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(erielack) The Weekend Chief 2009 EL calendar

Hello listers,

Just got the new Weekend Chief 2009 EL calendar at my local hobby shop
today, and here's a brief overview.

Full disclosure: I was involved in the 2009 ELHS/ELDCPS calendar, but I
will try to be honest with my opinions as possible.



The calendar starts off with a cover shot of F3 8444 leading an F3B and
F3A leading an eastbound Phoebe Snow through the Del Water Gap. Not a
bad shot, but it looks like Weekend Chief has started to "Photoshop" the
images by increasing color saturation for more of a "wow!" factor. The
inside front cover has a head-on view of F3 8454 with its DL&W herald
intact.

January's shot is a low-level view of a quartet of SD45s leading NE-97
over a bridge at East Shohola, PA, with some slightly moody
backlighting.

February's shot has a pair of SDP45s leading a westbound frieght through
Sterling, OH. Although well-exposed and lit, the shot is a tight 3/4
"wedge" shot that has nothing in the background to indicate where it
could possibly be. :(

March's shot shows a quartet of C425s leaving Marion on their way to
their new owner, British Columbia Railway. This is the first shot that I
swear I've seen elsewhere, either in a previous EL calendar or in some
book. The caption guesses that "it appears as though they will work
their way across the country - well, at least while on EL rails."  Truth
be told, they did work all the way to the BCR - I have shots of them
leading freight on the BN in Idaho.

April's shot is a nicely-exposed shot of a 12-car MU train at the
station in Harrison, NJ. With the trees in the immediate foreground, it
almost looks like this could be further west in the suburbs, but the
Driscoll Bridge towers in the background identify the location. Here the
"wrong caption" gremlin comes in once again - the caption states the
"train slows for its scheduled stop in Newark, NJ. That could be
possibly true, if it wasn't for the facts that a) the train is on the
eastbound track, and b) the car closest to the camera does not have its
red marker on. Tsk tsk tsk!

May's shot is a pretty nifty one - A pair of PAs and an E8 (with EL
decals), all in two-tone green, await departure from Dearborn Station in
Chicago as Grant Trunk Western steam locomotive #6322 pulls alongside
with an excursion consists. A beautiful, sunny day. And sadly, the only
"Erie" shot in the calendar.

June's shot is a view from the Route 3 overpass in East Rutherford, NJ
(though the caption simply calls this "the meadowlands"), of an NJ&NY
consist of and RS3 and 5 Stillwells flying west on the four track maine
(though it appears that the two westernmost mains are rusty and
approaching the time they'll be ripped out). I definitely have seen this
photo before, in John Henderson's "Four Great Divisions" (it's a John
Henderson photo, the caption states)

July's shot shows ex-DL&W 44-tonner #51, now with an EL diamond, at the
149th St. floatbridge in the Bronx. A neat shot with lots of detail for
you rail-marine fans - crappy track with lots of garbage, an overhead
gantry crane, and a pair of 40-foot boxcars.

August's shot is an FA-2 and apair of RS3s in EL black/yellow on some of
the most sand-covered tracks I've ever seen, hooking up to a train to
head east at Hammond, IN. The units are filthy - but when I think of the
black/yellow scheme, "filthy" is what always comes to mind. (Ever notice
that the scheme attracted dirty like flies to a pig?)

September's shot has GP7 1235 leading a Speno ballast cleaner at Pocono
Summit, PA. It's a slightly elevated shot, giving a neat perspective on
the ballast cleaner, and it's nicely lit to boot.

October's shot has an A-B-A of F-units ("F5A"+F7B+F7A) leading a freight
near Taylor, PA, just outside of Scranton. Nice lighting on this shot,
but again, I know I've seen this one before, and I do think it was in a
previous calendar. Also, the caption incorrectly states it's a trio of
F7s. Darn F5's throws 'em off every time. :)

November's shot has an interesting lashup (PA+RS3+PA, with the PA's in
GMY and the RS3 still in DL&W paint) rolling through the 63rd St.
station stop in Englewood, IL, with a mixed piggyback/merchandise
freight. Very intriguing shot!

December's shot is probably my favorite. A beautifully-lit shot of SW8
#363 and floatbridge reach car FBR-1 shoving a string of cars in
Hoboken, NJ onto a carfloat out of sight in the distance. The shot was
taken in Dec. of 1975, and it's pretty surprising to see that much float
traffic being moved at that time. The shot bespeaks of a vibrant
railroad.

The rear cover shot is an interesting lashup of
U25B-U25B-SD45-SD45-C425-F3A in patchy shadows just out of Port Jervis,
NY. The lead U25B has the "hollow diamond", as has been discussed at
length on this list. The caption also points this out, a bit
misleadingly implying that's how they were delivered - some with white
centers, some "hollow." Not true, however. As was noted in the list
discussion, it appears that GE's decals (or paint?) on the U25B diamonds
did not stand up to cleaning very well, and the white often disappeared.
I have shots of the lead unit when delivered showing the white center,
so I can't see the railroad replacing it with a "hollow" version...

So there's my (hopefully unbiased) view.... A shame that more DL&W or
Erie content wasn't included, but the EL stuff was, for the most part,
pretty good. And the captions? I'll reserve further comment. :)

	- Paul


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