Ok, sometimes my Rail Adventures can get contaminated with non-rail content. Over the 4th of July Holiday in 2018 I visited Great Falls Park on the Potomac River and although it's located on the C&O Canal I will freely acknowledge some of the photos might be a little off topic ;-) Beyond that I was hosting some people near DC and I went on a couple of local rail trips that I will use to reach the recommended minimum amount of rail content. Yeah, this is one of those grab bag posts so feel free to undo the drawstring and check out the whole lot!
The Great Falls of the Potomac mark the extreme northern limit of navigability on said waterway and consist of three main channels that are traversed by a walkway system from the Maryland side of the river. The west channel is the widest anf grandest with the center channel being the narrowest and the east channel bring in between, but still closer to the size of the small center channel. On this day the falls were swollen from some recent rains and there was clear evidence of recent high water. Here we see northward and southward views of the east channel.
Northward and southward views of the center channel.
And finally the Great Falls themselves, which dwarf the other two.
With fish traveling both up and down the channel there were a great many Blue Herons standing around, eyeing the water for a meal. I think I was able to count about 8, but I certainly could have missed more.
I was in time to see this fine fellow with his catch, although for a while it looked like he had bit off a bit more than he could chew! After watching with my camera ready I eventually turned away for a bit and when I looked back the fish had vanished ;-)
The HARRIS Tower museum in Harrisburg, PA (duh) has been one of my go-to places to visit with annual pilgrimages dating back to 2012. Even in those early days I used the tower and it's mostly functional US&S Model 14 interlocking machine as an exhibit for friends who were interested in the history of computing, but not necessarily rail stuff. I could get someone to talk to on the ride up and they would get to play with a really cool simulation of 1940's interlocking tower operation. HARRIS is only open Saturdays between May and June and while communications from the museum staff is somewhat problematic, it has always been a reliable operation.
Well that was until this year when the machine was taken down for a general re-painting and refurbishment. As typical with volunteer run non-profits the rehab of the machine took a bit longer than usual, so when I arrived with a friend in tow we were met with a decidedly less interesting static display. I made the best lemonade I could with a non-interactive tour and some photos of passing trains outside. My friend also got something out of the nearby Strawberry Fields Mall, which was largely unchanged from the 1990's and he has a thing for retro malls. You can find all of the photos, mall included, here.
Like I said the 1930's vintage Model 14 interlocking machine was due to get a complete fresh coat of paint along with any other required maintenance. As such much of the sheet metal housing was removed for painting and only some of it was in place when I arrived in June. This did show off some of the internal structure that is not normally visible in the Model 14 era machines.
The lamps in the illuminated track layout were also being refreshed. The telecon type wires are replacements that run directly to the PLC's controlling the simulation as opposed to track circuit relays in the relay room.
I also learned that the supposedly "integrated" signal rundown timers in these 1930's pattern machines simply hook back to a traditional glass globe timer mounted under the lever bed!
Some additional rear panels has been opened, like this one exposing the magnetic locks for levers 73 through 87.
The magnetic locks are what integrate the relay logic and the mechanical logic. When energized, the coil lifts a small metal bar that engages with teeth in a semi-circular locking quadrant, allowing the lever to rotate. If the mechanical interlocks also allow a lever to move, then electric contacts are rotated that trigger a switch to be thrown or a signal displayed.
Foreign power was the theme of the day as NS C44-9W #9563 led old school CSX C40-8W #7907 eastbound with a doublestack intermodal train.
Amtrak P42DC #119 soon showed up with the eastbound Pennsylvanian and led it into the normally westbound track #7 at Harrisburg Station due to work being performed on track #6.
Since moving to Maryland full time, my "local" railroad has changed from the CSX Baltimore Terminal Sub to the Old Main Line Sub and although I am no longer half a block from the tracks I can still hear the occasional train whistling for a nearby grade crossing, if the atmospheric conditions are just right. Even though there's not a ton of interesting stuff left out on the OML after decades of CSX cleansing, I sort of have an obligation to visit and I can pair the bland visits up with my occasional trips to Washington, DC to create a sufficient amount of engaging content.
I'll be covering my DC trip first, followed by the OML pics and you can find the full set of photos here.
I'll begin Amtrak ACS-86 #629 at the head of some train with a baggage car, possibly overnight Train 67 from Boston.
Accross the tracks is MARC Kab Kar #7850 at the tail of a Baltimore bound Penn Line train.
Crossing under the Red Line via the Orange/Blue/Silver platform at Metro Center. Shame the original design didn't use islands on both levels to avoid forcing crossing passengers to congest another platform.
MARC Kab Kar #7846 at the DC Union Station track 13 bumper.
A single MARC MP36PH-3C #10 at the head of a train of bi-level K-cars. This is going to be a slow ride :-(
Amtrak ACS-86 #636 at Washington Union Station as seen through an intervening high level platform.
Speaking of K TOWER here we see how it is situated between the west side of the station used by MARC and Regionals and the East side used by ACELA, VRE and the through trains to points south.
MARC #7846 again, this time at Halethorpe.
Let's take a quick break to look at this mama groundhog with her pups :-)
Off we go to the Point of Rocks station where the OML meets the Metropolitan Sub in a wye junction. The PoR station building was damaged a number of years ago by a snowstorm that collapsed the north side shelter awning, however it has since been repaired. The signals hint that something is on the way.
On June 10th, 2018 the last original pattern PATCO cars ran in service between Lindenwold, NJ and 15/16th and Locust in Philadelphia. The cars were of of the PATCO II class, built by Vickers Canada in 1980 and consisted of two married pairs, #257/258 and #271/272. The trains would run in service for most of the day with a final run around 3pm. I was able to ride 3 or so round trips from about 7:30am through 10:30am and this post is to feature the still photos I managed to take between the more extensive video runs.
This marked the end of PATCO's bold experiment with an open operator's compartment and a passenger friendly front window and door arrangement. Designed as a way to reassure passengers with an operator's presence during an era of urban decay and high crime, it also forced the operator to be responsive to customer service issues and to also generally interact with the riders, all of which would be enabled by Automatic Train Operation. With full width cabs the riding public deprived protected from the nuts and bolts of train operation and is free to look at their phones and get their customer service via a Twitter feed. As usual, the full set of photos can be found here.
Anticipating heavy crowds at the front of the train I decided to first catch it at Woodcrest and board the rear facing car that would turn and become the front car upon reaching 15/16th. Here we see car #272 approaching Woodcrest station on the center track as the train is in the process of crossing over due to track work.
Car #257 was facing east in the trailing position.
At 7:30am on a Sunday I was pretty much alone in the car and decided to get some interior shots before I settled in for the backwards journey. The Vickers built cars have a solid partition behind the operator. Some Budd cars were retrofitted with this, but others maintained the soft curtain.
View of the operator's console at 15th/16th. Not a digital display in sight! The speedo is color coded in relation to the 4 cab signal speeds, 20mph, 30mph, 40mph and 65mph. The knob at the upper right selected manual or automatic operation. The trains would auto-stop and the operator would then control the doors. The only other manual part of the run was use of a 15mph button for the sharp curve eastbound out of 8th and Market.
When I heard that PATCO was having a special day of last rides on their un-rebuilt equipment I made sure I was on hand for it, even if it meant having to change an existing Amtrak ticket. Just like the last day of the Silverliner II's, the last day of Classic PATCO did not disappoint. PATCO was running 4 classic cars as one of their Sunday trainsets between the hours of like 7am and 2pm with the last last ride taking place around 3ish.
I caught the first run inbound at Woodcrest and, assuming the "front" would be jam packed with railfans, I got in the last car which would become the first car at 15th/16th St. Turned out that my fears were unfounded as there was actually a pretty light fan presence, the Philly Pride Parade providing the bulk of the riders. Anyway, I made a number of round trips and one partial trip until it was absolutely necessary to head off to catch my Amtrak train at 30th St. Because PATCO is a rather plain rapid transit line, the best use of the front window views was for video and in this post I will be showcasing the various videos I took on the run.
We begin with a full walkthrough of the trainset which consisted of Vickers built PATCO II cars #257, #258, #271 and #272. Note all the PATCO employees in #258 who were literally on hand to fix the cars if they developed a fault during the day xD
Next we see the operating console activation ceremony that 15th/16th and Lindenwold riders could probably repeat in their sleep. Open the console, place the rearview mirror, set the ATO and reverser switches, insert the key (not captured), set the radio and check the destination sign (also not pictured).
As is typical on weekend, PATCO was doing some trackwork and therefore single tracking was in effect between the Woodcrest and Collingswood interlockings. From my position in car #272 I captured this process.
Over the last few years I made sure to capture full line express runs from Lindenwold to 15th/16th St, however I never had the opportunity to capture even a local full eastbound run. Well I wasn't going to let that omission stand so here we have a full eastbound run from 15th/16th to Lindenwold.
Something else I was lucky to capture during the Silverliner II retirement festivities was a video of the engineer operating the controls for most of a run. Therefore I made sure to do the same and actually preserve this important piece of history as opposed to just the front window view. Due to lighting condition I captured this video eastbound between Broadway and Lindenwold.
I was so eager for runs that I seriously put myself in jeopardy of missing my Amtrak train by riding the classic cars one last time over the Ben Franklin Bridge to City Hall in Camden. Here I got this clip of the trains leaving the station, cut short as I also tried, unsuccessfully, to shoot a still.
Next week check back as I post all of the still images from that super fun day.
Normally when I go on some rail outing I often end up with far more infrastructure photos than train photos. Trains run infrequently yet stuff often requires 360o documentation. However when camping out at SEPTA's North Broad St station during the morning rush it was all trains all the time and also represented the best opportunity to catch most of SEPTA's AEM-7 push-pull fleet before it was replaced by bland ACS-86's. With seven AEM-7's, one ALP-44 and a bunch of Comet coaches, SEPTA cobbles together about 6 scheduled push-pull round trips on a typical weekday. They run in express from an end terminal, hang out all day at Powlerton or Roberts yard, then make an outbound run. This means that one can potentially catch ALL the push-pull trains from both the Reading and PRR lines on the central trunk between 30th St and North Broad.
Of course location was no guarantee of success. Not only is some equipment held out as spare or for maintenance, others might be substituted with no warning in case of a mechanical issue. However on this morning I did pretty well for myself, catching 5 of the 7 AEM's. You can see the complete set of photos here and I urge you to check it out because if I were to post every train photo this blog post would have something like 150 photos! For the sake of brevity a lot of good content had to get cut.
I arrived at North Broad from the Broad Street Subway in time to catch the first push-pull set with Comet II cab car #2408 and AEM-7 #2303.
North Broad is just south of 16TH ST junction where the Norristown Line branches off. Previously all passenger traffic to Reading and coal country would also diverge at this point. Morning push-pull sets from the former PRR territory are deadheading to Roberts yard at this point for mid-day storage.
Although the signals at North Broad look as if they might be for the 16Th ST interlocking, they are actually the Milepost 2.9 automatics governing a short signal block in advance of the 16TH ST home signals. here we see SEPTA Silverliner IV #184 n the tail end of a northbound train.
What I assume to be an outbound Silverliner V equipped R6 train makes a stop at North Broad while a longer train of V's proceeds towards Center City on track #3.
SEPTA SL-IV #398 heads inbound under the MP 2.9 signal bridge. The presence of bi-directional peak flows between here and 30th St generally precludes the 3+1 style directional operation seen in the New York region.
This push-pull set led by AEM-7 #2305 is still full of passengers as is breaks out from under the Broad St overpass and heads towards Center City with Comet II cab car #2404 on the rear. Although popularly considered to have a rating of 7000hp, the figure is actually 7000 "diesel equivalent horsepower", which is a marketing way to describe having a 5700 continuous horsepower rating with a short duration overload to something around 7000.
No sooner had the inbound push-pull set passed than another outbound set appeared with cab car #2402 and AEM-7 #2304. The push-pull sets themselves consist of about 5 or 6 mixed Comet II and Comet III coaches. I think at one point SEPTA tried to keep the single set's worth of III's together, but have since stopped.
At some point signal problems developed in the form of a bobbing track circuit, backing up northbound trains approaching 16Th ST. To avoid the risk of unintended cab signal penalties, the trains just passed the MP 2.9 signal at Restricted speed and southbound traffic returned to normal. Here we see one train of SL-V's approaching 16TH-ST on track 2 while what might be an R6 waits at North Broad trying to figure out the signal situation. Traffic was still flowing southbound as attested by the train of SL-V's passing both V's on track 3.
The conductor on the outbound train observes the track 1 block signal as the train departs North Broad.
SEPTA SL-IV #160 on the rear of a northbound train waiting at 16TH ST while being passed by southbound SI-IV #309.
SEPTA northbound SL-V #711 passing trailing southbound SL-IV #811 at North Broad. 700-series cars are single units while 800-series units are married pairs.
Congestion was still evident as northbound trains approached 16TH ST JCT.
In this video you can see an outbound R6 waiting for an outbound Main Line train to clear up on track 2 before getting the signal for a diverging move onto the Norristown Line while an inbound R6 is routed into track 4 (efficiency!) as well as a plethora of SL-V trains passing North Broad.
Another PRR push-pull approached northbound on Track 1 with Cab Car #2405 and AEM-7 #2307. I was able to get a bunch of photos of this set due to the signal issue reducing speeds. At this point 4 of the 2 push-pull sets run to/form the PRR territory (1 Wilmington and 3 Thorndale) with the other two originating at West Trenton. Recently there was also a Trenton run and in the past sets have originated from Warminster, Norristown and Doylestown.
SEPTA SL-V #712 at the rear of a train creeping towards a Stop signal at 16TH ST JCT while SL-IV #400 and friends is signaled through towards Robert's Yard and Wayne Jct.
Now this is what I call a winning hand! SEPTA Silverliner IV's #298 and #299 leading on different trains on adjacent tracks!
SEPTA SL-IV #350 and SL-V #712 heading under Broad St at the same time to either wait at 16Th ST JCT or proceed through. For anyone looking to capture photos of every SEPTA railcar, North Broad is really the best place to do so.
Southbound SEPTA SL-IV #130 on track #3 passes northbound SL-IV #430 on track #1.
Here northbound SL-IV #423 on track 2 passes southbound SL-V #729 on track #4.
Yet another PRR trainset heads for Roberts Yard with Comet cab car #2410 and AEM-7 #3202. The SEPTA AEM-7's were ordered as part of a final batch in 1987-88 with 4 others going to MARC and 7 more to Amtrak. As The Budd Company had folded by this time, Simmering-Graz-Pauker constructed the stainless steel carbodies. Because of their recent construction and single run, 5-day a week usage pattern, the SEPTA AEM-7s were actually very low mileage and likely could have been rebuilt as has been done with even older Rc family locomotives in Swedish service. However when one is spending someone else's money the temptation is to always buy the newest and fanciest thing on the menu :-(
This is probably as good a time as any to discuss the old Reading North Broad station, which is the limestone building visible to the left behind #2302. Back before the neighborhood became a war zone, it was actually quite prosperous with both the PRR and Reading building their "125th St-Harlem" stations in the area which also hosted the Philadelphia Athletics and Phillies baseball teams. The collapse of the local economy caused ridership to crater and now both North Broad and North Philadelphia see only a handful of riders as most residents have shifted to the more frequent and more affordable Broad Street Subway. Both old station buildings have been re-purposed and both have had tracks removed with North Broad now only consisting of a pair of bare bones side platforms.
With #2302 heading off into the shadows the morning parade was over and it was time to pack up and get out before I wore out my welcome xD
That's all for now. Next time some photos from the B&O's old Main Line.
