{"id":14175,"date":"2016-02-13T05:23:45","date_gmt":"2016-02-13T10:23:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=14175"},"modified":"2016-02-25T19:59:21","modified_gmt":"2016-02-26T00:59:21","slug":"unexpected-surprise-stumbling-on-to-one-of-new-yorks-rarest-railway-operations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/unexpected-surprise-stumbling-on-to-one-of-new-yorks-rarest-railway-operations\/","title":{"rendered":"Unexpected Surprise: Stumbling on to one of New York’s Rarest Railway Operations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Follow up to Brian\u2019s Blue Diesel Distraction.<\/p>\n

It was one of those days where I was following my instincts.<\/p>\n

As profiled yesterday, we\u2019d started out after the New England Central; diverted to Pan Am Railway\u2019s East Deerfield yard, then focused on the westward freight EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction).<\/p>\n

More than 30 years ago, I\u2019d travel to East Deerfield in search of antique locomotives in regular service. My friends and I would delight in finding old EMD switchers, plus GP7s, GP9s, and the rare GP18s at work.<\/p>\n

Better were run through freights with Delaware & Hudson Alco diesels. If we found an interesting consist on a westward freight, we\u2019d follow it up toward the Hoosac Tunnel and beyond into Vermont. A good chase would bring us clear to the Hudson River Valley at Mechanicville.<\/p>\n

The catch phrase \u2018to the River!\u2019 has come mean a day-long chase to the Hudson.<\/p>\n

\"Pan<\/a>
Pan Am Railway’s EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction freight) disappears into the bowels of Hoosac Mountain..<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

So when Paul Goewey and I started west after the EDRJ on Tuesday February 9, 2016, it was my hope to re-live and re-create one of those great 1980s chases. And, after all this train essentially had a 1970s era lash-up of engines and was well suited to the spirit of the exercise.<\/p>\n

After photographing EDRJ at the East Portal of Hoosac Tunnel, we followed the narrow switchback road up the mountain to Route 2, and then drove west from North Adams. We\u2019d heard on the radio that EDRJ was to work at Hoosick Junction and meet the eastward intermodal train symbol 22K.<\/p>\n

\u2018We\u2019ll drive directly to Eaglebridge (New York) and intercept the 22K there.\u2019<\/p>\n

Good plan.<\/p>\n

When we crested a hill near Eaglebridge, I pointed out the little used tracks of the Battenkill Railroad. Paul said, \u2018looks like something has been over the line recently\u2019<\/p>\n

And then I saw a wisp of blue smoke (not Merle Travis).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an Alco!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Blue<\/a>
Blue smoke at Eaglebridge on February 9, 2016. Fuji film X-T1 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Indeed it was. We\u2019d stumbled on to the Battenkill local working with a pure former Delaware & Hudson RS-3.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d photographed the Battenkill on various occasions over the years, but always with elaborate planning and careful arrangements. Since neither of us had been to Eaglebridge in many years (at least four for me), to arrive in time to catch this elusive operation was a true find.<\/p>\n

\"This<\/a>
This antique Alco RS-3 is still lettered for Battenkill precursor Greenwich & Johnsonville. FujiFilm X-T1 digital photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Alco<\/a>
Alco RS-3 in the sun at Eaglebridge. How many RS-3s are serviceable in the United States? And of those how many work revenue freights? This once common locomotive is now among the most elusive.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The caveat: if we\u2019d stayed with EDRJ we\u2019d missed the Battenkill.<\/p>\n

Soon we were ambling up the Hoosic Valley making photographs of one of New York State\u2019s more obscure railways.<\/p>\n

\"Crossing<\/a>
Crossing the Hoosic River at Eaglebridge. By the way ‘Hoosic’, ‘Hoosick’ and ‘Hoosac’ are all correct derivatives of the same name. (And yes, I made a color slide here too!).<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MORE TOMORROW!<\/span><\/h2>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow up to Brian\u2019s Blue Diesel Distraction. It was one of those days where I was following my instincts. As profiled yesterday, we\u2019d started out after the New England Central; diverted to Pan Am Railway\u2019s East Deerfield yard, then focused on the westward freight EDRJ (East Deerfield to Rotterdam Junction). More than 30 years ago, … Continue reading Unexpected Surprise: Stumbling on to one of New York’s Rarest Railway Operations<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14171,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[10],"tags":[1334,3331,3333,3332,3095,3334,3335],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Battenkill_Railroad_Eaglebridge_NY_DSCF0951.jpg?fit=2449%2C1633","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2BVuC-3GD","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14175"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14175"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14175\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14320,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14175\/revisions\/14320"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14175"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14175"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14175"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}