Midweek Photos 1/17/2018

Tim O'MalleyOGR Forum Member

Hello, one and all. Welcome again to another edition of Midweek Photos. It is currently snowing in Scranton, PA. It has only been going on for the last 24 or so hours, but I feel snowbound. Most of yesterday was flurries, but still kept me in the house. This means I'm digging in way back int my photo files of some real trains in the snow. Way back to February 18, 1996.

Milwaukee Road 4-8-4 no. 261 was visiting Scranton, for the first year of the opening of Steamtown National Historic Site. A series of excursions took place over President's Day weekend, all going to Tobyhanna, PA. This was the Sunday of that 5-day excursion spree, running from Friday to Tuesday.

A number of photo run-by took place, with the first one at the Nay Aug tunnel, also in Scranton.

Another photo stop at the Elmhurst Reservoir, which is behind the photo line. I didn't take photos at the Moscow stop, so the next opportunity is just West of Tobyhanna.

Quite a few run-bys were made in Tobyhanna. If only I knew, I would have gone to Mill Pond no. 1 where the ice harvesting took place. I could have gotten the train passing by the pond.

The causeway in the back holds the railroad track. 2018 is the 25th Ice Harvest, organized by the Leonard family in Tobyhanna. Bill Leonard would later become acting superintendent at Steamtown for a few months in 2014. This would make 1996 the third or fourth Ice Harvest.

The train was broken up for the return to Scranton. 261 would take MKT business car 403 back on its own, since the car had its own heat. The other cars gained their heat from the steam locomotives, so Canadian Pacific no. 2317 would carry the rest of the coaches to Steamtown. It was a great time.

This thread now belongs to you to add your photos, recent or not. Maybe snow doesn't fall where you are. It doesn't matter. We would like to see any rail action you would like to share. Have a good week.

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1/17/188:37 AM

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Number 90OGR Forum Member SUPPORTING MEMBERDIGITAL SUBSCRIBER

Those are interesting photos, Tim. Thanks for good memories. I was not there, but remember the time the 261 went East to Steamtown.

1/17/1811:32 AM

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Two23OGR Forum Member

Tim O'Malley posted:
Hello, one and all. Welcome again to another edition of Midweek Photos. It is currently snowing in Scranton, PA. It has only been going on for the last 24 or so hours, but I feel snowbound.

Sounds like the kind of weather where I'll jump in my car (Subaru Forester) and drive a couple of hundred miles. A good snow storm is not to be missed! I've been busy the past month or so on the weekends with pheasant season. I've been shooting my wife's shotgun, a Winchester Model 1897. She inherited it from her grandfather, who received it as a wedding present in 1912. It still drops birds just fine! Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, including pheasant season. So, I turn my attention back to chasing trains in the snow.

There hasn't really been much snow this year. When temperatures drop to minus 20 and minus 30, it just doesn't snow much. It does make ensuring your car will start again when you're in the middle of nowhere a very high priority though! eek I did manage to snag a couple of shots lately, both from the Orange Kingdom:

1. An e/b manifest on the BNSF Appleton sub crosses the frozen Minnesota River near Ortonville, MN. The engines are in MN and the rest of the train is in SD. The ice here is a foot & half thick, so I simply drove out on it and parked. Check out the old EMD power--it still roams wild around here!

MNriverM

2. A n/b manifest on the BNSF Marshall sub cruises through a flurry as twilight nears. It had been lightly snowing off and on, and this was the first train up the line. They tend to stir up a bit of the light powdery snow. I decided against chasing it further north because the highway was snow packed and traffic was moving slowly. Temperatures had warmed a couple of degrees above zero, making it a great day to be out!

FlornceNBm