One of the benefits of being editor for the Railroad Enthusiasts is that
I can print whatever I want! I need some "filler" material for my next
issue, so I'm going to run this old story. I am sure many of my RRE
readers are going to blast me for doing something unsafe, (driving like a
nut on solid ice just to chase a train). As "sporrs", I'm sure that many
of you have tales that make my story look tame!
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RRE JOURNAL #110, September 1997
A Memorable "Chase" by Bernard Ente
It was the middle of winter, 1990, but the weather forecast had called
for sunny and mild conditions. I decided to use my 1969 Chevrolet Camaro,
instead of my usual "4x4", for a short business trip in New York State.
I looked forward to a pleasurable five-hour drive to Elmira, about 250
miles to the west. However, half way into my drive the skies darkened and
a snow squall moved in. It got colder and the snow began to pile up.
Driving conditions became terrible. Planned stops to railfan along my
route were definitely out of the question. The five hour drive became an
eight hour nightmare. Some of you might recall this terrible night in the
northeast. Singer Gloria Estefan's tour bus, on the same highway I was
following, lost control on a sheet of ice and she was severely injured in
a crash.
The next day, the sun was out again as if nothing had ever happened,
except that everything was covered with an inch-thick sheet of ice. I
finished work by noon and picked up my friend Drew Guild of the Southern
Tier RRE. Drew had our day of railfanning all planned. Since the roads
were dangerous, we would take it easy. The plan was to drive a short
distance to Waverly, photograph Conrail's Corning-to-Allentown freight
CGAL as it stopped to throw some switches, and then go down into
Pennsylvania and take the classic "across-the-valley" photo of the train
crossing the ex-Lehigh Valley bridge over the Susquehanna River at
Towanda. CGAL that day had a matched set of three C30-7's and I got great
shots of the train in the snow. Now the plan was just to drive back into
New York, sit by Conrail's Southern Tier line, enjoy some hot coffee and
watch the afternoon action. However, a westbound train would soon change
our plans!
As Drew directed me to take a shortcut that put us only a few feet from
the tracks on a farm road, a dark shape loomed right in front of us, with
blazing headlights. "ALCO! ALCO! ALCO!" Drew was going crazy and began
hitting me in his excitement. Needless to say, he is an Alco fanatic!
"Turn this thing around, we're going to chase this!", screamed Drew. It
was a short, westbound CP-Rail (Delaware & Hudson) stack train, with a
CP-Rail M630 leading. A trailing CP-Rail SD40 didn't seem to be on-line,
and the Alco was doing all the work, roaring and smoking at full power. I
floored the gas pedal. The Camaro spun out of control on the ice, did a
"180", and we were off!
Now, the problem was I was in a light car with 350 horsepower, the roads
were covered with ice, and we were going to chase a train with an "Alco
nut" next to me. Drew shouted out directions to get ahead of the train
for a photo, and unknowingly began choking me with the camera strap
around my neck as he grabbed my SLR and reloaded it. We set up on an
overhead bridge, beating the train by seconds, and got a nice ¾ shot in
a snow-covered valley. "All right, that's it?", I said. "No way", said
Drew. "With only one unit working, his speed is down and we can get him
again at Gang Mills" So, we were off again.
Once again, we arrived at our photo spot just a minute or two ahead of
the train. Another great photo location, sun in the "right" place, a
colorful, rare locomotive,
snow, ice, blue skies, mountains. "All right, let's relax", I said. We
had almost slid off the road in a few places already, and this was on
"good" roads! Let's go eat something. Then we heard the Conrail
dispatcher on our scanner, giving the westbound orders to run at reduced
speed all the way to Hornell, a distance of 39 miles. Drew was ecstatic!
"He's going to run at ten to twenty miles an hour (instead of the usual
40 to 50 mph) all the way through the valley! We can pace him and get
ahead of him four or five times with no problem. This is an incredible
opportunity!", he said. Instead of calling it a day and going home, we
were off again! I was totally unfamiliar with the route. But I had an
excellent guide with me. Drew had produced many railroad videos along
this line. When would I have this chance again?
Some of you might not be familiar with the scenic Canisteo River Valley.
This is the Erie Railroad's original route as laid out over 150 years
ago. The tracks follow the easy alignment and the route for motor
vehicles hugs the sides of hills. It's a slow drive on a winding,
twisting county road, and that's in good weather! Of course, all rules
are broken when chasing a train. We "pushed it" a bit. The road was
slick, and we got stuck in the snow when we parked. However, we were able
to get many shots in the valley instead of only one or two if the train
was at normal speed. Rathbone curve, Cameron Mills, West Cameron, we got
them all. I shot color and Drew shot black and white. We had to get
ahead of the train at a couple of crossings or it would have cut us off.
Although Drew knew we safely had about five minutes each time, he didn't
tell me. He urged me to hurry and my knuckles turned white as I dug them
harder into the steering wheel. Was it worth it? Well, we got the nice
shot at Brown's Crossing, which I gave to many of my friends as a holiday
gift.
As the train continued west at reduced speed, we just kept on slipping
and sliding and stayed ahead of it. Hornell, Swains, Portageville, we
just kept jumping out of the car, doors open, got our shot, and jumped
back in. At each photo location, we looked at each other and just knew we
had to continue as long as the train was "catcheable". It turns out we
chased that train all the way to Silver Springs, NY, where he finally
received permission to return to track speed. We lost it in the
darkness. It was quiet now. We were alone in the middle of nowhere,
tired, hungry, frozen. When you are involved in an exciting chase, time
and distance are forgotten.
The chase over, we realized we had a three-hour drive over icy roads back
to Drew's house in Elmira. Not much fun, but that's the price you have to
pay for chasing a train. We rolled into the old railroad town of Nunda
for a late dinner. After fueling up the Camaro we set off for the long
drive home.
We had followed that train for almost 120 miles, over treacherous
secondary roads in the "wrong" kind of vehicle. I lost count of how many
times we nearly slid into a ditch or just sat with the wheels spinning.
The wheelwells were caked with hardened snow. My right shoulder was sore
from Drew pounding on me in his excitement to "keep going!". My feet were
frozen. I had to get up early the next day for work. Would I ever do this
again? In a second! It was an incredible, exhilarating chase, one that
I'll never forget.
--> SPORRS: Serious Photographers of Railroad Related Subjects
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