PAR for the course

On Sunday, I took the family north to Magic Wings in Deerfield to marvel at the butterflies. The girls haven’t been there in a while, and it was a nice sunny day, so why not make the 2 hour trek north? Plus, as most of you know, Magic Wings is a scant 10 minutes from Pan Am Railway’s East Deerfield yard. So guess where we spent the afternoon, after we were all butterflied out? Luckily, there was some action around the yard. Sorry, but I couldn’t help the golf reference, now that Guilford is Pan Am Railways (PAR).

We got to East Deerfield about 2pm – the scanner was silent, and there were only a few locomotives down by the sand towers. So I hung around the bridge for a while, listening to the silent scanner. Not long after that, a pair of fans came by and we began chatting. One of them mentioned that there was a light engine move of 8 locomotives heading this way. Well, maybe I could make it over to the east side and get a shot of them heading across the Connecticut River. So after chatting for a bit, I headed back to the car and we went east.

Needless to say, we got there well in advance of the move. One side note – when did McClelland Farm Road get paved? Anyways, we hung around for a while, and I listed to the yard switcher work the east end of the yard, of course out of sight. About 15 minutes later, I could hear that familiar low rumble begin to permeate the air. Moments later, the light engine move made their way onto the bridge spanning the Connecticut, led by a pair of NS GP38s and the MEC 511 sporting the blue & white Pan Am paint scheme.

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And behind those three, were 5 Guilford grey & oranges

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As I was heading back to the car, the big G’s rolling through the trees caught my eye, so I got a shot

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Then it was in the car, and back over to the west end. Maybe I could make it over and catch the octet moving to the pit.

We pulled in just in time to catch the locomotives moving along the outside track of the yard, while a few fans watch the action.

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From there it was up to the standard perch atop “Railfan’s Bridge,” where I met up with some different fans than earlier, and we chatted a bit in between shots. The next shot, I switched to the wide angle as the EMDs passed below me

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And a shot as they approach the old signal bridge to the west

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Now clear of the signal, the conductor heads for the rear end to watch the shove back east – the first move of their see-saw moves to get the group of locomotives into the servicing area

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Once they get the signal, they make their way back east

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And a swap to the wide angle, but this time, intentionally getting my shadow in the corner of the picture

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Then all 8

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And back to the tele to get a telemash shot of the entire group

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After a few minutes, the dispatcher lines the right switches, and they head back west one last time

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Once they’re clear of the switch, the conductor gets off again to bend the iron

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As they pass below me, I just take in the scene, then one of the NS logos on the long hood catches my eye.

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You see, my youngest daughter loves horses…guess where this print is going?

And to close out the afternoon, I got a couple classic shots of the 8 EMDs passing the old tower on their way to the servicing area

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And that was it. I bit farewell to the other fans on the bridge, and headed back to the car, where my girls were ecstatic they got to see a train rolling by them. That just made my already smiling face even happier. What more could I ask for?

Thanks for looking!
Tom