Hi all, I thought I'd post some of the highlights of a little drive my wife and I just completed out east. Although we visited many non-railroad locations, such as Shanksville, PA, Washington, DC, Statue of Liberty, and Niagara Falls, I'll limit this post to the railroad-related highlights. We started by spending two nights with some friends who now live in Louisville, KY, Chris and Marylee. Chris is now heavily involved with the Kentucky Railway Museum, and has moved up to a position as an engineer.
For the Saturday excursion that we rode, he gave me the privilege of a cab ride, both out and back (the train had an engine on both ends to simplify operations). Going out I rode in this engine-
Coming back, I rode with Chris in this engine, an EMD CF-7:
Although the weather was dreary, the 3-hour ride was still enjoyable. KRM has quite a few pieces of rolling stock and other inoperable engines, including this one which is slated to be moved:
A couple of days later we arrived in Washington, DC, and of course utilized the Metro to go everywhere. Here's a shot of one of the Metro consists arriving at the Arlington station:
While waiting for another Metro train, Amtrak came by the Braddock Road station:
A few days later, we visited the Mount Washington Cog Railroad. The day started out cloudy, but cleared up just after we got to the top!
The trainsets on the cog don't use normal couplers- they just use a roller on a pushplate, with brake connections that trip the brakes if they get too far apart.
The next day we visited Larry's (tree68) Adirondack Scenic, and had the best time on two of their excursions. The first one, Utica to Thendara with a three-hour layover and back, was the one that I had booked, but we were treated to a bonus ride by Larry on a fall color round trip out of Thendara while we were there. The colors up there were beginning to turn, and the weather was beautiful:
Here's a quick grab shot of the fall color train consist that didn't turn out too well:
That evening, Larry met us in Syracuse and we treated him to dinner (I'm on the left, he's on the right).
All in all, a great vacation, and checked off a few things on my bucket list!
Thanks again, Larry!
Brian (IA) http://blhanel.rrpicturearchives.net.
Brian didn't mention that he got to ride in the cab of that ALCO on the return trip of the local trip.
It was great meeting you!
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
I wasn't sure if you wanted that info broadcast to the entire forum- they'd all want the same royal treatment!
If I know they're there, and the situation permits, I do what I can.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.