Eastern Railroad Discussion > When plans go awry...

Up until today, I had not yet seen or photographed NS's Conrail Heritage unit but NS sent it east from Chicago to Ayer, MA on intermodal 22K as the middle unit of a threesome (argh #1) arriving on a rainy morning (argh #2) today. But it was still worth a trip trackside so I ventured up to Wachusett/CPF-333 just west of Fitchburg MA to capture it. But the CPF-333 west facing signals' aspects caused some worry (photo 1): 22K had a clear aspect on track 1 (signal on left) but departing MBTA rush hour train 408 also had a clear aspect to depart east off the platform track on the right. And here the 2 trains come, side by side (argh #3)!

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You get bonus points for that.  Go ahead and checkoff CR.

But the story has a happier ending (but unfortunately it started to rain harder!) as there were several more opportunities to photograph 8098 unobstructed:
photo #4: Centrino Memorial bridge at at CPF-GL at Fitchburg
photo #5: broadside at Sandy Pond Rd Ayer as 22K backs its lengthy train into the Hill Yard intermodal pad (blocking 3 grade crossings in the process during the Friday morning rush hour)
photo #6: almost home, 22K is about to make its first cut to fit the single stack cars into 2 pad tracks at CPF-AY Ayer.

PS: while 90+% of the time westbound IM 23K departs Ayer with the engines in the same order that they arrived on that day's 22K, the knowledgeable foamer buzz says the lead ET44AC and NS8098 have been wyed at Ayer meaning the Conrail will be leading 23K this evening. And...the sun is supposed to come out at 5pm today. And the sun is supposed to be out tomorrow (Saturday) when 23K passes through New York State on the D&H and Southern Tier!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/19 10:07 by JPB.

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Even better, it's reported the 8098 has been switched out to be the leader on 23K out of Ayer today.