Jon Searles' photos with the keyword: national railway historical society

This was when we finally got back to Utica, as the sun was setting. ADCX trains no longer come into Utica Union Station this way, as these are the MA&N freight tracks. There is now a dedicated track into the station platforms accessible by a new pedestrian bridge.

The 1998 NRHS Convention was based in Syracuse, New York, and hosted by the Central New York Chapter. Nevertheless, because of Syracuse's close proximity to Utica, the Utica & Mohawk Valley Chapter also played a key role, along with the Adirondack Railway Preservation Society (ARPS). The biggest event was, in my opinion, the re-opening of the Adirondack Scenic Railroad from Utica-Thendara, which had only been run once before since restoration, in 1997, when it was run for volunteers and dignitaries (the railroad is run completely by volunteers from the ARPS and NRHS). This was on the way back at Nelson Lake, a station that's privately owned, and while on the employee timetable, no longer an active station.

This is my oldest photo on Flickr!! I scanned it with my black and white Caere Omniscan, but it was originally in color, and I have every intention of eventually getting a color scan. I think I already one somewhere, if the drive it was on hasn't been wiped by one thing or another. This was my first National Railway Historical Society excursion while actually a member, and it was sometime in the summer of 1990. We went from Utica, NY to Sherburne, and had a really good time. Notice the dome cars on the train! The locomotive was at that time the last operating ALCO C430, but in reality a few have been bouncing in and out of service, including this one, and they're heavily rebuilt by now, especially this one!!

It's obvious from the Fall colors that I shot this in the Fall of 1995, this being part of a larger National Railway Historical Society bus trip to various heritage rail sites in Southern New York and Central Pennsylvania. It is indeed ironic that the NRHS has to travel by bus most of the time, but that's life in a country with a substandard rail system. In the case of the Stourbridge Line, though, that's part of the appeal, of course, as they have this old and super-rare EMD BL2 diesel on their roster, which was the centerpoint of the trip. We rode it all the way over the line from Stourbridge to Lackawaxen (if memory serves), and this was at, I think the Stourbridge stop, or some other place. I do remember that this is where we got on, I'm pretty sure. Any info on this would be welcome, as this trip was 12 years ago, and I don't have my notes nearby. I hope you like the photo, anyway. :-)

I took this during a photo runby while riding an NRHS Convention Special from Syracuse to Chanango Forks, New York in 1998. We never made it all the way to Binghamton, as the excursion ran so late that we lost our path, but a good time was had by all. Regrettably, I can't remember exactly where this runby was, so any info from other attendees would be welcome (it was probably the one at Tully depicted in another one of my photos on my website www.jonsearlesphoto.co.nr).