Rolf Stumpf’s Eastern USA ALCo trip, September/October 2003 The following text describes a 10-day tour which led me through New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and through parts of of upstate New York - in search of ALCos (plus other treats). Sept., 26th On-time arrival at Philadelphia International Airport with US 893 from Frankfurt. Immigration etc. went pretty quick so I found myself an hour later in my rental car, a Buick Regal. Though I had a reservation for a smaller car, this was ok with me as well. The offered 4x4 was declined as the Regal should do it this time... But ask me about a free upgrade to a 4x4 again in the West! First stop was Bridgeport, NJ where SMS Railservice (SLRS) maintains a sizeable fleet of Baldwins in the Pureland Industrial Park. Apparently the outbounds were already dropped at the CSX junction because everything was quiet. South of Sharptown Road the storage line comprised: ex Trona RR 52 and 53 (both AS-616), SLRS 303 (S-12, ex Johnston Terminals 007) and SLRS 100 (another S-12?). That afternoon I couldn’t find the entrance to the SMS shops and I eventually hit the road to reach Salem, NJ. On the CSX line I found CSX 4405 (GP40-2) working the PGE power plant and then dealing with the Pureland complex outbounds. Entering Salem I found Southern Railway of New Jersey (SRNJ) 100 (GP9) switching the small Salem yard which is used by a company to repair damaged cars. The short causeway over Fenwick creek is a neat photo location in the late afternoon. After the sun finally gave out I called it a day as well. It was terribly sticky with 82° F at a high humidity. The Salem Motor Lodge is not a place to recommend, yet I tied up there for the night. I didn’t dare to take a shower. The room lighting was pure plain bulbs, at least the sheets seemed clean. Sept. 27th The Salem office of the SRNJ is at the end of the small downtown yard on Grant street. A repair crew was already bustling around on this Saturday morning. I waited for the SRNJ crew to arrive because there was a good chance that one of the road‘s F-Units would be used for today’s train to Swedesboro. Jim, a trainee, was also waiting and soon conductor Jesse and engineer John Rieck arrived. After they prepared the paperwork for the day John told me I could follow him to Mannington Mills where they keep the engines. This plant (producing floorware) is normally off limits but following Jim’s car I was also waved through. 100 was sitting on the main track, and the two F-Units (ex B&LE F7A) 727 and 728 were parked on a side spur. Sharp looking 728 in OW-Livery is momentarily out of service but will be repaired soon. 727 looks pretty rotten but was to be used for the road today! First 100 had to switch Anchor Glass at Salem and pick up the cars already switched the day before. I was invited to join the switch move which I gladly accepted. After about 2 hours we were back at Mannington Mills, the rain clouds gave in at least for some time. The 727 came to life with ease belying the external condition, especially the left side showing a large degree of decay. After some preparation the 727 was coupled in front of the 100. An F-Unit in freight service and leading - what a treat! The sun stayed out long enough to put the departure in bright light. The driving range of the mill’s sport park offered the only spot to photograph the train without brush and trees. Only at Woodstown I was again content with the offering. The former Woodstown yard is all grass with no brush. In the wake of another heavy rainshower the F came out of the nonexistant sun. County road 605 / Swedesboro Road now follows the tracks on the right side, enabling a gentle chase as the train’s speed rarely reaches 15 mph. The rails are laid in a green tunnel for most of the time, so photo locations are pretty rare. Just outside Swedesboro the sun came out again, a sewage treatment plant offered a relatively open space, I’m glad the slides didn’t turn out smelly. Here two cars were parked on the line which were coupled in front of the F and pushed into Swedesboro so I quickly gave up the chase and drove over to Bridgeport to check out SMS again. This time my intuition worked ok and I found the gravel road entrance to the SMS shops from Sharptown Road (next to Caddy). S12 no. 116 was just returning from the junction with some inbounds plus a Fairbank-Morse H10-44 switcher (lettered SLRS 9121) in the rear. The 116 was parked with train close to the crossing over Sharptown road and was shut down for the weekend. I’ve seen pictures of the 116 in Jim Boyd’s Baldwin book pt. 3. Faded paint with ample rust speckles - but alive. This hasn’t changed since. The unit received a mechanical overhaul since and is busy switching the Pureland complex. The shop has two shop tracks, one of them under a roof. Outside were green (sort of "British racing green") 300 and 301 coupled together nose to nose, 554 (ex Trona 54, AS-616) was posing for a roster shot, same fantastic livery. All three units are lettered for SMS Lines. 102 (DS4-4-750 / S8) is in grey primer paint. 101 (the former 1293, DS4-4-1000) is stored unserviceable, 11 (VO660) is receiving a thorough overhaul. The staff is very friendly to the friendly and cautious railfan. What follwed now was a long drive into eastern PA. I chose to avoid the Pennsylvania turnpike to see more of the countryside. I spent the night at Wilkes-Barre, most of the evening at Black Rock Brewing Company’s brewpub... Rainy weather had replaced the sticky humidity of southern NJ. Sept. 28th I checked in at Steamtown as the first visitor, skies were dark and the sun would never come out I guessed. The Pacific-type Canadian Pacific 2317 was being readied in the roundhouse for the two steam excursions to Moscow, PA. Soon it went out over the turntable, dropped ashes, got coal and water and brought the train over to the depot. NKP Geep 514 was doing yard switching shows. But what brought me here was not Steamtown in the first place, the all-ALCo road Delaware- Lackawanna it was, an operation of the Genesee Valley Transportation. Two pairs of ALCos were stabled in the yard over the weekend. Facing northwest were ex BC Rail 804 and 2461 in the bright GVT livery, both C-425. Facing southeast were Conrail-blue 3642 (the ex Delta Bulk Terminal unit and former CR / PC C-636) and 3643 (ex CP 4743, M-636) in GVT corparate livery. This was to be the power for the anticipated Portland turn, the almost daily (workdays) train from Scranton to Portland over Pocono Summit. I made use of the steam train ride to get acquainted with the Portland line but found that open spots were scarce on this stretch. In this weather everything would turn out pitch dark, in that case I didn’t care for the stiff grade, the noise of the creek and the Interstate above would render sound recordings difficult anyway. I shot the afternoon steam excursion along the Elmhurst reservoir, a pretty good runby for an excursion. The return trip was caught with a wide angle lens from a dumpsite between Elmhurst and Moscow. Next to the old Delaware Lackawanna & Western RR backshops - now used by US military - I shot the returning 2317 crossing the Cedar Avenue overpass still lettered "Lackawanna Railroad". The derelict tower clearly showed that the DL&W days are long gone. Shortly after one of the trolleys crossed the street for the last run of the day. I then went out to look for Delaware-Lackawanna’s South Scranton shops. This is located on Breck Street of US11. Quite some ALCo power was sitting outside. RS-3 parts source 204 sat right in front of the shops, next to it former CB&CNS 2029 (ex CN C-630M, this unit might not return to service). On the other side of the main track sat 2452 (ex BC Rail 802, in GVT corporate colors, stored with generator problems). Near the shops were 645 (ex BC Rail M420W, still in two-tone green) and 310 (C-420, ex IHRC), apparently tied up for the weekend after working on Friday or Saturday. 327 (C-425, pretty stripped for parts, ex IHRC 327, still in green BN paint), 6763 (ex VIA FPA-4, lettered Vintage Locomotives Inc.) and pristine looking RS-3 no. 4118 were parked along an old loading ramp. For a few moments the sun came out under the low clouds. Naturally I tried to make some use of it beyond the shop limits but before I found anything the sun was gone again. Sept. 29th With some fog lifting this looked like a promising day. I pulled in at the Steamtown parking lot around 8 am after there was nothing to see at the South Scranton shops. I shot the displayed steamers in pretty golden morning light waiting for something to happen in the yard. Around 8:15 a crew arrived and fired up the two C-425. Boy, what a cloud of white steam and blue diesel fumes poured of the the mall and the downtown Scranton area. The crew were busy preparing the two ALCos before they redirected their attention to the big ones. 3643 was coming to life easily but the engine of the blue 3642 would not catch at air starter. After some adjustments and a long blow of the air starter the C-636 responded with a content rumble. Another two units spoiling the crisp moring air. The yard was pretty foggy until the engines were warm enough. After that the 251s of the four units were burning really clean, except for the C-636 with responded notch action with the usual black smoke. The two C-425 went to work in the yard, serving the Steamtown site (where NKP 514 was also doing some switching of museum equipment) and crossing the Lackawanna Ave more than once. Later 310 joined them. The two 636s were still at idle so I went to visit the shops, Don Colangelo was awaiting me there. With a colleague he was working on 325, a former IHRC C-425 (which I photographed stored at Defiance OH in June 1999). S-6 no. 1044 was also inside the two-track shed. Don fired the 1044 up and and put it into the sunlight, including shoving the 645 out of the way so I had enough room for a nice photo. Don told me that the Portland train would leave Scranton at 1300. So I figured out that I didn’t have much time left and left after only half an hour at the shops to find some decent photo locations. I stopped at the southeast end of Moscow station. But before I could set up for a wait my belly decided to turn sour and I had to scramble for relief. After a black tea at McD (they have this also!) I felt better but didn’t dare to drive back to Moscow fearing that the train might have already passed it. I didn’t hear anything on the scanner. I took a sideroad to Gouldsboro (more by accident than by intent) and had a look at the rails. Something went over the line recently. I asked in the post office but they didn’t hear a train in the past 30 minutes. I parked my car at the restored depot and put up my gear for a photo of the train going along Snag pond. Pretty open and still in a slight grade. The scanner went active because 310 was returning from Mt. Pocono and asked for the location of the Portland turn. They decided to meet in the recently doubletracked section along Roaring Creek. That was still short of Elmhurst! 310 rolled downhill with some cars in tow at 1420 and the Portland turn eventually made its appearance no sooner than 1530. With a mix of sun and clouds during the wait, the clouds won with both trains. It continued to stay overcast so I didn’t have any ambitions for a tough chase. I drove down to the Delaware Water Gap area to scout a good location but the sun - now on a bright blue sky - was already too low for the really scenic portions along the Delaware. All what was left was a driving range off the road to Shawnee. Eventually this was a pretty spot with little shadows and offering a good side view of the train, esp. the locomotives. I didn’t have to wait long for the train after I spent a lot of time searching around. This shot should make my day, I didn’t expect more. At Portland I watched the train pulling into the siding. The other side of the valley was bathing in sunlight. The two big blocks were shuffling their train(s) around on the two tracks. It was a real joy listening to the 3600 hp ALCo engines. As departure time neared I went back to the driving range to make a safe shot. I decided for a head-on view this time, using the fall foliage trees as a frame. Exposure was set for 1/250 at 6.7 and I was quite shocked at the speed of the train when it was nearing. After the grade crossing was safe the engineer notched out with the trailing 3642 responding appropriately. I released the shutter a few yards earlier to be on the safe side as far as motion blur concerns and this made me my current desktop image. On this day this was the best I could get. The rest of the line was without sun, at least from what I could see from the road. I stopped at Cresco, also one of the spots for late sun but here also the light was giving out. I decided to make a sound recording and ended up in the woods near Devils Hole Road. Because of private housing and dense woods I could not get too far from the tracks. But street noise was at a minmum here and I didn’t care that I was ending up near a grade crossing as well. It was getting dark quickly so I saw no alternative. While I waited several deer were prowling the underwood. Some got notice of me and blowed in fear before they reteated. It was very alive out there. soon I started to recognize anything as a train. The airline traffic added more disturbance and all the sudden the throb of hard-working 16-251 engines was clearly audible. I started the recordings gear and retreated a few yards to watch the show from a safe distance. As the headlights were increasingly illuminating the trees the sound grew to a level I couldn’t believe. I’ve been to the Cartier but this was really quite something. I hoped that the recorder would cope with it. What I didn’t know when I set up the microphone was that the line makes a wide turn to the left before rounding Mt. Pocono so I could hear the train for almost 10 minutes grinding uphill. This is bigtime railroading! I drove all the way to Binghampton after this and tied up there for the night. It was raining on the way again but I hoped for the ever changing weather to be on my side at least sometimes the following day. Sept. 30th From Binghampton I drove along Highway 17 to check out the Owego Harford Railway. The highway parallels the Norfolk Southern main (Southern Tier) for most of the time. Short of Owego I encountered a CN eastbound. As the fog was lifting and the sun was working its way down to earth I quickly turned the car and returned to a spot I had mentally earmarked for such a case (near Campville). CN 5694 (SD75I) - CN 6024 (SD40Q) - CN 2526 (C44-9W) were assigned to a merchandise train which was followed by a NS eastbound local led by NS 8805 (C40-9) which I got at Tioga gardens. After that the line was quiet. At Owego depot sat 1811 (ex CP RS-18) with some coaches. Near the shed was 1216 (ex CN SW1200RS, not a NW2 as stated in 2003 Locomotive Rosters) and behind some cars was hiding 40 (SW1 (?), lettered Tioga Scenic RR). Nothing happening here so on with the quest. Bath & Hammondsport was the next destination. The car exchange is made at NS’s Painted Post yard. Four black NS units were sitting in the bright sun so I drove to the small shop area and asked if I could take some pictures. I was told that I wasn’t supposed to be here in the first place but if I’d stay on the paved road on this side of the tracks it’ll be tolerated. I grabbed my photo gear and duly finished my task. At hand were 5212 (GP38-2), 7085 (GP50), 5044 (GP38-2) and 3558 (B32-8). The latter were prepared to leave. I went on to Cohocton where the the enginehouse of the Bath & Hammondsport is. From I-390 I saw a unit in WC livery switching at Cohocton, which proved to be ex WC 2556 (GP38 ?). What I found at the enginehouse left me specchless. Eight former Cartier M-636/C-636 (nos. 41, 43, 45, 47, 75, 77, 78, 85). I love surprises like this. I signed my release at the small office and could walk freely all over the place. The Geep was parked for the lunch break in the new enginehouse where it joined 422 (C-424, in black LAL-family livery lettered for Bath & Hammondsport, no M424W as stated in 2003 Locomotive Rosters) and sidelined 5 (S-1). Outside was 4 (S-1) which is operational. There was nothing to happen here anytime soon so I resumed my westward journey. I stopped at Hornell for lunch and had a look at the Alstom plant. I even found time to visit the interesting railway museum in the old Salamanca depot. The rails outside haven’t seen a train for at least a day, so no train of the Western New York & Pennsylvania RR was in this area. This is a rather new operation of the Livonia, Avon & Lakeville which has their enginehouse at Falconer, a suburb of Jamestown. When I finally found it, I was flabbergasted. Locomotive 630 (C-630M, ex A&M 70, nee CP 4500) was sitting at idle in the sun with a threatening black background. I hustled into the office to sign my release and made my photos before the approaching thunderstorm switched off daylight within a few minutes. That was close! The two former Morristown & Erie C-430 were also at hand. 431 was inside the shed, 432 was idling outside. From Jamestown LAL 423 and 424 arrived with a freight. Both units are lettered for the parent. With rain pouring down I decided to move on westward to spend the night in the Erie area. At Hadley Bay the clouds opened making for a triple rainbow while it still poured down. Oct. 1st Man, it was still that bad weather system out there. I opted for a prolonged time in bed. an hour later than planned I left for the GE plant at Erie. By that time the morning rush hour had cooled down. I circled around the plant and crossed Franklin Ave brigde. On both sides dozens of BNSF C44-9W were sitting the the delivery line. The ones on the western side were apparently about to leave, except for two in the lead position of the two rows here are the nos (from rear to front). Left row: 4076, 4057, 4075, 4087, 4039, 4022, 40xx. Right row: 4020, 4072, 4011, 4089, 4077, 4088, 40xx. In the plant area I spotted MLW no. 5000 (M630u, ex BC Rail 705, test bed for the Super 7) next two more than two dozen more new C44-9W for the BNSF. Not far from the new deliveries was a row of retired UP Dash7 units. How long will the Dash 8, 9 and the Acs will last? After shooting a NS eastbound (NS 4628-NS4135-ex CR 3402) with the new GEs in the backdrop I couldn’t stand the weather anymore and off I was. Especially the CSX line was pretty busy but it was really not inviting to shoot any trains. Along the electrified GE test track a UP AC4400CW was busy with a GE work train. For future trips I tried to scout some photo locations in the wine country, which should be worth a further exploration. Never saw a photo from this area showing trains with the wineries (Ryan Fisher missed this point in his On Location story once featured in Trains magazine). There are some good spots though. At a mediocre grade crossing I caught CSX 5016 (one of the only 17 AC6000CW) leading two C40-8W on an eastbound intermodal train. I stopped shortly at the small museum around the North East depot. NYC 2500 (GE U25B), a Whitcomb and South Shore Rail electric 802 are on display together with an interesting array of cars. With trackage rights UP runtroughs are also to be found on the CSX Waterlevel Route (I was crazy to think I would steer clear from Armour Yellow in the eastern USA). UP 793 (GP38-2) and 6732 (AC4400CW) made a strange couple on an eastbound merchandise train. The drone of the Geep was unbelievable. Not long after that a CSX westbound led by AC4400CW 339 and a class mate put things right. From busy mainlines to American railroad’s backyards. Next stop Gowanda, NY. Home of the New York & Lake Erie. They’re best known for their two MLW FPA-4 used in excursion service. But not this season as a sign on the depot read. The two pretty looking units were sitting on the far track with a caboose and some coaches. Thick smoke was dwelling out of every open crack in the enginehouse so I knew there was something going on. Even the neighbors felt that and called 911. Soon the Sherriff’s helicopter was hovering above the station and a cop arrived asking me if there was a fire. I told him the railroad just started a locomotive inside the shed, that was all. Moments later the fire brigade arrived at the scene. The flagman who was just leaving to flag the crossings for today’s train to Cattaraugus was by no ways disturbed. He explained the situation to the cop (this poor guy looked pretty lost) and invited me to follow him. We left the helpless cop, the frowning firebrigade and the hovering heli behind us and headed for Hill Street crossing where C-424 no. 1013 appeared with a single car destined for Cattaraugus. Track speed is limited to mostly less than 10 mph. The unit ran long hood forward as it’s set up for. I even managed two sunny runbys before I felt I’ve seen enough. The line to Cattaraugus has rarely open spaces to shoot a diesel with a single car. I returned to Gowanda to photograph the rest of the NYLE fleet. The ALCo switchers 76 (S-2, ex South Buffalo) and 78 (S-4, ex B&O) are stored as is the parts source 5067, a former PC/CR C-425. In front of the shed sat 6101 (C-425) which I saw at Port Colbourne in June 2000. It’s still lettered for the Port Colbourne Harbour Railway, a NYLE operation. I headed northwards to Eden where Buffalo Southern’s (BSOR) office is next to the historic depot. On a siding next to the main track three pretty derelict ALCos were stored: 107 (S-2), 84 (S-2) and 28 (RS-3). Hamburg also sports a historic depot and has a steam engine on display (lettered Pennsylvania 4423). In the same city are BSOR’s shops. Before gave up the quest because of heavy rain I had to find the BSOR shops along Highway 75. Street access is via the Rieffler company but it should be shootable from a bodyshop’s backyard in the moring. Oct. 2nd And shootable it was. I had the sun on my side as I came back first thing in the morning. Not for long the sun held court over Hamburg, but long enough to get good photos of all engines sitting outside. 4212 and 4241 (MLW C-424, ex Quebec Gatineau, nee Canadian Pacific) are awaiting overhauls, 423 (C-415) was also stored with the cab boarded up, as was 100 (S-2). The only seemigly operable units outside the shed were 2010 (high nose C420, nee LIRR) and 105 (S-2). I didn’t have directions for the Depew, Lancaster & Western enginehouse. I tried to track it down and presume it’s inside the Bison Industrial Park. Near the fence I spotted a steam engine and several old cars. The scanner was quiet, the rails with fresh rust so no imminent action here. The surroundings weren’t inviting to spend more time (the D-L having set the level of expectance pretty high). Next on the list was Falls Road Railroad. The enginehouse at Lockport was shut, nothing outside except for a three vehicles, most likely from the train crew. I followed the tracks east and stopped at the Medina railroad museum. The founder told me that the train is soon coming (I though I merely had taken over but in the end it came already back from Brockport). It didn’t come to my mind to ask from where the train was arriving... Be it as it is, I spent some time exploring the large HO layout which is only to a little part complete. The Medina museum is the largest depot museum in NY state and is worth a visit. Seeing 100+ car freights on an HO layout is a rare sight. Around 1330 1804 (RS-11) lettered for Depew Lancaster & Western arrived with a few cars and went on switching the coaches onto the main track for the weekend’s excursion. Apparently the crew had lunch at Medina. The beautiful ALCo was halfway hidden behind a coach but waiting for the sun peeking throuh the black clouds (which sent down some soft hail minutes earlier) proved pretty worthwhile. Those short glimpses of sun were dearly needed. Destination for the day was the Lakeville area so I manged to include Batavia in my route. But for that I also didn’t have detailed directions where to find the DLWR enginehouse (the entire trip was set up within a few days) so after some circling around I quit the search and ended up at the CSX main south of Batavia on Donahue Road. Yeah, some mainline action came right at this point. CSX 8575 (SD40-2) and 7557 (C40-8) were apparently waiting for a fresh crew with their merchandise train. First came an east bound UP merchandise train led by 6732 (AC440CW) and a GP38-2. Next came an eastbound CSX merchandise hauled by 8726 (SD60I) and 6309 (SD40-2), a EMD lease unit. Guess what, clouds prevented any further silly mainline photos and urged my to resume my trip to Lakeville. There the headquarters of the Livona, Avon & Lakeville Railroad are located. LAL 20 (RS-1) was switching the yard, which is mostly used by Sweeteners Plus and ADM who have both corn processing plants here. The RS-1 is spotless as spotless can be. I never heard a RS-1 work and they’re pretty silent against the 251-engined ALCos. Gusty winds prevented any decent sound recordings of this unit. I was happy enough to get the 20 in the warm evening sun. Next to the enginehouse the former GB&W 319, 320 and 321 were stored (all C-424M), behind them were ex N&YSW 3000 and 3006, both rare C-430. The other two I’ve seen at Falconer two days earlier. Except for the 20, everything else was calling it a day. I checked in at the Geneso Days Inn and explored the Buffalo & Pittsburgh. Their Retsof shops are deserted, nothing much to see so I decided to make a little hike off Highway 63 out of Retsof in the beautiful sunlight. I didn’t come to far before I heard horn sounds. I hurried back to my weathered Buick and took Chandler Road down to Wadsworth. There I saw a southbound train moving towards the grade crossing. Too bad I had the photo gear in the trunk. I missed a sunlight shot only by seconds. Now on the west side of the valley the tracks were in the shadow. I drove as far as Mount Morris to expect the train there. 3107-101-3000- 3106 (all GP40 except for the 101 which is a GP40-3 rebuilt in 2001) were uncoupled from the train and left for the salt mine (as I learned later from the conductor) to pick up 65 loads. I stuck around until the empties were taken to the mine to experiment with night photography and do some sound recordings. I stocked up on batteries on my way back to the motel, to where I returned way too late as I found out the next day. Oct. 3rd Temperatures sank to low 30s and I saw that my car was frozen over. The sun was shining but I didn’t come to life. So when I arrived at the LAL offices both the sun and the train to Rochester were already gone. I was told that the northbound train might have already reached Avon. I took my time to photograph the units stored next to the enginehouse and left. Except for the 20 nothing else was to see. I catched the train in tow of 420 (C-420) and 425 (C-424) short of Henrietta at the Martin Road crossing. The scenery around Mortimer is not to my liking and so I waited for the train at the Genesee River bridge where the Rochester Southern (on which LAL has trackage rights) parallels the CSX. This portion looks like a doubletrack main and is pretty open with trees in the background. I was content with the slow approach of the two ALCos and the clouds were thinning out in time. The train was stopped at Genesee Junction. I didn’t wait for the return however because I got my required "good shot". More would’ve been nice and the whole day was more or less spoilt by the lost time in the morning. Next stop was Sodus where another LAL operation, the Ontario Midland, is to be found. It’s called after the county in which it mostly operates. I found engine 3 (S-4) at idle in front of the shed. The daily train was parked at Williamson as I was told. But my arrival was timely after all because the crew climbed on the switcher to move some coaches around. I never saw an ALCo switcher move before and I got both sunshine shots and a few sound recordings as well. After no. 3 was parked again the MoW crew left for work and I drove back to Williamson where I found RS-11 no. 408 parked with its train for the weekend on the main track. Another sunlight occasion. There were times that day I could cry out loud but now I was smiling. I drove to to reach the NY State Thruway to be able to get something at Utica. Alas, the Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern had already finished business for the day. At least two ALCos (among them two-tone green 806) were sitting outside but their enginehouse lies in the middle of the yard tracks and I didn't dare to drive in. I got my C-425 in BC Rail colors at Scranton so I quit. I photographed the RSC-2 on display at the Amtrak station and had a look at the NY&SW shops. A worker came out and he advised my to come back on Monday to check out their place. That’s an offer I’ll happily accept the next time. A few junk GEs were sitting outside along with other equipment, but not much was to be seen. I planned to shoot some mainline action on my way east but didn’t succeed in finding an open place along the Mohawk River until I pulled up at the Econo Lodge at Palatine Bridge. The Motel overlooks the river and the CSX line which had up 3 trains/hour during my stay. But by the time I arrived at the motel the sun was gone. The Weather Channel forecast told nothing good, the next days it should pour down. I didn’t set the clock and slept long though sometimes I heard the parade of trains passing the Motel. Oct. 4th And it did rain. Plus temperatures in 40s and add a gusty wind. It was excursion train day. If all went well I could arrive in time at Arkville to take a ride on the Delaware & Ulster. I arrived with plenty of time. In storage outside the shed were 5106 (S-4) and 1012 (S-4), Delaware & Hudson 5017 (RS-36) was fired up and idled in front of the wooden enginehouse. I got my ticket and had breakfast in the country store across the street. It was so warm and comfy inside that I nearly missed the 11 am departure. 5017 had no trouble with the train, trackspeed is pretty slow so you rarely here the staccato bark of the 12-251B. The 11 am train went as far as Roxbury and due to the weather the timetable was changed. The only other train for that day departed on 1330 and went as far as Halcottsville. From Highway 30 there’s an excellent elevated photo location where I managed to shoot the slow train at 1/100 for the grey skies turned to a lighter shade of grey meanwhile. It didn’t stop pouring however. I waited for the train to depart the hamlet of Halcottsville and proceeded to Phoenicia, where at the Depot museum the Catskill Mountain Railroad’s 29 (a GE four-axle switcher of the 44ton sort, might be a lighter one) was sitting with the train back to Mt. Pleasant. The 29 pushes the train for the return trip and I took my time until the last arrival to explore the exhibition of historic photos of the communities lost by creation of the Ashokan reservoir. To add variety to the trip I planned to find some or at least one of the last remaining Metro- North FL-9 on the Danbury line and so I drove eastward to tie up at the former Exit 5 Motel near downtown Danbury. Accomodation comes at high prices in the east, not always with the high quality you’d expect then. This made no exception, instead of a breakfast one gets a coupon for Dunkin Donuts "Combo 1" and don’t expect to get a friendly service by presenting the coupon at one of this places. Well, no FL9 at Danbury, P42 all over the place. Nevertheless I opted for a ride to South Norwalk. The trainset proved to be too long for any of the platforms, even at South Norwalk so no seat was available next to the GE which faces northward as they do on the Hudson line. There was nothing really shootable so I returned with the same train, not after getting a copy of the Sunday edition of the Advocate which featured the front page headline: "Rail golden age nears end - Metro-North phasing out classic FL9s on branches" The story told that there were six of them left, but apparently not on the Danbury line that very Sunday. The Danbury RR museum opens on 12 am on Sundays, see you next time. From the M-N commuter parking lot I photographed RSC-2 no. 1513 and ex-M-N 2006 (FL9 in New Haven livery) and left for the Hudson River. I spent the remainder of the day at Fort Montgomery and Storm King Mountain along the west side of the Hudson River. The CSX line was pretty busy as was the Metro-North/Amtrak line across the Hudson. It was both relaxing and entertaining, especially sitting on the rock slope below historic Fort Montgomery and just enjoying the view with the Bear Mountain bridge (which is prohibited for pedestrians because of the restoration under progress). After sunlight was gone from the valley I drove south to Morristown. The only place to stay I could find around town was the Best Western. Another high price accomodation though the reception clerk gave me a discount for the room adjacent to the ice machine. Nevermind, I didn’t hear anything. Oct. 6th Sunshine, temps to be in the higher 60s. By the time I reached the Morristown & Erie enginehouse a train was already out on the Whippany line. In front of the enginehouse sat no. 21, an ex CP Rail C-424. Inside was 4228, left to the shed 4223 and on the siding track of the connection with New Jersey Transit’s Dover line sat derelict 4240 (once again 2003 Locomotive Rosters is wrong by telling these units are M424). Not to forget a tiny Plymouth switcher. On the NJT Dover Line the morning traffic showed quite a variety, I saw EMU trainsets, ASEA/ABB ALP44, the new Bombardier ALP46 and GP40-2PH. I went out to Whippany where there‘s a railway museum. The freight was about to return from the east anytime. M&E’s recent acquisitions, two FL9 numbered 488 and 489 were at hand after having hauled a caboose special train the other day. These were to be picked up for Morristown. I was not alone at the station, Richard Steinbrenner (author of ALCo - A Centennial Remembrance) and a local railfan were also there. Richard and I met by intention and we spent the rest of the day railfanning and talking about ALCos. M&E’s longtime workhorse C-424 no. 18 arrived with the expected freight and went on disassemling the special train. The following westward move resulted in the two FL9 leading (with the 489 actually working), then came the M&E caboose, the rear was made up by the 18 with the few freight cars. It took again some time until that train was disassembled at Morristown, mostly because the FL9 barely can negotiate the tight curves to the enginehouse. The M&E secured the remainder of LTV Steel Minings RS-11 fleet. 7216 was parked just outside the M&E shops on the "runaround track" near Ridgedale Ave. The rest was sitting at Lake Junction which is west of Wharton. Five of the RS-11 had arrived just a few days earlier via Binghampton and Allentown. The storage lines were as follows: 7215, 7208, 7206, 7211. 7214, 7207, 7213, 7212, 7204. We decided to call it a day and we drove south to Warren to have dinner. Ivory Tower Motel at US 22 was not a good choice but located conveniently to have an early night and to pack the luggage for the last day. Oct. 7th Another sunny day, the forecast made me consider to accept another day if the flight home would be overbooked. I catched so dense traffic on the Northeast Corridor at New Brunswick. The Raritan River bridge is excellent in the morning hours and until 9 am I got to see a nice parade of almost anything NJT and Amtrak had to offer on the NEC. More than 10 trains to NYC in less than an hour. After 8:45 the traffic slowed down considerably. Parking is easy on River Road and there are some open spaces along the waterfront to shoot from. The last chance to increase my ALCo count was a visit to the Southern RR of NJ at Winslow Junction. The EMD apparently was working, as the rest of the fleet was at hand. Ex SLQ (nee CN M420W) 3578 seemed operable and was parked next to the humble office with a caboose. On the track paralleling Spring Road ex D&H / LV 414 (C-420, looking sharp in ist LV livery), ex SLQ 3579 (M420) and a battered-looking FA in NYC paint were stored. All in perfect sunlight, except for the cab unit which was partly hidden behind one of the many old coaches. I found that I had enough time to stop by at SMS Railservice once again on the way to the airport. In the single stall of the enginehouse I found 200 being under overhaul, the 300 also received some attention. The units outside had changed their postitions after my last visit. 116 was idling for it was luchtime. Shortly after 1300 the crew returned made some moves and pushed the outbounds to the CSX junction. The crew expressed their happiness with the Baldwins, though not all SMS employees have the same feeling. It’s the same with all RRs using old power, some love them to work on or with, for others it’s old junk and maintaining it just a job to tackle. I had to drop the rental car before 1459 and to stay on the safe side I departed the SMS property around 1400. Sadly I had to decline an offer to have a cabride, time was just running out. When I am in the area again, I surely drop by and bring more time. More Baldwins are to come as SMS apparently secured the last LTV Steel Mining S12 (1, 2 or 3, I don’t know at the moment). After less than 25 minutes I had reached the rental car return, the engineer was right with his guess. In those 10 days I had racked up 2219 miles (or 3550 km), found exactly 90 ALCos and 12 Baldwins (these all at SMS). All this and more was documented on 35 120 format rolls (Fuji Astia), 22 35mm rolls (Fuji Provia 100F) and two DAT audio tapes. Quite a booty.