July 2nd was a work holiday for us, starting out a four day weekend. I had some things to do in the morning, but with that stuff done, I headed out for a bit to shoot, taking advantage of the nice weather. Initially I had set my sights on shooting NECR train NERWNE somewhere between Willimantic and Montville. But as I hit the road, that plan changed right quick, and I did an about face and headed north. Yep, headed north of Connecticut where I could shoot Florida East Coast Railway equipment!
With the change in plans, I decided to head up to Palmer, MA to see what kind of afternoon action there was up there. At the very least train 603, the yard switcher, should be working around the area. And if I was lucky, I’d catch some trains on the CSX line.
Well, short story is this – when I got up there, not only was 603 working (using the CSOR switcher for power), but also 611 was getting ready to head north with a good sized train, with one of the FEC SD40s in the lead. Also, the northbound Vermonter pulled in, and a westbound CSX headed out after the Vermonter and 611 cleared the diamond. And to top things off, FEC GP40 #437 was sitting shut down in the yard. So in south-central Massachusetts I was able to shoot Amtrak, CSX, CSOR, FEC and the NECR. And talking with a fellow photographer/fan up there (very nice conversation while we were waiting for things to happen out by the diamond), I missed Mass Central by a couple hours. Oh, well, can’t win ’em all I guess. I’m still happy with what I came away with in my couple hours in Palmer. Here’s the photos.
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