With warmer weather on the horizon, it’s time for me to break out the Nikon Df dual action setup and try to get that last stereo shot of the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railway so that I can complete a customized View-Master reel of stereoscopic train photos.
And with Easter weekend, the SC&H announced that they would take a run from their Corinth base to Lamothe Landing for their Easter express.
This is great. I’ve never shot the train at Lamothe Landing before.
Only one problem.
Anybody know where Lamothe Landing is?
Yeah, me neither.
I’m looking all over the internet for Lamothe Landing in Saratoga County, and nothing’s coming up. Just one short 15-second Facebook video of the SC&H train crossing a sign that says “Lamothe Landing.” Right here.
Okay. There’s a clue in the embedded video. The sign denoting “Lamothe Landing” has an alphanumeric code on it. A:42. That’s the old Delaware & Hudson demarcation for where the train stop exists – the “A” stands for how many miles the stop is from Albany. 42 miles. By comparison, mile post A:54.4 is the Corinth station, and A:47.39 is Kings Station, the normal ending point for the SC&H.
So all I have to do is find the point that’s five miles past Kings Station.
Wherever it is.
And on Saturday, that meant snaking up Route 9N, driving through all the back roads in Greenfield Center and Porter Corners and who knows where else.
And when I thought I had no other options … one more side road … and boom. There it was. At the corner of Canty and Grange, just hidden off Route 9N.
I still have absolutely no idea why it’s called Lamothe Landing. But the sign there says it’s Lamothe Landing, so I’m not going to argue.
Okay, let’s get the camera gear set up. Two Nikon Df‘s on the focusing rail. No, I did NOT forget the focusing rail.
Beautiful, clear Sunday morning. Sun in the clear, cloudless sky. The sounds of woodpeckers and songbirds and other flighty creatures in the air.
Just wait, Chuck. The train always arrives. At some point, anyways.
And then … it arrived.
Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson 3021. Photo (c) 2023 Chuck Miller, all rights reserved.
Well, that’s not the big ALCO-5 train … but it’s still a historic part of Adirondack railroading. See, the locomotive in the picture is the ALCO-2 Delaware & Hudson #3021, which operated in the Battenkill Railroad in Washington County. It’s now in service as part of the SC&H livery, although it still retains its old Delaware & Hudson branding.
Nice.
And the Easter Bunny posed with the conductors for some pictures. Because of course it did. It’s Easter.
Yep, nothing like a little lens flare to make your day.
The train stayed at Lamothe Landing for a couple of minutes, and then the engineer put ALCO-2 3021 in reverse. And then I saw something I didn’t expect out of a diesel engine. And maybe it’s because I thought that coal-fired trains were the only ones that offered smokestack plumes.
Well, when you’re pushing several tons of rolling stock backwards … you’re going to belch out some smoke as well.
And I got this shot for my troubles.
ALCO-2 3021 Radio. Photo (c) 2023 Chuck Miller, all rights reserved.
Sweet. I’ve got that train blasting a column of smoke into the air just as it’s pulling away.
Now granted, the resolution of that photo isn’t really enough for me to enter it in Competition Season. Not this time.
But that resolution – at 1112 pixels by 995 pixels – makes it perfect for a View-Master image. Which means I now have my seven shots … and can make a custom View-Master reel of the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson Railroad.
And that makes me very happy.
Chuck The Writer 