My father and I made our last trip together to Sayre and the west end of the Lehigh Valley during my winter break from school in February 1976. My father wrote an article about this trip that may have appeared in Rails Northeast (if anyone knows what issue, please let me know). My father's description of the events surrounding this picture come from this article. “A check at the yard office (in Geneva) found the Lehigh Valley quiet with the nearest possibility at Manchester where local MR-1 would go on duty at 9:00 AM. After a few shots of the idling 215 we headed out, coming to an immediate at Preemption Road upon spotting RS32 2042 making up a short train on the PC. A query to the engineer determined the train to be heading for Cayuga on the branch through Waterloo and Seneca Falls. This branch sees this PC train by day and the Lehigh Valley local to Auburn at night. The night Valley job is one of two assignments for the Geneva-based RS, the other being the daytime (on 11:00 AM) job west to Manchester and east to Cayuta on alternate days. Getting back to the PC, 2042 shortly left Geneva long hood first. At 15 mph many grade crossing vantage points with good back and foregrounds to and through Waterloo were available. At the east end of Waterloo a car was set out at a lumber yard. Here Teddy was invited to ride the cab of 2042 into Seneca Falls. I picked a good spot in town and waited. With many grade crossings through town, Teddy was getting good practice at “two longs – a short – and a long.” He was let off at the Sylvania plant, and we continued to chase, winding up with a scenic broadside on the bridge over the Seneca River. “ This photo is of me before I got off the train at the Johnston Street crossing next to the Sylvania plant. I recall that the engineer instructed me not to pull on the horn cord so hard to avoid complaints from people living near the tracks. R.T. Steinbrenner Photo
