>- Quoting Ken to Ed on 05 Jun 97  22:39:56 Re: Railfanning
 KF> I wish I'd had more time, and a more agile vehicle to railfan in
 KF> than a 24ft  motorhome. Kinda hard to chase trains in a thing
 KF> that big.
I know what you mean, I don't know how I'd railfan without a 4x4.
 KF> I'd forgotten they were going to run that thing again. Saw it
 KF> over at New Hope  last spring, geez is it big! Looked like it
 KF> would crush that wimpy little  rail on that line.
Went over yesterday and chased it. WHAT A SIGHT!!! Going back next
Sunday.
Our first stop was the Metro-North station at the north end of the
Moonda Viaduct. We started pouring over the maps and USGS quads while
deciding where to go. About this point a big Caprice Station wagon
with red lights on the roof and Metro-North Police on the side pulled
over to us. Seems the "driver" of that car had just transfered down
from the Hudson River area and was wondering where a good place would
be to photograph the train from. We picked a few spots on the map and
decided to follow him and check out these places. The first spot was
great so we decided to set up there. Within the next hour a hundred or
so other railfans also showed up. There were some wingnuts walking
across the viaduct as the train approached. The officer radioed this
information to the train and then told us the train would be crossing
slowly so we shouldn't use up all our film in the first few seconds.
After the train passed the cop decided to try and shoot it over at
Campbell Hall. He was pretty sure he could beat the train there but
suggested that the rest of us not attempt it and also reminded us of
the 30 mph speed limit.
A local cop had also shown up, he seemed a bit curious as to what was
going why a group of people were standing along the side of the street
with cameras. I think he might have suggested we move on were it not
for the Metro-North guy there. The local cop came back later (by this
time there was a LARGE crowd). He parked and came over and hung out
with us. 
The 614 was a little late. The pilot engines (GP40H-2 # 4112 and
another similar loco both in disco livery) crossed the viaduct. A
little while later we heard that the 614 was going to stop for five
minutes to fix something. That five minutes took about a half hour.
Then 614 reported they were moving again. Next we heard 614 being told
they appeared to be occasionally dumping untreated waste on the
tracks. Not long after that we heard them pass the detector at mile
post 50.2 and about five minutes later they crossed the viaduct.
That whole line from Suffern, NY to Port Jervise is littered with
talking detectors so it's real easy to follow the train with a
scanner. These detectors also seem to be fairly high powered because
even on the little rubber duck antenna I could hear most of them quite
well. They're all dragging equipment and axle counting detectors. I'd
love to listen to a hot box detector when a steam enging goes by.
The 614 had two tenders and twenty (I think) cars. It was very
impressive. We shot the return trip from a closed highway bridge over
the tracks. The 614 is oil fired and was putting out a fair share of
smoke as it went beneath us. Going back again next Sunday. This time
we may just sit by the tracks and watch.
  Mr Ed    Bethel, CT ... average summer temperature: 70.1 degrees.
... A job is nice but it interferes with being a railfan.
--- Blue Wave/Max v2.30
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