The Batten Kill
If you follow my Facebook photo page you may remember this post from two weeks prior to the shot I shared here.
www.facebook.com/1929022727397839/posts/2063990687234375/
Well the score is now Battenkill 5 - Dave Blaze 1!!!
Yes, it finally happened and it still doesn't feel real.
So after driving all the way out on Friday two weeks ago today and striking out I shot some Pan Am and VTR (scroll back a bit to see that) and headed east. After spending a rainy night in Lee I headed out Saturday morning for my original Saturday plan, which was to chase both runs of Mass Bay RRE's Westfield Wanderer excursion. As you've seen in several recent posts the morning chase was fabulous and yielded three dozen keepers.
Once the morning run wrapped up John Kittredge and Roman Daniels and I headed over to grab a beer while waiting to chase the afternoon trip to Holyoke. We checked out a new brewery, Tin Bridge Brewing...which was fabulous by the way and I really want to go back!
I was only halfway through my beer when I got two texts from two differnt friends and fellow fans and Keolisn railroaders. Yes, thanks Wayne Johnson and Nick Palazini! Both excitedly told me that the Battenkill was running...on a SATURDAY! That is virtually unheard of.
Wayne informed me he had a friend chasing them and they were already southbound at Shushan. Wayne gave me his buddy's number and I messaged Caleb Wentzell who was in pursuit. A quick look at google maps told us we were 90 min from Eagle Bridge. Considering that had I got this on any other weekend I'd been too far away to even try, but given that I had a chance, there was no doubt I had to go for it!
John and Roman agreed so we chugged the rest of our beers, slapped payment on the bar, and split for points northwest! We virtually flew through the Berkshires on the Pike and Caleb kept me informed of their progress. Luckily he was with his friend Chris Bellows, and Tim Stockwell, a local fan who was very in tune with BKRR operations and Tim was assured we could make it.
And as we dropped down the hill into Eagle Bridge, NY sure enough there they were. A real live burbling 244 powered Alco RS3...and an ex Delaware & Hudson loco (4116 blt Sept 1952) on D&H rails no less! A railroad left in time...a veritable museum come to life...but an actual gritty working freight operation. Truly a dream come true!
To say I was ecstatic is the foamer understatement of the year. Like I said earlier I still don't believe that I - DAVE BLAZE - actually took these photos myself!!!
Persistence pays off...and great friends made it happen. So hear is to all of you guys, friends old and new. I owe you a beer at Argyle Brewing in the old D&H depot in Cambridge!
Anyway, I shot a LOT of photos this day. It's hard to believe it was even the same day as the PVRR. I've had some really epic trackside trips in my day, but this one may top 'em all!
Anyway, here is what just may be my favorite from that epic dreamlike day last spring. The long 400mm telephoto compresses the scene and really accentuates the joints and "wobbly" nature of the Battenkill Main, the old D&H Castleton Branch.
Something about it just screems 1970s eastern railroading to me. I missed those sad but glorious years when so much branchline railroading died so that the industry might be saved, so this railroad is veritable window into the past. A real live ex D&H Alco RS3 working freight in 2019 like it was 1979 (or 69, or 59 for that matter!) really is a dream come true.
This is one railroad that really is worth every ounce of effort it takes to get it. Come see for yourself.
Northbound approaching White Creek Shunpike Rd in Cambridge, NY. I believe that beat up milepost reads 138. That would be D&H mileage to Albany via the Washington Branch to Castleton, VT; the Rutland Branch to Whitehall, NY; and the Saratoga Sub mainline to Albany Union Station per a 1960 ETT.
Saturday April 13, 2019
Cambridge, New York
The Batten Kill
If you follow my Facebook photo page you may remember this post from two weeks prior to the shot I shared here.
www.facebook.com/1929022727397839/posts/2063990687234375/
Well the score is now Battenkill 5 - Dave Blaze 1!!!
Yes, it finally happened and it still doesn't feel real.
So after driving all the way out on Friday two weeks ago today and striking out I shot some Pan Am and VTR (scroll back a bit to see that) and headed east. After spending a rainy night in Lee I headed out Saturday morning for my original Saturday plan, which was to chase both runs of Mass Bay RRE's Westfield Wanderer excursion. As you've seen in several recent posts the morning chase was fabulous and yielded three dozen keepers.
Once the morning run wrapped up John Kittredge and Roman Daniels and I headed over to grab a beer while waiting to chase the afternoon trip to Holyoke. We checked out a new brewery, Tin Bridge Brewing...which was fabulous by the way and I really want to go back!
I was only halfway through my beer when I got two texts from two differnt friends and fellow fans and Keolisn railroaders. Yes, thanks Wayne Johnson and Nick Palazini! Both excitedly told me that the Battenkill was running...on a SATURDAY! That is virtually unheard of.
Wayne informed me he had a friend chasing them and they were already southbound at Shushan. Wayne gave me his buddy's number and I messaged Caleb Wentzell who was in pursuit. A quick look at google maps told us we were 90 min from Eagle Bridge. Considering that had I got this on any other weekend I'd been too far away to even try, but given that I had a chance, there was no doubt I had to go for it!
John and Roman agreed so we chugged the rest of our beers, slapped payment on the bar, and split for points northwest! We virtually flew through the Berkshires on the Pike and Caleb kept me informed of their progress. Luckily he was with his friend Chris Bellows, and Tim Stockwell, a local fan who was very in tune with BKRR operations and Tim was assured we could make it.
And as we dropped down the hill into Eagle Bridge, NY sure enough there they were. A real live burbling 244 powered Alco RS3...and an ex Delaware & Hudson loco (4116 blt Sept 1952) on D&H rails no less! A railroad left in time...a veritable museum come to life...but an actual gritty working freight operation. Truly a dream come true!
To say I was ecstatic is the foamer understatement of the year. Like I said earlier I still don't believe that I - DAVE BLAZE - actually took these photos myself!!!
Persistence pays off...and great friends made it happen. So hear is to all of you guys, friends old and new. I owe you a beer at Argyle Brewing in the old D&H depot in Cambridge!
Anyway, I shot a LOT of photos this day. It's hard to believe it was even the same day as the PVRR. I've had some really epic trackside trips in my day, but this one may top 'em all!
Anyway, here is what just may be my favorite from that epic dreamlike day last spring. The long 400mm telephoto compresses the scene and really accentuates the joints and "wobbly" nature of the Battenkill Main, the old D&H Castleton Branch.
Something about it just screems 1970s eastern railroading to me. I missed those sad but glorious years when so much branchline railroading died so that the industry might be saved, so this railroad is veritable window into the past. A real live ex D&H Alco RS3 working freight in 2019 like it was 1979 (or 69, or 59 for that matter!) really is a dream come true.
This is one railroad that really is worth every ounce of effort it takes to get it. Come see for yourself.
Northbound approaching White Creek Shunpike Rd in Cambridge, NY. I believe that beat up milepost reads 138. That would be D&H mileage to Albany via the Washington Branch to Castleton, VT; the Rutland Branch to Whitehall, NY; and the Saratoga Sub mainline to Albany Union Station per a 1960 ETT.
Saturday April 13, 2019
Cambridge, New York