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For 2014, the American Association Of Private Railroad Car Owners (AAPRCO) would be having its convention in Portland, ME. A special train consisting of 26 private cars owned by AAPRCO members would run from Chicago, IL to Portland, powered by 3 Amtrak GE P42DC's. This year's train would be running through Western New York and so I decided that since I've never seen a train like this in person, I needed to get out and photograph it! Think about it, how often does a train with 26 private cars ever run? Once a year, but it goes somewhere different every year so with the train heading through my neck of the woods, I needed to see this in person!
I decided I wanted to get photos of this train in more than one location if at all possible, so I ventured out and looked for good photo angles at a few locations. I decided in the end that my first location would be Overhead Bridge Road in North Evans, NY. I was not alone, as 4 other railfans had the same idea and would eventually show up there as well, 2 of which had been chasing the train since Cleveland, where it had departed that morning! This mainline is the old Nickel Plate (now the Norfolk Southern Buffalo-Chicago Main) and I had the privilege of riding on 2 NS Steam Excursion Trains behind the mighty Class J 4-8-4 #611 back in 1992 and 1993 on this mainline! Now that I think about it, 1993 was the last time I ever saw an excursion train on this mainline, until today! Included here are some photos taken of the train when it passed through here, about 16 miles from Buffalo. Enjoy... |
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With my 200mm zoom lens zoomed all the way in, we see the train approaching us. Today's train had 3 Amtrak GE P42DC's, with #44
leading the train with help from 97 and 151. Amtrak provides power for this train which is running on a mainline that normally doesn't
see passenger service, so this was a real treat! As I said earlier, the last time I saw a passenger train on this line was in 1993!
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A wider angle view of the Pine Tree Limited. I couldn't have asked for better lighting and weather for photography!
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How often do you ever see a passenger train like this???
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As the train went by, I tried (almost successfully) to get a roster photo of every car and engine! Here we have former
Great Northern Dome Coach "Puget Sound".
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You can see a roster photo of every car in the train in the previous section. Bringing up the markers on the Pine Tree Limited
is Pullman-Standard Lounge Car "Georgia 300". This car has hosted 4 U.S. Presidents in its career!
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