Having married a girl from Forest Hills, I've since spent a couple decades with it on my radar as a go to spot for railfanning commuter action in New York, but always from the station platforms. Recently, a friend clued me in on the footbridge at 67th Avenue. This location only works with a long lens, because there is extremely fine-mesh chainlink fencing there.
On August 24, before flying home to California, I made a stop there, long lens at the ready, hoping for diesels. Two showed up within 30 seconds of my arrival. Here we see both an eastbound DE30AC (diesel only) and a westbound DM30AC (dual mode). My sleuthing tells me that the eastbound is a deadhead out of Long Island City and the eastbound is a train from Speonk into Penn Station.
Locomotive-hauled trains extend LIRR service from Midtown New York to the eastern reaches of the North and South Forks. Power has gone through four generations since steam service ended.
