Another Winter of Our Discount Tent

I hadn't pointed my digital SLR at a rail subject in months so I figured I'd get off my duff an do it while the snow was still around.  The scanner was quiet so I decided to catch up on the local sights.  Some minor changes had taken place since summer so on Sunday 2/17/13 those were my first targets.  Pan Am has renamed the sidings so that each end has a distinct name too - no more 'east' - 'west' designations.  I haven't looked them up yet and I didn't notice any signs to photograph.

The St. Lawrence and Atlantic put up a new sanding tower.  So, a couple of shots were in order to show the facility.  The former BAR plow was out resting, yet poised for the next storm.   Sundays are pretty quiet so I didn't linger for long.  The blizzard winds easily discouraged loitering.  By the way, I think the old sanding tower was from the BAR too, Northern Maine Jct. roundhouse in Hermon, ME.

I have no info on the project since I'd only recently heard of its manufacture and had no idea that it was this far along.  Some colleagues knew an apprentice machinist who was making parts for the project.  These educators were fascinated that trains used sand for traction and with how obvious that sounded.











On Monday the sun came out and the DT&I Fan joined me for an afternoon around the area.  As usual we started at the junctions.  Nothing at Danville but the SLR was switching the newer Savage 
/ Safe Handling yard.  The Quebec Gatineau switcher pair was doing the honors.  Although it wasn't a rare sight, the sun was too good to pass up.  When they move on, I'll be glad I caught them.



We figured we'd head north.  Nothing on the  scanner but we knew there had to be a RUPO somewhere.  At first we didn't see or hear anything at Leeds Jct.  So, we headed to Waterville.  However, we only got as far as the overpass over the Rumford line.  RUPO was moving so we did a u-turn back to the junction.  It took a while for it to reach the switch.  Meanwhile, we sat in the warm car by the signal and watched the winds whip the snow by us.  Eventually they got their Form-D clearance to move out and pass our spot.  We were next to a snow pile where the shack used to be.  Carl used the pile for height.  I used the car window to prevent frostbite.  The pile also enabled a coupler high drift to form so the train would have to bash through it.  A third camera down the tracks could have caught the impact but the operator would have been a popsicle before it was over.   

Waterville was our next target.  No real hopes in finding anything but some odd locos were in the neighborhood so we figured we'd give it a shot.  Near town we heard the SAPPI job get clearance to enter the mainline at CPF110.  We exited at Fairfield and found our train at the crossing so we got ahead to MP 111 for a grab shot at the crossing, which I missed.  Farther down in the yard we were able to catch the train entering the yard.  The sun was pretty good for the old "sludge gray". The main tracks were clear for a change.  Unfortunately, that was the last thing of note in town.

 We figured we'd see if PORU was in the neighborhood yet since the scanner was pretty quiet otherwise. (The "Bucksport Job" was active but well beyond our reach) Earlier at Leeds we'd heard that the crew came on duty at 1300 in Rigby.  Maybe a meet at New Gloucester - or whatever they call it now so we headed there off the pike.  No joy.  Turned out that RUPO made it only as far as "Rumford Jct. - West", or "Poland" now.  Their clearance mentioned returning the switch to normal at "Hackett's", formerly "Rumford Jct. - East".  DJ-1 and the SLR were playing in the yard at Danville Jct. so perhaps they had to wait their turn.

Anyway, I finished the day shooting the SLR as it worked among those fancy new switch lock signals.  

BC

Pics Worth A Thousand Words

Foreign Rail

I was looking at the above picture of rail and began wandering all over the internet to find out about it.  I found a few other details while I was at it.  Nippon rail showed up all over the Union Pacific system on the previously reported trip to Nebraska, so my curiosity was already nudged on the subject. 

This particular 141 pound rail was found in the "Bottoms" of Kansas City on the Union Pacific.  I guess you'd say it was a high traffic area rather than a high speed area.  The three track mainline in Nebraska as well as the upgraded Marysville Subdivision had a lot of identical Nippon rail too.  The info I found said that Nippon and Krupp produce extra hardened specialty rails for high stress areas, which are only a small but growing portion of the overall rail market.  It costs more to make and more to transport from overseas.  Surprisingly, one forum I came across had track workers saying the Nippon rail was a pain to put down because the height of the base wasn't consistent for pressing on tie clamps.  The machinery to do the job needs to be adjusted constantly.  Domestic normal steel rail is apparently easier to install because of uniform dimensions and softer composition.  I read that they had some other complaints because the extra hardening didn't agree well with drill bits and grinders either.  My guess would be that someone didn't receive the right equipment for the job. 

Mittal makes the most common domestic rail these days, but there are other producers with modern processes, like Oregon Steel Mills that owns the former Colorado Fuel and Iron rail plant in Pueblo, CO.  Steel Dynamics of Indiana produced some of the rail for Amtrak's Downeaster expansion to Brunswick.  Mittal is a foreign company that picked up a few of the leftovers of the US steel industry, including the former Bethlehem Steel's Steelton rail plant near Harrisburg, PA.  Standard rail from a wide variety of foreign sources has been and will be tried out, especially when the currency markets favor it.  Krupp rail was very popular in the 1920's because of this and the Boston and Albany route was once relaid with it.  Norfolk Southern and others are trying out Chinese sources these days, among others.  But, the vast variables that go into rebuilding a line don't always boil down to cost numbers for choice of rail.  Sometimes durability and metallurgy are priority.  New demands for increased weight and volumes on the rail network may favor quality over quantity. 

While looking for rail photos I found another foreign, albeit closer rail source.  I found some Sydney Steel rail in my photo files.  This 115 pound rail was from 1982 and it appears the plant has been shut down since then.  Geographically, it's about the same distance as the nearest domestic producers, but it's not the same distance as Japan or Germany.  This piece was found on the former Maine Central just south (rail west) of Danville Junction, at the former "Brown's Crossing".  It contains Newfoundland iron ore heated with Cape Breton coal.  The company became a Crown Company (government owned) in 1967.  This particular rail looks like it's seen better days. 

 

I couldn't help but end on this classic though domestic note.  Here is some rail on the north end of the Bangor and Aroostook mainline in Fort Kent, literally within sight of Canada.  It's the standard 85 pound Bethlehem Steel, vintage 1938.  Other than being light weight and obsolete, it looks pretty good for being well used over the last 70+ years. Of course, it has benefited from being in Maine where "life in the slow lane" is the norm.   It may be replaced by one of those names listed above if the line is to be serviceable to the latest car load limits. 

BC

Mass. Railfanning

Skull calls Gary to report the action.  Worcester Union Station.

The DT&I Fan and I decided that it was a good time to go to Mass. on Sept. 22nd.  It might be the last free Saturday for either of us for a while and days are still long enough to cover some ground.  Our primary mission was to cash in my Christmas gift certificate at Ken's Trains in Sudbury.  The railfanning was a given.  Unfortunately we found out that Ken's will be closing next June.

After Ken's we worked our way towards Worcester.  We were going to meet "Skull" at the old Amtrak station.  When we arrived we looked around and saw familiar cars but didn't see our friends.  So, we headed over to the main station building.  We assumed they had good reason to be over there since an intermodal was backing down into the P&W yard as we arrived.  We did see the intermodal's power return later and another set of power was on the scene (CP-45) awaiting a recrew. 

Q427 emerges from the tunnels.

A P&W autorack train emerges from the tunnel.

Sure enough Billy and Josh were over by the old NH/B&M line.  Q427 was coming down from Rigby on its way to Selkirk.  Behind it was a P&W autorack train (GRWO) traveling from the PAS interchange in Gardner and headed for the Seaview RR in Davisville, RI.  Josh was hoping they'd be in sight of each other.  They were not that close but they were only minutes apart.

The new intermodal yard in Worcester.

We began to leave a while after Q437 had apparently signaled the end of the action.  We all took shots of the construction surrounding the new intermodal yard.  The new cranes were already in place and being tested as we watched.  Another crew was welding rails together and gravel strips were being compacted. But nothing was moving on the rails.

Purple Trains!  This same set went to Providence later.  See below.

Intermodal power waits around.  Left power came from P&W.

CSX returning east.  T readying to go east as well.

A very small Q437 with plenty of power.

Boston bound "regional" using an Acela set. 

We said our goodbyes and headed over to Sharon.  The station is on the old New Haven "Shoreline" to Providence.  The latest NH station still stands, complete with old platform roofs.  We stayed around for an MBTA train in each direction and a pair of Boston bound Amtraks. 

T set headed to Providence.

The station was a good change of pace from the usual haunts nearer the city.  Rural, suburban and accessible.  The first MBTA train we saw was the exact same set we saw in Worcester a couple of hours earlier.  The odd combination of single and double level cars gave it away.  1050 on the point sealed it. 

 My last shot before we left to visit Ikea was a "Regional".  This one was led by a "toaster" and I attempted to catch it beyond the center fence.  All was well until the train arrived and I could not get the focus to work despite clear test shots earlier.  Oh well.  This one is close enough.

Boston bound "toaster" at Sharon, MA.

BC

Annual Catch

For a third year in a row I've managed to have a camera on hand for something moving on the Rumford branch of the old MEC.  This time, owing to construction near my usual spot in Peru, I pass over the branch in Canton on the way to work each morning.  This spot is near the old wye that used to take the line down to Rumford Jct. in Auburn.  Yesterday the crossing lights lit up as I neared the crossing so I pulled out the mini-camera.  The train was a good distance away and putting along so I sped ahead (like everyone else) and turned to the crossing in the center of the wye where I caught this guy.  There's little traffic on the road so I just sat there with the camera pointed out the window short of the crossing.

This year, like the last two, a blue high hood GP40 was on the point.  The difference this year is that I got the other end of the number class.  I got 370 the last two times.  Now I have the recently acquired oddball 382 at the other end of the class.  I don't recall precisely, but isn't that a unit from NS to make up for one wrecked by them somewhere?

Here is my last encounter, and the first encounter, with something on the Rumford line. 

For me it's a minor victory. 

BC