Then and Now: passing through Cohoes

Here is a slide I recently purchased. It is dated March 1984, which is just 2 months before my layout's time frame. The train is heading south and it just about to cross Spring Street in Cohoes. It is on the mainline, and the track to the right of it is a passing siding (once probably part of the double track all the way from Kenwood Yard up through Watervliet). It was retained here I think so that the locals could do a runaround move for freight cars destined for Mohawk Paper, which is the track on the very right. Right before spring street is breaks to the right and crosses in the middle of an intersection (see here). I can't imagine what it was like to look out the windows and see the D&H just 50 feet away!

This passing siding currently was disconnected on the southern end, so it is just a spur, as seen on this Google maps image. However, on my layout it serves as the only passing siding available. All the trees along the ROW are blocking the views of the houses, and the houses that match with the upper picture are blocked by the foliage. As an aside, when my wife and I were house-hunting we considered walking through one of the house next door to this one pictured. It was priced significantly less than similar houses elsewhere, and I assume it was because of its proximity to the tracks. But, we decided to pass.