21-02-26 PHOTOS: Cannoli Run

In early 2021 I had just been fully vaccinated, but most events were still cancelled leaving me with a hole in my schedule where I would normally use some of my Amtrak class upgrade coupons that expire at the beginning of March. Because travel was still pretty light and therefore cheap, I decided to book an overnight trip to Boston from BWI, heading up on Train 66 and back on a mid-afternoon Acela Express with enough time in between to do some railfanning and pick up a box of cannolis from Mike's Pastry on the North End. You can find all of the Amtrak, MBTA, Orange Line and Red Line action here ( mirror ).

Power for my northbound Train 66 was Amtrak ACS-86 #611, seen here at Penn Station.

Also at Penn Station were some brand new M9 cars undergoing testing.

Upon departing Penn Station the opportunity availed itself to get some late night video of the Hellgate Line showing off all the ESA progress.



After getting some shuteye I managed to wake up by Providence and got a photo video of the Southwest Corridor trench between Forest Hills and Back Bay stations.



At South Station Amtrak had installed some ersatz position light dwarfs at TOWER 1.

MBTA HSP-46 #2019 was sitting next to F40PH-3C #1031 at the far end of the platforms.

At the station end of the platform, about a car's worth of capacity was being removed to make way for a new hotel overbuild that will eliminate the open air track area and change it into another rail basement.

Bi-level cab cars #1825 and #1722 were at the new stopping point.

On the MBTA Red Line, Pullman built 1500 series cars like #1517 here, are likely the oldest North American subway cars still in regular operation, having entered service in 1969.

The two level platform at Porter allows for overhead views like this one. The 1700 series cars seen here were built by the Urban Transportation Development Corporation of Canada (formerly Hawker Siddeley, not yet Bombardier).

The multi-modal Porter station also serves the MBTA Fitchburg commuter rail line. I caught this outbound train with Comet II cab car #1635

With the CRRC cars suffering delays due to build issues and an unexplained derailment, the MBTA Orange Line was still running 1200 series Hawker Siddeley cars delivered in 1980. From this location at the Assembly station it was still possible to photograph the Hawker cars opposite Bf1500-series commuter rail cab cars built by Messerschmidt in a call back to the Battle of Britain.

Much like the Hurricane, the Hawker 1200 series cars were built from "aluminium", which appears to suffer from the same rates of corrosion seen on other British vehicles.

Despite having seen some of the new CRRC cars in service a year before, I was unable to actually ride one. #1412 would be my first opportunity as I continued to the end of the line at Oak Grove.

I was not at all impressed with the build quality. The interior was filled with cheap "GM Dashboard" style plastics with very spartan seats and fittings. It was exactly what I would expect from a developing country and even compared poorly with the 50 year old 1500-series car interior that mainly used stainless steel.

After completing my pastry purchase I proceeded back to South Station where I hung out in the lounge until my Acela was called. On my way out to the platform I saw that AX power car #2026 was standing next to the tail end of Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Boston Section Train #449.

Lead power car on my Train 2167 Acela trainset was #2017. On the adjacent track was ACS-86 #604 at the head end of a Regional that would follow behind.

MBTA HSP-46 #2012 was on a nearby track heady to head out as a Northbound Amtrak Regional that had finished its run was shoved back towards the yard for servicing.

Messerschmitt cab car #1502 was next to arrive inbound. I think these cars are used mostly on the south side of the MBTA system which would make the most likely place to photo them with the Hawker cars the Southwest Corridor trench where the Orange Line runs parallels to the NEC.

Power on that train was MBTA GP40MC #1136.

Lunch on the Acela Express first class car was top notch. The beverage list wasn't bad either.

At New Haven we passed Amtrak P40DC #836 shilling for CDoT on Hartford Line service.

On the way out of the station my Acela was briefly paced by a departing train of Metro North M8's.



Passing CSX SD40-2 #8801 on the Hell Gate Bridge with freight coming from Long Island.

Amtrak Acela Power Car #2017, ACS-86 #660 and Erie Lackawanna ALP-45 #4519 peeking out from behind a column at New York Penn Station.

End of the trip at BWI with power car #2036 heading off into the darkness. Total round trip time was just a bit shy of 23 hours.

As I left the station I lingered to catch MARC cab car #7858 and and Mp36PH-3C #25 heading south with one of the last runs of the evening.



Well I'm off to stumble home. I'll see you back again next week as I head out to Colorado and the Great Sand Dunes National Park.