As many of you know, CP Train D45 (which on some days is symbolled D48) is the most recent incarnation of the daily CP (D&H) turn job that runs between Saratoga Springs, NY and Kenwood Yard in Albany, NY. This train carried many different symbols over the years (263/264, 514/515, 250/251, 450, 414, and D45/D48), and its traditional nickname is "The Gas Train" due to the fact that--until recently--it used to transport a TankTrain set out of Albany that was destined for Vermont Rail System at Whitehall.

For years, "The Gas Train" was a staple for railroad photographers in New York's Capital Region, departing southbound from Saratoga Springs in the late morning and returning northbound from Kenwood Yard in Albany in the mid to late afternoon. This meant generally-favorable light for the southbound (especially in the winter), and great light for the northbound between Mechanicville and Crescent (Clifton Park).

Unfortunately for daytime photographers like myself, when CP changed the symbol from 414 to D45, they also changed the schedule. D45 departs from Saratoga Springs in the wee hours of the morning under the cover of darkness, then heads back north out of Albany in the very early morning. This means that the light is typically only good for the northbound at a handful of spots between Albany and Waterford.

However, last Thursday, for whatever reason D45 did not run, and a D43 crew was called for 0930 in Saratoga to handle the traffic. Suddenly, the train was back on its old schedule!

Thursday was a "prep day" for me for work, and being fairly caught up I was able to duck out for an hour to shoot the southbound at Menands and Albany. Later, on my way home, I was able to jump ahead of the northbound and wait here at Coons in Halfmoon. When the original Mechanicville Yard still existed, Coons was just west of what was known as "Mechanicville West." For years during the late 1990s and 2000s, there was just a single track between here and CPF467 in Mechanicville. However, for the new Mechanicville Yard, a new interlocking--CPF470--was built. That's what you see here, with the Avenue Running Track (a.k.a. "Avenue Runner") diverging to the left to head for the yard.

With only an hour of daylight left, at 4:24 PM D43 rounded the curve into the sweet, late afternoon sun, making for the scene you see here.

Oh, and I'm still going to keep using the #MakeTheGasTrainGreatAgain hashtag until this train somehow, miraculously goes back to this schedule...

CP Train D43

Coons, Halfmoon, NY

February 11, 2020

Miraculously catching the CMQ's former CP "barns" on CP Train 252 last week inspired me to take a look at some of my shots of the barns when they were still in CP paint. In doing so, I realized that last week's catch of a CMQ barn duo was not the first time I had caught two barns together. Granted, they were not back to back like last week (a "regular" CP SD40-2 separated them in the middle of the consist), but it was a cool little discovery nonetheless.

On August 13, 2006, D&H Train 251 heads north through Mechanicville, NY at 5:10 PM in nice, late afternoon light. At the time, 251 was the latest symbol for the northbound side of the "Gas Train" that ran between Kenwood Yard in Albany, NY and Saratoga Springs, NY. The modern incarnation of the "Gas Train" carries the D45 symbol most days and the D48 symbol on some other days. Unlike the "original" "Gas Train," it comes south from Saratoga under the cover of darkness, then heads back north out of Albany in the early morning (although the recent assignment of some of this train's days to the extra board has changed that a little, so stay tuned!). In my opinion, the old "Gas Train" schedule was preferable, allowing both the southbound and northbound chases in daylight.

So, until the schedule reverts back, I'll continue my campaign: #MakeTheGasTrainGreatAgain

D&H Train 251

Mechanicville, NY

August 13, 2006

After a day of dropping welded rail along the Colonie Subdivision near Mechanicville, a CP work train with an SD40-2 for power backs across the Mohawk River Bridge between Waterford, NY and Cohoes, NY. In the not-so-distant past, railroad photographers could shoot this angle all the time since the daily "Gas Train" used to head north out of Kenwood Yard in Albany in the late afternoon. Unfortunately, Train D45--the modern replacement for the "Gas Train"--crosses this bridge northbound in the early morning. If CP would just put D45 on the old "Gas Train" schedule, they could #MakeTheGasTrainGreatAgain

Most of you have probably heard me lament many a time how I miss the old schedule of "The Gas Train"--CP's Saratoga, NY to Albany, NY turn freight. The train used to leave Saratoga in the late morning, then return north out of Albany in the mid to late afternoon, providing great light for both the southbound and northbound runs. In recent years, however, "The Gas Train" was replaced with local D45/D48, which leaves Saratoga in the wee hours of the morning, then returns north out of Albany in the early morning hours--not that great for us sun-dependent photographers. Today, however, D45 was unusually late coming out Albany and had to tie down after switching at Momentive in Waterford on the Colonie Subdivision. A D43 recrew got on the train around 3:00 PM, and just like that "The Gas Train" was nearly running on its old schedule again! The sun hadn't quite swung around enough for the classic shot at XO Tower in Mechanicville--plus CP has let the brush get out of hand there--so I jumped ahead of the train and opted for this location at Pierce Road in Clifton Park. The overpass in the background is for I-87, the Northway. If CP would simply put this train back on its old schedule, shots like these would be possible all the time. #MakeTheGasTrainGreatAgain