only day in my career where I will have worked in a dedicated D&H office! Tomorrow I report to CP Plaza to rejoin the rest of my coworkers in our new digs.

Here is one last look at the SOO Line building.

Here's the view that I've been enjoying for the last 7 years. Looking roughly north out of the D&H South office towards the Mississippi River. I'll miss watching BNSF, TC&W, UP and Northstar trains on BNSF's Wayzata Sub, which were visible directly above the brown parking garage at right center. I could also catch glimpses of CP trains at Camden and BNSF trains at Northtown Yard.

 A view of the Milwaukee Road depot from the SOO Line building.

 A look down the classic marble stairwell towards the basement.

The last of the Mohicans! Chief DS Jon Gutzler keeps an eye on the railroad while Gordy and I enjoy our last night at the SLB.

The official Olan Mills portrait of veteran D&H DS Gordy Smith and yours truly at the end of our shift.

Remember to turn out the lights when you leave...

Thursday was the last day I worked in the SOO Line Building in Minneapolis. The SOO sold the historic building several years ago and Canadian Pacific leased office space for their U.S. operations. However, the building was sold last year and the new owners want to convert the building into condos, so they assisted CP in relocating to another downtown building. Luckily, we are moving right next door on the same block to what is now called One Financial Plaza, but in August it will be christened Canadian Pacific Plaza. History played out as the D&H dispatchers were the last to move from Milwaukee to Minneapolis into the SOO Line Building in 1999; and as the offices were transferred into our new headquarters, the D&H was the last to be moved. Attached are pictures taken by my co-worker Jim House who works the D&H South end. The new building is ultra modern but the individual dispatchers offices are very small compared to what we are leaving, and as Jim says, we have no windows in our offices. Thought you’d like to see some of the pics that Jim took on our last day at the SLB. This will be the 4^th move of dispatchers offices in my career, from our office in Colonie to the temporary offices in Schenectady at Maxon Road, then on to Milwaukee when we consolidated with the SOO dispatchers in 1993, then to Minneapolis, and now next door. Rest assured, this WILL be the final move of my career!!

Gordy Smith

D Thirty Fun!

Perhaps some of my earlier shots were a bit nostalgic: I was looking for scenes of railroads similar to those captured by Link 60 years ago (to make matters worse, his photography was retro for his time). I wanted to find something uniquely modern … the concrete overpass!

The D&H’s Albany Main runs in a concrete canyon between the lanes of 787. I loved the idea of shooting the train as it runs under a mass of concrete and steel. Something other than black sky was an exciting prospect. However, with the Port on one side of 787 and downtown on the other I couldn’t really imagine setting up the lights and standing around for a couple hours without getting hassled.

That’s when I noticed a huge overpass were I-90 passes over the Albany Main, north of downtown in the warehouse district. Things are pretty empty up there at night and I figured things would be more my speed – I guess I knew the police would show up anyway.

A few minutes after getting some gear on the ground, the scene filled with red and blue lights. “Do you have permission to shoot here?” “Permission? No. I’m just going to shoot from the side of the road here.” After he was on his way, I figured that everything was going pretty well. However, a few minutes later an unmarked car showed up, “What’s going on here tonight?” And then another car showed up.

And that’s how I met my 2^nd Railroad Special Agent. He ran my ID and noticed I’d been stopped by a colleague of his a few weeks ago. The train showed up right on schedule and I was able to get the shot I’d planned as the police checked out my car and lighting gear.

Here’s a shot of CP train D-31 just out of Kenwood Yard in Albany on its way to Cohoes and Waterford. The crew is checking out the scene I accidentally created as they head towards their switching work a few miles to the North. Rob Dennis was the conductor.

William Gill

Accord, NY on the O&W 1970-2012

I was inspired by Bill Shaumburg's three "time lapse" parings of Chicago to again show a subject as it appears with the passage of time. The Shaughnessy Files "Farewell, Old Woman" (in the current issue of Classic Trains) reminded me of my own O&W "files" so, off we go:

My first exposure to the O&W came in 1970 when I was living in Stone Ridge, NY. This is a small town not far from the Kingston Branch. The entire route from Summitville to Kingston was/is strung with small villages that had been served by rail. Like 100's (maybe 1,000's) of towns across the country they all had a small town center that included some rail served businesses. Accord and the other towns on the branch were all rural farming communities so the business were almost all a combination of coal, lumber and feed. Each with it's own unique and interesting architecture, I might add.

In the first set of pictures I took in Accord (1969-70) the passenger destination signs were still intact on the exterior of the station by the waiting room door. (What a dream for the collector of O&W memorabilia!) Notice they're all for boarding houses in Kerhonkson. Kerhonkson was actually just a couple miles below Accord. It had it's own station and freight house. Interesting!. Over the years I explored every town on the line but, when the urge to model something took hold I came back to Accord. Not only was it the archetype for a small rail served town, I had a close friend that grew up just a few houses down from the station. His stories of climbing on the box cars spotted at Anderson's Feeds and other adventures painted a powerful and inspirational picture. In 1982 he and I measured every building at Andersons, the station itself and we paced off the spacing between each structure. I spent several weeks on the mechanical drawings and many months scratchbuilding each model. What I finally acheived was an uncompromised or foreshortened model of the site in a 2X7' module. 

Back in 1982 the station was empty, as were many others on the line. There was still much O&W "paper" laying about to be recycled into a raifans collection and Anderson Feed's was still operating. Athough the coal business was finished the coal pocket was still operable. The main street had many buildings that once housed stores, a car repair shop complete with a 40's era gas pump but, the acutal businesses had moved a few 100 yards over to Rt 209. I've kept track (no pun) of Accord over the years as the old buildings on the old main street have been re-purposed. The town got a new and very large fire station that was built on the site where the town garage once stood. I don't know how things worked for fire protection years ago when the warning bell or siren was atop the feed mill tower and the engine was housed in a small nearby garage. It's fun to piece together scenarios of what was from what remains.

I've gotten enough requests to see more pictures of the diorama that I thought maybe a forward to all contacts was in order. As many of you know, the diorama only exists in pictures now. I have a box of slides taken from every angle imaginable and Walters included a number of these in their 1985 catalog. Here are a few others you might enjoy.  

Enjoy, Wayne Sittner

Had to run some errands for the shop. On my way to my first stop in East Greenbush I ran past the Port of Albany to see what was going on and noticed a loaded #642 ethanol waiting at Green Street to be moved Kenwood Yard.  After grabbing a shot of #642 it was off to Greenbush and then Brunswick and back to the shop. Lots of work going on at Kenwood Yard and at Erie Street.

Dean J. Splittgerber
Duanesburg, NY

The 600 with Rob Dennis

Rarely do “special dimensional” moves live up to expectations at night. For one thing, they usually run in daylight! LOL! Train 600 had been advertised for quite a while, amid the starts and cancellations of scheduling. High/wide moves are not unusual in the Albany area with the Port right there and GE nearby, but this train 600 was routed up the D&H North End! Very unusual. With the North End recently cleared of obstructions to operate all sizes of double stack containers, this special dimensional consist would not be a concern. But, the train kept being cancelled. Thursday night, it finally happened! And............ it operated at night behind a pair of SD 40-2s! Having made prior arrangements with Port Henrys Justice of the Peace, Brain Venne to open up the station in order to turn on the lights inside, I called Brian to inquire of my chances of getting this done tonight. Brian, to his credit, answered my request at 23:00.............”When will you be there?” I replied, one o’clock, and he said “okay”! Not only did this short conversation set in motion the treat of shooting the photogenic station with a working, active look to it, Brian himself also presented the opportunity to add the human element to the night photo, as he agreed to pose for me! Rarely, do night photos go as smoothly as tonights would. Arriving early at the station, I set up the lights outside while Brian turned them on inside! Finished with my lighting, I was checking out the views from the running boards of the RS-18 exhibited trackside while talking with Brian when the detector thirteen miles away to our south at Fort Ticonderoga went off, after its message of no defects, the crew acknowledged, identifying themselves as CP 600! I picked out my spot to shoot from on board the RS-18, then the lighting system attempted to entertain by two light stands collapsing on their own! It was a sound I was familiar with and visited the offenders to make adjustments, hoping at the same time this was not some “spirits” we had driven from the now lit up station interior idea of a joke! Quiet returned thankfully, and several minutes later we heard the faint air horn to our south announcing CP 600 at Burdicks Crossing. Still, we both were deceived as the pair of SD 40-2s drifted along the lakeside trackage into Port Henry! Knowing better than to wander away from the camera, I identified the low rumble, and Brian asked where I wanted him in the photo as the crossing signals went off just south of us confirming it was “train time” again! After a couple zig zags, Brian was good, and headlights were spotted through the trees! An awareness flash is fired off for the crew. Life is grand at moments such as this. Climbing up around the curve and past the station into position came a newly painted CP 5690 trailed by 5677 and the unique consist! I click away shooting the entire train as it passes. Not until after the dust settles, so to speak, do I notice the conductor Rob Dennis, returning Brians wave! Very nice! And the consist, check out those unique eight axle flat cars, with their springs depressed? Yes, I would say those modules are some heavy! The station, with its interior lit up compliments the passing train and Brian waving. Brain can be credited with playing a major role in obtaining the RS-18 1800 from CP to display here, then painted it! Shot in Port Henry, NY on March 30, 2012 at 01:57 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 28/2 lens set at f2. Special thanks of course to the Honorable Brian Venne for his help! Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2012;

Gary Knapp

Lee Schamberger- New On3

Here are some pics of the WW&F railways freelanced branch from Wiscasset to the West . It crosses an inlet of the Sheepscot River just North of town and heads towards the loggging , potato , and dairy areas to the West - Lee

Tip Of The Iceberg

The selection this time is again eclectic. I'm trying to include something of interest for what's probably a wide range of tastes and interests:
The Mack B62 with the tank attached was a mystery for many years. When I saw it at the Loree Colliery (Larksville, PA 4/86) in company with open trailers and dump body trucks I thought it out of place. Finally one of my friends who lived by the Harry E. breaker in Swoyersville informed me that the trucks were used to water down the fine coal dust around the mine sites during hot/dry spells in the summer. Before gas and electric clothes dryers everyone hung their wash outdoors and that grit in the air made things a real bother. Thoughtful move on the part of the coal companies.

I encountered the yellow stop sign in Hawley, PA 7/83. (Remember these? Too bad cause that makes you OLD!) I believe the trip to Hawley focused on checking out the Lackawaxen & Stourbridge RR. The sign was a real find and something quite special even back then. I remember them as being common in the '50's then disappearing, seemingly over a very short period.

Awhile back there was a very informative thread going on Divco delivery trucks. I sent a few scans that I had but, this one wasn't included. I came across Krob's Dairy in Lansing, OH 7/86. I remember home delivery of milk into the 70's up here in Kingston, NY. There were actually at least three local dairies still operating (now only one) but they were using Grumman's. The Divco's were a memory from the 50's. Krob's had three at the dairy when I visited. This one is being emptied after deliveries were complete. They were still using glass bottles too.

Great Bend, PA 4/81 Post Office. What a classic in every way. I came across this little town and it's wonderful brick front stores while on a trip to follow the old DL&W line between Scranton and Binghamton. This is in the area of Hallstead.

Hope you find some useful and enjoyable in this little set.

Wayne Sittner

Like Old Times

Responding to suggestions from Rob Dennis and John Cullinan that I should look up the nighttime D&H local operating out of Saratoga Yard serving the Battenkill Railroad connection at Eagle Bridge, I drove down to Mechanicville, NY last night to attempt to capture an image of the train passing by the newly restored XO Tower. Did I mention D&H GP 38-2 7304 had been recently assigned to this job? One of only three engines on Canadian Pacifics vast locomotive roster wearing the D&H lightning stripe paint scheme, I concluded the chance at an image of 7304 passing XO Tower worthy of the three hour drive each way from the compound. You see, this scene used to occur often at night when the sprawling yard was in place, lightning striped engines were frequently moving around XO. With the tower now restored, I had an opportunity to include both in a night photo! I checked the area around the tower out beforehand on the home computer via Google Maps. What I spotted increased my desire to visit Mechanicville at night. There.......beckoning from the computer monitor.........was a sweeping curve just to the east of XO Tower! Seeing that curve I thought to myself, I know what to do with that location! Get far enough below it with a telephoto to include the tower in the view! Once I arrived in town after an uneventful trip down, I only made one wrong turn before I heard an air horn and found a Pan Am job slowly departing eastward. Pulling up to the crossing the train occupied, there off to the left was XO Tower. Remembering the layout of the area from Google Maps, I found the back street I needed to access the view of the curve and pulled in to park. Time was 00:30ish. The D&H local was called for 23:00 at Saratoga, and I figured no way would Pan Am want that local working out at Eagle Bridge ahead of one of its freights, so I poured some tea and waited. Several minutes later I could hear the EMDs hauling the Pan Am freight up the grade on the far side of the Hudson River, then quiet returned. Some twenty minutes later, a pair of always lit signals beaming red at me protecting the Pan Am main changed to yellow over green! An air horn is heard behind me, then headlights appear.......followed by sounds of a non-turbocharged 645.............this could be them! And it was! Running long hood forward, D&H 7304 comes past me with a handful of cars for the Battenkill! Disappearing around the curve, it is time to get to work as Eagle Bridge is not that far away, and the crew only has to setout their cars, and then pick up the outgoing cars before returning past me. I hardly have begun to set out flash units when I see not one, but two police vehicles heading my way! I never thought Mechanicville to be that large of a town! I go out into the street to greet the officers. The officer I speak with is friendly and allows that I can be believed to only be photographing trains. We wish each other a safe night and I return to setting up. An unusual high-wide move of several cars goes slowly past bound for Kenwood Yard, than a man appears in the street. He confesses to turning me in to the police, and offers an apology, as he had some stuff stolen out of his truck earlier. Watching my activity from his house, he is amazed I have yet to take a picture LOL! “That’s a lot of work for a picture,” he comments but I reassure him its worth it. With my social hour ending, I finish setting up lighting for the train on the curve then walk down with a couple lights to illuminate XO. Back atop the stepladder, test shots reveal the great restoration job done on XO, it glows under the lights! A couple flash units send the “not so quick” message, and thirty minutes of tweaking begin. This less dramatic part of the night comes with the territory, and knowing what can come from patience at night.....................like success, I am going back and forth between a pair of flash units when 7304s air horn is heard announcing the jobs returning from Eagle Bridge. Hearing the hollow sound of the train on the bridge over the Hudson effectively ends the tweaking, and minutes later I am up on the stepladder savoring the scene as 7304 slowly rounds the curve, looming into the scene. In a silent pressing of the shutter release, the flash units do their thing, capturing an image in 2012 of a scene that was witnessed many times each night in the Lightning Stripe Era on the D&H when Mechanicville Yard was a major interchange point for the B&M and D&H. In tonights view, 7304 is on Pan Am track, with the D&H main to Kenwood on the right. That manicured ballast edge (on Pan Am track!?) betrays the presence of Norfolk Southern to me! LOL! Special thanks to John Cullinan and Rob Dennis! Shot on March 7, 2012 at 03:01 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 100/2 lens set at f2. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2012;
Gary Knapp

Time Warp

Remember when motels, diners and resturants, stores, corner bars and ice cream stands had such interesting and original signs. My first memory of Deli Dairy was in the mid 70's. I finally photographed their unique sign in 1983 and even with an intervening name change it's still on Rt 28 in Mt. Tremper NY nearly 30 years later (1/2012). It doesn't looked to have aged much better than I have though.

Wayne Sittner

The "St J"

Friend of mine sent this old St J timetable to me, very interesting since I want to model this area. Rob D

Brad Update

They still need some touch-up, a few details and decoders but I now have a couple new locomotives on the Southern Adirondack RR. The 1234 is an SW-9 in a B&M/MEC inspired scheme while the 2319 is a B23-7 in the D&H like lightning stripe scheme. These photos were all taken around the Round Lake Paper mill in Mechanicville.

I finally 'finished' Rotterdam Jct staging. There are 4 tracks and although they are short, they should work out since my B&M trains are generally short. Worst case, we can always double trains out of the yard. Tracks are numbered from the front of the layout in both the Rotterdam Jct and Mohawk yards. If/when I come across some more plywood and flextrack, I'll probably run the tracks out to the same length as the D&H staging.

Enjoy, Brad Peterson

Trio Of SOO!

SOO LINE SD 60s have been frequent visitors to the D&H for as long as I have been shooting trains at night over there. They seem to be favored as leaders, that is where I usually see them when in the locomotive consist, on the point. With the entire engine class amounting to 63 units, I rarely saw the SD 60s paired up working together. Only one instance comes to mind where I saw THREE working alone powering a train...................until the last two nights, when CP ethanol train 642 passed through the area enroute to and from Kenwood Yard in Albany! While the previous nights efforts failed to produce a photo on the southbound run, I patiently waited, hoping to catch the returning empties with the same power northbound the following night. My plans were dashed when the job was called for 5 am! It was a predictable situation eh? Rare power lash-up, and suddenly the unloading operation has speeded up to enable an entire trainset to be unloaded in less than a day when it took longer in the past. 5 am was not really promising for night photos LOL! I woke up early twice that morning/afternoon anyway, to find the train was indeed out on the road meeting 696 and 931 at Fort Edward. It didn’t look promising. After a couple hours sleep I got up and went about starting my nightly schedule, scanner on to monitor the D&H, “just in case” 642 was still out there. The talking detectors gave away the presence of AMTRAK and 931 going up along Lake Champlain, but no 642 with its higher than normal axle count! I was beginning to get my hopes up they had gotten delayed some where. Then an e-mail from Richard Wingler arrived. He was taking wife Bonnie out to eat and at her suggestion, took the scenic route to the restaurant................along Lake Champlain...........and the D&H............eventually into Whitehall where they saw 642 sitting on the passing siding, crewless! Oh My Gawd! It was going to happen! I would get another chance at shooting THREE SOO’s working together! It’s a one hour drive at night over to Port Henry from the compound, longer during the day when VIPs are on the highways. Running time for 642 from Whitehall I guessed to be around ninety minutes. The only warning provided of their being nearby is the detector ten miles away at Fort Ticonderoga, so the drama was built-in again as I finished the happy drive over to Port Henry, waiting for the detector to broadcast the 642 train approaching. So what happens? I pull to a stop at the station, and jump out to start putting the lighting together..................and the North End Dispatcher comes on the air.............he is talking to the new crew for 642.............they are still in Whitehall Yard! I was amazed! I never can hear the Whitehall Tower from Port Henry! Educated with this bit of info, I relaxed and went uptown to look for a resemblance of breakfast knowing I had plenty of time on my hands. Several minutes later I went about setting up the lights, in the fading daylight. It seemed very odd, out of sequence! Many early mornings I am taking the lighting down as daylight moves in! Walking in front of the station on the platform got the the attention of several retired folks socializing inside. “Hey! There’s somebody with a light on his head out there!” A woman came out to politely ask what I was up to. “Oh, you’re the guy!” was her reply when I explained. She kindly moved her four by four pickup from the corner of the building improving the scene immensely. She will get a copy of this photo emailed to her. With the lighting set up smoothly and functioning, test shots taken, I had the luxury of doing nothing.........but enjoying the moment, knowing what was coming! And counting my blessings! I was extremely lucky 642 had to be recrewed further south. Announcing their presence, 642 could be heard whistling for crossings to the south, and smiling, I noted they were early according to my prediction, again it goes along with a rare power move! LOL! By now darkness had fallen, temps were pleasant in the low forties as a guess, and the stations inside lights gave the building a very nice “active” look I NEVER had seen before! The group of retirees don’t know how much their presence added to the photo. You hear the familiar sound, slowly building in intensity, becoming apart from the background noise of the town, that of a train coming into Port Henry from the south. The sound carries as the tracks are built along the waters edge of Lake Champlain. As 642 closes in the sound changes, first you notice the rumble that proclaims EMD, GE’s enter town silently by comparison, then the distinctive exhaust of SD 60s reaches the ear. The SD 60 sounds lower in tone than its brethren the SD 40-2, more throaty in its exhaust to me. Appreciating my situation, I conclude that, yes, this is a great way to start my night! With a trio of SOO SD 60’s working alone. Past the last crossing, up around the sweeping curve comes leader 6055 whom I saw last down on Rogers Island leading 451. The engineer throttles back a touch and the three of them glide up past the station into position where in the blink of an eye, the moment is captured! What a sight appears on the lcd monitor! My night is a success already! With Canadian Pacifics rebuilding program for the SOO SD 60s underway, which includes repainting into CP engine red, I can appreciate this opportunity to catch this group together here, on the D&H. Shot on February 14, 2012 at 19:18 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 28/2 lens set at f2. Special thanks to Richard and Bonnie Wingler! Good idea Richard, letting Bonnie choose the scenic route! Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best in 2012;

Gary Knapp

696 Oil Trains

Like I was telling you...I chased this train from Rouses Point all the way to Kenwood and these are the only pics I got. February 3, 2012

Brad Peterson

CP 7310 waits near Coons Crossing near Mechanicville. A relic from the B&M days of the hump yard still stands tall.

Rob Dennis is the conductor on a empty ethanol train at Ushers Road in Halfmoon, NY.

Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show 2012

Tina and I went early Saturday morning to the show, had a great time found a few deals. I love the sights and sounds of this show, the best train show I have ever been to. Sent along a few photos...over 22,000 people this year a record! Rob D

The newly tooled Athearn Trains Genesis HO scale Electro- Motive Division GP38-2.

 HO “Executive Line” MLW C-630M Locomotives from Bowser.

Athearn Genesis GP-9's in B&M "Sweet!"

XO Tower from our friends at CH&R Structures .

Had lunch with Armand at Plamer at the Steam & Tender it was awesome!