Eagle Bridge and Petersburg, New York.
Over the last couple of days, I’ve displayed contemporary images I made on Pan American Railways lines. Today, I’ve dug deep into my archives and pulled some negatives I exposed in the same territory back in 1985.
February 10, 1985 was a busy day on Guilford’s Boston & Maine lines. I was traveling with John Peters and Norman Yellin and we made it all the way to Mechanicville, New York, having started in the Millers River Valley, east of East Deerfield.
![Guilford Rail System.](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BM-Eaglebridge-NY-Feb-1985.jpg?resize=474%2C302)
![Boston & Maine's eastward MERU passes the old station at Eaglebridge, New York on the evening of February 10, 1985. This has long been a favorite photo; for me it really captures the character of the B&M Westend as it looked in the 1980s. The motion blur on the first car adds to the effect.](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BM-Eaglebridge-NY-Trailing.jpg?resize=474%2C305)
Toward the end of the day, we chased B&M’s MERU (Mechanicville to Rumford, Maine), photographing it at several locations, including Eaglebridge and Petersburg, New York.
Since last week I ended a chase of a Pan Am freight at the crossing near Petersburg (east of Petersburg Junction where the old Rutland ‘Corkscrew Line’ crossed the B&M), I though these images would make an interesting comparison.
![Boston & Maine's eastward MERU hits the crossing near Petersburg, New York. The angle of the track has always made this an awkward place to photograph moving trains. Many years ago, B&M had a split grade through here, with the other main track located on the far side of the valley.](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/BM-Petersburg-NY-Feb-1985-.jpg?resize=474%2C308)
![Pan Am Railways.](https://i0.wp.com/briansolomon.com/trackingthelight/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Pan_Am_618_Petersburgh_NY_trailing_view_IMG_3928-1.jpg?resize=474%2C316)
Where last week, Paul Goewey and I were following a westward freight, 28 years ago we were traveling eastbound. In both situations the light was fading.
I exposed the vintage images on Kodak B&W film using my father’s Leica M4 with a 35mm Summicron lens. Unfortunately, my notes from the day don’t include what exposures I used, nor how I processed the film. Ironically, I had the M4 with me last week too, but the shutter was giving me difficulty so I had to rely on my digital cameras!
See: Daily Post: Boston & Maine Revisited, PART 2
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