Hello All,
No dramatic high speed chasing in the morning, but, heres the report for Day 3, July 24th.
I spent the night in Rutland, and woke up at 0600. I put together an outline for the day, which, on paper, looked good, at least at Midnight when I'd been up for 18 hours. Its included below:
Sunday Outline:
BDMD/MDBD – pick them up in Middlebury, 0700-0800 – follow to Burlington.
Champlain Valley Flyer, 10 am run from Burlington to Shelburne- be back in Burlington at 1100
NECR 323 from Brattleboro to St. Albans – intercept around Burlington.
NECR 324 OD St. Albans 1030 – heads to Brattleboro – intercept if possible – recrew at WRJ
NECR 550 – Wood chip train – St. A to Burlington if running, late morning departure – intercept if possible
NECR St. Albans switcher – works days and nights – check out
NECR 323 NB from St. A – 1700 departure
I also had received a gracious invitation to tour the Rutland Historical society Depot in Center Rutland. Monty proved to be a wonderful host and tour guide. Before heading to the Historical Society's depot, I swung by the 'Million Dollar Depot' behind the best camouflaged Wal-Mart I've ever seen. AMTK 715 and consist were sitting on the track next to the platform track at 0745. Next up was the Historical Society, however, an error in the map kept me from finding Depot Lane, so it took a half hour to get there from the Rutland Depot. There I met Monty, and examined the wonderful exhibits. I'm very impressed at the quality of the exhibits on hand, and according to Monty, they will be getting better in preparation for the September 24th open house.
After viewing the museum, Monty invited me on a guided tour of Rutland, and the old C&P line. I accepted, and we spent a good two hours traveling around, viewing the area, swapping railfanning lies, and in general having a good time. Amongst the highlights, the VRS shops and freight office were sighted from a distance, and of course viewing the yard from the North end. We also ran up to the Omya facility, although we didn't go in, per the trespassing signs. On the train side, C&P 306 ran past the Center Rutland Depot while Monty and I were there, 0835 or so, and we did see them switching the yard later. I got an excellent feeling for the land, and a good impression of the history of the area, rail wise. Thank you Monty!
Monty and I split up at about 1045 – and I headed north on Rt. 3. I rolled into Pittsford, then Brandon. In Brandon, I took a bit of a side trip, heading West on Rt. 73, then North on Rt. 30. Running into Middlebury, it was noon time and I headed for lunch. Not knowing where to go, I gambled on a pizza place known as Green Peppers. It was actually quite good! After investigating the Middlebury yard, such as it is, I turned North again. After leaving Middlebury, I rolled North without further interruption, as I was intending to see the Champlain Flyer. I didn't leave Middlebury until 1300, so then I had missed the 1400 run of the Flyer. Between my lack of familiarity with the area, the traffic and construction on Rt. 7 – and the increasing lack of time, I elected to stake out a spot in Burlington to await the Flyers return. Pretty close to the 'on the Advertised' – I had them backing past the platform at 1503.
My watch seems to be about 3-5 minutes faster than the official time of VRS, so I would say they were right where they were supposed to be. I chatted with the crew for a bit, very nice people I've run into up here on the railroads. In fact, I'd state that the overwhelming hospitality of VRS has been a great change from some of the railroads I've railfanned.
After leaving the Flyer in Burlington, I ran up to my Motel in Colchester, checked in, and then headed North to St. Albans for a rendezvous with NECR. Just as I was coming off Rt. 89, a Southbound called clear of the South yard limit. I turned south to follow, and discovered once again, that track speeds in Vermont are higher than they are in Maine. Long story short, I ran south on Rt. 7, then swung left on the Highbridge Rd, aka Rt. 104A. Not knowing how famous or at least well known this spot was, I was turning the car for a shot, when the southbound rolled over the bridge. GRRRRR. I got one shot by sticking the camera out the car window, but it didn't come out that well. I tried for a shot in Milton, but didn't make the crossing before the train did.
I turned North to St. Albans again, and located the Amtrak station, and NECR roundhouse. There were various types of power that were visible without trespassing. NECR, leasers, and the power for the Northbound, a pair of CN units. The North unit was CN 9421, which appeared to be a GP-40-2lw, the same series that Guilford bought and turned into their 500 series. The other unit, CN 6021, facing south, looked to be a SD-40. The northbound crew must have gone on duty about the time I arrived in St. Albans, since they were going over the power when I saw them. I had been given a tip to try the 'Uncle Sam's Diner' on the main drag in St. Albans. Turns out its changed hands, and is now either TJ's or KJ's Diner. Good food though. By the time I came out, the scanner was speaking of a Northbound getting clearance out of the end of the yard. Figuring they would leave immediately, I rolled up to Newton, MP 2.6. Now, I'm not quite sure what happened, do they deadhead the CN crews back with the NECR crew? If so, they picked them up and rolled out. In either case, by 1820 on my watch, CN 9421 was rolling past Newton.
Fortunately for me, the trackspeed must be lower above St. Albans than below it, as the three car (!) train was certainly not underpowered. I more or less paralled the train up Rt. 7 to Swanson Jct. Then, by misreading the map (this time it was my fault, not the maps) I was waiting on the branch line for the train to cross. Whoops. By the time I realized this, it was a bit late to do much about it, or so I thought. I rolled into Swanson proper, then heard them call clear of Swanson. Figuring they were long gone, I rolled back to the Swanson Historical Society museum. Then, as I was preparing to head back South, the Northbound asked if the bridge was set for them, or for ships. I didn't realize they had to stop, so I rolled northbound, and caught up with them just East of West Swanson.
They did have to come up to a full and complete stop, therefore were moving rather slowly, and I was able to keep ahead of them. Once the bridge was set, I decided to turn South. My new objective was the Northbound Vermonter, in Essex Jct. I arrived very early, to find that the train was going to be very late. In the meantime, I had a wonderful conversation with the Caretaker of the Amtrak station there. Fascinating information! The Northbound finally arrived, at 2121 by my watch. That is the first time I've witnessed a through train stopping at a station – as opposed to the Downeaster which when I see it in Portland, is at the end of its run. I was impressed by the efficiency of the stop, it was hardly long enough for me to grab some pictures. In retrospect, I wish I had not bothered with the camera, as the shots didn't come out that well, since I didn't have time to adjust the camera between shots.
Saying farewell to the Caretaker, I rolled back to my motel, and started prepping for tomorrow!
Tomorrow, Ben and Jerry's in Waterbury, then the southbound Vermonter in Waterbury, or perhaps the other way around. In either case, I'll end up in Lincoln, NH at the Hobo RR tomorrow afternoon. I'm still not sure, but White River Junction is still a possibility. It looks like it will add 45 minutes of travel to my route, plus the time at WRJ.
I'll let you all know how it goes!
See you all trackside!