Swept of my feet…

There is a bit of a familiar and friendly face to a lot of recent operations on Beaverbrook, and even Coalbridge Street this week, Hilton Mears 7106, the ex CN SW1200RM, or ‘SW-eep’…

She was finished a little under a year ago and has enjoyed many scale miles since then. In many ways the compact, stubby form suits Beaverbrook well - but in an exercise of whimsy I lifted her from New Brunswick to Maine and she felt just as home on Coalbridge Street…

I like to share photos of what’s happening here with you all, but often, before that, and in the moment with good friend Chris…

This might be one of the most realistic looking photos so far. The depth of field in this is magic. We’re there/here.

Yes, Chris is on to something - there is a rather magical effect in just 20 cm of depth that the combination of photo backscene (scraped off some Google Street view scenes from the early noughties in December just along the road from the Coy Paper Mill on the old Claremont and Concord) and the leaf-less silhouettes of the trees. This layout is plenty of experiments with a healthy dose of Mike Confalone’s wonderful Oxford County stirred through… for me, this scene had me running to watch Milford Bennington operations and day dreaming of an SW900 in similar colours lettered for the Ballard and Wantage…

The Sweep however is part of a wider story, the HMLX (or Hilton Mears Leasing) operations that span the world. A hotch potch collection of favourites that tell the story of start up terminal operator to shortline entrepreneurs… from the humble GE 1220 to the latest B23-7s via peculiar one-offs (like 8032 and 7106). Our trains are a tool, but their selection is personal. Until next time, more soon…

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