America's classiest B39-8E spent the summer hauling regularly-scheduled passenger trains on the former Delaware & Hudson Adirondack Branch. Seeing this unit on this line is a throwback to the days when D&H lightning-striped locomotives hauled ore trains out of the ilmenite (titanium) and magnetite mines at Tahawus to the north. The purist may note that the D&H never had a B39-8E. However, one must remember that the last train of ore out of Tahaws was led by a very similar unit, NYS&W B40-8 no. 4042. The last freight move occurred on November 17, 1989, with the D&H under NYS&W control. Had the NYS&W maintained control of the D&H after Guilford put the D&H into bankruptcy, some of the NYS&W B40-8s were to be delivered in "lightning stripes" — just like this unit. So, in a roundabout way, and to the delight of this photographer, history came full circle. Digital photo.
