This summer on the K&SA.

At the beginning of the year, the end of track was at MP 2.44 (miles measured in 88 ft increments) with the roadbed in its early stages to MP 5 which is at the edge of the driveway. During the first two work days of the year(May and June), we were waiting for rail to be delivered so we worked diligently on finishing the roadbed to MP 5 and doing needed maintenance on the line. The original crossing into the backyard was relocated and smaller jobs were completed up and down the right of way. July 12 was the big work day since I had gone to MA and picked up enough rail to build 250 feet of track and we had the roadbed to build it on. We had also cut and laid out enough ties so the only thing the crew had to do was put the rails together and start spiking. Until July all the work days we'd had have been in incredible weather and this day saw us lay track to just beyond MP 4 (just about 145 ft). We may have been able to get more track assembled that day but one crew was also dumping stone so this new track was finished and ready to ride on by the end of the day.

I hadn't planned on any meet for August since I was having surgery on my shoulder and would be in a sling during most of the month. My "crew" convinced me to have one anyway since they wanted to work (I could supervise). August 9th we had the 'big' meet. The big project was to build the crossing across the driveway. First the track between MP 4 and MP 5 had to be finished to ensure the final alignment of the crossing. We had two crews working, one was digging out the driveway and getting the crossing prepared and the other was spiking track. This meet was almost a washout, there was a light rain all day but my crew kept at it even into the darkness under a tent to finish the crossing under my vans headlights.

Brad Peterson

State Line.....

Last week I returned to CSX's State Line Tunnels West Portal. Four years have passed by already since my first visit here! Wow! It's hard to believe. This is such a fine location for night photos, with no ambient light. Train traffic was way down from what I remembered four years ago, understandably. I spent Thurs. & Fri. nights here from 8 PM ish to 6 AM ish, and saw five or six eastbounds, and two or three westbounds. Of course, for all I know, the majority of trains could run during the day here, while I'm asleep! Each night, a couple eastbounds passed by the lighting first, and likely passed the word on to westbounds they met further east to sit up straight coming out of the tunnel. The crews were friendly and several gave me a couple of toots in passing, perhaps they remembered my photo from here featuring their railroad in the CSX 2008 calendar. One thing the crews didn't do is slow down for me, (not that I wanted them to) the westbounds are dropping down the west slope of the Berkshires here, and I'm guessing they were doing an easy forty mph out of the tunnel portal! The flash lighting freezes everything sharply at that speed fine. Dawn was barely beginning to lighten the sky above the tunnel at the end of my second night, I was contemplating gathering up the lighting, standing outside "the cah", to head for the tent and sleep, when I realized the faint sound I was hearing was in fact a westbound coming downgrade toward me! Back atop the stepladder, the crossings above me are whistled for, the lighting coverage tests out good, and I wait in the pre-dawn darkness. Within a couple minutes, CSX 5323 swings out of the tunnel and into position......for a moment, at forty mph, then she is by me, in a roar of sounds and wind! The resulting photo turns out to be the best of the two night visit! Shot right on the edge of dawn! Shot near Flatbrook, Mass. at 05:41 on Sept. 12, 2009, with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 100/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2. Two flash units/stands erased on the left of the scene. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


All The Best In 2009;
Gary Knapp

Summer Project..

This is a project I started today. A company called Fesco made a toy box caboose around 1973 for $17 at the time. I recently acquired one through eBay. I had no plans to work from so I improvised my own design along the way. The frame consists of a one by two steel tube with short pieces used in additon for side bearings. The floor is two layers of 3/4" plywood screwed and laminated together with construction adhesive. The carbody is screw and glued to the top layer of plywood. The bottom layer of plywood is concealed by a piece of one inch channel screwed and glued to each side as well as the pilot on each end of the caboose. The trucks and couplers were acquired a few years ago through different suppliers on eBay. The trucks are manufactured by K and M and are Aluminum. The couplers are RMI and made of stainless steel. I plan to order grab irons from Precision Steel Car Co.. I am still brainstorming on what to do with the end handrails. The smoke stack will be 1/2" iron pipe with a tee. I have enough plyoow left over to make a seat so Karsen can ride in it or perhaps a seat and cushion at the roof level with some foot pegs for an adult.


Chris Rittner

Jim Lafayette's Skenesborough Valley

The crew is in the Silver Diner, where the twins work as waitresses. The crew enjoys a good cup of coffee, a home style meal and a good view.

For a few minutes, Skenesborough Station looks like a busy place as the Rutland Milk returns to VT with a few emptys while the Evening local waits for Conductor Hewitt to give the signal to leave.

What little money the SVRR had available went into electrical upgrades and weather stripping to keep the cab heaters running and the drafts to a minimum. public image is not a factor. If it were we'd sill be running passenger trains. Anyway, the guy who would run the wash rack got furloughed last month.


Jim

NYC Sunsets

I work for the Providence & Worcester and frequently make the CHFP/FPCH runs to Queens. Attached is a night shot of CP Train 416 we did a couple of weeks ago when we ran late and they came in to Fresh Pond right behind us. Also attached is a shot on Hell Gate that Id like to be able to duplicate with a CP train someday!. Enjoy!

Tom Mik

Risky Business

Glowing within after successfully capturing the waterfall view of the combined VIA 14 & 16, I waited in Riviere-du-Loup after collecting the lighting equipment to check the westbound VIA 15s power. Sure enough, both the new rebuilds, 6400 & 6452 were on the point. The unique F40s would be returning the following evening here above the Upper Falls. Not that I would be in any shape to take a photo, the forecast for tomorrow was for sunny skies on the Gaspe', guess where I was headed....... Driving over to Matapedia later, I was pulled over by police in Trois-Pistoles, I was'nt speeding when I went by him, so I was quite surprised to learn the officer stopped me to check my license. I thought police needed an excuse to stop you? Obviously, I was wrong, Ha,ha! Also.......obviously, I was not going to bring up this belief with the officer! I noticed the car trailing me had pulled over behind the cruiser, and the officer had me pop the back open and get out. Walking back to the rear I met two men wearing street clothes standing with the officer, all three staring into the open trunk, LOL! One of the men smiles at me and asked how's it going? We three had a humorous discussion about my lifestyle before the two men left, leaving me with the officer. I'm certain they had never seen a lighting system like that in a car trunk! While I waited for the officer to finish his work in the cruiser, here comes a tractor trailer westbound past me. The truck portion painted in the latest CN locomotive scheme, hauling a CN Intermodal trailer! Oh yeah....I thought. Only along the CN would I expect to see that! Heaven forebid we put that trailer on one of our trains! Sheesh! Finishing his background check, the officer and his partner wished me good luck. "Trains are your passion eh?" I smiled and agreed with them. Finally heading out again, I arrived in Matapedia after the Chaleur had left, I was not surprised, with the nights events behind me. SO I headed east up the peninsula for New Carlisle, where the crews change. Believing you will come across a seven car passenger train along the Gaspe' Coast is a dream. Besides, the most photogenic locations are east of New Carlisle as well. Five hours of driving later, I've successfully overrun the train "somewhere", arriving at St. Therese-de-Gaspe' at the scheduled time for VIA 16. Walking stiff legged down to the beach, I discover this formation in the sand, which I've only witnessed once before among my many visits here, and promptly celebrate my good fortune by trying different angles with the bridge. The sunny skies are degenerating into thickening clouds streaming overhead, the tip of the iceberg as it turned out. By three PM hail would be falling here, followed by heavy rain. Just past eleven thirty, I hear the faint whistle of VIA 6421, the sun hidden by clouds more than it is out now. Several minutes pass as the Chaleur closes in on this spellbinding location, then the sound of an F40 arrives at the same time as the 6421 is sighted above the bluff to the west of the bridge. The sun in the clouds, the 6421 drifts slowly up to the end of the ten mph bridge, then starts across. Halfway across, a beam of sunlight lights up the near end of the bridge and beach, holding there as VIA 16s headend pulls into the sunlight! I'll take it! Shot along Chaleur Bay at Saint Therese-de-Gaspe', Quebec on Sept. 5, 2009 at 11:38, with the 5D and Nikkor 14 - 24/2.8 lens set at 16mm. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


All The Best In 2009;
Gary Knapp

RS3m Heaven!

CH has had a busy summer!

Reading Caboose

This is a picture of a Reading Caboose on the Slate Picker, in the middle 70s, that Chris Lynch gave me while I was in the hospital in Burlington. I will admit that I do not remember it but we had lots of junk back then. I came across a cheap Reading caboose at the show in Hartford and said what the heck. I'll grunge it to look like that one. Check out the number on the real one and the HO caboose. What are the chances of that???

Jim Lafayette

Summer 2009 Is Over...........

Summer vacation is over, kids are back in school and we head back to the basements for some model railroading! I have received many posts over the summer and I'll share them with you. I like to call this "What I did over summer vacation", railroading style, lol...enjoy!

Rob D

CAMPING ALONG CSX.......MIDWAY!!!

I made the big move and headed eastward after last night in La Grange. Setting up the tent in another state park south of Lexington, with plans to shoot RJ Corman in Midway, and Frankfort, Kentucky, while remaining within striking distance of La Grange. Midway offers a few locations of it's own to enjoy! Frankfort, while containing street running, did'nt click with me. Maybe this fall if I return down this way, I'll see something I like there. In Midway however, I think you'll agree, this view from the second floor of an old civil war era hotel, is not too shabby, even with several flash units not set-up properly behind the power at "train time!" Not concerned, I reminded myself I was here for two more nights, we'll see this train again. The surprise was on me though, as I discovered with business down, this job did'nt seem to operate daily as it did in Fall of 2007 when I was here, and this was to be my only encounter with the GP 38-2s, (one on each end of train) this visit. The ex-CSX line also hosts a night road freight which I planned to look up. After capturing this view, I carefully came down the creaky wooden steps back to street level and noticed a Versailles County Sheriff cruiser slowly coming down the street toward me. Stopping opposite me, the window drops down, I lean down to look inside...........and recognize Officer Alan Leigh! We had met here in Midway during my visit in Fall of 2007, and Alan has been included in my mailing list for night photos ever since! We recalled that night as being downright cold, featuring temps. in the low twenties! Frosty! After mentioning a drunk wandering around nearby, (you don't want him getting tangled up with one of your tripods....)Alan helped me out again tonight, ringing up the RJ Corman dispatcher for me, (as he had generously done in Oct. 2007) to inquire wether there would be any more trains passing through Midway overnight. The word that came down was no, there would not be. Thus saving me from hanging around five hours for nothing. After talking photography and how we were each doing overall, Alan continued on with his patrol, I thanked him for his help then picked up the lighting and drove over to La Grange, perhaps sixty miles away, arriving just in time to witness the last train of the night pass by! I expected this to happen more often than it did actually, with the low traffic levels.

For those of you who are interested: the July issue of Outdoor Photographer Magazine features a photo essay entitled "Double Click" in Frans Lantings' bi-monthly column. Read Frans' column here: http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/columns/world-view/double-click.html Frans explains how he used six remote controlled flash units to capture images of bulldog bats hunting at night for fish over open water. His lighting technique is directly related to what I am doing with trains. He is partially submerged with equipment just above water level for the photo, I would never go that far.......ahem! Frans was the first to explain how flash units in multiples could be synched to the camera shutter up to 1/250 in an OP article in Oct. 2003. Reading Frans "How-To" article opened the door wide for me to interpret his techniques to light up and capture images of trains at night with flash units.

Shot on May 11, 2009 at 23:04 with the 5D (1/200 & ISO 1600) and Nikkor 14 - 24/2.8 lens set at 20mm and f2.8. Flash units in the road erased in photoshop. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best in 2009;
Gary

Saratoga County Fairgrounds Caboose Update

Work continues on the Operation Lifesaver caboose at the Saratoga County fairgrounds.

The stencils are orginal D&H from the Oneonta car shops, courtesy of the Cooperstown Railway Historical Society.

The entrance......

Painting handrails......

Old D&H cast iron "No Tresspassing Sign"

Visiting With Point Of Rocks

The night of April 25th was an opportunity for a happy reunion for me with Point Of Rocks Station. What a backdrop for shooting passing trains! Plus, I have the Zeiss 100/2 with me, being employed for the first time photographing this location. The incredible lens certainly delivers the goods on this spring evening, well actually it's very early morning when the shot is taken. You can zoom into the cab and read the engineers and conductors faces quite clearly as their locomotive enters into the photo at maybe thirty mph! For those who have never visited this historic B&O location, the picturesque station presents problems photographically, as two double track mains combine here into the double track main heading west toward Cumberland,MD. In our view here the other pair of tracks is off to the immediate left. This track arrangement results in signals and masts literally all over the place, making it difficult to obtain a clear view of the station with passing trains. The same signals provide helpful warning of approaching westbounds, which come in quietly, you hear the low rumble of train noise before you hear the locomotives light whine, ah drifting slowly along you think........until they come into sight in this curve which leads them up past you! Looking through the 5D viewfinder, the cab entering into the scene is imposing even against the large station. Knowing where I have prefocused for......"don't let them go into that window", I press the shutter release and the viewfinder goes black due to the mirror being up while the flash units fire. As the crew passes me though, I'm all smiles, having glanced at the image on the lcd monitor, I give them a happy wave from the stepladder. Clean power! Gratitude is an emotion which arrives often during this trip. Shot on April 25, 2009 at 04:07 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 100/2 (Nikon) set at f2. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best in 2009;
Gary

SVRR Alco's!

What little money the SVRR had available went into electrical upgrades and weather stripping to keep the cab heaters running and the drafts to a minimum. Public image is not a factor. If it were we'd still be running passenger trains. Anyway, the guy who would run the wash rack got furloughed last month.

Jim

Saratoga County Fairgrounds Caboose

What a difference a little paint makes. Doors are on and windows next, guess they will only let people peek in windows this year and have it up and running 2010--hope things are going well on your jobs!

Regards Gene

Mad Dog Bill

Madogmobile on the Pioneer Valley Railroad

Jeffrey Rice 1944-2008

We buried my Grumpy Ol Engineer (Jeff Rice) today. The ceremony took place at 1130 in Greenmount Cemetery . At approx 1145, as if on queue, the Rutland Amtrak train came rumbling down the hillside from Fair Haven, it's whistle blearing for Tom Cat's Crossing then Route 4. It was very fitting. He worked as a fireman and then became a locomotive engineer with the Delaware & Hudson Railroad which later became Canadian Pacific Railroad. He retired in August of 2004, after more than 40 years of service.

Jim

More Old D&H

The Slate Picker switching the Back Half (track name) at the Cot Bed in Granville. Photo by Chris Lynch when he was 15 years old. Spring 1976

The engine is headed south, back to Whitehall. I can't imagine where the farm machinery goes unless it is a part load where something had been removed and now its on its way.

A check of my time book shows that we used these CP engines a lot in Feb. Mar and Apr of that year. I only show one trip on the Slate Picker, in that time period, and the engine numbers are different. I mostly worked Yard Master at that time. Fraz must have been training me, he failed!

Not sure of the date, early 90s probably, Saratoga Yard.

Engineer John Heman Keys St Luc Yard, Montreal, Que. Aug. 1991........John started Sept 1965, retired Feb 2009.

Thanks, Jim Lafayette....more to come!

Last Of The Dinosaurs...

I don't railfan much anymore, but when I saw these locomotives together I knew it was something special. PAR EDMO sitting in Eagle Bridge, waiting for a loaded coal train to pass, with ST 621, B&M 69o and ST 643.

Last couple of shots of EDMO through Reynolds. These are the last three six axles left on the PAR roster. Two SD-26's and the SD-39 in the middle.


Rob D

TRACKS AHEAD!

You can join me in celebrating tonight! I have been contacted by David Baule, Executive Producer of the PBS tv series TRACKS AHEAD. They would like to interview me as well as show several of my night photos in a segment to be included in a future program! Life is great! The interview shoot is planned for August 9th, to be seen on PBS channels country wide! It's pleasure to share some GOOD news with all of you!

More good news! NIK Software, announced last night that Color Efex Pro, has been upgraded for use in Lightroom 2.0! Previously this set of filters, several of which I use much of the time, was available only for photoshop. The downloadable upgrade comes FREE to registered users! Hat's off to the NIK folks! This changes everything again!

This spot on CSX ex-Clinchfield route is famed for it's past PR photo shoots. The night view shows off it's continuing attractiveness. We're just over the Tennessee border here in Huntdale, North Carolina, and a fair bit of driving awaits Gary returning to the compound in Hinesburg! Ha! Seeing no reason to rush into heading "nord", amid warm temps., I spent three enjoyable nights here and at Relief, a mile or so east. The railroad hugs the serpentine curvature of the North Toe River for many miles here, set in a surprisingly deep valley cut through the rolling hills which grow eastward into the Blue Ridge. The tiny communities trackside close up shop at night, leaving you alone with the railroad and river. A most relaxing and enjoyable combo for Gary! My second night here, I must have seen thirty trains pass by between 20:00 and 07:00. Wow! Of course, the majority were going the wrong way, ha,ha,ha! But, all I needed was one, and after hearing several westbounds that had passed me earlier go in the hole, success came with this eastbound loaded coal train, led by an AC6000. A dramatic buildup preceeded the 692's appearance, as crews talked to each other during meets upriver at Poplar and Peterson and a talking detector was acknowledged. I'm sure approaching crews were made aware"someone" was at the church in Huntdale taking night photos! Then a headlight was sighted, you hear GE's choppy exhaust, headlight glow follows the sharply curving river, disappearring for moments until the photogenic church itself became backlit, and CSX 692 swept around the curve and past me atop the stepladder! An AC6000, I like that gold CSX on the hood! Trains move right along through here, I'll guess thirty mph, and the GE was doin' it's trademark chuggin'. What a photo with the church at night!

Thanks to Mitch Goldman for providing initiative/reviews while I re-examined processing techniques!

Thanks to David Baule (TRACKS AHEAD) and Jim Wrinn TRAINS editor for the great news!

Shot on October 30, 2006 with the 5D and Canons 35/1.4 lens set at f2.8. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2009;
Gary

The Universe Winks.....

Photographing trains at night in New England I'm left with the feeling many nights, that I must have driven through an invisible, (to us earthlings) portal in time, while inside it the universe winks, and out the other side I come, to nearly empty roads, Coast to Coast AM host George Noory providing company on the radio, arriving in neatly compacted villages, their inhabitants in dreamland, I come across the railroad. Picking out a spot, I emerge from the car to silence while I set up the lights, hoping to photograph a passing night train. New England's "big" power, (excluding CPR's D&H, operating down the west side of Lake Champlain in New York) are SD 40-2's and the last group of C30-7's in the U.S., four axle GP 38's and GP 40's dominate on VRS and SLR rosters, locomotive models long since retired or relegated to the confines of yard duties elsewhere in North America. So after viewing what other railroad shooters are producing on the net, I often get the feeling of traveling through one of those time portals, to emerge back in time when the regions locomotives were the norm, and new, country wide. Last evening was another great example, with big plans after the heavy snowfall on the SLR route in New Hampshire to photograph SLR 393/394 plowing through the deep white stuff, I was all set to depart from the compound, when I found myself waiting for the car to warm up, (not a normal activity for me at night when I'm looking for "a" train) the computer, left on, "dinged" announcing an e-mail. Impatient now to get on the road, I glanced at the message, from my friend Frank Jolin, bringing news of a plow train running to Farnham, Quebec from the east. Not an everyday event! Was I glad I waited around! Arriving in Farnham two hours later, empty of people, I found an MM&A employee walking up out of the yard, and asked about the plow train.........and the universe winked, after a radio conversation, he relays the info that it will be here in an hour! Now, I used to shoot at night here in Farnham years ago when I first began practicing, in admiration for the de-turbocharged ex-SP GP 35's Iron Roads operated at the time. SO I recognized the snowbank! Ha,ha,ha! I set up eight flash units, leaving four unused, keeping in mind we're only lighting up a plow and engine, when my set up was noticed by an employee emerging from the station, who asked the obvious question. Even in french, I could understand the questioning tone of his voice, and I finally communicated "plow train" across the tracks to him. He shook his head in a more obvious (to me) no! "To shop.......to shop" he replied. Knowing fully well what he meant, the "shop" resides in the yard to the east, out of sight for a photo. I walked around to him as he got on the radio, and I thanked him profusely when, after a conversation, he shook his head in a "yes" to confirm in broken english they would come "here", pointing to the track in front of him. "Five to eight minutes" he reminded me before walking away, leaving me in solitude within this familiar setting. Shortly afterwards, "the universe winks" as the odd headlight of snowplow VB-101 emerges from the darkness at the west end of the yard, and the plow train drifts down to a stop in front of me! What year is this? A wood body plow built around 1920, pushed by a B23-7, from a class of the early eighties, (being generous) in front of Farham Station! 2009? I happily click away, full of gratitude for the scene provided me as the men unload and "tinker" around the ancient plow, the engineer walks down the platform towards his car, and hollers across to me, "you're just as crazy as we are, out at this time of night!" I smile broadly and nod, thinking how railroaders are the nicest people. Shot on February 24, 2009 at 00:55, with Canons 5D and Zeiss ZF 35/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2.8. One flash erased behind the plow in photoshop. Many special thanks to "SIR" Frank Jolin! Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2009;
Gary

D&H Memories....

Jeff Rice and I on SC-2, the Ti Job. My Dad took the photo. Stopped at the old Whitehall Station for coffee at Citgo, no doubt. Checking the engine numbers against my old time books it looks to be Apr of 1990.
Republic Steel Plant, Mineville, NY (Port Henry) fall 1972.

Jim LaFayette

Greenfield man to speak on historic caboose restoration

Tuesday, February 17, 2009 11:23 AM EST
By PAUL POST, The Saratogian
GREENFIELD —

Tony Bucca is on the right track, he just needs more people to get on board.The Greenfield resident is leading efforts to restore the 1920s-era caboose at Kings Station Historical Park, at the corner of Route 9N and Porter Corners Road.Tonight at 7 he’ll give a presentation to Greenfield Historical Society about work done to date, what’s left and how people can get involved."The caboose has been completely refurbished," Bucca said.
During the past two years, he and other volunteers stripped off old exterior siding, some of it scorched in a fiery 2006 crash that claimed the life of a local man who ran off the road and struck the caboose. Now the outside has a shiny new surface and custom-made gutters to prevent water damage, and all the iron work has a fresh coat of paint.Next, he wants to spruce up the interior where conductors and other railroadmen lived and worked.“A caboose was really like a rolling office,” Bucca said. “They had a coal stove. They would do all their cooking in there, get in out of the weather.”Such cars were always attached to the end of freight trains. From there, conductors could keep an eye out for problems the engineer couldn’t see from the locomotive. The most common situation was smoking hot boxes, a compartment on train wheels where bearings were housed. Boxes were packed with waste cotton material and soaked with oil to lubricate bearings as wheels turned.Occasionally, material would wear out and have to be replaced, so the conductor would signal the engineer to bring the train to a halt.“That was one of the more important functions of the caboose,” Bucca said.By the 1940s and 50s, roller bearings came into use that eliminated the smoking hot box problem. As time went by, hand-held radios came into use so cabooses weren’t needed anymore.The town of Greenfield purchased its caboose from Delaware & Hudson Railway in 1988 for $1. It had been idled on an old rail spur in Corinth and was brought to its current location on a large flat-bed truck.Bucca has taken painstaking efforts to make sure restoration efforts are historically accurate. From Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley Railroad records, he found old stencils to see how exterior lettering was done. That’s one of the jobs he’ll be working on this year.In addition to the caboose, volunteers are also turning the old Kings Station into a museum. The depot was originally located a short distance away, right along the tracks, but was moved to its current site some years ago.Town Historian Mary DeMarco has already created a rail-themed display inside the old ticket office. Future plans call for converting the freight office into a small museum highlighting things such as Greenfield’s agricultural and logging history.The line, opened in 1885, was first known as the Adirondack Railway and carried passengers from Saratoga Springs to North Creek. From there, they would travel by stage and boat to vacation destinations such as old hotels and Adirondack Great Camps, the summer homes of America’s Gilded Age rich and famous.The D&H purchased the line in 1901. During World War II, it was extended north to Tahawus where ilmenite ore was mined to make titanium for military purposes.Most recently, Upper Hudson River Railroad has been using the line as a tourist attraction. Currently, trains run from North Creek to Corinth; it’s hoped, with proper improvements, that they’ll eventually reach Saratoga Springs.Bucca would like to see trains stop in Greenfield, giving passengers a chance to see the caboose and old depot. He’s even chairing a group named Citizens Restoring Our Caboose at Kings Station (CROCKS).A self-employed freelance photographer, he’s an avid model railroader and publishes a hobby newsletter that reaches 400 people from Syracuse to Massachusetts. If someone needs a favor, Bucca will usually lend a hand. If not, he always has a good excuse.“I’ve got to go work on my caboose,” he says, smiling.

Weekly run to Delanson ...........

SNY made their weekly run down to Delanson to interchange with CP/D&H. Normally they use one engine. But due to a large cut of heavy cars they instead ran down with two units, one of which was recently repaired after having a major failure. Here are three shots. Couple at Delanson, NY on CP with their interchange in tow.

Another at Schoharie Turnpike on the Albany Main in Duanesburg with interchange from CP/D&H.

Dean

Worth Waiting For.....

Fully engaged in the celebration for the years first snowstorm, after making the three hour drive back to the compound from North Stratford, NH, I slept well, then followed breakfast with a drive over to Plattsburgh. Again, the Vermont roads were in worse shape than New York's. Great snow tires and no traffic made for an enjoyable combo to help deal with the weather! Arriving in Plattsburgh, after an hour or so of no activity on the scanner, I decided to set up the lights anyway, gambling on a southbound before morning, a safe bet here on the North End, where three southbounds are scheduled nightly. Halfway through setting up the dispatcher comes on the airwaves, speaking with 250 arriving to my north in Rouses Point! Then I hear of 252 trailing behind 250! Wow! I may see both trains here tonight! I mentally check the weather forecast which said snow between three and five a.m. and smile! All set-up later in the hour, the dispatcher tells 250's outgoing crew to plan on working at Bluff Point Yard from the siding, which tells me of plans to run 252 around them, or at least to run 252! A rare night indeed, two photo opportunities. 250 had a 9500 series leading, wearing the ragged "dual-flag" paint scheme, and in spite of this, looked pretty good passing the station wearing the trademarks of doing battle with snowdrifts up north. I noted the trailing CEFX AC as the preferred unit to see leading here over a 9500. Oh well! The photo was worth the trip over. Within the hour 252 was recrewed and departed Rouses Point as 250 finished it's work and left Bluff Point Yard. I did'nt touch a thing with the set-up or lens focus, remembering the chain reaction that can occur when one does a little too much tweaking! The dispatcher does'nt address 252 by his lead unit, so I'm in suspense as they pass the talking detector eight minutes out.............and acknowledge the detector's message with their train number and lead unit......CEFX 1045! I look over the view once again, and think, but the snow has stopped......I would like some snow please! It starts to snow! Thinking I might be onto something, I wish for bigger flakes, (I mean......come on, I've been given the desired locomotive leading....) and the snow increases in intensity, with bigger flakes! Wow! Could mind's intention be this powerful? I follow that thought with the obvious, take a good shot of this CEFX unit. 252 is whistling on the north side of the city, a couple minutes out when this jogger comes down the street, I ignore him as he jogs by, then he turns around, not wanting to be caught by the train, and jogs up by me again, I offer a "good morning" to him, he returns the greeting, then he stops, and says...."great photos"! I'm concentrating on the incoming 252 more than the jogger, and I'm caught by surprise, and respond..."what...what's that?" He replies, "I've seen your photos....they're great!" I thank him, contemplating how in the world does he know of my photos, as he jogs off up the road, then I remember the article which ran in the Plattsburgh paper's quarterly magazine, ha,ha! To be so fortunate! As CEFX 1045 leads 252 through the city, he returns down the street to watch the flash units do their thing. And they do it well, with the falling snow adding to the scene! I let the head end run further towards me this night, to try and accent the cab lines and station towers more. One of my best results from Plattsburgh I think. After spending time on VRS and SLR, with their GP 40's, it quickly becomes evident returning to CPR's D&H, that we are outside of New England now, no matter how close we are physically. 136 pound continuous welded rail get's my appreciation, as do the AC4400's which seem to be immense machines after shooting GP 40's! Within minutes of 252's passing, the snow stops! I don't know....but I sure counted my blessings! Shot on January 8, 2009 at 05:51 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 100/2 (Nikon) lens set at f2. One flash to left of 1045's cab erased in photoshop. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2009;
Gary