How To Fill A New Year's Eve" 2014-15

The recipe for a good day among some Maine railfans is to load a car with people and head to Massachusetts.  There are things to see and do down there that simply aren't available in Maine.  While we didn't see a vast quantity of trains, we did get to see our friend Billy in Worcester and Paul "The Wheelman" was able to tag along.  Carl had given me a gift certificate to Hobby Emporium of Tyngsboro, MA so that was what gave us an excuse to hit the road.

 Ayer is always a mixed bag depending on what we have in mind.  Coming down from Maine usually means that we miss the morning rush hours on the commuter system.  As we passed through 'Willows' we stopped to look over a NS powered autorack train parked by the Ford facility.  Next to us were the old and new signal masts for the junction a few yards to the west (left).  We got out of the car and walked over to the crossing.  Behind us was the Fitchburg line crossing as well so all the gates had to go down for any train on either line.  One T train passed while we were there.  It was probably the outbound version of the inbound we saw. 












I had only heard of the car facility in this area so it was a neat to see the empties preparing to depart.  We did not venture down into the property but we were parked along the driveway to see the signals. 









This trip we didn't have to wait too long for an inbound T train at the platform.  We probably saw this same train a Willows and it simply reversed direction at Fitchburg.  The sun angles weren't bad but there were some annoying shadows.  However, all this is better than our usual skunking here when we are just passing through.  Given all the new cars and locomotives that are being delivered, some of this gear is going to disappear in the near future.  All of the teething problems with the Rotem cars and MPI units will go away eventually. 

I had to shoot this photo of the Keolis truck simply to have some representation of the MBTA's operator.   They picked up a system in transition to new but temperamental equipment and then February's snow put them over the edge.  They will either come out strong or go down in flames and disappear.  I will have this one photo if it is the latter. 





Once we left Ayer we followed the Fitchburg line toward Leominister where we turned south for Palmer.  Along the way we stopped at Shirley to photograph the small but distinctive shelter.  After the photo we all noticed that it still had a telephone stand.  That fit the theme at Palmer later.  "The Wheelman" is into geo-caching and located one in a park across the street while we were there. 


 Palmer is always interesting.  Today was slightly less so.  Within the previous week the "Vermonter" was rerouted around Palmer to the Connecticut River line which was recently rehabilitated.  The tedious reverse move from CSX to NECR and vise-versa at the depot will no longer be seen.  So we ordered some take-out food at the Steaming Tender and waited for something to go by.  The only action turned out to be a NECR switcher.  But, it had NECR's paint scheme, so all was not bad.  The waiting room inside the station wasn't bad either.  The old accoutrements like shoe shine and phone were still around in some form.  The phone was converted to push button but the booth was cool.

Palmer is also the new home of the former Bob Buck's Hobby Shop.  We had to stop in and spend some money.  It's a decent shop, worth the stop.  And, if you know the antics of Bob Buck in the world of the big Amherst Train Show in Springfield, there's no sign of Bob's ghost anywhere. 

On the way home we passed this diner in Spencer.  We were stopped right there in the road in traffic so I dug out my camera to get the Moxie sign. 

From here it got dark.  We dropped in at the Worcester depot to visit with Billy Leazer for a while.  Then, off to Tyngsboro to find out that Hobby Emporium had closed early for New Years.  Oh well.  We'll have to do it again.

BC

 

2015 - The Real Winter of Our Discount Tent

I've joked about these things before but this year the railroads in New England are really hurting from extreme cold and high volumes of snow.  The listserv's are full of why service has fallen off and the media has been hammering the MBTA (Keolis) so I'll leave the why alone, mostly.  The very same snowbanks that have hampered operations on the rails have kept me from boldly going where I can photograph much, especially those plow specials.  But, I did manage a couple of shots that show the snow here in Maine.  While snow is no big deal up this way, the railroads are a shade less able to conquer it. 

Here we see GATX 406 sitting in the snowy Waterville yard on 2/18/15.   I have a predisposition towards GP15's anyway, so to get this one amidst the snowbanks was neat.  The rising steam was from the shops complex.  The trailing "sludge gray" unit was a common 300's range GP40.

The real story of that day is that an oil extra with BNSF power had passed a couple of hours earlier, and, the B&M heritage 'geep' was working the SAPPI branch.  Of course Carl and I missed all of that excitement.  










On the way home we managed to catch up with either RUPO or WAPO (or whatever the symbol was) around Lewiston.  We saw this train pull up to the switch at Fairgrounds East (the new name escapes me) and we intercepted at Strawberry Ave.  The lead was 517 in blue,  a "sludge gray" was second and the former SLR yellow leaser trailed. The signal at Fairgrounds West was yellow and we knew another train (WB I think) was at Danville.  This train halted where I photographed it.  The main was clear of snow but this guy waited on the siding for some reason.  We moved on and called it a day.  It was too cold to stand around long.  Later in the week a Rumford train would be left on the siding without its power so passing was not an option.  Leeds also had a train and a PAR blue leaser sitting at Roy for days.

A few days later on 2/21 there was a train show in Augusta and another chance to follow District 1.  Carl and I got as far as Subway/Fairgrounds in Lewiston where the crew of a Waterville train AYWA was stopped for lunch.   Unit 600 was on the point and there were a pair of NS SD40-2's on the rear.  They moved on soon after I got some photos.  We got them again at the MP157.2 detector where there were fewer snow banks in the way of detail shots. 

The snowbanks did hamper efforts to get photos in Lewiston.  They also proved to be annoying when we got to Winthrop and found a  619 POWA slugging through town.  By the time we got to a good photo spot the tall snow piles in a bank parking lot cost us the few seconds we needed to get into position.  But that was a bit later.  We stopped by Leeds Jct. again.  The lease unit and cars were still at Roy and a WAPO was tying down at Cressey.  Apparently getting stuff to Waterville was a priority this day.  The ballast regulator/plow from Rumford was sitting on the north siding with the Waterville Russell plow (the PAR painted one). 

 

Paraphrasing one forum poster "each train required a herculean effort" anywhere east of Selkirk.  Units OOS all over the place and disabled trains taking up the passing points.  A form of meltdown.  CSX and other roads were not immune.  I would be sympathetic but today, well more than a week after the last storm, I read of an MBTA plow finally getting to one of their lines.  Does anyone in charge know that it snows every year?  Some years might even be like this one.  Cutting capital to the bone - apparently including losing seldom used snow fighting equipment and having lean MOW forces certainly - exacerbate the situation.   But again, I only have a couple of irrelevant college degrees and no rail experience so I have no real expertise here.  I'm just a railfan taking pictures and will not complicate anything by pretending to know operations.

BC

Jim and Brad's Excellent Adventures Part 2

Few of us venture near Altoona without dropping by Cassandra to hang out at the bridge.  Here is part two of our adventures beginning on Day 4, Wednesday August 13, 2014...
Part I

The day's railfanning started in earnest at Tyrone, PA.  We were greeted by the Nittany and Bald Eagle local right there in the yard next to the "Amshack".  It was still around when the eastbound Pennsylvanian arrived with its "Pepsi Can" GE on the point.  Charles caught up to us somewhere in the process at Tyrone before we left,  but after the show. 

We sort of wandered the countryside on the way to Altoona from here.  The main road had a detour due to bridge repair but we zig zagged to try to get into Fostoria.  I think we hit every other location without finding Fostoria though we saw it in the distance.  We did lack a DeLorme map of the area.  We did find the other end of the relatively new pedestrian bridge at Bellwood.  A loaded coal train greeted us and before it was totally gone, a westbound intermodal showed up.  We next found the tail end of an empty oil train at Antis at a new bridge over the tracks there.  No idea how to get back without a map. 

Once we found our way into Altoona proper,  I had to get a proper portrait of one of the SD40E helper sets that are now the norm. 

As the top photo states, we always have to spend time at Cassandra.  How many times have we been there when we were "trapped" by a flood of trains.  I think we saw 14 trains there and were trying to move on when we got to around 8.  One tends to lose count though my IPod contains a record.  Plus, it's always fun to chat with the other fans who hang out there.  Some people all but camp at the spot and now you can literally camp there.  Benches, picnic tables and an outhouse have shown up over the years.  Eventually we detected a gap and headed toward town.  Naturally we couldn't leave without seeing the Pennsylvanian with its "Pepsi Can" going west.

Day 5 - Thursday August 14

A new day dawned with the Norfolk Southern Office Car Special arriving.  This was a fantastic catch via the scanner, though we may have had a vague heads up from the web.  Luckily Motel 6 is adequate but not a place to linger so we were up and about in time.  Jim brought us good luck on this one.  I think we even delayed breakfast for this catch.  A few other fans were out and about by the depot overpass.  The sun was remarkably cooperative too.  Thank heavens Charles recognized the symbol on the scanner. 

No visit to Altoona is complete without a trip to Horseshoe Curve.  Jim had to cross this off his list and we don't mind going back.  I always have trouble trying to compose something in the tight space but a wide angle lens helps.  The place lends itself more to video and just plain viewing.  All of the efforts to trim the foliage are fading now.  At least Mike and Phil's efforts gave us a few years of viewing.  In the "olden days" the layer of coal cinders along the tracks kept the weeds under control.

We ventured west past Cresson and Cassandra to Summerhill.  After a tour of South Fork and lunch from the local store, we back tracked to sit under the overpass by the unique signals to eat.  For some reason my camera did not register two other more colorful trains but this coal empty works as a sample.  We caught a decent variety of trains here.

Jim was leaving us via the westbound Pennsylvanian so we made a daylight stop at Gallitzin on the way back to Altoona.  We got what we came for with an unusually long and varied lashup coming out of the tunnel fairly soon after arriving.  The sun was beginning to reach the tunnel's cut at this point of the day so the sun wasn't bad.  And, I tried to get the mile marker in the shot for once.  It looks like the drainage in the area got some work and that must have been a challenge inside the tunnel.

Here we see Jim's train arriving at Altoona.  Jim's hiding under the canopy somewhere.  The "Pepsi Can" GE's on the point are the norm these days.  Charles headed home before this since he had a gig in Marietta (next to the formerly electrified PRR line to Perryville) to attend.  I'd follow to the gig a little later on.  From the overpass I had to shoot a photo of the Altoona Railroader's Museum's advancements.  The roundhouse was new since my last visit. 



Day 6 - Friday 8/15/14
Charles and I headed over to Robesonia to the Berks County Park to watch whatever passed on the former Reading line.  We arrived as an MOW crew with a crane and gondola backed into the clear.  We managed a reasonable number of trains before we ambled off to Sinking Spring for a trackside lunch.  A train or two passed but it wasn't exactly ideal conditions for still photography.  We just saw the East Penn Ry. at Sinking Spring if I recall correctly.  Not much to see and tough to chase.  I headed toward Baltimore to visit my brother's family shortly after this.  No more trains until I headed home Monday.

A few days later on Monday I followed the old D&H on the way back to Maine.  Somehow the rail gods felt I needed a single train just to keep me happy enough.  I followed this east/north bound beginning at about Bainbridge, NY where I heard EOTD/FRED chirps on the scanner.  Here we see my first encounter with a snap shot at the depot crossing.  I was seconds from missing this shot but the town had plenty of parking across from the depot to assist.  I didn't stick around to explore though.











Farther east I found a newly constructed side road overpass west of Oneonta proper.  The view was pretty good.  It was right there, easily spotted off Rt.7 and features plenty of parking space.  It will be handy if a meet occurs when I'm around in the future.






That was it.  A long trip I ended with a trip to the Saratoga Battlefield the next day.  No new trains got in my camera's way after that point, though I did follow plenty of tracks. 

BC

Jim and Brad's Excellent Adventures Part 1

Back on August 8, 2014 my long-time friend, college buddy and fellow railfan, Jim Grimwood arrived at Brunswick, Maine using Amtrak.  He had trekked across the US from Kansas to Brunswick using Amtrak, or, at least he attempted that.  His first leg turned into a plane ride, but I digress.  He did arrive on the Downeaster on-time at 8:20pm and the Maine Eastern graced him with the presence of the last two EMD FL-9's in revenue service anywhere.  We "assumed" that the train was the special for the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland, so we expected to see it again in the morning.   Carl was along for the ride because, despite going to the same college, Jim and Carl did not quite know each other.  Much of (but not all of) the HAPT gang would be introduced to Jim in the next 24 hours in the Maine "Tour de Farce" that followed the next day. 

Our first task of the day (Sunday 8/9/14) was to pick up "The Wheelman" down the street and proceed to Augusta to collect "The Fiddler".  Paul "The Wheelman" Apollo was a new face for Jim, but the two had heard of each other because of prior railfan adventures.  Charles "The Fiddler" Kadyk is familiar to Jim because Charles and I stayed with him long enough to chase UP 844 a couple of years back.  We knew that the Maine Eastern was running "Lobster Specials" for the Maine Lobster Festival in Rockland so we headed straight to Wiscasset to intercept one.  I expected to see the MERy's Geep and a couple of cars parked for normal Sunday runs down by the waterfront.  But, it wasn't to be seen.  At least, not until the run we expected came along.  Jim's smartphone confirmed the train schedule for the 'Lobster Special'  but I was a bit disappointed that we didn't see FL9's.  As a group we pieced together the misguided logic that led to the bad assumption. Oh well.

Once the Lobster Special passed we headed to Alna to visit the WW&F.   This little "two-footer" group theoretically ran steam on Sundays, but of course, not this particular Sunday.  They have enough going on with restorations, rebuilding and operations that we didn't miss the steam.  We could wander around, visit the projects and go for a ride down the length of the place for a mere $5.  It was a fun place to visit, and Jim's first exposure to Maine two-foot gauge.

One of the volunteers told us about the Model-T.  Given that the car was as common as dirt and easily maintained, it was the ideal base for the inspection car.  The great morning sun made it a good place for a mug shot.   The other hand-pump inspection car looked pretty cool too.  Both are a combination of real parts and some construction based on actual plans.  That sort of thing makes the work here remarkable.  So much lives on.

The ride was reasonably lengthy.  The photo is from the Alna Center flagstop.  From this point, the power "runs around" to the back and pushes to the end of the line, still quite a ways off.  The group has equipment swamping out the roadbed, ditching and pushing the line down the original ROW.  They have plans and built up supplies to get to the next grade crossing, where FRA jurisdiction comes into play if they cross, the same quandary they have in Alna.  My guess is that they are preparing for the increased scrutiny and liability. 

We left the WW&F behind and headed to PAR District 1 at Waterville.  Heritage unit MEC 52 was in the neighborhood but we sure couldn't figure out where.  My luck was batting a thousand.  In fact, there was almost nothing to see other than 501 drilling near the yard office.  We kept north to Pittsfield and Northern Maine Jct.  Dysart's got in the way so it was time to eat.  After the usual fine dining experience we headed over to nearby NMJ.  The CM&Q had their new sign up so we stopped for a photo on the way back to the coaling towers.  Jim was a bit taken by all the infrastructure that was still around.  We'd seen it many times before.

We decided to wander north through Bangor and see what was left of Old Town, hoping that maybe something would be on the move in this part of the world.  Nothing moving but we did wander around the yard at Old Town.  It may become the northern terminus of Pan Am in the future at the rate things are changing with eastern traffic, if the local mills could rebound a bit. NMJ is becoming the last regular stop on the mainline with Bucksport closing.  Meanwhile CM&Q will haul New Brunswick traffic via NMJ over the old BAR to Brownville Jct. and Irving's roads (Maine Northern, Eastern Maine and New Brunswick Southern) will continue on from there via the former CP, bypassing the first 40 or so miles of PAR out of Mattawamkeag.  Three roads in a short span but probably still faster and more reliable than Pan Am's irregular service over some very old track. 

We wandered back home from this point, listening to the scanner and sticking to the interstate.  Pan Am did provide us with passing Rumford jobs at the old Rumford Jct. West so we did hang around Danville in the dark watching the action.  A night paving crew on Route 100 probably thought we were nuts.  That was the end of a great day with a car full of good friends. 




DAY 2 - MONDAY
 On this day, Jim and I went over to West Minot to buy breakfast and procure some local maple syrup.  This was step one of a meandering trek to Altoona.  We intended to go via St. Johnsbury, White River Jct., and Rutland.  Now and then something interesting appears along that route.  We intended to spend the night in Binghamton, NY.  Gorham, NH is the first rail stop along the SLR.  We wandered among the old cars by the depot for a while before taking a quick tour of Berlin.  Then it was west on Route 2, over numerous now silent MEC and B&M routes to St. Johnsbury. 


St. Johnsbury is the first real operating location, but also a longshot.  We saw nothing moving of course but we could get a feel for the operation based on what is left in the area.  The classic scene with the grain elevator is still intact and the track hasn't changed too much.  Lately it is much cleaner and nearly weed free now that Washington County Ry. is in charge.  With little to see, we moved down the river to White River Jct. 



  We did get this NECRy geep still in the old colors at White River Jct. depot.  But it was the only real find.  The rest of the route across Vermont produced the usual relics and empty track.  By the time we got to Rutland, my mind was pretty much distracted by the full menu Taco Bell by the big turn to New York.  The radio was no help.  A "stalker mode" function on the scanner got started and I had no idea how to shut it off.  This had been going on a while but it was really pronounced in the civilized parts of the world.  This made the radio a low yield pain in the butt.  It was fixed later but it sure was a distraction for the trip. 

Whitehall, NY included some relics that I finally took the time to photograph.  In 1980 I actually photographed D&H Alco's sitting around by the old engine house that is now falling down in disrepair.  The other buildings seemed to be just as forlorn.  A freight house nearby on the highway seemed to be restored by a business, complete with the D&H logo on the brickwork. 

Down at Saratoga the usual disappointment set in, but only temporarily.  The S&NC BL2 was no where to be seen.  I get the feeling I have to drive to North Creek to see it (at which time it will be in Saratoga).  While we wandered out to the platform the signals lit up.  Our luck was changing.  We couldn't figure out exactly how at first.  Then a signal changed to green and the opposing lights also lit up.  South of the Amtrak depot an NS freight came into view then stopped.  People also began to show up as if a train was due.  Sure enough the Adirondack pulled around the freight and into the depot.  The sequence below shows the signals and trains as they passed us.

 At this point we made a bee-line for Binghamton.  We didn't have much luck along the old D&H.  Nothing was moving and the radio was quiet.  The light was pretty much gone beyond Delanson anyway.  The idea was to see bridges in the morning, but the D&H would have been nice.

DAY 3 - TUESDAY
Today's Mission:  Scranton Metro.  We start with Bingo, Starrucca, Susquehanna and Nicholson.  Then Steamtown, Electric City Trolley, and spend the night at Lackawanna Station after dollar tacos and Yinglings in the bar.  Here are the highlights:

We started with a quick tour of Bingo to see if any trains were moving.  Seeing none, we told Tom-Tom to take us to Starrucca.  We had a good drive over and the town proved to be easy to navigate and friendly to bridge fans.  The bridge was cleared for a ways so one could view it from public land.  The light was fairly neat too.   Jim needed his mug shot for posterity. 

En route to Scranton, we again pointed the Tom-Tom at new targets; Susquehanna and Nicholson.  Susquehanna was a vast and important Erie shop town in the steam era.  Not much left now except the main tracks and a siding or two.  This vast station complex was an empty shell in 1980 when my brother and I found it by accident after finding Starrucca.  Apparently a restaurant is among the businesses inside now. 

Nicholson viaduct was next, a few miles distant.  I remembered a farm road for just such a light angle.  Thankfully the farmer planted hay instead of tall corn.   Again another mug shot was called for.  You will note in this photo that Jim's shirt is print of an old ACI tag.   He had it made so don't try to find one in stores. 

One of the cool parts about Steamtown is that you can park in the mall, eat in the food court and then take a leisurely stroll across the pedestrian bridgework to the museums. There are a lot of interesting relics parked where you can get a good look from the bridge. 

 

The former BAR F3's were trying to hide among the relics behind the roundhouse...

For some reason,  I just like Nickel Plate whenever I see it, even when it doesn't make sense.  Here the Steamtown Flyer is working to shuttle visitors out to Bridge 60 and back.  I later noted that there are some really good archeological views of the Scranton area from this train, but I hadn't studied up prior to the trip for all of the potential present. 

Given that both of us have history chasing UP steam out west, a pose with Jim in front of the Big Boy is pretty much required.  Our first railfan adventure was chasing UP 8444 out of Salina, KS in the 1980's.  Jim's been following 844 and 3985 ever since, plus some ATSF steam out of Abilene.

I have since seen photos of this same set of locomotives all over the internet, mostly noting how rare it is to see matching GVT corporate colors.  I guess we got lucky on the Delaware-Lackawanna, though I suspect that's not entirely true.  There is still a rolling museum of Alco's to be seen but I think these are mostly former Canadians, with little relevance locally, and probably newer or better maintained mechanically. 

This grain run was the end of our day, except to stay the night at the Lackawanna Station hotel.  Now that was cool.  But, given that we had been railfanning for days, we needed to take it easy for a bit.  Dollar tacos and cheap Yuengling kept us in the bar and close to base for the rest of the evening.  Jim took many photos of the Lackawanna Station, now Radisson Hotel.  I'll have to get him to post something on that.

Continued another day...

BC