Nostalgia & History > Water Level Wednesday: Lock 13 from the north side

Lock 13 on the Erie Canal is one of the better known spots to railfan on the Water Level Route.  For about 300 days per year, the photo angles from the south side, looking across the Mohawk River, are great.  BTW, the river and the canal are one and the same at this point.

Here, with the benefit of mid-summer sun angles and a significant overcast, are two Conrail-CSX transition era shots from the north side.

1)  Shortly after the CSX takeover, an eastbound stack train skirts along the shoreline.  On a clear day, this would be looking straight into the afternoon sun, but there's a big, ugly dark cloud blocking that out.  The air is dead still, it's oppressively humid, and you get the feeling the sky could open up any minute.  And you'd be right--within 10 minutes, I will be sitting in the car, utterly soaked.

2)  Also a "long days of summer" treat:  at this time, the westbound Canadian National interchange train (still called SECN, I think) was a late afternoon departure from Selkirk.  During most of the year, that put it out here after dark.  But not on this steamy summer day, with a Draper taper GE leading.

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These photos evoke a lot of feeling for me... I can almost smell the coming rain, and the creosote in the ties. Well done.

Thank you for sharing these scenes from back when CSX was actually fun to watch... Definitely not the case anymore...