35: Power for NM2 is getting fueled as the New
Sharon Switcher ties up for the night.
Journey to Allagash - 12
out for just a second (33). As darkness descended, it began to
rain lightly. We pulled out the flashbulbs one last time, and lit
up the 701 as the crew grabbed a coffee and a smoke inside
the yard office. Off to dinner we went. When we got back, we
headed down to the fuel pad and were psyched to find F7 602,
just back from a trip down the Atlantic Branch, getting fueled
and sanded (35). The 602, along with GP38 212, would make
up the power for train NM2, a night turn job to Madrid. At this
point we decided to call it a night. We drove back to Weld and
hit the motel.
The next morning we awoke to more clouds. We had a little
bit of time before we had to begin the long journey home, so
we decided to make a side trip through Madrid to see if any-
thing interesting was there. The same railroad cop who helped
us the other day greeted us again, and tipped us off that the
MX had made a pre-dawn jaunt out to White Mountain Jct. to
35
36: Former Conrail (Penn Central) RS11 7605 has
loaded pulpwood in tow as it leads the Madrid Extra
toward Sandy River Jct.
grab pulpwood loads. We made a mad dash over to the now-
familiar farm house on the hill. We knocked on the door and
obtained permission to stand in the yard to set up for a picture
looking across the river. The lady said there hadn’t been a train
since before dawn. We waited a while, and our patience was
once again rewarded as we got a great shot of the MX on the
branch with the Androscoggin mainline in the foreground (36).
The power was another of the Conrail cast-offs – former Penn
Central Alco RS11 7605. What a way to end the trip!
As we drove back to Scranton, we reflected on what had
turned out to be an incredible trip. We witnessed around a
dozen trains over the two days and nights. And although the
weather didn’t cooperate,
the Allagash certainly did.
The only question was ... how
soon could we get back?
36
MRH-Feb 2014
