Kodak To Ivy City: Day 1(Photos and text by R. Craig) |
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 Kodak Park, Rochester, NY 17 April 1972 | |
| Each year during the early 1970s, Denny Custer, Lloyd Judd, Ray
Sabo and I took a multi-day ralfan trip, typically these blitz-type outings where well planned
with advance photo permits from several industrial plants and short line operators. In 1972,
our destination was Omaha Nebraska. As we pressed South from Detroit, there was a growing
concern for a large band of rain in Illinois and Nebraska. A call to the Air Force weather
station at Offut AFB weather station confirmed the bad news. (Why call Offutt? Because I had
been in air weather service for four years.) When we reached Toledo at 4:30 AM we turned east
rather than west; four hours later, we were in Buffalo. Denny called a good contact at Eastman
Kodak, and a visit was set. With promising clear skies above, off we went to Rochester and
home of the famous little yellow box.
Our host graciously gave us a tour of the Kodak Park railroad, with occasional stops to photograph their GEs #6 and 7 (80 and 70-toners respectively), as well as Alco #9 (RS1). A Visit to the their shops and paint-spray booth netted a shot of 4-year-old EMD #8 (SW1000) which was getting a fresh coat of black and Kodak yellow. | |
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Luckily armed with a copy of a Rand & McNally U.S. Railroad Atlas, a makeshift itinerary began
to take shape. Next stop was the small community of Retsof, NY and a 14-mile short line that
served a salt mine. The railroad's roster consisted of several Alco RS-1s, including #25 and 42
that had a string of empty hoppers in-tow when we arrived. Ex-Chicago & Western Indiana RS-1 #262
was stored out-of-service. Who would've guessed this humble operation was destined to
become a short line empire -- Genesse & Wyoming. | |
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Buoyed by our success upto this point, we charted a course for three more New York-based short
lines. We did so at the expense of temporarily ignoring any mainline action. The near-by Dansville
& Mount Morris was first. Its two GE 44-Tonners #1 and 2 were on duty; the one-spot was the last
44-Tonner built by GE. Forty minutes later, we were admiring Bath & Hammondsport's nattily attired
Alco S1 #5. Pushing forward by mid-afternoon, we were in Lakeville with the Livonia Avon &
Lakeville's GE 44-ton #10 framed in the viewfinder. Interestingly. one-time NY short lines G&W
and the LA&L took advantage of the 1980s Stagger Act to substantially grow. |
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Finally ready for some mainline power, the trusty "Sabo-mobile" (Ray Sabo's station wagon) made
a bee-line for Scranton, Pennsylvania and the Lehigh Valley; Scranton did not disappoint. There
was a nice mix of four and six-axle units; however the top prize was one of the Valley's six-motor
"snowbirds." The popular Alco C628 had been built four years earlier. Very few of the railroad's
fleet of baldwins were scarce. The only encounter was a poorly lit VO-1000 #142. |
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On the way to Delaware & Hudson's modest-size engine terminal in nearby Wilkes Barre, a quick stop at Pittston was made to peruse a trio Alco C420s that included LV #404 and Lehigh & Hudson River #26 and 29. Soon after LV obtained additonal trackage rights, it went searching for some short-term lease units; the L&HR offered the pair of surplus four-axle Alco centuries. |
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Thanks to fellow railfan and slide trader Bob Wilt we had good directions to the engine facilities in Scranton, Pittston and Wilkes-Barre. Hence, the Delaware & Hudson yard and engine servicing tracks in Wilkes-Barre were simple to find. There to greet us was a quartet of D&H U30Cs and U33Cs. D&H U33C #752 had been originally Erie Lackawanna #3302, was swapped along with two GE six motors for a like number of SD45s. D&H lo-nose RS11 #5010 was patrolling near-by. | |
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At this point, we collectively felt it best to rest our cameras and let the mechanisms cool
: - ). After all the day had begun in Detroit at 3:30AM.
The trip review of Days 2 and 3 will appear in August. | |
| New: 1 July 2025 | |