Eastern Railroad Discussion > Fall colors begin in New York

OK, so far the colors are a bit limited:  a few unhealthy sugar maples have their outermost leaves turning colors--it's a good diagnostic for trees that may not make it next year.  Closer to the ground surface, there's quite a bit of yellow, but it's largely a bunch of goldenrod flowers.

But color it is, even on a cloudy morning like today.  SMS rail services came out to Delanson early, and dropped its outbound empties.  He looks like he's leaving town with a bunch of empty gondolas, but those are actually NS MofW cars, which probably will be used to load the big bunch of used ties generated by this summer's replacement program. They were probably in the way on the interchange track, and SMS will probably drop them on the way out of town and head back to Voorheesville light engine. (The nanny state republic of NY prohibits the reuse or sale of railroad ties, evidently out of fear that the end users might ingest enough creosote to cause ill health, so they're probably bound for a trash-to-energy facililty somewhere, once NS loads them).

Anybody know the ancestry of this modified switcher?  Is the cab rebuilt after a wreck?

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SMS roster on Google (per Trains 2011) indicates built 1950 for Illinois Central #9319.  Rebuilt by ICG to SW14 in 1980.  Various owners in between.