A Truly Epic 'Pan Aming'!!!

Here is another frame I really liked from eighth and final location since leaving Northern Maine Junction where I shot Pan Am train NMWA-13 during my leisurely chase across District One, the once great Maine Central Railroad Portland Division mainline. Here again is the trio of MEC 510, 316, and 7545 (a GP40-2LW, GP40, and C40-8 respectively) with their 4261 ft long train of 59 loads and 4 empties seen here hammering over Main Street at a blistering 10 MPH. They are at about MP 92.5 and nearing the south end of a 2 1/2 mile long stretch of double track approaching the still standing goal post signal mast and searchlights at the deactivated former CPF92.

 

They are framed up by the former Maine Central passenger depot now home to the Depot House Museum. Built in 1886 it is now owned by the town and has been lovingly restored and cared for by the Pittsfield Historical Society. Parked adjacent to the station where the exchange house once stood is MEC 582,an old plywood side caboose that dates from the 1920s and served some 60 years! This depot marked the junction with the independent Sebasticook and Moosehead Railroad which built north to Hartland in 1886. The MEC took control in 1910 and extended it to Harmony two years later. Again cut back to Hartland in 1966 the eight mile branch made it into the early Guilford era but succumbed in 1983 like so many other secondary lines as the new owners began their first austerity program.

 

Anyway, now for the story. As I'd mentioned before I had intended to head down to Burnham Junction for one last shot before starting on toward Portland to meet a friend for dinner and then heading home to Rhode Island. But that wasn't how things went down...

 

When I arrived here I'd initially parked my truck over away from the tracks, but then decided to use it as a platform to shoot off the bed. So I backed it up tight toward the tree next to the tracks and turned it off. After checking I decided to reposition it once more but when I got back in I couldn't start it as the key would not turn from lock to run or start. I didn't think much of it and jiggled it a bit and then turned the wheel making sure the steering lock wasn't binding it up as sometimes happens. I wasn't having any luck strangely enough so hopped on my bed to get these shots before going back to my problem. After lensing the train I tried again to no avail.

 

I pulled out the owners manual and did some googling and tried everything obvious. The steering wheel wasn't locked initially but when I manually turned it straight the lock did engage. My truck has an auto start and I confirmed it would start fine but there was no way I could drive off I couldn't turn the key. It quickly became apparent that the problem was the key lock cylinder and I wasn't going to be going anywhere. I called my roadside assistance and it took a bit of explaining to them that I wasn't locked out but that I needed a locksmith. I waited a half hour while they inquired only to have them call me back telling me that all they could do is tow me somewhere up to 40 miles....but I was about 270 from home!

 

Now I was starting to get slightly concerned being here in this one stoplight town on a Saturday night and having not eaten all day. But in a fortuitous turn of events there happened to be a brewery a quarter mile away still open for an hour that was serving food. My friend in Portland had suggested the place so I walked over figuring a beer might help me think, and I better eat while I still could! He gave me the name of the owner and I introduced myself to her and discussed my predicament over a very nice Outland Farm IPA. She made a couple calls to some locals but no one could help me however she did have one great bit of advice. She mentioned a local chain tire and repair shop that was open on Sundays and happened to be located right across from a hotel down in Waterville only 25 miles away, within tow range.

 

So I started making calls tp my roadside assistance who said they'd dispatch someone directly. It was over an hour until they finally got a truck assigned, and then when I received the notification the company they assigned showed up as being based in Orlando, FL. I called the contact number they gave me which just went to a dead end full voice mail box so I wasn't very confident. I called my insurance again and they said to 'just wait since they accepted the call they will be coming' and I said 'they aren't coming from Florida' but she was insistent. Well, as can be expected, after waiting tbe half hour as I was told to they of course didn't show up so I called again and they relented and tried to find someone else.

 

Meanwhile I was just laying on the grass next to my truck beside the Pittsfield depot under the stars. Other than the mosquitoes it was quite lovely and about the safest place I could have hoped to get stuck of all the spots I'd been all day. At least I had plenty of water and spate power banks and good cell reception and was off the road in a clean, quiet little town with a few streetlights nearby to be visible....and considering I had managed to have a great beer and dinner while marooned it was far from the worst possible scenario.

 

Anyway, after what felt like an interminable wait for another tow truck to be assigned, sometime after midnight I finally gave up and decided to just call myself and pay out of pocket. Of course while those incompetent folks at Agero (the roadside assistance contractor used by the insurance companies) couldn't do their job, I found someone on only my second call who was there in less than 30 min. It was a quick tow down to Waterville, and a bit after 1 AM my truck was dumped at VIP Tire and Service and then walked across the road to the Holiday Inn Express for another unplanned expense.

 

This was only the first part of my ordeal. Nearly my whole Sunday was spent sitting in the shop while they tried to make time for me between appointments. They were gracious and very helpful and got it taken apart and confirmed my suspicion that the tumblers on the lock cylinder had failed. That was an easy repair and not a terribly expensive part but being Sunday they couldn't get one delivered until Monday AND even if they installed it they had to find a specialized locksmith to come out and reprogram the truck to sync up with the chip in the new key.

 

So finally I surrendered and let my boss know my predicament and that I wouldn't be coming to work. I had no interest in spending money and being trapped at the Holiday Inn again so like a hobo slung my bags over my shoulders hoofed it a mile into town to stay at the cheaper and nicer little airbnb that I'd stayed in on Friday. With nothing else to do I walked over to Main Street yo Portland Pie for and then had a little Maine craft beer tasting there and then back in the garden at the Inn sitting on an Adirondack under the stars....once I'd surrendered to my fate it was all quite lovely!

 

Monday dawned with a call from the shop that they got the part and were calling the locksmith. By mid day they let me know that the locksmith would be out as his last call of the day around 4 PM. So after a leisurely morning in the garden and a walk downtown for lunch at Holy Cannoli! I headed back to the shop. As promised the locksmith showed up at 4 PM and my truck started right up...$850 and I was on my way! I called that same friend who I was supposed to see on Saturday night and asked if I could take a nap and shower on the way south and as any good friend would he readily obliged. A quick two hour power nap was enough to sustain me and then I headed straight to BET for a night at the railroad.

 

So all told it was well over $1K for a tow, the repair and the two unplanned nights in Waterville and one lost night at work for these photos. Was it worth it? It certainly doesn't feel like it right now, but I'm sure as the months and years pass and Guilford and Pan Am power becomes but a memory my answer will assuredly shift to an emphatic YES! And if nothing else, I have a truly memorable story to add to the annals of railfan adventures.

 

I really feel like the gods of Pan Am did this. Was it because I disparaged them so much? Perhaps. Or maybe it's just the nature of the place. My friends and I always joke about going out for them and getting 'Pan Amed' which is a synonym for getting F---ed! So for my last adventure out on this god forsaken railroad it was only apropos that I received the biggest Pan Aming of my life!!!

 

Pittsfield, Maine

Saturday May 14, 2022

Done