Passenger Trains > New York Central, Upstate NY, My father

My father, Bill Becker, worked for the New York Central, Penn Central, and Conrail for 41 years, with most of that time on the Mohawk Division in upstate NY.  Friday, August 2, would have been his 99th birthday (he died in 2014) and in honor of him (and my mother) my brothers and I have gathered both physically and virtually this weekend.  Three of us rode east on 284 (3) Utica to Schenectady, and then back on 281 (3) to Utica to cover his territory.  In the course of that, two videos:

1)  rounding Big Nose curve, a grand curve at a narrow point in the Mohawk Valley where (from north to south) we have Big Nose promontory, NYS Rte 5, the New York Central ROW, the combined Mohawk River and Barge Canal, the New York State Thruway, NYS Rte 5-S, the West Shore Railroad, and Little Nose Promontory (which you see in the video -- we are traveling east on track 2. 
2) passing train 48/448 as we head west on track 1 later in the day

It was a moving time shared on territory he loved as a civil engineer with the railroad ... we rode over several major stretches of major projects in which he was involved (Herkimer, Little Falls, Amsterdam) as well as the many curves he would line and superelevate. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/19 15:42 by RevRandy.

You must be a registered subscriber to watch videos. Join Today!

Thanks for your trip videos (glad that you and family were able to spend quality time together)

Your dad was a great man among railroaders and a real gentleman to boot.
We were at Mike's having a hot dog when you left Schenectady on 281.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/03/19 18:20 by train1275.

Great videos!  Your dad was based out of Albany, NY and worked to and from Syracue, NY.

Great story and videos. So many of us have our dad to thank for our interest in railroading.

Posted from Android

Thank you for sharing your family tradition to honor your dad's work on the NYC through these videos. 

Thank you for sharing your family history and those two excellent video's !
I wil travelling this route from Buffalo, Depew to NYP and back in the same day and onward to the west coast and back!
Thank you for sharing !!! :):):)
God bless your Mom and Dad!!!:):):)

Nice meet!  I enjoy watching out the back window when possible.  Looks like yours was a little dirty, alas.

Andy