[By Allen Brougham] . . .
Deerfoot Lodge is a Christian camp for boys located on Whitaker Lake
several miles north of Speculator in the Adirondack Mountains of New York.
It was my pleasure for three days this past month to reacquaint myself
with the camp I had attended as a kid. While I have continued to support
its ministry, I had not been to the place in 48 years. What a thrill!
The occasion was a celebration of the camp's 75th anniversary, a reunion
for past participants, and a transition in leadership from its retiring
camp director to his successor. I had learned of plans for the celebration
more than a year ago, and I jumped upon the chance to get signed up.
All along I had planned to drive to the place, only casually thinking
of the train as an alternative. But a few days before the date of the event,
I said: "Why not?"
The train, of course, had been the ideal mode of travel when the camping
program was established back in 1930. Even in 1956 - when I went there
- a number of participants (but not I) took the train to Amsterdam, there
to be met by an associate who would drive them the 50 or so miles to the
camp.
So now, in 2004, I decided to live the historical experience of getting
there by train - albeit with a rental car from the train station. But rather
than making my transition at Amsterdam, I opted to book my travel to Albany.
There, I reasoned, more flexible and dependable schedules were available,
and getting a rental car might be less of a challenge.
A potential snag developed in that the Republican convention was scheduled
to open in New York on the same day as my return trip. Amtrak passengers
were duly advised that security concerns could delay service through Penn
Station. Moreover, most trains that normally accepted passengers without
reservations would now require them.
I had an Amtrak timetable showing schedules and connections, and I opted
for the going trip leaving from Baltimore on train 172 at 7:47 in the morning,
connecting in New York with a 28-minute connection to train 281 leaving
at 10:45, arriving Albany at 1:15 in the afternoon.
I also logged onto Amtrak's website to see how that method might reflect
an updated schedule. But the website showed neither train. In fact, the
available trains shown on the website were somewhat less than suitable.
At this point I began to reconsider the wisdom of taking the train at all,
but I called Amtrak's 800 number (which I would have had to do anyway,
being that I would use my retired employee discount privilege card). Eureka!
I had no trouble at all booking via 172 and 281. The website's routing
program was evidently in error. So much for that part of technology!
The reservation clerk even transferred me over to Hertz so I could arrange
for a rental car in Albany. Hertz told me all I had to do when I arrived
in Albany was to call a local number and a car would be brought to the
station for me. Great!
Train 172 left on time from Baltimore and remained that way into New
York. Curiously, it was nearly empty. Train 281 from New York to Albany,
by contrast, was nearly full, and I had to settle for an aisle seat. At
least it was on the river side, which I had been looking forward to since
I had never before ridden the route through to Albany in daylight.
We were 25 minutes late into Albany, and it was here that I learned
that arrangements are not always so seamless as they are supposed to be.
For starters, none of the payphones were working properly. I got a dial
tone, but upon dialing the number I had been given to reach Hertz, nothing
happened... Finally, a friendly Amtrak conductor let me use her cell phone.
I got through to Hertz, but I was told they do NOT bring rental cars to
the train station - I would have to take a taxi to their office across
the river in the downtown area. So I went out to the front of the station.
No taxi. So I waited, and waited. Apparently, in the time I had spent wrestling
with the stupid payphones, the taxis that had queued for the train I had
arrived on had since vanished. I fretted that I could be stranded a lot
longer - and the Hertz place would close at 5 o'clock - but after about
20 minutes a taxi did show up.
I got back to the station three days later in plenty of time to catch
the returning train. I booked my journey on train 260 due to leave at 2
o'clock in the afternoon with a 45-minute connection in New York to train
189 back to Baltimore. With my ticket in hand I waited. But then I got
paged. Train 260, I was told, had been annulled. Ouch! The agent said he
would have to re-ticket me on train 286 due to leave at 3:15, with a later
connection in New York. This might not have been so bad, except that 286
was marked up as running 30 minutes late. More delay! So I asked the agent:
"What about train 48?"
Train 48, the Lake Shore Limited, was itself running late - but it would
be leaving Albany at about the same time as the train that had been annulled.
Could I ride on No. 48? Its New York section does not accept local travel
south of Albany (I knew that), but under the circumstances, it would surely
make sense to let me ride it - space permitting, of course.
Oh, no, NO, I could never ride THAT train, the agent said. The Albany
stop was strictly for discharge. The gate keepers, guards on duty, and
crew members would never let me board. (Railroad logic at its finest!)
By 2 o'clock - the time I had originally planned to leave Albany - I
could see the Lake Shore Limited from the station window. There it was:
its now-detached Boston section (#448) on one track, the New York section
(#48) on another.
Meanwhile, train 286, the one I was now ticketed to ride, would not
be in for another two hours. So I simply waited... Wouldn't it be great
if the tooth fairy were to tap me on the shoulder and tell me that it would
be all right to get aboard No. 48, en route to New York? But that would
never happen, would it?
Ten minutes later, I was aboard No. 48, en route to New York.
I got an aisle seat on the river side of the train. Smoothly and swiftly
we moved down the Hudson Valley - with its majestic view of the river,
its boats, barges, picturesque lighthouses and stately homes - as seen
from the route's premier train.
At Yonkers we had an extended stay for a security sweep. An officer
with an explosives-sniffing dog came through. No exceptions were taken.
In all, we were delayed by just over 20 minutes for this and some congestion
due to track and station work on the Metro-North portion of the line.
When we got to New York, it was just a couple of minutes past the time
of No. 189, the connecting train I had originally planned on taking to
Baltimore. But maybe it would be late!
As I was ascending the steps into Penn Station, I could hear an announcement
for a train going toward Baltimore. It was not No. 189, but an even earlier
train that was running even later.
The conductor, when I explained that my ticketing had been the result
of a service disruption, allowed me to get aboard.
Indeed, just nine minutes after I had arrived in New York, I was leaving
toward Baltimore. Now THAT is a GREAT way to make a connection...
In fact, I got back to Baltimore only 20 minutes later than I had originally
planned.
[By Allen Brougham] . . .
Harry Franklin Albright, veteran CSXT yardmaster at Brunswick, Maryland,
has retired following 37 years of service. His retirement is effective
September 1.
Frank, 60, began with the B&O Railroad as a clerk in March 1967.
His career included duty as a clerk and ticket agent at the Martinsburg,
West Virginia, train station; as an agent at Hagerstown, Maryland; as a
mobile agent at Winchester, Virginia; and as a tower operator.
As an operator he served at Hancock, West Cumbo, Miller, Martinsburg,
and Harpers Ferry station, all in West Virginia. He says he enjoyed working
at West Cumbo the most.
He was promoted to yardmaster in 1981.
Frank's father, the late Cecil Albright, was a B&O car inspector.
Originally from Hedgesville, West Virginia, Frank graduated from Hedgesville
High School in 1963, and went to work as a mutual clerk at the Charles
Town Racetrack. He continued to work there until 1973, which included a
six-year period in which he worked two jobs, including his one with the
B&O.
Now living in Martinsburg, Frank intends to spend his time in retirement
by golfing, gardening and traveling. His ultimate goal is to move south
to Florida, but he says he "might not make it past South Carolina."
His family includes his wife Linda, two sons, one daughter, and two
grandchildren.
[By Wade H. Massie] . . .
On Saturday, August 14th, I had the opportunity to attend a very interesting
railroad slide show. Unlike most slide shows, this one was held outdoors,
adjacent to the CSX main on the east slope of Sand Patch. The location
was the Mance Training Camp, an outstanding venue for such a show. Earlier
in the week, the weather forecast looked very favorable for the 14th, with
a prediction of sunny but cool weather. Unfortunately, as Saturday drew
near, it appeared that hurricane Charley might make its presence felt with
rain in the Alleghenies. Sure enough, on Saturday afternoon the sky was
dark gray and a storm seemed imminent. Luckily, the skies cleared as evening
approached, and the stage was set for a cool, dry night of slides.
With a campfire providing a warm glow and much needed warmth, the slides
began shortly after 8:30PM. CSX, which had been fairly quiet for much of
the day, ran numerous trains during the first 90 minutes of slides. Nothing
provides a better soundtrack for a slide show than a heavy eastbound in
dynamics descending the grade, or Amtrak's Capitol Limited working uphill
at speed. Trains and slides remained plentiful for the duration of the
night, and the slide show wrapped up after midnight.
The last trackside slide show I attended was the Cherry Run Railroad
Club show at Orange, Virginia, in 1998. In the future, I will try not to
allow six years to pass between shows.
I have a possible location picked out for one in the Pittsburgh area,
and with a little luck, trackside slide shows might become an annual tradition.
I'd like to thank Roger and Dave Snyder, without whom this slide show
would not have been possible.
Gathered around the campfire before the start of the
show (left to right): Wade Massie and dog Buddy, Mike Filoni, Matt Atkinson,
E. Roy Ward, Dave Snyder and Roger Snyder.