Today's Train of Though- A Boy Named Soo; Feb 6, 2011

Although at first blush it appears to be something from the upper Midwest, Today's Train of thought brings us back to the western shores of Lake Champlain under more harsh and unforgiving circumstances.

Railpictures.net contributor Kevin Burkholder has managed to capture a good amalgamation of Canadian Pacific's latter day acquisitions on a wintry day in Upstate New York, with Soo Line and Dakota, Minnesota and Eastern motive power handling a Canadian Pacific ethanol train on Delaware & Hudson rails.

Here, Soo Line SD60 #6034 is seen leading a trio of DM&E SD40-2s southbound along the frozen shore of Lake Champlain at Port Henry, NY with unit ethanol train 666-801 on January 16, 2011. The train is bound for Whitehall, NY where it will be interchanged with the Vermont Rail System's Clarendon & Pittsford. From there, it will be routed over the Green Mountain Railroad (another VRS subsidiary) between Rutland and Bellows Falls, VT. From there, it will be interchanged with Rail America's New England Southern and the Providence & Worcester en route to its final destination of Providence, RI.

Soo Line power appearing on the D&H isn't that unusual- six axle Soo motors have been appearing on coal and grain trains traversing the original 'Bridge Line' since the early 1990s shortly after the Canadian Pacific takeover. However, the appearance of DM&E's blue and yellow SD40-2s (some of them purchased secondhand from Canadian Pacific) is relatively new while still looking right at home in such frigid conditions.