Third Time Is The Charm!

I am hoping “third time is the charm” tonight as I load up the Civic and head south from Hinesburg to Cohoes, NY around eleven p.m. I have the ol’ thinkin’ cap on early tonight, and make “a call” before I leave to ensure D45 is indeed operating tonight and the two D&H engines are still powering the job! I do not want a replay of my last effort to catch this train, when I was cornered into shooting dirty CP GEs on 252 at Delanson. Reassured that D45 is running as advertised tonight, I have an enjoyable drive down to the Albany area and pull into Noah Fowlers home at 0145ish to pick him up only to find a darkened house and no Noah in the driveway! I sat for a few minutes, hoping he had just fallen asleep while waiting for me and was rewarded when lights came on in a room and the outline of a head appeared at the window! I waved from the Civic. Who else would be out here in the driveway with car lights on at 01:50 in the morning? In a couple minutes the room lights went out and here came Noah! Alright! Everything is in place for a third try at catching the two D&H engines on D45 passing the old mill at Cohoes!

 

During the drive down, I had encountered torrential downpours but the rain had stopped well before I arrived at Noah’s home. As we departed from Noah’s the rain began again and when we arrived at the old mill we were greeted by Mother Nature with another torrential downpour. The rain seemed to let up a little and we jumped out optimistically, with outside temps in the low seventies we could get wet for this shot, only to witness the rain come down harder, so we retreated back into the Civic to wait it out. I told Noah how the flash units can handle the moisture when inside a zip lock freezer bag. Noah had tracked the 7304 to having departed Saratoga, so D45 was heading our way somewhere north of our location. Great! But..........Mother Nature had us pinned down at the moment! lol! Patience paid off and after several more minutes the rain slowly abated and then stopped altogether. Noah and I emerged from the clean Civic commenting how nice it was of Mother Nature to wash the power for us tonight! lol! Listening for air horns, we safely set up the lighting and settled in waiting. It was surprising to both of us how busy the city of Cohoes was this time of night! Apart from the car traffic, people are out walking around!? Perhaps forty minutes later we agreed we could hear 7304s air horn away to the north. Ah! Finally! A few minutes later 7304 eased past us having just come off the big bridge over the Mohawk River, and in a flash the moment is captured! Success! It is a miracle that these two engines are still together on the same job working within driving distance from me! SHot in Cohoes, NY on August 21, 2014 at 03:37. Special thanks to Gordy Smith for his help! I added some HDR effect to this photo, see what you think? Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed!

 

All The Best In 2014;

Gary Knapp