New England by Day and Night
north from the New York metro area and beyond. Leading the two-car spe- cial was Pan Am’s matched pair of FP9 cab units, PAR 1 and PAR 2. Trailing were Pan Am’s two heritage GP9s, No. 77 painted for the Boston & Maine and No. 52 painted for the Maine Central. The train headed north on the Conn River Line (owned by New England Central but with Pan Am trackage rights) at a leisurely 25 m.p.h., making for a chase with multiple photo oppor- tunities. Large bridges and picturesque farms kept the motorcade busy. By the time the train reached White River Junction the shadows were beginning to get quite long. Once
everything was spotted at
White River Junction on Friday, the of- ficial night photo session was held. Us- ing fixed lighting, over 40 photogra- phers took part shooting scenes that included all of the visiting units. New England Central had a freight come through towards the end of the session, and some enterprising photographers broke out their own flash units to get the northbound passing the Amtrak display train. A second informal night session was held on Saturday, this time using strobes.
There was quite a bit of discussion
about what should lead the Pan Am business train south to East Deerfield on Sunday. The Pan Am crew wanted an FP9 on the point to accommodate the number of people that needed to ride the head end; others wanted B&M heritage unit No. 77 to lead over the former B&M trackage along the Con- necticut River; and since No. 77 led the train south the year before, others wanted heritage unit No. 52 to lead just for variety’s sake. A small mechanical issue with FP9 PAR 1 made the deci- sion easier; the simplest way to get the consist together would have B&M No. 77 leading. [Author’s note: This was my first choice, so I was happy! Plus, it led to a great shot of the locomotive coming out of the ex-B&M tunnel at Bellows Falls, Vt. — see FINAL FRAME.] The southbound run on Sunday was theoretically
at a more spirited 40
m.p.h., which made the dash between photo locations a little more exciting, but somehow the overall time from White River Junction to East Deerfield wasn’t that much different than Fri- day’s northbound run, checking in at somewhere around five hours. During the chase a carload of fans had an interesting encounter with local law enforcement when they were
stopped for a minor violation (the car was missing its front license plate). Ex- plaining that they were chasing the train, the officer offered to take the dri- ver’s paperwork and follow them to the next photo location so they wouldn’t miss any shots. Upon arrival at the next location, the officer returned the paperwork and the required warning, then drove off to get a better view of the tracks to see this rare train everyone was out shooting. Video of the train
Pan Am OCS Chase Route
VERMONT White River Jct. Claremont Bellows Falls Brattleboro Greenfield E. Deerfield MASSACHUSETTS
New England Central SD40T-2 No. 3317 leads a northbound freight past the Amtrak exhibit train at the famous station in White River Junction, Vt., on September 12. The exhibit train was in town for the 22nd annual Glory Days of the Railroad.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Not all routes and stations shown.
60 JULY-OCTOBER 2014 •
RAILFAN.COM
Map illustration by Otto M. Vondrak ©2014 White River Productions
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