mikep758
Borrowed Time?
A few weeks ago a friend forwarded me a copy of a letter to CSX employees stating that the Selkirk hump would be closed in the near future as a result of changes being implemented by Hunter Harrison. We were going to Pittsfield, MA this Saturday to have dinner with family, I figured it was a good chance to leave early and take a trip over to Selkirk for the first time in many years. It's amazing how much things have changed over the years, I remember my first visit in the early 80's my dad brought me and my brother to see the yard, we went into the division offices and walked out with a booklet "Conrail's Selkirk Yard a Visitor's Guide" which I still have on my bookshelf. Today, there is a large "No Tresspassing" sign at the front door of the division offices, something tells me they don't hand out visitors guides anymore. The famous Ben's bridge used to cross the entire yard at the foot of the hump right over the locomotive servicing facilities and shop. Today there isn't a trace of the bridge left. At the west end of the yard there were what seemed like hundreds of stored locomotives along the road. Today, this part of the west yard is now all auto racks. It's hard to believe the hump may soon be gone and it will be revert to a flat switching yard. We only had a little bit of time and it seemed to be a slow day, but it was a cool chance to fire up the drone and try to do a few aerial shots similar to what I remembered in the visitors guide. In this shot an SD40-2 and an MT6 slug are at the top of the hump. In the foreground is the south departure yard, in the background behind the hump bowl is the car shop and the north departure yard.
Selkirk, New York
June 3, 2017
Borrowed Time?
A few weeks ago a friend forwarded me a copy of a letter to CSX employees stating that the Selkirk hump would be closed in the near future as a result of changes being implemented by Hunter Harrison. We were going to Pittsfield, MA this Saturday to have dinner with family, I figured it was a good chance to leave early and take a trip over to Selkirk for the first time in many years. It's amazing how much things have changed over the years, I remember my first visit in the early 80's my dad brought me and my brother to see the yard, we went into the division offices and walked out with a booklet "Conrail's Selkirk Yard a Visitor's Guide" which I still have on my bookshelf. Today, there is a large "No Tresspassing" sign at the front door of the division offices, something tells me they don't hand out visitors guides anymore. The famous Ben's bridge used to cross the entire yard at the foot of the hump right over the locomotive servicing facilities and shop. Today there isn't a trace of the bridge left. At the west end of the yard there were what seemed like hundreds of stored locomotives along the road. Today, this part of the west yard is now all auto racks. It's hard to believe the hump may soon be gone and it will be revert to a flat switching yard. We only had a little bit of time and it seemed to be a slow day, but it was a cool chance to fire up the drone and try to do a few aerial shots similar to what I remembered in the visitors guide. In this shot an SD40-2 and an MT6 slug are at the top of the hump. In the foreground is the south departure yard, in the background behind the hump bowl is the car shop and the north departure yard.
Selkirk, New York
June 3, 2017