It had hardly snowed at all in Rochester when I departed before dawn in my 1973 Plymouth Scamp. I found the traveling treacherous on Interstate 390 , but I was determined to made photos in the snow along the former Erie Railroad mainline.
I arrived at Gang Mills as the storm was clearing to the east. The sun was just starting to poke out from behind the clouds and there was a fresh layer of snow over everything.
I had three cameras with me that day, including my roommate’s Canon A1 that was loaded with a fresh roll of Kodachrome 64 (a gift from Kodak). Using my Leica, I exposed a few photos of eastward Conrail APL Stack Train TV-302 that was changing crews. Then plotted my course east.
Conrail’s TV302 was changing crews at Gang Mills at 8:50 am on November 19, 1986. I had only a few minutes to figure out what to do and I’d never followed the old Erie Railroad east of Gang Mills before. Exposed on Kodachrome 64 slide film with my Leica 3A with 65mm Elmar f6.3 1/200th of a second.
While I knew the line west toward Hornell through the Canisteo Valley, this was my first trip eastward along the former Erie toward Binghamton. I neither had good maps nor a scanner, but I had an eastbound train, fresh snow, sunlight and Kodachrome. (And the desire to make photos!).
Over the next few years, I’d become very familiar with the old Erie mainline in this area, but rarely would I have conditions like this again.
I found the old Chemung station. Not long after I got out of my car, I could hear the stack train roaring along; TV-302 with GP40-2s and nearly two miles of train. That old Canon A1 had a motor drive and I used it! Kodachrome 64 exposed at f9 1/250th of a second with my roommate’s Canon A1 and 50mm lens. 9:50am on November 19, 1986. My Sekonic light meter with incident attachment indicated 320 foot candles (and that is about a stop brighter than normal daylight conditions owing to the snow)Another frame in the motor drive sequence.9:50am on November 19, 1986: In the spirit of the moment I made this trailing view at Chemung, New York. At the time I feared I was ‘wasting film’; today I’m glad I did! Canon A1 with 50mm lens exposed on Kodachrome 64 slide film. f9 at 1/250th of a second.An hour after I let TV-302 go, I found this westward Delaware & Hudson freight crawling along at restricted speed and about to stop. I learned later that snow had knocked some of the code lines down and the signals were displaying ‘stop and proceed’. This image was made east of Owego, New York at 10:53 am on November 19, 1986. Kodachrome 64 slide film, f4.5 1/250th sec.This image was made east of Owego, New York at 10:53 am on November 19, 1986. Kodachrome 64 slide flim. If you look very carefully, you’ll see this signal is displaying a red light, which in automatic block signal territory indicates ‘Rule 291, Stop and Proceed.’The westward D&H freight was soon on the roll again. There was a time when Boston & Maine GP40-2s seemed very common. Looking back, I didn’t make as many photos of them as I now wished I had, and I’m glad to have this 28 year old slide.In the afternoon, I returned to Gang Mills Yard (west of Corning, New York) where I caught a parade of freights. By then the snow had begun to melt. An eastward Delaware & Hudson BUAB was rolling through at 3:50pm. I made some black & white photos of this train with my Rolleiflex, but at that time-period I was experimenting with my processing for a class project, and I’ve never been satisfied with the resulting negative. Perhaps I’ll scan it and see what I can salvage digitally. This is a Kodachrome 64 color slide.
I’d been out along the former Erie Railroad since before dawn that day. The tracks had been alive with freight. By early afternoon, I was down at Gang Mills Yard, near Corning, which served as a local hub for freight.
Exposed on Professional Kodachrome 25, with my college roommate’s Canon A1 with 50mm lens. The film was processed by Kodak in Rochester, New York with in 48 hours of exposure.
Back then General Electric B23-7s were a common locomotive. I’d grown up with these diesels working locals and road freights on the Boston & Albany route. I always like their classic GE style and their great sound. My B&A engineer friends despised them because of their ‘slow loading,’ ‘low cab doors,’ and other perceived inadequacies.
I made this photo at the engine terminal. I liked all the Conrail signage behind the locomotive. There’s nothing especially unusual about this scene, it was as ordinary as it got for the time, but today this really says, “Conrail” as I remember it.
Conrail ended independent operations at the end of May 1999, fifteen years ago. Between 1976 and 1999, I exposed thousands of views of Conrail. In 2004, Tim Doherty & I authored an illustrated book on Conrail for MBI.
