We’ve seen many LIRR rescue operations on this channel before, but what about an NY&A rescue move? Following the RS60 breaking down in Riverhead last summer, the NY&A’s RS70 job was scheduled to do just that. I certainly wasn’t going to miss this unique rescue move heading out East, but I had no idea what lay in store for me on this cloudy summer day.
Today’s video starts out with the RS70 as lite power heading East through Ronkonkoma, where I would chase them all the way out to Riverhead. Sitting in Riverhead station was the lifeless RS60 with engine 271 solo, directly next to an LIRR M1 in a scene almost straight out of the 80’s. I was able to catch most of the coupling action at Riverhead, but since the town was gridlocked I left early so I wouldn’t miss the return trip. Off-camera, engine 271 was brought up front with the rest of the power, meaning the train now consisted of four different types of NY&A locomotives.
After they finished coupling in Riverhead the RS71 began its return trip West, but only made it about two miles before stopping in single-track territory, blocking the entire branch and leaving me quite confused. However everything made sense when I got word that a welded rail train was headed to the Calverton spur, another highly uncommon freight operation which would need to clear the branch before the RS71 could proceed. I drove back West to catch the rail train, which ended up going out to AH to runaround before hitting the spur. This was just one of many rail trains that went to the Calverton spur last summer, I’ll probably post a rail train compilation in the near future.
Once the RF-1 was tied down on the spur the RS71 was able to continue back to Pine Aire, and I decided to chase them back to where I started in Holbrook. Along the way I found the same groundhog in the exact same spot I saw him earlier in the day…how I dream of having a life like his.
Held onto this footage for a while because I was entertaining the idea of narration, but ultimately decided against it for this one. I’m looking to shift towards longer-style content like this so let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in.
Taken September 18, 2024
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