Snowblind #14111

The Story

Here sit two Metro North EMD FL-9 locomotives in deep winter snow and the biting cold of a frigid-20 degree day. Wearing red, silver, and blue, their last gig was hauling trains of commuters in and out of New York City. Today, they are nearly abandoned. As you can see, the number boards are blank and the big headlight is vacant. They’re spending retirement as part of a small railroad museum that never seemed to get off the ground over the years.

The words suspended animation suits both the museum and these two FL-9 locomotives. Abandoned? Quite close, for sure. However, it doesn’t come any colder or more dead than these two diesel engines. They are at frozen rest capped in snow, like some kind of railroad junkyard Everest.

No one else was around at eight o’clock this winter morning, which wasn’t surprising considering the twenty-below-zero temperature! The lack of wind made it tolerable for a little while until my feet couldn’t be felt at all.

There were fourteen inches of recent snow and footprints can be seen going toward the locomotive. But surprisingly, none were seen coming back out, nor were the same tracks used to walk back out. It remains a complete mystery, so I christened the place Spook Junction. This place is featured in a panoramic by that name, Spook Junction #14093. Other panorama pictures of frozen-to-the-core GG-1 electric locomotives parked nearby are also on the website, such as Sidetracked #14068.

It’s a might peculiar about the single track of footprints through the snow simply disappearing into thin air without explanation, so these Metro North locomotives might indeed be haunted! If you think a haunted train is rather suspicious too, first call Shaggy and Scoob to investigate, and then go to my other view of this train Deadline #14107 for the full writeup.

Location: Cooperstown Junction, Ostego County, New York. Picture and story © Andrew Dierks