Yellow Jackets CRAFTSMAN/Craig Wilson, photographs by author


Spotted! The three Yellow Jackets rumble across the high bridge over the Dead River at Bolton Mills, Maine.


“YELLOW JACKETS!” Mike ex-


claimed as he burst excitedly into the room. “What?” “Yellow Jackets at South Do-


ver!” he repeated. I was having trouble under-


standing what nasty little wasps had to do with South Dover, es- pecially in early April 1965. Per- haps a nest had been found in the roundhouse? “No. No. Lehigh Valley Yellow


Jackets. Three of them.” Since the Atlantic Great East-


ern Railway was under the joint ownership of Lehigh Valley along with Canadian Pacific, it was not unusual to occasionally see LV power in town. But the “Yellow Jackets” were something new. That was the name given to a group of Alco Century-420s that had been purchased only a few


40 RAILROAD MODEL CRAFTSMAN


months earlier. Their attractive yellow and gray paint scheme had given them that nickname. Mike’s


neighbor, Harold


Brown, worked as a hostler and had told him about the three Al- cos. “Brownie” said that they had come in on an extra/east overnight and were scheduled to go back out on Train No. 1 this morning. We quickly made plans to photo- graph the LV power on their trip west. It was a typical overcast spring


day but seasonably warm with little chance of rain. Mike and I headed down to the South Dover roundhouse and found LV 413, 414, and 415 on the service track next to a pair of the AGE’s own Century-424s. The crew was al- ready on board, and soon they were moving over to the yard to tie onto their train.


Train No. 1 was the only sched- uled westbound on the South Do- ver Subdivision that ran in the daylight. This train did not nor- mally do any local or interchange work, so we would have to be on our toes to keep up with their schedule. While the crew performed their


air test, we got into position to photograph the train leaving the yard. Mike went over by the South Dover Yard office while I chose a spot behind the diesel house. Accompanied by the sound of squealing flanges, Train No. 1 rumbled out of the yard at 8:55AM — right on time. The train was moving slowly as


it cleared the yard limits, so we were able to drive out to a grade crossing about halfway between South Dover and Ellen. They were starting to pick up speed, so we


YELLOW JACKETS


on the


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