It helps to have good timing.On the afternoon of January 20, 2015, I arrived at the Mine Dock Road grade crossing on CSX’s former New York Central West Shore Route (now called ‘CSX’s River Line’) This was at just the right time.
I found a location, and as I took my camera out the bag, I could hear a train approaching. This turned out to be a southward crude oil extra led by BNSF Railway 7500 in the lead. I had just enough time to change lenses, make a test exposure, before it got close enough to properly photograph.
When this train passed, the home signal located beyond the rock cut cleared to ‘approach’ (yellow-over-red-over-red), telling me there was a northward train lined, but that this would need to stop at the next signal. This was a pretty good sign that there might be a meet.
Over the next hour, I photographed three more freight trains on the old West Shore, two northbound CSX freights, followed by a southward ethanol extra led by a pair of Canadian Pacific General Electric diesels.
In addition, I made use of my telephoto lenses to photograph passenger trains working the old New York Central Hudson Division on the east bank of the river.
Just lucky! I hadn’t been out the car five minutes when this train came into view. Exposed using my Canon EOS 7D with 40mm pancake lens. FIle adjusted in post processing to compensate for contrast and exposure.While waiting for more freights on the West Shore, I made this view of a Metro-North commuter train on the old Hudson Division which hugs the east shore of the river.CSX’s CTC style signaling alerted me to this northward freight. I had ample time to select a location and get into position before I heard it roaring northward past Iona Island. The famous Bear Mountain Bridge makes for a nice prop. Canon EOS 7D with 20mm lens.Not far behind the first northward freight was this train, seen about to exit the Fort Montgomery Tunnel. I’m standing in the same place as I had been for the last photo but opted for a longer lens. Exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.CSX 7537 leads a northward mixed freight. The older cab style on this DASH-40C makes for a nice variation on the more modern ‘Safety Cab’ style that has come to dominate North American freight railroading. Exposed using a Canon EOS 7D with 200mm lens.Not long after CSX 7537’s train went north, I could hear this southward train accelerate. I was surprised, but delighted to catch a pair of CP Rail locomotives leading a loaded ethanol train. Exposed with a Canon EOS 7D with 100mm lens.All red. The signal now indicates that nothing else was lined in the northward direction. After photographing four freights in an hour on the West Shore, I opted to make a move and cross the Bear Mountain Bridge and try the other side of the river for a while.
While I was just lucky, it helps to be able to interpret the signals and have a keen ear for trains. My scanner might have helped me too, if I’d plugged in the correct frequencies. Or it might have distracted me. As it was I did well by sitting tight and waiting out the parade.
