Railfanning with Harrison

A couple of weeks ago I rushed home from work so that we could quickly drive to Mohawk River Lock 10 near Amsterdam, NY to go railfanning. Despite the heat, it was lovely and lots of clouds did provide some respite. We were quite lucky, as within our first hour we saw 4 trains including three freights. We left after a fifth train, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited, went by.

Harrison absolutely loved seeing the trains. Between them, we spent the time eating dinner, kicking a ball around, and looking for ducks. Several other members of the "Tuesday Night Group" were there railfanning and they had a tent set up for even more sun protection. They are pros!

We even brought Harrison's little Adirondack chair so he could sit and relax with us. However, he was too excited to remain still when the trains went by.

Then, this past Wednesday (July 10) we went out to eat and had some time after so I suggested going downtown to watch a few Amtrak trains pass over the Livingston Avenue bridge. There is a nice park next to it where you can get eye level with the train. On the way we spotted the C.P. local switching Surpass Chemicals in Menands, and we drove there and watched them cut off some tank cars. We even were able to talk to the crew. Harrison loved that.

Then, we drove to the bridge. Imagine our surprise when instead of the normal one eastbound Amtrak train crossing the bridge and pulling into Rensselaer station we saw TWO passenger trains running parallel over the bridge! This picture doesn't shot it well, but there are two trains running parallel to one another behind us that Harrison is staring at.

Within five minutes the westbound Lake Shore Limited left the station and crossed the bridge.

Next, the C.P. local traveled nearby heading south back to Kenwood Yard, shoving the train through the concrete canyon. Finally, the eastbound Ethan Allen Amtrak train (with engines on each end) crossed the bridge into the station. All of this occurred within a fifteen minute window.

About 20 minutes later we saw a CPKC light-engine move of two road units traveling south, presumably from Mechanicville to Kenwood Yard. That adds up to seven trains in my book (the CP local counts as two because we saw it in two different areas doing different things).

Harrison and I have never had it so good! Perhaps he is my good luck charm!