The first Norfolk Southern loaded autorack train detoured via Canadian Pacific from Schenectady, NY to Whitehall, NY (as CP train 961), then was picked up by a VRS crew for the trip to Bellows Falls, VT, via the VRS CLP Mainline and the GMRC Bellows Falls Subdivision. The final leg of the move was handled by a Pan Am crew from Bellows Falls, VT to Gardner, MA, via NECR's Miller's Falls, MA connection with the PAR, using a NECR pilot from Brattleboro to Miller's Falls. The detour is necessitated by the continued outage of the Hoosac Tunnel in western Massachusetts and saw NS gather 5 GP38-2s for the first run. VRS GMRC Bellows Falls Sub can't handle six-axle rigid truck locos and some bridge loading prohibits six-axle radial-trucked locos being paired without 4-axles in between them. The train carried a 27W-28 symbol from Buffalo-Bison Yard to Binghamton on Friday night, before being idled for nearly 24 hours there and becoming 27W-29 for the trip over the detour route to reach the NS Davisville, RI automotive terminal. Performing flawlessly the train moved from Binghamton to Bellows Falls, VT in less than 10.5 hours of total transit time, excluding crew change and a hold for Amtrak at Schenectady, NY. Adding to the portfolio of noses through the Bellows Falls tunnel at night, the 27W-29 rolls under the town at 2320 hrs with the NS 5609, 5667, 5666, 5623, and the 5663 on the NECR Palmer Subdivision on the final leg to Millers Falls, MA, after having to set out a cripple car at Riverside Yard in Rockingham/Bellows Falls, VT.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
