Middlefield,
MA
When entering the Town of Chester make a right on to Middlefield Rd and drive north. The tracks will come into view and will run parallel to the road. Further along this road you'll crossover the tracks. Parking near the bridge is possible due to the light traffic that this road generates.
Location #2
Good shots can be had from either the bridge or from under the bridge atop of some ledge that out-crops from here.
Light is good for most of the morning for E/B's
Location #3
Continuing along Middlefield Rd, good video shots can be taken from along the bank that lies along the mainline and the road for those W/B's.
Location #4
A little further drive up the road you come to a pull-off with a dirt road leading into the woods. In the past one could drive down this road (Herbert Cross Rd) which comes out near the tracks at MP-128.5. In the past 24 months a private landowner has aquired the property around the dirt road leading into the area around MP-128.5 and has been discouraging people (and railfans) from using the land for camping etc. It is avised to stay on the road and not venture off. A gate was located here for sometime but this past winter it strangely disappeared when the fiber-optic crews were working the hill.
Best bet, park in the lot just off the road and walk in. One good spot is the rockcut located at MP-128.5. Photo's can be had of E/B's in the morning and W/B's if one is setup just west of the cut for the short late afternoon window that lights up the cut.
Setup for the W/B shot by positioning yourself on a hill just to the right of where the old road ends. The sun can be tricky here. Again, the short late afternoon window and a little luck.
MP-129 may well be one of the best spots on the hill. Various angles from the southside of the tracks can get you some good W/B trains. Mid-morning light is best here. Video is best for those E/B trains coming out of the first big/long rockcut.
Climbing the rockcut on the otherside of 129 gives one a interesting view of E/B trains gliding down the hill out of the next rockcut. Late afternoon E/B's can be had from the northside of the tracks and depending on the time of the year W/B's out of the cut can be sweet with the ledge lit up.
Location #7a
Just across from here one can still see where the old line use to be with one of the stone-arch bridges still standing.
At MP-130 one can catch E/B's coming out of rockcut in the early-mid morning or some backlite shots of W/B's climbing upgrade.
Just behind the CTC/Cab-Signal shed thats located here another of the old stone bridges can be seen. Best times to see this one is when the leaves are off the trees as this location is heavy with tree growth.
Location #9
Located at MP-130.2, this spot is good for those W/B's exiting rockcut in
late afternoon to early evening by setting up on a rockcut out-cropping on
the southside.
