{"id":3158,"date":"2013-07-10T07:32:47","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T11:32:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=3158"},"modified":"2013-07-10T09:13:10","modified_gmt":"2013-07-10T13:13:10","slug":"palmer-massachusetts-friday-night-june-28-2013","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/palmer-massachusetts-friday-night-june-28-2013\/","title":{"rendered":"Palmer, Massachusetts, Friday Night, June 28, 2013"},"content":{"rendered":"

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One Busy Evening.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t remember making my first night photo in Palmer. But I do recall spending Friday evenings there in the 1980s with Bob Buck and company, watching and photographing Conrail<\/a> and Central Vermont<\/a>. See: Drowning the Light<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Palmer<\/a>
New England 611 crawls southward across the Palmer diamond on June 28, 2013. Lumix LX3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"New<\/a>
New England 611 glides into Palmer on June 28, 2013. Lumix LX3 photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Friday evening tradition was maintained on June 28, 2013, when a group of us convened, as we have for many years, near the old station. A few weeks earlier, I posted some photos made on exceptionally wet Friday night. By contrast, June 28th<\/sup> was warm, dry and very pleasant. And busy too!<\/p>\n

The variances of railway freight operations make it difficult to pin point precisely when trains will pass or arrive Palmer. Complicating matters on the week of June 28, was on-going undercutting on CSX\u2019s B&A route (see: Ballast Train East Brookfield<\/a>), and the after effects of a serious derailment on the Water Level route near Fonda, New York a few days earlier.<\/p>\n

However, these events appear to have benefited us on the evening of the 28th<\/sup>. I arrived at CP83 (the dispatcher controlled signals and switch at west end of the controlled siding, 83 miles from Boston) just as CSX\u2019s westward Q437 was rolling through.<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a>
New England Central freights 604 and 606 at Palmer, Massachusetts. Lumix LX photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"New<\/a>
New England Central 2680 on train 604 at Palmer. Lumix LX3 photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New England Central had no less than three trains working in Palmer, jobs 604, 606, and 611, and these entertained us for the next couple of hours. In addition, we caught more action on CSX, including a very<\/i> late train 448, Amtrak\u2019s Lake Shore Limited.<\/p>\n

I made these photos using my Lumix LX3 and my father\u2019s Gitzo carbon fiber tripod. Some of the exposures required the shutter to remain open for 25 seconds or longer.<\/p>\n

\"CP<\/a>
Amtrak’s 448 Boston Section of the Lake Shore Limited eastbound at CP 83 in Palmer. Lumix photo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"CP<\/a>
Limited clear off the control siding at CP83.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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