Oh how easy it is to fall behind on things. Like usual, I’m a bit behind on my postings here, so here’s one from a week and a half ago – July 5th. I had Monday off since it was a company holiday, so I took a little time in the morning to do a little shooting up in Palmer, MA. At the very least, I’d get the 603 job switching the Palmer yard, as well as possibly the CSX interchange. And who knows, maybe some CSX or Mass Central thrown into the mix. Oh, how wrong I was with those plans…
I headed out of the house on a nice sunny Monday morning with full intentions of heading up to Palmer and shooting the 603 yard job doing what they were doing around Palmer. As I got closer to Palmer, I could pick up the crew on the scanner working the yard, and as I passed by Hospital Road near the Monson/Palmer line it sounded like they were shoving something across the Dublin Street crossing in the yard. So instead of heading up to the diamond, I made a quick left onto Dublin St. and checked things out.
By the time I got there, I could see a train assembled, with a marker hung, power pointing south, and it sounded like the crew was doing a brake test. Intersting – maybe they were taking these cars south?
A couple moments later I got my answer when 603 got paper to work between the south yard limits of Palmer and milepost 31, which was Willimantic. I guess I’d be chasing today!
For the chase, I managed to get the 603 at Monson, State Line, Stafford Springs, Ellington and Mansfield Depot. From Mansfield Depot to Willimantic and back, the view gets to be a little bit different. And in Willimantic, there were a couple fans there taking photos – Jim and Chris. Yep, got pictures of them too. So instead of the usual turn-by-turn, blow-by-blow recollection, I’ll just lay out the photos for you to check out and hopefully enjoy.
[cpg_album:744]Once back in Mansfield Depot, 603 continued north to Palmer, and I headed back to meet up with Jill & the girls for the rest of the afternoon.
Thanks for looking!
Tom
