Waiting and Waiting and Waiting...

Well, today was the day to catch those D&H Lightning Stripe GP38-2s. Went out to Wilkes-Barre at 7:15 and arrived at the 3rd Avenue Trestle at 7:45. Just as I get to the spot, CP 412 rolls by with 2 NS Trash-9s for power. My freight fix has been cured (for now). I'm thinking to myself this day is gonna be sweet. Figures it would turn out the opposite. After an hour of waiting, nothing, not even scanner chatter. Another railfan comes by and says that they pulled out of Scranton at 8:50. So, we figure, oh must be coming by in an hour. At 9:30, another railfan comes by and said the train is on the ground in Scranton....

Let me just repeat that: ON THE FREAKING GROUND.

All looks pretty much hopeless at this point. Most packed up and headed out, 2 others came back from down by the river banks where they were attempting to get shots (they were, by the way, the Blaszczyk brothers, Andrew and Christopher, who take some very exceptional railroad photographs), and some brave souls, including the Blaszczyk brothers and me, stayed in hopes of catching something. At 10, we learned that they had detrained the passengers and they reevalute the options at 12. Yee-hah. It was almost done for. I had started making plans for a trip to Steamtown. The Blaszczyk brothers had to make it to West Virginia to set up a night photo shoot tomorrow. But, wait! Andrew received a text before they left that the train would depart at 12. So, might as well get some lunch and come back. We arrive back at around 12 to set back up to finish what we came for. Railfans started arriving in saying the train had cleared Taylor Yard in Scranton. Other chasers started arriving as well. I ditched the idea of chasing, since it was much later than anyone expected. Soon enough, someone got a call from someone else on the train that they were at Hudson, five minutes out. At 1:04 PM EDT, 5 hours after arriving at the 3rd Avenue Trestle, the excursion finally rounded the curve above with those 2 D&H Lightning Stripe GP38-2s leading: 7312 and 7304. Good lord. I guess it was worth it, but 5 hours, seriously? Anyway, not to bore you more, but afterwards, I went to Target and was searching for Blasters of 2010 Bowman, to no avail. But, I did buy a jumbo pack 2009 Topps 206 and a pack of 2010 Upper Deck. Sure, I share the pulls with you.

UD Pack:
Scott Podsednik 128
Ryan Spilborghs 176
Jeremy Reed 324
Star Rookie Checklist 1
Asdrubal Cabrera 164
Fernando Perez 476
Brandon Medders 438
Renyel Pinto 220
Jesse Litsch 525
Joe Saunders Bio SB-39
Mark Teixeira Pure Heat PH-11
Koyie Hill 176
Kevin Frandsen 431
Rick Porcello 206
Nick Punto 310
Dexter Fowler 179
James Shields 487
Tigers Checklist 580

Not a lot of stuff there....

Topps 206 1st Half
Rich Harden 37
Garret Anderson 233
J-Becks 148
Casey Kotchman 279
Johnny Mize Mini - Old Mill Back 254 (1 in 20 pack hit-jo!)
Han Ram 102
Elvis Andrus 138

BAM! How's a 1 in 20 pack hit for ya? And, Beckett...well, it's a Red Sox card.

2nd Half
Mike Cameron 111
Chad Billingsley 285
King Felix Gold Junk 112
Koji Uehara 23
Aaron Poreda 268

Yeah, again, not much.

I'll end your misery now.