July 26-28, 2009

The subject today is the Auburn Heights Preserve, which is the mansion and grounds of the Clarence Marshall estate, in Yorklyn, DE.  Marshall was the largest Stanley Steamer dealer in the USA back in the early 20th century.  By the 1930's the dealership has moved to selling Packards, and Marshall buys back one of the original Stanleys.  Realizing that this is a fun thing to tinker with, he starts collecting them.  Steam leads naturally to trains, and he builds two coal fired 1/8th size engines and some track on which to run them.  Donated to the State of Delaware in the 1960's, the preserve now houses a premier collection of Stanley Steamers, and those steam trains.  We started off by interviewing Catherine Coin, Executive director of the Friends group, and continued through to Tom Marshall, Clarence's grandson.  We started with a 15 passenger Mountain Wagon, which was originally built to haul passengers between the railhead and the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO (remember "The Shining?"  Same place).  Firing it meant lighting the pilot with a torch, and then using that to fire the boiler.  Then you wait about twenty minutes to build up a whopping 500 psi, and off you go.  Because the boilers are vertical, there is a less chance of any explosion as a ruptured boiler tube just means the water dumps on the fire.  So we shot that, children riding around and around on the train, some museum interiors, and a few shots inside the mansion itself.  The Auburn Heights Preserve has a great bunch of volunteers, and everyone was extremely friendly and helpful.  It was a very nice time, and wonderful place to visit and see steam in action.

Today took us to Dennis Cannon; his layout and collection.  For an American Flyer guy like myself, this was a special treat.  Dennis has many examples of fine Flyer pieces, and it made this collector drool.  Dennis likes to mix his gauges, so he has a wide assortment of vintage and new O and standard gauge trains as well.  In fact his layout incorporates the gauges of G, standard, S, O, O27 and HO.  There are lots of operating accessories, and special features like fireworks, a holiday light show, and nifty displays.  Dennis is also a fan of Erector sets,and has some of the big displays, such as the parachute jump, the carousel, and probably the only boxed rocket ride in existence.  The crew worked over the layout, while I gazed on such varied items as the wire rail Flyer circus set, and the Bouchett Blue Comet.  Dennis has also collected quite a few advertising pieces, so there are some great examples of American Flyer, Erector, and Plasticville advertising displays.

Lenox, MA, (founded 1767) and the nearby town of Stockbridge (founded 1739)  are in an area known as the “Inland Newport.”  The wealthy from Boston and New York built their summer cottages here.  These residences, although termed “cottages,” generally had a round 20 rooms on 30 acres.  Andrew Carnegie was here, as was Edith Wharton, Morgan and Vanderbilt relations, and Daniel French were just a few of the major estate owners.  The Berkshire Scenic Railroad runs between Lenox and Stockbridge, with a stop at Lee, which is where Norman Rockwell painted his quintessential middle America pictures.  The railroad runs former heavyweight New Jersey Transit passenger cars, and is a volunteer operation, sharing trackage with the 137 mile long Hoosatonic Railroad, which runs between Pittsfield and Danbury, CT.  Our motive power today was an Alco RS3m, which means it had an EMD prime mover.  As the run was only 90 minutes in each direction, it was easy to chase the train and catch it for multiple shots on a single run.  And the inordinate amount of rain made the Hoosatonic very high, fast flowing, and colorful.  The ride is very pretty, right along the river, and through the hills.  I'm certain that it is stunning in Fall color season.  We also did a short standup concerning the museum's refurbished block station.  In the old days, before centralized traffic control, operators would man these little stations.  When a train passed into the agent's control area, he had to notify the ahead and behind agents.  They were the railroad's eyes on the ground, and assured that only a single train was in any block at any given time.  The contents are all original, donated by two generations of block agents.  The railroad is a volunteer operation, and only runs on weekends in the summer and early Fall.  But in that time it manages to haul 14-15,000 passengers.  The Lenox Station and Stockbridge Stations have been restored to the original grandeur.  They were quite elaborate for small town stations, but I guess that would be expected, given the wealth in the area they served.  It was sad, though, to see how many industries - mostly paper mills - had left the area.  Fortunately, there are still a great number of tourists who visit. Tomorrow we'll finish and move on.

We were able to beat the rain today, as we finished up at the Berkshire Scenic Railway.  First off was an interview the days engineer, and then just a few pickup shots.  I'm glad we did the scenic yesterday, as it was a tad grey this morning.  We were on the road by 10, and headed to central New Hampshire, where the skies opened up.  The Tracks Ahead rain making curse is apparently still in force.

Today finds us in Lincoln, NH, right in the heart of the White Mountains.  Our first visit was to Clarks Trading Post.  Clarks started back in the 1920s to deal in furs and sled dogs.  Gradually the business expanded to include a trained bear act.  The sled dogs fell off the radar screen, and their place is now a family amusement center, drawing people from the upper New England area.  There are lots a old artifacts, including one of the original Moxie-mobiles, which was a car with a horse shape inside.  Another interesting item is the Lombard Steam Hauler, which was a tracked vehicle used for getting timber out of the forest.  And of course, they have trains.  In fact, they have a very unusual Climax geared locomotive.  This little engine was built in 1921, and used in the local logging industry.  Cast aside by the timber companies, it gradually got buried behind piles of  additional castoff machinery.  The owner of the Trading Post acquired another geared loco - a Heisler, and found this little jewel.  Stored in a partially covered environment, it had survived the elements and the WW2 scrap drives.  Restored, it is now the motive power for the White Mountain Central Railroad.  The run is only 2 1/2 miles and takes a half hour.  But there is a back story.  It seems an old miner lives in he woods, which he considers his personal property.  So he resents the tourists and railroad disturbing hispeace and quiet.  Not to mention that they might find out about his hidden mine.  So he chases the train and tries to scare everyone off.  It sounds hokey, but is a lot of fun, and has been going on for nearly 40 years.  We interviewed the man who is doing this, and he is having the time of his life.  There are additional elements - a central village with museums, food, and of course, the trained bears and a circus act.  Plus they have Segway tours, which are hugely popular.  We shot most of the railroad material today, under a brilliant blue sky.  Tomorrow we'll work the town - and of course, the Segways.  One has to have a little fun on the road!

We had a other bright and sunny day today.  We finished up shooting with the wonderful people at Clarks Trading Post.  This included additional footage of the train, as well as the bear act and the Chinese circus act.  I don't think I mentioned the bears before, but they are an integral part of the experience here.  The bears have been well cared for and the oldest lived to a ripe old age of over 38 years.  That's pretty remarkable considering that the normal life span for a wild black bear is about 4-6 years.  The bears are well tended, pampered and considered part of the family.  And the Chinese circus act was just as spectacular.  We ended out stay with some play time - a Segway ride, where, of course, we ran into The Wolfman.  Then, it was back to work for a run down to Lake Winnipesaukee and some shots along the lake of the scenic train ride there.  So ends this segment.  Clarks Trading Post is a fun time, and I'd recommend it if you are ever in the beautiful White Mountains of New Hampshire.

Today's drive took us about 100 yards rom the motel to the Hobo Railroad.  This is actually a dual operation, and is coupled with the Lake Winnipesaukee Railroad, of which we shot some material yesterday.  The Hobo uns on an old logging line which is now owned by the State of New Hampshire.  While it does tourist rides in the summer, it also has a railroad restoration service, as well as a consulting arm.  The restoration service was evident in the prime examples of Pullman cars an cabooses which have been brought back to life for private owners.  For me, one great thing about this little line is that they have the largest collection of Budd cars in the country.  While not self powered, it is still great to see these RDC-1s being used.  And of course being stainless steel, looking as pretty as they did 50 years ago.  We did some standup interviews, and shot the usual run bys and ride-alongs, as well as the happy people enjoying the ride.  Adding to the pleasure of the on-board children, was Choo Choo the Hobo Clown.  Choo Choo is a retired CP Rail freight conductor from the area.  He spends his summers working on the line as the clown, as well as a training engineer.  And he is having the time of his life.  He went to clown school on a whim, and just loves the work.  I was surprised at how well the children all liked him.  We shot most of the material today, as the rain held off.  We'll finish tomorrow.

Today was relatively light, as we shot almost everything needed yesterday.  We did do a repeat on the bridge, although from a different angle, and we shot around the ticket office.  I should mention that the railroad is storing the Roger Williams train sets.  These were Budd's 1950 answer to the Zephyrs.  Basically, they were standard Budd cars, with an F unit style nose added on, perhaps for better aerodynamics.  The power plants, transmissions and drive systems were the same as the standard Budd car.  They ran in service between Boston and New York, and were an attempt to lure the public back to rail transport.

The famous Flying Yankee trainset was on the Hobo Railroad property.  This was the eastern companion to the Pioneer Zephyr and ran on the Boston & Maine.  In fact, the trucks are even stamped "CB&Q."  It was an easy drive to meet with the board of the Restoration Group.  These dedicated folks have been hard at work getting the 1930's three car unit back into operating condition.  They are making progress, and have the trucks, two of the coaches complete, and a great deal of the nit-picky little things.  We talked with several members, as well as a gentleman who road the train when he was 16 years old.  He said it was quite thrilling.  The engine compartment is one area that needs hardware installed.  The group is trying to decide on what type of engine to put in as the original Winton is unusable due to the lack of spare parts.

Then we headed across New Hampshire on some back roads to Quechee, VT, where we started in on the Vermont Toy and Train Museum.

Today found us with Mark and Marijke Smith, who own the Windekind Farms Bed and Breakfast in Huntington, VT.  The location is a quiet valley with a wonderful view of the Green Mountains, stunning gardens, and of course, a railroad.  Mark is the founder of Locomotive & Railway Preservation Magazine, and has put his passion to work in the construction of a riding railroad on the property.  His philosophy is that while the highway by-pass towns, and airlines fly over them, the railroads were the one transportation system that linked places (and people) together.  While he has built a great 7 1/4 inch gauge Camelback locomotive, it's his little electric engine that does all the heavy hauling around the layout.

 

There are lots of flowers and gardens, and it is really a relaxing setting.  We shot material in the guest house, as well as in the shop, and of course, around the railroad.  The line originally went deep into the adjacent woods, but Mark decided to rebuild the line with shallower grades.  So at the moment, the line is incomplete.  The current line operates just like a real railroad, hauling landscape materials as it winds through brilliant flowers much to the delight of the guests.

Today we started the final segment of this trip.  At 8 AM, we met with Deb Najarro, the Public Relations Manager of the Finger Lakes Railway Corporation.  As a side component to their freight operation, they run two passenger train that run in the Finder Lakes region of upstate New York.  We did something unusual today.  We started with the train passes, and will leave the interviews until tomorrow.  So we chased three sealed smooth sided passenger coaches up the line from Geneva to Canandaigua.  The consist was headed by a GE U23b, painted in Lehigh Valley colors, and trailed by an EMD GP-9 painted in the New York Central flash motif.  After successfully catching the train about a half dozen times, we headed back to Geneva and watched some remote switching action in the yard.  In this situation, an engineer/brakeman on the ground can control the engine by use of a handheld remote unit.  So one man can switch an entire train, from the ground, allowing him to throw switches, an attach brake lines.  Pretty neat.  Tomorrow we'll start with the interviews.

The shoot continued with the superb plans put together by  Passenger and Marketing Director Deb Najarro and her assistant Adriel Dougless.  We rode and followed the train from Seneca Falls to Cayuga.  There were several repurposed station along the way, and it sure is nice to see that these structures have not been demolished.  Our final shot of the day was of the passenger train crossing a bridge in the Montezuma Wildlife Preserve. 

Tomorrow we will head back to the Midwest.

 

Later.  Head back we did, with a marathon drive across, New York, the corner of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois and into Wisconsin.  It was nice to get back to our own beds!

Past Underwriters