Switch brooms on the Colonie Main

Last fall C.P. started to clean up the right of way along the line between Kenwood Yard and North Menands. They might have been working on other portions too, but that is just what I observed on my daily commute. This included cleaning up the ditches and grooming the ballast and removing overgrown brush around the Surpass sidings. I assumed it was just part of overdue maintenance. Then, in last October the C.P. Executive Train came to Albany and journeyed over that portion of the line. Within days, rumors of C.P. potentially selling this portion of their American trackage were on the internet and the pieces started to fall into place.

Switch to Surpass.

Then we had winter, and I didn't think much more of it. However, in either late April or early May I was driving along the road by the tracks and I saw something interesting. They had just installed bright yellow piping with brooms sticking up! This is, I assume, to aid in clearing out switch points of ballast or dirt (and perhaps snow, though it was a little too late in the season for that). These switches are used somewhat frequently and having a broom here makes sense. It also seems quite ripe for someone walking buy to steal. I don't know how long they will last, and/or if C.P. is installing them on other portions of their railroad, but for those who model the modern scene it is an interesting detail.