Southbound train on Cohoes Bridge (1980)

Here is a neat shot of a D&H train crossing the Mohawk River in Cohoes on April 3, 1980. It is being pulled by six engines and oddly enough at least four of them are running in reverse (long hood forward). I don't know if the N&W set up their geeps to run long hood forward too, but if they did then there are five engines running in reverse! The train looks to be heading south, which means it left Mechanicville Yard only a few miles beforehand. You would have thought that they could have turned the lead engine to face properly. Maybe it was just a transfer run to nearby Colonie Yard?

And wow, look at the weathering on the two lead units. I guess the D&H's engine cleaning facility must have been out of service!