Worcester to Old Saybrook 6/27-28/11

This was to be a trip to visit the P&W during the work week, since we normally visit the area on weekends when the line is quiet. It didn't turn out the way we intended. We did not photograph the P&W but ended up seeing it in action in odd places or in the dark. The mission went well despite this and three of us had a heck of a good time wandering around the countryside in search of trains.

The DT&I Fan and I left Maine on Monday afternoon with a Motel 6 reservation in Westborough, MA. We also had a RailPace article on the P&W and DeLorme maps for CT and MA. Add in a cell phone connection to Skull, and that's about all the plan we left Maine with.

As usual we met Skull at the Worcester depot. Apparently we had missed the Wheelman and his wife by about an hour as they were headed to New Jersey. [They live only a mile up the road from me.] Railfanning with the Wheelman is a rare treat now that he travels the world working on computer systems.

We arrived somewhere near 5:30pm, before the first outbound commuter run - easily deduced by the fact that there was no place to park except for one illegal spot under the I-290 bridge. Space opened up once the first outbound train arrived from Boston though so I moved to a better spot. This first "purple train" sported a common F40 so I didn't get out the camera for it. The second one a bit later was led by the newish MPI unit #011 and I did have to photograph that one. In between, a csx EB Q164 intermodal arrived with "the distinctive sound of an SD60M" on the point.

Aside from the T, the CSX yard switcher was placing the evening's outbound trains and moving some cars down for the P&W. We had a bit of a lull coming at us so we left to get dinner across town. A couple of noted P&W fans passed as we returned after some dinner at a local diner. Henry B. and Doug heard our horn and stayed around a while. As we watched, a newly visible stone extra and Q422 (normally a morning train) met by the layover yard. Here is Skull's report (edited in team tags for space):

Suprise Super Summit In Worcester,Mass. CSX Boston Sub. 6/27/11

Q-264 @ 14:53 4750 - 7629 set off 11 autoracks for P&W RR. LV @ 15:50.

X-091 @ 15:25 5357 - 7686 - 16 - 558 - 577.Out of P&W RR with train around 40 cars.

Q-436 @ 15:40 567 - 593 85 cars.

GRWO @ 16:05 3905(S) - 2006(N) Lite Power Off Gardner Branch. (P&W RR).

Loaded Stone Train @ 16:15 8084(W) - 30 loaded stone cars, 2755(W) - 8831(E).

P-517 @ 16:20 1036 - 6 cars cabcar 1515.

P-526 @ 16:31 Cabcar 1515 - 6 cars 1036 pushing (Boston).

P-519 @ 17:25 1068 - 6 cars cabcar 1705.

P-530 @ 17:40 Cabcar 1705 - 6 cars 1068 pushing (Boston).

Q-164 @ 18:10 8757 - 5420 - 8867 (Had a P&W Setoff).

P-523 @ 18:30 011 - 8 cars cabcar 1701.

Q-422 @ 20:00 598 - 564 29 cars for P&W RR.

P&W Stacks Were Brought Up To CSX @ 20:30 By 2007(P&W) picked Up By Q-115.

P-533 @ 20:45 1034 - 6 cars cabcar 1521.

Q-115 @ 21:20 5340 - 482 - 206.

A surprise summit came together today by accident, I was off when old friend Paul "BEEFCAKE" Apollo, HAPT/W.F.P.T.,

called, He was heading down to New Jersey and met me at the Worcester Amtrak Station, Then Carl Harrison, HAPT, and Brad Conant, HAPT, dropped by for an overnight 2 day railfanning adventure. Henry Bourdeau, V.F.P.T. /W.F.P.T., and Dougie, V.F.P.T. , came by to join in the fun. Special thanks to Gary "THE BOSS" Young, W.F.P.T., for posting heads up to fellow railfans.It was like the old days when the old "Amshak" in Worcester,Mass was the "CENTER OF THE UNIVERSE". We could feel the spirits of Doug Keenan,George Bishop and Ken Putalis, A great day of railfanning. As I'm going up to "L.A." next week starting July 5th thru Sunday July 10th. So "THE GUARDIANS" will be back at Danville Junction.

Then for my H.A.P.T. buddies the T sent one of the new MPI units on P-523. Amtrak P-448 is 4.75 Hrs.Late.

Till Next Time Railfans.

Tuesday:

The morning consisted of productively using our time until Skull could meet us after some morning work. Let's say we got stymied by construction zones, traffic, filled parking lots and a closed hobby shop. We were to meet Skull at Westborough's MBTA depot after 11am so we decided to just go there at 10am. We simply paid for a slot in the commuter lot to leave a car there for the day.

Upon arrival at Westborough an eastbound CSX freight went through as I was stuffing dollar bills into the parking fee slot. I guess I could have dropped everything and taken a photo but it's a challenging place to get a photo and we're bound to see another - right?

Lucky for us, an EB power swap came through on the heels of the freight and a token T train came through a bit later. Then, nothing.

Funny thing though. I noticed a car pulled up to the depot area, and judging by the scanner sounds coming from it, it had to be a local railfan. Eventually the guy got out to toss some trash. Well, that fan turned out to be none other than Dave Jodoin (W.F.P.T.). I hadn't seen him in years and he did recognize Carl. He works practically next door and often hangs out at the depot at lunch. I guess I vaguely knew the details but didn't put it all together. And time really flys! He's had the job over 8 years and I don't think he had it last time I saw him. (I could be wrong.) He had to return to work just before Skull arrived.

We took off toward Connecticut by way of the Grafton and Upton RR at Grafton. The place sure looked lively compared to the last time I saw it well over 10 years before. I gather from the quick look I took on the web that the changes are from the last two years or so. We only saw the CF7 #1500 you see here but at least that was the one unit I wanted to see. Similar to Alco's character, those unique looking CF7's mean there's some sort of balance in the railroad universe. (at least to me) The caboose is apparently former Maine Central #646 according to information at this link. Interesting that it is a converted box car. That may have to be a modelling project one day.

We pretty much made a bee line for Old Saybrook. We did make detours to check out Plainfield yard and have lunch at Five Guys in East Lyme. As we approached Old Saybrook we temporarily left I-95 to avoid a traffic jam near the Rocky Neck State Park exit. We quickly found a way down Rt. 156 that took us by Amtrak's NEC tracks in Old Lyme. The others noted that there was a spot next to the tracks without a fence in South Lyme. I was busy driving and didn't catch the meaning of the words. We should have stopped to check it out. A few minutes later and down the road a P&W eastbound stone train zipped by. We didn't even have time to turn around let alone traverse the 35mph countryside to catch up. Who knows if we would have caught it at the fenceless area anyway. We might have checked it and left while still missing the stone train - normal railfan luck.

Anyway, below is a collection of photos taken at the Old Saybrook depot. Most are self-explanatory to railfans. I just love the McGuiness style NH logos on anything and the SLE just looks good with them scattered around. The Cartoon Network ad graphics wrap on the "amtube" looked as if it were graffiti at first, so I'm guessing the graphics aren't aging well. (I have no idea how old the wrap is and maybe it was meant to be that way?) I also like a serving of "Swedish Meatballs" and the religious experience of 100+ mph Acela's at close range. We had a couple of two-way meets and thought we were going to have a triple, but the high green was just very well advanced. Twice we saw an SLE and Regional at the depot at the same time but an Acela Express still had to flash through before SLE could depart on the first occasion. No triple.

Other than hours of driving, that was the end of our railfanning day. It as about as good as it gets. Friends, trains and good weather! We need a beer commercial for that.

BC