The Big E Report

On Saturday January 29th I made the trek to Springfield, MA for the Amherst Railway Society Railroad Hobby Show. Here are some of the neat things I'd like to share.

Southern New England "O" scale

City Classics....Go Steelers!

 Awesome U25B "Executive Line" from Bowser.

 New Bowser "Executive Line"Century ALCo C-630, pre-production.

 NY&OW Historical Society

 New From Bachman, RS-3's

 Bachman, D&H Hopper

 Bachman, I Love NY boxcar

 From ExactRail...

I bought one of these ExcatRail PS-2CD Covered Hoppers!

 From our very own local CH&R Structures , The company house...

 Tower B in Albany, NY

 and the rooftop water tank.

 From InterMountain, the new SD20-2Ws in HO and N scale.

From Custom Model Railroad.......great downtown structures.

From Mark Williams of Imagine That! Laser Art Products....the most impressive boothe at the show by far!

 From Bar Mills, really nice expanded booth this year!

 Nice building seminar, way to go Bar Mills!

 Cobleskill Coal from Branch Line Trains.

 My new favorite structure from Branch Line!

 XO Tower in Mechanicville, TMB Custom Models , he built this from the magizine article and produced the magizine article for Rail Model Journal. Awesome Stuff!'

Me and the VTR Moose!

 Atlas had a nice booth the new GP-40-2 (W)

Woodland Scenics had a great booth....lots of new stuff.

Rob D

Return of the 643

These January nights are a great time to be trackside with the lights on the D&H North End. I set my sights on 253 last night, after learning of its leader, CEFX 1030 and that the train was pulling into Mohawk Yard near Schenectady around 19:45. Remembering my last search for 253 which became very late departing from Mohawk Yard near Schenectady, tonights 253 should be up in my neck of the woods well before sunrise! LOL! Imagine my surprise while driving over to the free Crown Point ferry crossing of Lake Champlain, to hear a garbled conversation on the car scanner between night dispatcher Sandy and DS-13 on the Whitehall tower. Sandy was instructing DS 13, the local which serves the large International Paper mill in Ticonderoga, to plan on taking the siding at Whitehall to meet a 643 with the SOO 6027! Instantly wearing a big grin, I'm thinking.........you gotta be kidding me.......643 is running tonight with the same power set from the 642 I shot at Port Henry Tuesday night! So I arrive in Port Henry with the intention of shooting all four units on the curve there alongside the display train. Along comes a friend I have'nt crossed paths with in months, the third shift Port Henry policeman. We get to talking about local and world events until suddenly it dawns on me that I better get to setting up unless I want to watch 643 pass by from the civic! Before you knew it, maybe thirty minutes later, here comes 643 whistling into town, with Garys set up not finished, groan. Rather than get angry, quite a self-destructive emotion when you are alone, (laughing I reminded myself.......there is no one around who cares Gary, get over it) I figured this failure was universe leveling the playing field again after my two captures of 642 earlier in the week! LOL! What could I come up with for an encore? It was 03:30, 253 was around two hours away coming north, 643 had meets north of me with 930 and 252 to deal with. I gathered up the lights and headed for Plattsburgh, it was a long shot but how many trains will I get to shoot with SOO LINE and ICE power on it? After meeting 930 at Wadhams siding, 643 continued north towards its meet with 252 just south of Plattsburgh at Bluff Point. Arriving at the station in Plattsburgh I hopped out of the civic as 252 was passing by. It did'nt look good, but I optimistically began to set up the lights. I would get one chance at best! Worse, the setup at Plattsburgh is time consuming as you are required to drive a block or two to come around from setting up the majority of the lights along the backside of a fence guarding a sidewalk. As I drove back into the station parking area, I heard the crews inspecting each others train at Bluff Point, maybe five miles away. Placing two flash units on this side, then finding a spot for the stepladder and I was in business! A couple minutes later the Dock St. crossing signals are activated and around the curve comes the SOO 6027! As the head end comes downgrade past the station, I'm wearing a big smile as I click! Capturing the moment.......success! The engineer gives me a couple toots! You an imagine the conversation in the cab at the moment............."wait a minute, did'nt we just see Gary earlier at Port Henry?" Ha,ha,ha! The image was worth the effort getting up here legally from Port Henry. See what you think! Shot on January 28, 2011 at 04:59 in Plattsburgh, NY. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


All The Best In 2011;
Gary

Two Icons of the Battenkill

Two Icons of the Battenkill Railroad dominate tonights photo, RS-3 4116, acquired secondhand from the D&H, is stablemate to the 605, and then there is this "Stop, Look And Listen" grade crossing sign in Shushan, NY. John Culligan, who showed me this location a couple weeks back, claims there is "one" other survivor of this style of grade crossing warning sign remaining.........up in Quebec somewhere. All the more reason to appreciate this one surviving nearby. I'm told its in the Battenkills plans to repaint the sign this year, which would be remarkable! And to think I had written off making the drive down earlier in the day. The run to Eagle Bridge and the interchange with the D&H was on again, off again due to troubles with the newly repainted flanger, trailing 4116 in tonights photo. Cully had been keeping me appraised of changes in plans via a couple cell phone calls, and I had to ask, (knowing his adversion to the radiation devices) what phone are you calling from? Cully confessed the crew had let him borrow one of theirs to call me, long distance. I'm thinking.......I like these guys! Ha,ha,ha! SO after the third call warning me plans had changed again and they were making a run for Eagle Bridge, the flanger fixed up temporarily, I undertook the two hour twenty minute drive down, and was happy to arrive here in Shushan far enough ahead of the return trip to capture this image! Once I had set up the lighting here, I found I had backed myself into a corner so to speak composition wise. The view with my 35 & 28mm had the crossing sign in front of the background house, and I really wanted to separate the house, crossing sign and train. All three were strong elements in the photo and I wanted to keep them that way. Thanks again to Cully, who waved the train to a stop at the downtown crossing to let them know I was set up here, I had time to change lenses yet again to the Nikkor 14-24 zoom, and at the 24mm setting I got what I wanted! Of course, all this takes time.......estimating the manual focus distance and all......and when I finally mounted the stepladder the train was underway again and closing quickly! Engineer Billy Tabor saw me get in position atop the stepladder and notched out the 4116 for me, resulting in a neat display of sparks from the stack! The photo all came together within the last minute. And yes, I was glad I made tthe effort to drive down this afternoon! Special thanks to Cully! SHot in SHushan, NY on January 13, 2011 at 18:22. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


All The Best In 2011
Gary

Sunday At Frank's

Sunday we got together at Frank Adamec's house. Saratoga Union Staion is coming along, Frank built a shadowbox on the lower level, next he will work on the street level.

Bill, Dave and Harold. Who farted?

 Trackside view of the station.

 Another building Frank kitbashed to fit the space...nice modern door on the end.

Frank's workbench is in the middle of the room, soon this will be where a 4' by 8' engine facility will go. There's Brad, Mark and Bill.

 Another new downtown structure goes up.

The new Cold Storage is ready for service also! We had a great night!

Rob D

Sunday Milk

Looking every bit the tired ol girl that she is, 2-8-0 #26 has just had her fill of good Pine Lake water as she sits near the Skenesborough Station awaiting hostler Jimmy Whalen taking her back to the yard where she'll take over the Sunday Milk.

RS-3 #203, having done her part, she sits in the clear while the Old Consolidation takes over for the next leg of the Sunday Milk Run.

Being a little short of cash, the SVRR has found that by tacking a combine behind the steamer on weekends, they can draw in a little extra cash from rail buffs anxious to ride behind live steam.


Jim Lafayette

Alco At Night?

It seemed like only a day or two ago, when I read the email from Cully informing me that Battenkill had repaired their less attractive RS-3 4116, (orange and black) and 605 would be shut down for a rest. So, with a good sized snowstorm arriving tomorrow, I had decided to let the Tuesday run go, and wait to shoot the Wed. run in fresh snow. Tuesday afternoon around 3 pm I discover a message on my answering machine........ its from Cully, the 605 is running today, and it will be going through Cambridge and Shushan after dark. I'm staring at the answering machine, I'm thinking, well, I have to go. How many chances will I get to shoot 605 at night? So I make up a thermos of tea, a couple sandwiches for breakfast somewhere, and head out. Two and a half hours later I'm in Cambridge, just in time to watch 605 pass by the station, in darkness! LOL! Oh the pain! Ha,ha,ha! I drove up to Shushan but did not have enough time to finish setting up before 605 came by. Then I headed into Greenwich, to shoot from a balcony on the backside of a house which overlooked the railroad. Arriving at the house, it looked abandoned! No lights on inside. I walked around to the back to find the balcony roof off and an overflowing trash container trackside below it! I was too late! The place was being dismantled. While I could still enjoy the elevation from the second story balcony, who wanted to look at a trash container with an RS-3 passing behind it? After scouting around the neighborhood, it became obvious, I had to try looking at the bridge again. I liked this angle, shot from down low. The junkyard underneath the bridge is hidden. And that paint scheme is outrageous! What a glamorous ALCO! Thanks for the heads up Cully. Shot on January 11, 2011 at 20:45 in Greenwich, NY. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2011;

Gary

Robert Gould's EL

I stopped over Rob Gould on New Years Day too see how's things are progressing. His MRCs Prodigy DCC system is working great and he's been working on his city scenes and adding scenery. 

LV & D&H make an appearance.

 The city scenes are coming along.

The local is sitting waiting on a warm sunny day.

The working Pabst Blue Ribbon Sign was a Christmas present.

The middle staging yard, in the downstairs "crew room".

Enjoy, Rob D

Sharing Vintage Champagne

I had been made aware the previous night by friend John "Cully" Culligan, that the ALCO RS-3 powered Battenkill Railroad would be using their RS-3 605 to run down to the interchange at Eagle Bridge, NY during December 28th. And with these shortened days, the opportunity "might" present itself to capture the elderly ALCO passing the Cambridge Station as dusk or darkness fell. For "Out of Towners", the Battenkill operates one day a week, (usually Tues.) and their day usually begins at seven am. Because of this daytime schedule the ALCO RS-3 powered line has not been on my radar. Rest assurred, I will be visiting again soon! SO after returning from shooting the pair of NECR GP 38s on 324 earlier that morning, I went horizontal for a couple hours, did'nt really get much sleep. I mean, how many times do you get to shoot an as-built RS-3 at night? Ha,ha,ha! A quick check of the email around noon confirmed the 605 was running!! This was too much! Another great gift to shoot. Leaving the compound around 1:30 pm, I was in position in Cambridge at 4, enduring driving into the setting sun all the way south, LOL! I know.......I know.......its a rough life! After setting up the lights, Cully walked in, but alas, the 605 showed up maybe fifteen minutes before it got dark. Not to worry, proclaimed Cully, and he led me on a mini tour of Shushan, then we went over the hills on a shortcut, coming to a stop in front of a classic farmhouse outside of Battenville, NY. I found a setting I liked in the front yard, as Cully knocked on the front door for permission on the property and we quickly threw up the lights. Once I was happy with the lighting, Cully went out to meet 605 at a crossing up the line to make them aware of the impending night photo. The engineer was enthusiastic about this, and offerred to come to a stop and dim the headlights as well as turn on the number lights! With everything in place, Cully rejoined me back here, and waited to spot the 605 as she pulled up to a stop. The stage was set for my first night photo of an honest to goodness RS-3! In a few minutes 605s headlight was spotted, and as she came idling up to a stop it all came rushing back to me; the many appeals of the ALCO RS-3s. The 244s exhaust sounds otherworldly now, in 2010, advertising the brute pulling abilities ALCOs were known for. Within a minute, its all captured! One of New Englands reclusive antique diesels pausing for its portrait in the night. Afterwards it was Cully who accurately summed up the night shoot as "Sharing vintage champagne" . Thanks for your help Cully! Shot in Battenville, NY on December 28, 2010 at 18:11. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

Happy New Year!
Gary & Cully!

Rob And Gary At Work!

We return to Tunnel Road in Port Henry, New York tonight. Having been presented with news of CP train 643 coming north out of Albanys Kenwood Yard during the night behind SD 40-2 5972, it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. These christmas lights in the backyard of the Finnessey residence would only be here for a short time. To shoot an SD 40-2 passing by would be a nice christmas present eh? LOL! Well.......I thought so to, and made up a thermos of green tea before driving over to the free ferry crossing of Lake Champlain at Crown Point. Arriving on Tunnel Road, I was again in admiration of this scene. Even Mother Nature came through this year with snow for christmas. Due to their nature, christmas lights are difficult to discover as a prop for photos before they are taken down, never mind finding them trackside! Here in Port Henry was a wonderful opportunity. First train by was 930, which became a practice shot with its black and white NS leader. Forty five minutes or so later 930s crew was overheard on the scanner talking with a passing train at Fort Ticonderoga to my south, and when the crew acknowledged the talking equipment detector, it was 643! About a half hour away, the scene was set! After making the necessary adjustments to the lighting for a northbound train here, I stopped before I fiddled around too much, and retired to the civic to enjoy some green tea. Ha,ha,ha! Life is great at moments such as this. Being able to include trackside christmas lights is another appeal of shooting trains in motion at night. Five thirty passes as I maintain my vigil hovering around the tripod mounted camera, thinking any minute now.......... Then the moment manifests like a sequence in a dream. While I'm listerning for an air horn, the crossing signals go off at the nearby grade crossing. I'm looking southward, and see nothing! Then movement way off to the right, headlights moving in the dark, three of 'em. Over there? I think, taken aback at the railroads location having never shot northbounds here before. Then the headlights are turning towards me, an air horn blows for the crossing, and we're on. With engineer Rob Dennis at the throttle, 5972 emerges from behind the shed, gliding into position where a silent flash captures the moment. What a christmas card scene! With an SD 40-2 no less! Thanks for the great runby Rob! Shot in Port Henry, NY on Decemebr 24, 2010 at 05:33. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.


Merry Christmas!

Gary

D&H Toys For Tots Train

On December 5th I took part in the annual Toys For Tots Train on the northend of the D&H. It was awesome and I got a lot of great pics and memories!

Rob D

SVRR Toys For Tots Train

Unlike CP Rail, the SVRR can't afford to run a special train for Toys for Tots, but they get the job done by tacking the Frazier, with the big guy himself aboard, onto the rear of the Milk Run.Here we see Conductor J.J. Keys of the Milk Run giving Santa some updates on the Naughty or Nice List as he loads with milk at Hollister's. Engineer Al Fish on the Milk will soon back onto the Frazier and tomorrow morning will visit American Legion Post 83 where the Wednesday Night Train Group will chip in the help with the toy distribution. It's getting crowded on the Frazier but Santa and Flagman Lafayette say the Twins are more then welcome on the platform.

 

American Legion Post 0083 on Main Street in Skenesborough.

Merry Christmas, Jim Lafayette

SMS Christmas Train

Here are some pics from last night and a pic of NE-1 @ Bozyhollow Road crossing from last Monday. What a stark contrast to last week. It’s been snowing on and off up here in Duanesburg and very windy all day with more than an inch on the ground. When I took that shot of NE-1 on the other side of the Valley it was in the 41 Degrees and sunny and I had just a hoodie on. Winter has arrived in the Burg!

Dean J. Splittgerber

Return of the Milk

Having been absent for 2 weeks, the locals were pretty happy to see the Milk Run today.Here we see engineer Rolly Pauquette stopping to exchange greetings with Herm Hollister and pick up a small can of milk to top off the head end crew's lunch.

The pleasantries out of the way, Rolly pulls her down for loading.

The Milk is pretty heavy today with lots of empties to spot here and there.

 

Jim Lafayette

2010 CP Rail Holiday Train

Arriving at favorite location Port Henry, I gave myself plenty of time to fix/tweak things that might go awry, after all, this is the southbound 2010 CP Rail Holiday Train making its annual deadhead move. This is the one shot of the year I do not want to be late for, ha,ha,ha! True to form, by arriving early, my plan allowed the D&H to entertain by running THREE northbounds by me, heading for their meets further north with the Holiday Train. The last northbound, empty ethanol 643, was heard over the radio up at nearby "Howards" passing siding speaking with the Holiday Trains crew........."You got the whole hillside lit up here!" Hearing this conversation just added fuel to the fire of drama, don't you know! And twenty minutes later the Holiday Train announced its presence in town by blowing for the crossing a mile above me! WIth meets for the night completed, the dispatcher told the crew they had a straight shot to Saratoga now, where the next crew would board. The sky behind the hill above the station brightens from the lights of the consist as well as the headlights, and round the curve emerges the spotless 9824 with the Holiday Train in tow! Complete with trademark christmas tree adorning the engine roof. The most beautiful train I will ever see! Fully involved, soaking in the annual moment atop the stepladder, a voice comes from the hand held scanner hanging from my parka........."Good morning Gary!" and I attempt a wave in return, then concentrate as 9824s pilot plow closes in on my familiar spot here. As the consist slowly passes by, I marvel at my good fortune.......what a sight to see at night! Shot in Port Henry, NY on November 27, 2010 at 03:19. It is difficult to believe in less than two hours, I had picked up the lighting, drove down to Rogers Island, (without an unscheduled interview with a NY State Trooper) and set up a handful of lights in time to capture the previous shot I sent you! A wonderful night indeed!

Shot on November 27, 2010 at 05:14 in Fort Edward, NY on Rogers Island.

I wanted to try and find a location tonight, that showed  the glamour the Holiday Train displays as it travels along the shoreline of Lake Champlain during its nocturnal schedule. Thinking the photo should give you the feeling of following along in the car, oooing and ahhhing as the train comes in close and swerves away again to go around a bluff with its reflection. Most people who make the effort to get out and see this beautiful train prefer to see it at its station stops where the shows are held, never experiencing seeing the train moving through the scenic D&H North End landscape at night along the lake as you follow along. Realizing pacing around the compound would not bring results, I just put that thought in the back of my head.........how (where?) could I shoot an example of this "experience", and let it go.  A couple nights back as I left Port Henry I passed this spot and it clicked! So we begin here tonight, south of Port Henry along Bulwagga Bay, waiting. I'm in a little pulloff along two lane Rte. 9N, which is seemingly filled with traffic speeding along. The neighbor across the way "somehow" notices my presence and leaves chopping wood to ask if I need any help. They all do that eh? Any excuse to get away from the woodpile? Ha,ha,ha! He introduces himself, and I get to meet Elwyn Lang. He admits to liking trains, ( I know, I know......I was shocked to, seeing where he lives, the view and all.......) and I go back to the civic to get paper and pencil to jot down his email for this list. So there we were, on either side of busy Rte. 9N, cars wizzing by at sixty per, I spot an upcoming opening.........and go for it, running across.............only to turn my head back forward and stop short as Elwyn did the same thing, LOL! We pause standing in the double lines, cancelling each other out, then we both cross back to the civic, and I record Elwyns email. After he returns to the woodpile, its maybe fifteen or more minutes before 9824s air horn can be heard further south in Crown Point, and several minutes pass before the glow in the sky to the south transforms into the bright colors of the Holiday Train! This is a great spot to watch trains, being on the outside of a long sweeping curve, you get to see both sides of the Holiday Train as it passes. For the chasers following along, the 9824 closes to within perhaps thirty feet or less from Rte 9N before curving away again towards Bulwagga Bay, offerring the view attached. Providing a taste of the treat for the senses the experience of safely following the Holiday Train at night on the D&H North End offers, twice each year! Shot In Port Henry, NY on November 29, 2010 at 18:01. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.




All The Best In 2010;


Gary Knapp

From The Weekend...

Hey guys its been awhile. Here are two from the weekend. On Friday afternoon after just finishing lunch with the wife I was checking the computer in my office. I noticed a posting on the D&H Yahoogroup from Bill Kozel ( Thanks Bill!!) about a 2nd 252/6031 taking yarding for MOH. Hmmm “6031”, sound familiar. Then it dawned on me, hey that’s a SOO. I looked at the clock as saw that there was still some light left as we all know too well the days are getting shorter and colder. Figuring that the #252 crew would make quick work I B-Lined it out to Delanson. Upon arrival the signals at #499 were dark. Of in the distance down by Main Street in the Village there was a headlight which was #938 with three racks for Steve and Woody from the Park (SMS) to pick up in the Morning. So I waited and watched #938 make there move and then went back to check the signal at #499 again once #938 made there drop and returned back to there train. This time they were lit and the switch was lined for the Controlled Siding. At this point the light was getting low and I was running out of light so I decided to stay put in Delanson and would relocated myself over behind the Fire Department. After a good twenty minute wait the classic sound of EMD’s could be heard reverberating off the hills surrounding Delanson and Duanesburg and before I knew it the gates at Cole Road dropped and #252 emerged with not only a SOO leader but two ICE SD’s which has to be a first on the South End. Sadly for us guys on CP up here this same power set headed west on the Southern Tier on Saturdays 39T (Much to the chagrin of Ben Martin and his Wife D’Ann) and was not relayed back north on #253. Speaking of D’Ann she is an amazing photographer and is fastly putting all of us to shame but that is what happens when you have a good teacher such as Ben. Ben you need to have Railfan or somebody do an article on her as I am impressed with each email that I get. Speaking of Ben a tip of the hat to you and Ian for the H/U’s on Sunday’s Q620. Word has it the CSX has suspended plans to cease the CN interchange traffic on the St.Lawrence Sub. Let’s hope these trains continue to be seen for a little longer on both the Mohawk and Selkirk Branch. Here’s a shot of Sunday’s Q620 at CP-VO in Voorheesville. Take Care, Deano



Dean J. Splittgerber