20-02-27 PHOTOS: Garland Crossing - Part 2

Part 2 of my 2020 trip to Dallas will stay in the Union Station area where DART, Amtrak, Union Pacific, BNSF and DGNO train all converge. If you missed Part 1 you can find it here. Unlike many other cities, trackside access to this downtown corridor is particularly good with the only real limitation being the angle of the sun. Over my time in the city I generally moved from Tower 106 in the west to Tower 107 in the east.  As before the entire set of photos can be found here (mirror).

 We begin in the parking lot out before TOWER 106 adjacent to the DART Wye that funnels the lines to the south and west through the downtown corridor.  Here we see inbound and outbound Blue Line trains with LRV's #242 and 192 respectively.

I was lucky enough to just happen upon the westbound departure of Amtrak Train 21, the Texas Eagle.  Today the power was provided by P42DC #132.  The Eagle had finally been shifted to the TRE route between Dallas and Ft Worth, saving both travel time as well as the delays from UP freight trains such as the eastbound movement moving through JFK Junction at the end of the video with AC4460CW #7021 and newly rebuilt C44ACM #6154. It was not uncommon for Trains 20 and 21 to loose up to an hour between Dallas and Fort Worth due to Dallas Sub congestion.

TOWER 106 is located behind the Texas School Book Depository building and in 1963 the operator was involved in the investigation into the presence of a second gunman on the grassy knoll.

DART LRV #206 crossing the Commerce St bridge on an inbound Red Line routing.

A scheduled TRE commuter train departed Union Station en route to Fort Worth led by F59 #122 and trailed by Bomber cab car #1003.

The Federal Courthouse disrupts the trackside walkway.  While I was bypassing the property a UP freight train passed by with ES44AC #7951.

Back to Union Station here is an DART LRV #214 on an indeterminate routing.

A TRE trainset laying over at Union Station with cab car #1008.

The Denver Garland and Northern short line train I had previously spotted working the TRE line west of downtown, now showed up making its move through the Union Station complex to reach home tracks east of the old Reunion Center complex. Power consisted of SD40-2 #3418 on point and SD40M-2, a rebuilt SD45, #3418 behind.

20-02-27 PHOTOS: Garland Crossing - Part 1

While my yearly trips to Dallas are a somewhat recent occurrence, it was not my first time visiting the city. That cane in 2007 when I was in town for a professional conference and I had a number of days to ride around on the DART network and the local historic streetcar. Upon returning to Dallas I have so far traveled to Fort Worth via TRE and buzzed about the Union Station complex, but not really done any major DART trips until this year where I returned to one of my 2007 destinations, the KCS-DGNO crossing in Garland, TX as well as riding the new DART Orange Line extension to DFW Airport. Of course I did all the Union Station stuff as well so I'll probably break this up into two parts with part one being more DART and the second being more Union Station. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

After flying into Dallas Love Field (which is something one can do now), I caught a shuttle bus to the DART Green Line connection at Inwood. I arrived in time to catch LRV #141 heading outbound to New Carrolton before LRV #263 showed up heading inbound to Buckner.

As there is no through service from the Green/Orange trunk south/west of the city to Union Station on the Red/Blue trunk, one must transfer at West End. Here we see the second LRV, #247, on my Green Line consist.

 
The West End station is at least...well lit. Here two Red Line LRV's pass with LEC #233 and #242.

Some night action at Union Station with inbound a Blue Line LRV and TRE F59PH #133.

The next morning TRE F59PH #124 had replaced #122 at Dallas Union Station.

A Union Pacific rail crew was out doing some welding in DALLAS interlocking on the Dallas Sub.

20-02-21 PHOTOS: MBTA Orange Line

Due to Chinese interference, MBTA's fleet of Orange and Red Line cars has been circling the drain for some time and while my frequent visits have allowed me to get photos in small chunks here and there, the fact of CRRC trainsets entering service prompted me to dedicate my Winter 2020 visit to riding the Orange Line out to Forest Hills in order to get something a bit more comprehensive. Unbeknownst to me Chinese incompetence would delay the 1200 series car retirement for at least another year, while the classic Green Line Lechmere station was actually entering its final weeks of operation, rendering my expedition completely mis-aimed. Anyway, here are the photos from the trip ( mirror ) including some Acela Express content between Boston and New York.

We actually begin at the Airport station on the Blue Line, with #0776 leading an inbound past one of the (T)'s quirky hand throw trailing point crossovers. 

As it pulled in an outbound train led by car #0768 arrived from the opposite direction.

A few stops later, it was time to transfer to Green Line Type 7 car #3691 at Gov't Center, which had reopened from its recent rebuild.

When heading out to Forest Hills, I was initially worried that it might be difficult to catch a set of "classic" 1200-series stock as a CRRC trainset with car #1410 was waiting on the inbound track as I arrived at Back Bay.

Fortunately (or unfortunately as it may be), that was the only set running that day and Orange Line car #1294 soon arrived at the head of an outbound train. I would have actually prefered to have had a few more CRRC sets running as I was interested in comparing their front view with that of the existing 1200-series cars.

Here is a quick audio visual recording of what it is like to ride in a 1200-series car as it travels between Roxbury Crossing and Jackson Square.



#1294 again at Forest Hills. Built by Hawker-Siddley in 1980 as the ultimate iteration of the PA-1 family developed by St. Louis Car in 1968, the years had not been kind to the 1200-series with the lackluster build quality somehow finding a way to make aluminum rust! 

 
The cars rode about as well as they looked, reminding me of the pre-rebuilt PATCO cars that were, electrically, about the same vintage. One could feel there were major problems with the cam controllers, which was likely due to the first or second cam wearing down into a circle. #1233 at Forest Hills.

20-02-16 PHOTOS: Elkton and DAVIS

With travel options becoming more limited in the Spring of 2020, I compensated by making to more locations on Amtrak's NEC along the I-95 corridor where I make periodic trips home to help my mom in New Jersey. Two of these locations are the once and future passenger rail stop in Elkton, MD and DAVIS interlocking and tower in Newark, DE. Photos can be found here ( mirror ) and here ( mirror).

Located between the end of SEPTA service in Newark, DE and the end of MARC service in Perryville, MD, the Elkton passenger station on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor was first closed in the 1960's, only to be briefly re-opened between 1978 and 1983 to serve Amtrak's Chesapeake commuter service between Philadelphia and Washington. The station is intact, but otherwise in limbo as plans to connect MARC and SEPTA slowly take shape. This outcome is increasingly likely as the Newark, DE train station is expanded into a terminal that could support trainsets from either direction. 

The under-track walkway has been sealed up and would likely be replaced by some sort of super expensive overpass with elevators.

Both the passenger and freight stations are still used by Amtrak MofW crews.

The Elkton station is directly adjacent to the Milepost 44.9 intermediate signal, which, given the position of the milepost, should probably be 45.0. For some reason the northbound track #1 signal was on a new mount with an LED upgrade.

I had really bad luck with trains that day, being out of position for both that came by. One of the two was Train 20, the northbound Crescent, pulled by Amtrak ACS-86 #626.

20-01-31 PHOTOS: Schodak

Every year I head up to New York's capitol region for winter activities and 2020 was no different. This year I had targeted some signal locations near the end of the Schodak branch on the former Conrail Hudson Line in addition to the usual fare of Amtrak's Empire Service. Not much more to say except you can find all of the photos here ( mirror ).

As I had caught a very early Amtrak train in darkness, the first thing of note were a bunch of Metro North Shoreliner I cab cars along with P32AC-DM #208 at Croton Harmon.

A southbound tanker meets northbound barge traffic on the Hudson River.

Amtrak P32AC-DM #702 passes under the southbound Conrail vintage signal bridge at CP-124. Today just a simple crossover, this location was once the junction for the northbound leg of the Schodak Branch flying junction with the Hudson Line. Built as part of a 1920's New York Central capacity expansion that included Selkirk Yard and the Alfred H Smith bridge, the Schodak Branch allowed Hudson Line freight trains to climb up to the level of the Smith bridge to cross the Hudson and enter Selkirk Yard.

The northbound leg of the Schodak Branch is now abandoned, but the right of way is still intact with a Central marked railroad bridge crossing NY State Route 91.

The remaining active track of the Schodak branch crosses Route 91 about a mile north of the first bridge.

At the Amtrak Albany-Rensselaer rail station, P42DC power, including #95, had collected on the CP-142 stub track after having been pulled off various through trains. Due to the limited number of P32AC-DMs that are needed to run through Penn Station, certain long distance trains on this route undergo a power change at Albany.

When I was there the eastbound Lake Shore Limited was sitting on the new Track #3 with P42DC's #108 and #110 ready to pull Boston section Train 448 off the front of the train and head down the Post Road Branch towards Boston. The New York section behind it would be handled by a P32AC-DM from the pool.

20-01-16 PHOTOS: Palmetto

So my dad's side of the family is pretty blasé about getting together and by 2020, despite absolutely no animosity, it had been over 25 years since I had last seen my dad's older brother face to face. Spending half of his year on a retirement island in South Carolina, I had always considered taking the train down to see him, but I figured the station would be too much of a drive. However upon actually asking my Uncle if it was possible, I learned that the Yenassee, SC station was only about a 30 minute drive from his house and he had no issues picking me up. My chosen mode of transportation would be Amtrak's Palmetto, Train 89 and 90, which traveled between New York and Savanah, GA in daylight via the CSX A-Line south of Richmond. While I was no stranger to the northern end of the A-Line traveled by Carolinian trains 79 and 80, this would be my first time south of Selma, NC. Although a rear mounted baggage car prevented any sort of line survey, I was able to get a full compliment of photos at the various stops. You can see all these photos here (mirror).

While waiting for Train 89 at the BWi Airport Rail Station a northbound MARC train with doubleheaded SC44's, #85 and #83, pulled up on the opposite track.

My Train 89 was going to be hauled to Washington by ACS-86 #643.

At Washington Union Station I caught ACS-86 #654 swapping with P42DC #96 from a northbound Regional.

#643 was swapped with P42DC #135.

 

The next available photo location was Richmond where I had some great light on #135.

CSX power in Acca yard with ES44AC #774, SD40-2 #8463 and a new ET44AC.

Passing Rocky Mount SD70MAC #4814 and C40-10W #5357 standing by to take a manifest freight south.

Still being the middle of winter, the sun was setting by the time my train reached Florence, SC. The old Florence station building is not home to a human resources outfit, while the current station is an updated take on the Amshack concept. The seat of one of CSX's divisional HQs, the Florence station once had 6 platforms and 7 tracks.

The sun had long ago set by the time Train 89 arrived at Charleston, SC. The station had been recently rebuilt with a brightly lit, extended length platform.

Train 89 departing Yenassee shortly before 9pm at night.