When visiting Ketchikan and Mt. Rainer in the fall of 2021 I knew that I wasn't going to see much rail content in Alaska, but I figured I'd be able to find something near where I was staying in Olympia, WA. Well it turns out I was wrong on the second question and having my new camera phone die due to the damp weather in Ketchikan further limited my ability to take photos. Nevertheless, I did have access to one form of historic transport in the form of a DeHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver float plane that a pilot friend used to fly my group out to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Seeing as I had a bevy of videos from the flight I figured I might as well throw it up for this week's rail adventure post in addition to some still that you can find here ( mirror ).
Best known for its stillborn Bridge to Nowhere, Ketchikan is the southernmost city in Alaska and a general hub for local transport, fishing and recreation. As road transport is limited to Gravina and Revillagigedo Islands, all other areas must be accessed by boat or floatplane. The Ketchikan waterfront is home to a large number of providers, mostly servicing the summer season tourists on package cruises.
My friend flies a 1950's vintage DHC-2 Beaver floatplane for Island Wings. It is powered by 450hp R-985 Wasp Jr. 9 cylinder radial engine fueled by 100 octane low lead avgas. The low lead part is actually relative and is about the same that would have been found in 1970's leaded automotive gasoline.
Although it features some modern flying aids, the cockpit of the DHC-2 is largely stock.
A typical tourist run involves a round trip to the Misty Fjords National Monument, punctuated by a lake landing and photo op. The Misty Fjords are described as Yosemite only replicated a hundred times over with more spectacular scenery.
Well what goes up, must come down. After heading up to New Hampshire on Amtrak's Vermonter and then trolling around for signal photos, it was time to return via the same route. Because I was lucky enough to snag a business class upgrade I was able to conduct a second line survey in the southbound direction with the lack of rain and clouds improving the quality. Also included in this set are photos around New Haven and a westbound survey of the Amtrak Hellgate Line. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).
My southbound Train 57 was scheduled to depart White River Jct around 11am, however my ride needed to drop me off closer to 6am. To help mitigate the 5+ hour wait, I changed the drop off point to a diner in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and after a filling meal and a couple cups of coffee, I set out to walk across to the Amtrak station on the Vermont side of the Connecticut River . Along the way I passed by Claremont & Concord Railroad GP9 #1907 that switches and industrial park in West Labanon.
The CCRR works on the remains of a Boston and Maine line located about 142 miles from Boston. I used the rail bridge over the Connecticut River to reach White River Jct.
New England Central GP38-2 #437 was still on site, waiting for that day's crew to show up to the G&W side of the stately brick station building..
My Train 57 showed up close to on schedule with Amtrak P42DC #101 in the lead.
There were quite a few people seeing loved ones off at Claremont Jct, NH.
The passing through the connection with the Guilford Rail System's Freight Main Line just south of the Greenfield, MA station.
Arriving at the new Springfield, MA high level platform as a 3-car Amtrak Springfield shuttle sits on the low level track #8 with P42DC #104 in front and a second engine on the rear.
If you recall my recent posts on my trip to White River Junction on Amtrak's Vermonter, I was able to get a good slate of rear photos on both the Amtrak Springfield Line and Boston and Maine Connecticut Valley Line. Well I was also able to collect a substantial amount of rear facing video footage on both my northbound and southbound runs which I will now present below.
I'll start off with a brief slip of the northbound Vermonter as it traverses MILL RIVER interlocking at the junction of the Springfield and Shore Lines. This train takes the northern route to Springfield and continues on past Cedar Hill Yard where Amtrak's Rail Welding Facility for making CWR is located. Unfortunately a camera malfunction cut the video short.
This next video shows the Amtrak Springfield Line between Meriden and Hartford, CT. This section was recently double tracked and upgraded to allow for 110mph operation, however this train only managed to hit 100mph. The high speed section is between the Berlin, CT station and the I-91 overbuild south of the Hartford Station. The new track is the one that is now equipped with concrete ties.
This video covers the Amtrak Springfield Line between Hartford and Windsor Locks, CT. Only the first half of this segment has been rebuilt to double track and Rule 562 cab signaling to support New Haven to Springfield Commuter Rail, however the second section is in its original Amtrak configuration with a single track and bi-directional wayside signals. Maximum speed throughout is 80mph.
In the last video of the northbound run we travel the Amtrak Springfield Line between Windsor Locks, CT and Springfield, Mass. This part of the line is in its original Amtrak configuration with a single track and bi-directional wayside signals. Maximum speed is 80mph. Also note the Windsor Locks platform which the crew described as the shortest in the Northeast. I am unsure why Amtrak's Vermonter stops at Windsor Locks instead of Windsor. Probably access to major roads and parking.
In the first video from my southbound run I get an early start on the former Boston and Maine CT River Line just before the junction between the old B&M and Central Vermont routes at EAST NORTHFIELD. Today the Vermonter takes the diverging route to follow the CT Valley, but until 2014 it would take the old Central Vermont route to Palmer, MA then head west on the former Conrail Boston Line. Note the wayside distant signal to EAST NORTHFIELD interlocking a few seconds in. Despite the complete rebuild and new signaling, speeds on the line remain slow with many 30 and 40mph zones. The video finishes at the Greenfield, MA station, terminus of the daily Valley Flier service.
We continue on the Guilford (former Boston and Maine) Connecticut Valley Line between Greenfield and Northampton, Mass. This section was rebuilt in 2014 after the Vermonter had been moved to the New England Central line via Palmer since 1994 due to poor track conditions. Note the connection with the east-west Boston and Maine line to Mechanicville, NY in the first few minutes of the video. The Norfolk Southern train waiting for a signal is part of their joint venture with Guilford.
This video covers the Connecticut Valley Line segment between between Northampton to Holyoke. Unfortunately the north of Springfield crews were not as accommodating as the south of Springfield crews so I was unable to get the last segment between Holeoke and Springfield.
Back on the Amtrak Springfield Line I was was looking to capture southbound travel on the 110mph section as the northbound train had only managed 100mph in the wet conditions. This video captures Amtrak Springfield Line between Hartford to Meriden, CT with the 110mph being achieved between Hartford and Berlin with speeds from Berlin to Meriden ranging from 80mph to 95mph.
In the last video of the set I record the line between Meriden, CT and New Haven, CT including MILL RIVER junction and the approach to the New Haven station on Metro North territory. The maximum speed in this section is 95mph between the Wallingford, CT Station and CEDAR interlocking. Both Meriden and Wallingford retain downtown speed restrictions due to grade crossings, however the rebuild raised speeds from 25mph to 30 and 40mph respectively. Unfortunately the historic Wallingford station is no longer used in the new scheme.
Well I hope you enjoyed this video trip. Look for the final set of still photos in a few days.
During the Fall 2021 New England Trip I scheduled a day of general sightseeing and railfan activity, starting off at the Hobo Railroad in Lincoln, NH, then dropping by the Conway Scenic in North Conway, NH, before finally getting some photos of endangered signaling at Ayer and Lowell, MA on the former Guilford Rail System Freight Main Line. The weather that day was indicative of why New England is such a popular fall travel destination with cool temperatures and outstanding light. The full set of photos from this day can be found here ( mirror ).
The Plymouth & Lincoln Railroad, known as the Hobo Railroad in the tourist trade it runs the typical mix of classic railcars behind a modern diesel backed up by a bunch of more interesting equipment in the yard. Chief amoung these is about half of the New Haven vintage 6-car Roger Williams trainset built by the Budd Company in 1956 using RDC technology. Similar in appearance and performance to New Haven't other post-war lightweight trainset, the Speed Merchant, the concept ultimately proved to be unsuccessful and the trainset was split up with the cars used in normal RDC services into the 70's and 80's. The Hobo Railroad owns the two cab cars and one intermediate car.
Hobo also hosts the more traditional NH RDC, #41.
A pair of ex-Santa Fe Highliners round out the Budd built equipment in storage.
GP9 #1921 is painted in Boston and Maine colors, but was actually a former Great Northern unit, obtained after a stint at the MBTA.
SW1000 #105 was purchased from the New Orleans Public Belt in 2020 and used to replace the former excursion mainstay, Alco S1 #958.
The standard Hobo RR tourist trainset includes an ex-Reading RR RDC in MBTSA paint, but retaining its original number of 9154.
In Part Two of my 2021 Northbound Vermonter trip to White River Junction, I continue on from where Part 1 left off at the Springfield Union Station in Springfield, MA. In my previous travels on the Vermonter to the station in Amherst, MA, the train would continue east on the former Conrail Boston Line to the town of Palmer, then reverse direction up the New England Central's unsignaled main line. This required the Vermonter to be equipped either with a cab car or a second engine to reverse direction. When the more direct Connecticut River route was reopened, this detour and direction reversal was eliminated. Both the new and old routings converge at Brattleboro and this part will continue on to cover the route up to White River Jct and the station complex there. Once again the full gallery of photos can be found here ( mirror ).
Currently the schedule has both the Northbound and Southbound Vermonters meet at Springfield and today was no exception as Amtrak P42DC #121 pulls Train 55 out from the adjacent high level platform track #6.
The only other train in the station was a three car Amtrak Springfield Shuttle trainset with P42DC #124 and Metroliner Cab Car #9633. Note the US&S N-2 dwarf signal, likely the only surviving signal from before Amtrak's mid-2000's replacement project.
The Union in Springfield Union Station comes from the meeting of the New York, New Haven and Hartford, Boston and Albany (NY Central) and Boston and Maine. A recent renovation project reopened the Union Station train hall and concourse, however it came at the cost of the period freight house and interlocking tower to make way for a bus depot. Some of the station platform infrastructure and canopies are still under renovation, especially Boston Line tracks 1 and 2 which see the daily passage of the Lake Shore Limited Boston section.
Amtrak P42DC #113 at the front of my Vermonter Train 56 and the new high level Platform C.
Before the re-route, the Vermonter would exit out the east end of the station tracks and enter the Boston Line at CP-97. To reach the Connecticut River Main Line, the Vermonter and Valley Flyer trains still need to perform a short reverse move back through SPRING and SWEENEY interlockings to cross the Boston Line diamonds and enter former Boston and Maine territory.
For someone who used to engage in a lot of train travel to central Connecticut, I never really made much use of the Amtrak Springfield Line and its the Regional or Vermonter services. I made two Vermonter round trips to Amherst in the pre-digital camera era and another Inland Route trip via Springfield. I made three additional trips to the Springfield station area over the years and one additional through trip on the Lake Shore Boston Shuttle. All of this was before Amtrak was able to drastically change its Springfield, Mass operations through the reactivation of the former Boston and Maine Connecticut Valley Line and addition of the Valley Flyer and Hartford Commuter rail lines. In the early fall of 2021 I was able to avail myself of an opportunity to stay with a friend in rural New Hampshire by which I could make use of Amtrak's Vermonter to and from the station of White River Junction. Here in Part 1 I will cover by journey from Baltimore to New Haven and then up the Springfield Line. Part 2 will then cover the Springfield Terminal area and the Vermonter's route up the Connecticut Valley. Photos for both parts can be found here ( mirror ).
Part of the impetus for the trip's timing was that I had a number of expiring Amtrak class upgrades that were expiring and low business demand due to the increased use of remote meetings was resulting in some very affordable Acela Express prices. Therefore, instead of taking the Vermonter directly to New Englande, I would take the Acela from BWi to New Haven and then change to the Vermonter after a 2 hour layover. Waiting for the AX at BWI, a northbound MARC train with HHP-8 #4911 arrived a few minutes before my AX trainset led by power car #2004.
The second power car on the rear of the train was #2018, seen here at New York Penn Station.
My train emerged from the East River Tunnels adjacent to LIRR M7 #7295.
At New Haven my Acela dropped me off on the platform adjacent to a Hartford Line commuter train with former Amtrak P40DC #833. Over on the Metro North platform, an MN New haven Line commuter train was ready to make its inbound run with M8 #9165.
The New Haven Station was as sodium vapor as ever, but the CTRail (Hartford and Shore Lines) ticket vending machines were a new addition.
The New Haven Amtrak engine facility had three MPs15 #513, #535 and #537, 3 Ps42DC, #85, #97 and #105, and a few ACS-86's bobbing around.
To be interested in railroad or any sort of industrial history is to face the constant threat of demolition. The summer of 2022 was no different with the northbound headhouse of the former Reading Spring Garden St station approved for demolition and the former PRR SHORE interlocking tower suffering a fire making demolition likely. In late August I finally had some free time to head over to Philly and try to get my photos in before the hammer tropped. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).
I started my morning with PATCO rebuild car #1012 at Haddonfield.
The Reading Viaduct is part of the disused approach to Reading Terminal built in 1893 and used for rail operations until 1984 when the stub end terminal was closed in favor of the Center City Commuter Connection tunnel that linked the PRR and Reading commuter rail networks. Although closed for rail operations in 1984, the viaduct remained in use until 2012 as a right of way for overhead catenary feeders and transmission lines to the Callowhill substation that supported SEPTA's 25hz traction power system. The result of this slow motion closure was that almost all of the infrastructure including signals, catenary supports and rails, was left in place including the southbound outer signal bridge shown below including the 14R and 16R high signals.
The abandoned portion of the viaduct runs between Fairmont Ave and Vine Street and has been largely taken over by nature over the previous decade.
The section of the viaduct includes portions of the former Spring Garden St station that was replaced in form and substance by SEPTA's current Temple University station a mile to the north. Spring Garden Street was once a prosperous major thoroughfare as evidenced by the triple concrete arch bridge used by the Reading Viaduct to span it.
Based on the success of linear urban parks in New York and Chicago, the City of Philadelphia is eager to redevelop the viaduct and reap the resulting real estate bonanza in the adjacent neighborhoods. The fact that trendy apartment buildings like Aspect 281 are already appearing validates the City's enthusiasm.
Getting in the way of this dream is the Reading Entertainment Company, corporate successor to the Reading Railroad where all of the leftover assets were shoveled after the 1976 bankruptcy and rail asset transfer to Conrail. in the case of the former Reading Railroad viaduct, Reading Entertainment retained ownership, but either SEPTA or the City retained a permanent easement for its use as a rail/power corridor. The reason for the name Reading Entertainment Company is because until recently its most worthwhile asset was a chain of movie theatres previously owned by the Reading RR with most locations being in California apart from a single one in Manville, NJ. Anyway. Reading Entertainment sees a payday in selling the City a previously worthless asset. However due to the easement precluding any other use, the City is confident it can force a better deal.
Throwing a wrench in the works of the standoff between the City and Reading Entertainment was the presence of the passenger headhouse and platform area for the former Spring Garden Street station. Long abandoned and serving as both a eyesore and hub for illicit activity, in 2021 a local preservation group filed a lawsuit hoping to force Reading Entertainment to cleanup/stabilize the historic structure using a local anti-blight ordinance. Instead, Reading Entertainment chose the other option available to them in the law, demolition of the problematic property and after a period of legal wrangling, Reading Entertainment was granted a demolition permit in August of 2022.
Unfortunately my plan to get out and take better photos of the property was pretty much a day late and a dollar short as Reading Entertainment had wasted no time and demolition was just wrapping up by the time I got out there.
