On one of my early tours of the former Boston & Albany west end, Bob Buck chased an eastward freight from Pittsfield up the grade toward Washington Summit, Massachusetts. Near Dalton, Bob, Doug Moore, John Conn, and I piled out of Bob’s Ford van and watched the train crawl up grade.

I can still smell the creosote from the ties on that hot August afternoon.

Doug Moore will undoubtedly remember that later the same day, we were along the former New York Central Hudson Division when an Amtrak Turboliner blitzed by at more than 100 mph. In the heat of the moment, I enthusiastically suggested that Bob chase that train as well.

After all, he’d done so well catching the freight—why not go after the Turbo?

Tracking the Light Looks Back on Conrail!