That 150 MPH Sensation

Autumn leaves are flying as a southbound Acela Express approaches Kingston, RI at about 150mph.  Fastest in US.   10-20-13

SB Acela blows past Kingston.

I started to feel the "need for speed" after the school year began and had spent one too many an afternoon around District 1 watching slow freights plod along at 10 to 20 mph.  From previous trips and common knowledge I knew that the Acela Express hit 150 mph through the station at Kingston, RI and began eying the place on the web.  The excuse to go came when a friend agreed to go along.  We happened to pick an awesome day for sun, color and traffic too.  As it turned out we got a side order of "Swedish Meatballs" in the deal.

A "Swedish Meatball" AEM-7 leads a 'Regional'.

As easy as it is to translate a schedule, it gets complicated, apparently, when one tries to write down a lineup for Kingston on a Sunday.  Between filtering out the non-Sunday trains and putting down chronological times and numbers to distinguish Acela Express from Regional trains, I messed up a couple of North-South designations.  I even nearly missed one last Acela as I exited the depot just as it arrived. At least we were on the platform when 5 Acelas and some Regionals went by.
Mission accomplished. 

The last NB Acela we set up for overtook a late Regional in sight of the station.  That put them on the left-hand track and a bit slower than normal. We happened to be on the pedestrian bridge at the time so we had a good vantage point.   The low sun really made for some striking lines on all the hardware reflecting those rays.  The windows were actually pretty clean but the harsh glare was tough to work around.

The Acela trains did not disappoint.  No GE HHP-8 units but it was good to see the 30+ year old ASEA et. al AEM-7 "Swedish Meatballs" again.  They'll be replaced in the next few years as the new Siemens "Cities Sprinter" units are built and put into service.  I guess I'm attached to AEM-7's since I happened to do a semester in Sweden where their original ASEA "RC" form roamed in 1982.  I also caught the early Amtrak models in New Haven in 1981.  That makes these one of the few locomotive types I've seen and photographed throughout most of their lifespan.  I'll have to find those slides now.  They'll show up below one day. 

BC

ASEA unit on Swedish Railways (SJ).  Gavle, Sweden about Sept. 1982.

A typical AEM-7 "Swedish Meatball" leading a 'Regional' through Kingston.  10-20-13

Ocala Findings

While there isn't much to report here, because I mostly got skunked, I did find an interesting tidbit or two.  Ocala sports a nice depot at the diamond where the old ACL and Seaboard crossed each other.  The ACL line is now run by Pinsly's Florida Northern, and the Seaboard is now the "S" line of CSX and will soon be the primary CSX line to the southern part of the state.  The CSX "A" line (old ACL main) was recently sold to provide a state run passenger line. 

Amtrak remnant.  Only a bus connection now.

Bus and cab terminal on the ACL side.

Looking toward the diamond on the ACL side.

Sign at FN office in Williston.

The Florida Northern provided most of the  skunkage.  I heard them switching on the scanner but was never where I needed to be to actually see them.  A local fan told me I just missed them but I was not able to find them amongst the industries they were serving.  Osceola Street downtown also features street running which they apparently did the day before too.  This is over the diamond and a few blocks into town.  I saw a CF-7 in the yard off in the distance a few blocks the other way but it wasn't visible enough to shoot a photo.  I did get a photo of one of their signs in Williston and that is their interchange to the right of the CSX train below in Ocala. Apparently the two lines don't connect.  Williston is on a line that serves a power plant well north of Ocala and FN provides the local switching while CSX sends in unit coal trains with CSX power.  Map here.

Aside from the boo-hoo stories, I did see a northbound CSX pass through minutes after my first trip to the depot.  I had my 'throwdown' camera and was in a hurry so it's better than nothing.  The next thing was the feature of the covered platforms still in place.  They are curved on the SAL side.  Apparently the bus lines use the ACL side and Amtrak used to use the SAL side.  Other than some leftover Amtrak signs, the bus connection is the only reason the full sign still has reason to exist.

FN crosses over the CSX rails!  No cuts.

The coolest find I had seen but didn't recognize until the local fan pointed it out.  That is the FN crossing; it goes over the CSX rails.  No cuts in the CSX rails.  Look carefully.  I'd heard of these but never recognized one before.  I certainly didn't know I was looking at one the day before so I may have seen a hundred and not known it.  The wide girder structure would give it away.  Something odd about it caused me to photograph it. 


It's only some odds and ends this time.  I still have to type up a visit to the platform at Folkston, GA.  That provided a bit more action.

BC

Spring Reconnoitering in Maine

The Downeaster awaits a 1755 departure for Boston.

 There's nothing like a spring day to give you the urge to get out of the house and explore, even if it's only over to District 1 on Pan Am Railways.  Never mind the snow.  Today, I did consult a schedule for the Downeaster and found that they would have something departing Brunswick in daylight now that we are in Daylight Savings Time.  I headed there after the usual pass through "the Junctions" in Auburn.

I left the house as PORU was getting a Form D to go up the Rumford Branch.  They had left a couple of units at Danville Jct. for DJ-1 as near as I could tell from the scanner.  I saw the units deep in the yard as I passed through.  With nothing else around and the SLR at Lewiston Jct. quiet, I moved on to Brunswick.

View of "layover" and wye (Lewiston Lower) from platform.

Aside from the annoying town of Brunswick itself with one-way streets and tons of traffic, the new station area was pretty quiet.  I went to the Hammond Lumber by the Spring St. bridge first to get shots of the trainset in layover.  It turned out more interesting than I thought since there was an F40 commemorative unit on the point rather than a standard "cabbage" unit.  I did like the old paint scheme too.  I didn't get too worked up about the "Shamu" style "mud missile" at the other end.

Amtrak "Heritage Unit".  Appears to be a full F40, not cabbage.

Over at the station itself I found plenty of parking and wandered over to the platform.  In the process I figured out where the Visitors Center was located and found helpful people around.  One of them was a local character I've run into before in the area.  Apparently he now counts passengers and otherwise volunteers around the station.  I think his nickname was "Cookie" but I may have heard it wrong. 

New Downeaster facilities in Brunswick.

DJ-1 with 2 more units left by PORU.

I couldn't see how I'd do much better by waiting another hour for the train to depart.  The back-lighting was harsh and I already got the head end from the bridge.  So, I reversed course back to "the Junctions".  This time my luck was a tad better.  RUPO was passing under the turnpike as I arrived so I headed for Danville Jct. from the west end.  There I caught DJ-1 and the other two units all assembled by the crossing.  Good timing.  I got a "two-fer" as RUPO passed.  I'm sure I could have stayed longer and watched a few more moves but it was a bit drafty and cool for such things.  And, I was parked in quite a muddy spot next to a melting snow pile.  No, the "excitement" of Danville Jct. and District 1 could wait for another day when I had the right jacket and more time.

RUPO passing DJ-1 at Danville Jct. 

 BC