Today's Train of Thought- A Flurry of Activity, March 5 2011

While baseball teams from Boston to Seattle start making their way towards the warmer weather in Florida and Arizona, today's train of thought takes us back to the snowy northeast.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Mike Lockwood caught Western New York & Pennsylvania's Driftwood Turn (symbol DFT) heading northbound on the former Norfolk Southern Buffalo Line in an early season snow squall on October 17, 2009 with WNY&P C630M #630 leading an all Montreal Locomotive Works consist. Today's 20-car train is somewhat overpowered with no less than 12,600 horsepower of Montreal muscle making it's way up the grade at Keating Summit, PA. Each one of the units are more than 40 years old.

Even with gravity and the wet, slippery rails working against them, the quartet of six-axle MLWs likely made short work of the grade. Each until is still painted in the colors of the previous owner- #630 is still in Arkansas & Missouri colors, the black and orange units come from Quebec Cartier mining and the 3rd unit in the consist started out life for the Canadian Pacific but was purchased from the Minnesota Commerical Railroad.