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!

2011 Holiday Train

Shot on Rogers Island in Fort Edward, NY on November 26, 2011 at 04:17 with the 5D and Zeiss ZF 28/2 lens set at f2.

Down the tangent track comes the Holiday Train, then..........9624 clears the marsh, and the perfect reflection pops out! Holy Cow! Elwyn and I watch, transfixed at the sight as the lit up train consist continues to be revealed while 9624 progresses toward me. Only now do I get behind the camera, find my mark, and watch 9624 in............the flashes, on full power, silently fire, the resulting light on the scene reflects back, enabling the image to be captured! Wow! This image gives you the viewer a good feel for what it is like following along in the car with the Holiday Train as it cruises along Lake Champlain. Shot on November 26, 2011 at 02:10 with the 5D and Zeiss 35/2 lens set at f2.

We visit Port Henry, NY tonight on Canadian Pacifics Canadian Main Line, originally the Delaware and Hudson. This pair of night photos depicts the scene six years apart as the Holiday Train makes its annual visit. In the earlier photo from 2005 TWO decorated trains are featured! The RS-18 (ex-CP 1801) was donated by CP for the display train commemorating home town iron ore railroad Lake Champlain & Moria, which interchanged here with the D&H. Judge Brian Venne, who painted and decorated the locomotiveand train w/christmas lights, told me of the time he was directly involved with CP in obtaining a donated engine for the display train: they had talked with the proper people and in time word came back that their request had been approved! Brians group was asked by CP what engine did they have in mind, in so many words. They asked for (as most of us would have.....) the...........8921! In a few days the request came back...........approved! The 8921, for out of towners, was Canada’s only MLW RSD-17 model, and very popular with railroaders and fans! The 8921 made it as far as Rouses Point, NY before someone at CP noticed the 8921 had disappeared. This is how it came to be when the 8921 spent the day in Rouses Point of all places! Brian tells me the historic engine was quickly retrieved back across the border and CP inquired if there might be another locomotive the group would like! LOL! The night photo from 2005 shows a big turnout, probably eight hundred people or more. You can see my spot I would shoot from six years later in front of the engineers window of the RS-18. Switching to last nights view from 2011, what a change!Proving that “owls” come out during the day, in a rare daytime move for me, I drove over here, appearing at 4 pm for the 5:30 Holiday Train! After unloading the lights from the Civic parked beside the display train, Judge Venne, who did’nt recognize me, pointed at me and said........”You.......the cars gotta go!” I complied, keeping a straight face, then asked for permission to shoot from the RS-18 of Judge Venne, he then recognized me and gave me the okay. With the lights set up and tested, I watched as the scene was nearly empty of people at 4:45, then hundreds walked in! Wow! What a scene was before me! A steady stream of parents brought their little kids over to climb up on “the engine” as I looked on, trying to appear unconcerned. What can go wrong!? The organizers of this event provide a couple campfires each year to help people keep warm, that is the smoke seen wafting above the crowd. It is usually a fine idea, but this year it is 54 degrees at train time! Unheard of for late November. You can see the people are dressed lightly in the 2011 scene versus the 2005 scene. Suddenly I noticed lots of cars stopped up on the road beyond the station to the right, in a couple minutes an air horn is heard as the 9824 whistles for the crossing just to the south, and the Holiday Train comes creeping up around the curve past adoring onlookers at the station. For my part, I was singing to myself “Row,row,row your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily. Life, is but, a dream!” Ha,ha,ha! There’s little kids at my feet, kids behind me on the long hood! LOL! I was concentrating on the 9824 as it neared my spot, not noticing the young couple walking into the bottom center of the 28mm view with their kids. Just before the 9824 reaches my spot, the little boy waves! You could’nt make this up! For my part, I never noticed the kid waving until I was back at the computer inside the compound! LOL! The Holiday Train had captured my admiration. What an improvement over the six years in the decorations! This years train just glows! Also, ALL the lights are still working this far north, unlike years past! The lights that appear to be off in the photo are really blinking. You can spot the engineer inside the cab looking straight ahead, responding to placement commands from (hopefully only one) person to spot the “stage car” before the crowd. With the train stopped, a rock group performed christmas songs for the crowd, CP personnel appeared with a check from the area for the Holiday Train, more christmas songs as Santa himself joined the festivities on stage, Mrs. Claus rode the deadhead move south but we did’nt see her tonight, then the band said goodbye with the drummer up front singing Silent Night solo. All the while I was shooting with a 35mm from this spot. What a superb scene as Port Henry station hosts the town and the Holiday Train! Yes indeed, capturing this scene was worth getting up on three hours sleep, (of course...........I was out late shooting last night on the NECR......) skipping breakfast, but making two thermoses of dark tea, and driving with the many VIPs out on the highway. LOL! Shot in Port Henry, NY on December 2, 2005 at 6:57 pm(9714) and November 28, 2011 at 5:34 pm (9824) both with the 5D, the 9824 photo was taken with the Zeiss ZF 28/2 lens set at f2. Please enjoy! Comments are welcomed.

All The Best In 2011;

Gary Knapp

Beltrami Enterprises

I haven't done one of these since August 1st! It's really only in the last couple weeks that I've gotten back to do a little modeling. Thanks to Irene and Lee I've been "enjoying" outdoor mode since Aug 28th.

Some of you are wondering what this is all about? If you're new, it's because you're new to my contacts list. If you received other chapters only sporadically, it's because you responded to earlier emails sporadically. I misplaced my original list of who I've been sending these to so Chap. 9 is a restart...
The idea of sending the "Chapters" began when I was getting progress reports from Mike Confalone, Randy Laframboise, Jim Dufour and Mike Rose as they were making progress several linear feet at a time on their layouts. My progress is in inches, hence.....

 

This little scene was inspired by the "office" at the stone quarry in Gunnison, CO. It's named Quinn's Quarry for my oldest grand-daughter. I started picking at the models that are in the scene back in July when I did the trailer using one by CMW as a beginning point. The VW camper bus was next. This required major rebuilding to the VW Samba bus by High Speed. The prototype is the one my daughter and son-in-law still use. Notice the National Parks stickers on the rear. The third piece was the Portable. That model came back from the NMRA National in CA, thanks to Blair Davies sharp eye. Finally I built up the little bits of detritus for the front of the storage/office trailer yesterday AM. I'm using the model in an era change to my Wanamie Mine scene of the 50's. I (temporarilty) removed the loading conveyor from my 50's scenario. That's the structure that transfers coal from the narrow gauge 4 and 6 ton mine jimmies to standard gauge 50T twins. The new model scene represents the area after the narrow gauge operation shut down in 1968 and the property was taken over by Beltrami Enterprises (a strip mining operation). As with the entire layout everything is interchangable as to railroad depicted and era represented.

Regards to you all,

Wayne Sittner

Fall on the Battenkill!

Once upon a time there was foliage on the trees
Enjoy!!

Cully

Dirty Dirt and the Dome

 On October 13, 2011, D&H train 629 with 57 empty dirt gons with CSX 116 and 7320 waiting on the siding at CPC33 for Amtrak train 69 with the 145 and dome car in tow passing 629 at track speed headed to Saratoga.

Amtrak 145 and CSX 116 side by side at Saratoga.

My conductor Robert Gould pops his head out for a look at all the commotion.

Enjoy, Brad!

Summer's End...

UP power on 629 in Fort Edward waiting to bring a loaded sludge train to Selkirk.

 All Vermont Railway power on a detour train in Elnora.

 VTR detour in Whitehall  waiting for a crew. We ran the trains as 690/691, Whitehall to Elnora and back and interchanged trains with Pan Am. 9/15/11.

John Camerota caught Pan Am's MOED heading east across the Hudson River.


Enjoy, Rob D