You begin to feel the change just as we start getting ready for Halloween. The sun sets a little earlier, the temperatures begin to dip a little lower, and the trees start shedding their leaves as they prepare to go dormant for the winter. By Thanksgiving, the landscape has transformed from brilliant lush greens to shades of sedate brown and gray.
Welcome to “Stick Season.”
While some folks are quick to lament the loss of vibrant foliage, warmer temps, and longer days, for many the season transitioning from fall to winter and winter to spring provides a special beauty all its own. I, for one, enjoy the strong lighting with low humidity, making photos take on a particularly crisp look. The dense forests of the Northeast turn into stark, silent sentinels slumbering for the winter, their lush canopies laid bare, the tips of their branches forming a sharp border with the brilliant blue skies.
If the beauty of stick season is often overlooked, it is also misunderstood. Thinking back to earlier railfanning efforts, some of my favorite photos were taken during these transitional seasons. I recall fondly the sharp, low light catching the glass insulators of the abandoned code line as a Livonia, Avon & Lakeville road freight hustled along the former New York Central West Shore Branch in Rochester, N.Y. A freshly rebuilt yellow Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority PCC coasting down the hill into Butler station catching the spotlight of afternoon sun against the bare trees of December. A classic New Haven FL9 turning into the morning winter sun with a dusting of snow on the ground as the train made all of track speed through rural Topstone, Conn.
I recently had some new opportunities to get trackside during this “in-between” time. I was anxiously watching the foliage reports all through October as leaves turned into amazing shades of reds, yellows, and oranges that we hadn’t seen in quite a while. While I held my breath that the foliage might just hang on, some strong wind storms blew through the region and brought an early end to nature’s display. Still, it didn’t matter to me as I pointed the car east toward Vermont at the end of October. As I traveled across the New York State Thruway, there were still patches of foliage hanging on here and there, but for the most part, the landscape had transformed into forests of thin, gray trunks. While I missed the leaves, I was looking forward to this scene as well.
The next morning, a cool mist was hanging low as I drove the back streets of Rutland, Vt., searching for signs of life from the Vermont Rail System. As the sun began to rise to burn off the fog, Train 263 to Bellows Falls pulled up alongside the Howe Center complex to await its crew. The idling diesels were bathed in rich, golden sunlight as the crew boarded to take the train south.
Tracing a familiar path, I followed the train along Route 103 to some of my favorite locations such as Cuttingsville Trestle, and Okemo Road near Ludlow. The lack of foliage at Cuttingsville actually made more of the full four-engine consist visible, while the train stood out in bright contrast against the sedate background at Okemo.
About a week later, I found myself trackside along the former Pennsylvania Railroad Buffalo Line, now operated by Western New York & Pennsylvania. I met up with publisher Kevin EuDaly and his friend Mel Wilson at the yard in Olean, N.Y., hoping to catch the last active Alco C-430s on the afternoon turn to Farmers Valley, Pa. Daylight Savings Time didn’t help matters as the train didn’t leave until close to 3:00pm, leaving us with precious little time to capture the Alcos under the classic PRR signal bridge at Eldred, Pa. Just as the sun began to make its early retreat, we were greeted by the sight of two Alco Centuries hustling nearly a dozen tank cars into the warm evening light. The low angle of the sun added depth and warmth to the background that is hard to capture even on the clearest days of summer.
Even more challenging than photographing trains in the real world is recreating this distinct season in miniature. Few modelers take on the challenge of recreating the days of retreating snows like Mike Confalone and his HO scale Allagash Railway. Click here, and you’ll immediately be transported to familiar northern New England settings. Even as winter loosens its grip, there’s still a chill in the spring air as gray skies predominate. There’s no foliage to obscure the throbbing beat of mulit-unit lash-ups battling mountain grades from miles away, and the trains are easy to follow as they pick their way between the tree trunks awaiting their first signs of spring.
Consider heading trackside this season to capture this magical time, or consider building a diorama or changing up one of the scenes on your layout to add some bare trees and receding snow.
Embrace the unique characteristics of “Stick Season.”
—Otto M. Vondrak
