In May 2004 I was still making regular trips between Baltimore and the New Haven, CT area although the content opportunities were getting a bit repetitive I kept up with the photos and assembled a couple of trips into this single set that covers action at the MNRR New Haven terminal and various goings on along the NEC. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).
In 2004 New Haven and the NEC in general still had a lot going for it, but it would soon enter a its terminal decline as more of the Heritage equipment started to vanish. Speaking of heritage, one of my southbound Regional trains was being hauled by Amtrak AEM-7 #950 in a Phase III heritage paint scheme, seen here pulling into platform 1 at New Haven.
#950 and the other heritage painted AEM-7's would soon be repainted in the standard Phase V livery just like #941 on the adjacent track #2.
I had been delivered to New Haven on a two car Springfield shuttle train powered by still new P42DC #38.
Speaking of shuttles, a Metro North shuttle trainset was on one of the station tracks with F10's #410 and #411 for power.
Heritage painted units were actually quite the rage back then, just as they are now. CDoT for example had opted for an almost completely heritage painted fleet adopting the New Haven Railroad McGuiness scheme for the Shore Line East GP40-2H's like #6696 shown here. This would unfortunately be replaced by scheme sponsored by Coke Zero when the Hartford commuter rail line opened in 2018.
Not limiting themselves to their electric fleet, here are three Phase IV heritage painted diesels sitting in the new motor storage yard that Amtrak used for trains proceeding on the Inlands Route to Springfield and, in the case of a single daily round trip, Boston. This remaining Inland Route regional would be cut in 2005 during the first Acela Express crisis when cracks in the brake assemblies sidelined the entire AX fleet for a few weeks. The units shown here are P42's DC #104 and #107 in addition to P40DC #824. The 800 series P40's would also be sidelined in the 2005-6 budget crunch with 15 returning thanks to 2008 stimulus funds and others sold on to SLE and NJT.
Amtrak MP15 switchers #539 and #534 were also in the storage yard, possibly for Springfield Line or NEC MoW work.
Although not heritage painted, CDoT's de-powered Budd SPV DMU's were still on the roster making the occasional showing in service.
Tower SS75 NEW HAVEN may or may not have still been open in 2004. Built to control the entire New Haven terminal as part of a 1950's N-X interlocking project, the old machine was decommissioned in 2001 with the Amtrak operator position eliminated about the same time. The Metro North operator used a Windows NT workstation to control the terminal and New Haven Line to SS73 in Woodmont, but the position would soon be abolished with control passing to the Section G dispatcher in Grand Central. SS75 itself would be demolished shortly thereafter to make room for additional parking capacity.
There were some changes taking place along the NEC such as the restored SS53 GREENS FARM 4-track 80mph high speed full crossover and alterations to Amtrak's MORRIS interlocking to support the NJT Morrisville Yard.
Of course some things would stay the same like Amtrak's UNION interlocking, which would not see ~1912 tower closed until 2009.
NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower was also entering its final year of operation.
In Baltimore, a westbound train of empty coal cars is led by CSX AC4400 #550 through the cut between Charles and St. Paul streets on the Baltimore Beltline. In 2014 the granite retaining wall on the left would collapsed after 4 days of heavy rain.
Also spotted on the Beltline was CSX AC6000 #647. A surprisingly frequent occurrence in the Baltimore area, the 100 odd 6000hp monsters proved to be unreliable and were eventually engine swapped by CSX with GEVO's with a 4600hp capacity before being sold off.
As you can see, it's interesting how many things have changed over the last 20 years in even a small set of NEC photos.
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