Easter Events Clog St. Johnsbury Yard

Marty Phillips is a member of the Friday Night Group...the only difference being he now lives on the other side of the continent! We miss you Marty!

The picture to the left was one I took of Marty's St. J&LC road switchers when I visited him on Vancouver Island last summer.

The Friday Night boys have been asking Marty to submit pics of his layout during operating sessions for some time now...and the Marty Man's come through! It seems a rather interesting train arrived St. "J" during last evening's train ops session at his place. Here's Marty's version of these somewhat unique events.

Lots of activity in St. Johnsbury late in the day. Two CP locals were already working the line. CP 52 (a turn down from Newport) was already in St. J yard carrying out its own switching chores as CP 905 was departing Wells River on its return north through St. J to Newport. At St. J, CP 905 entered the yard on Tk 1 and remained in the clear for the arrival of southbound CP 904 (Montreal - Springfield hotshot) on the main. After CP 904 dropped a pair of C-424s (no longer required for "water-level" running on the balance of the trip), it departed south as hurriedly as it had arrived.

Meanwhile, the crew of CP 52 were STILL in town, apparently having great difficulty completing their switching duties. They were less than pleased when told to sit tight as CP local 905 got clearance to depart St. J ahead of them after dropping six pulpwood flats in the yard. They were seen creeping out of the yard as soon as 905's van disappeared under the overpass.

I missed getting to St. Johnsbury in time to get photos of all that activity, but did arrive just as the Easter Special pulled into town. And this is how train ops ended last evening on the Maine Central's West End. Happy Easter everyone.

Cheers, Marty
"Oceanside" on Vancouver Island
WGH Ambassador #797

PS. For those who don't know, that's Mr. Miller's engine, the 573. Mr. Miller was the President of the Maine Central and he had a locomotive painted up in the reverse colours of the company to haul his special train over the territory. Of course, we know that the Marty Man had to have such a train...as he is president of his version of this railroad. This shot was taken on my trip out west as well!

Cheers, Mike