The day was getting long and dark, but we finally were
rewarded with the train as the “Lumberjack” came into sight.
And the power couldn’t have been better. It turns out the Fs
were not all in the dead line! Beaten-but-proud F7 607 was in
the lead, ahead of a yellow GP38. Although it’s hard to see in
the photo (17), in the trailing position was a bright red Atlantic
Great Eastern ALCo RS11, one of just two on the AGE. Both
were on short-term lease to the Allagash.
Mike Confalone grew up in
Smithtown, New York, and got
into model railroading at age 10
or 11.
College in the mid 1980s took
him away from the hobby for
a while, but he still found time
to visit the local hobby shop
in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and
do some modeling on the side.
Railfanning also became a favorite pastime. After graduation in May
1989, he and his wife, Susan, moved to New Hampshire.
He publishes a Northeastern prototype railroading magazine called
Railroad Explorer
) and has published six books
on prototype railroading.
Mike’s proto-freelanced and under-construction Allagash Railway
occupies a 58’ x 24’ space – his entire basement and the former two-
car garage.
Besides the trains, he and Susan love to garden and landscape their
wooded two-acre property in southern New Hampshire. He also plays
a mean guitar.
Video: Switching Andover ...
Don’t miss
Building the Allagash
with Mike Confalone coming to
January 20th ...
We contemplated chasing, but the light was getting dim. We
were beat, and in need of food and a nap. We headed back to
Weld, grabbed a pizza and went back to the motel. We crashed
for a while, then woke up refreshed. We knew that the AGR
ran jobs over the Androscoggin at night, and we had brought
along a stash of #2 flashbulbs for our flashguns, and tripods for
the cameras. We were ready for night action!
Journey to Allagash Part 1 - 16
This bonus video of the switching job at Andover, MA
illustrates how Mike’s Allagash Railway does an effective
job of making a model railroad feel like the real thing.
MRH-Jan 2014
