21-05-28 PHOTOS: Cicadas Seem Xtreme

Late in May 2021 I didn't have a ton going on as some of my usual activities had been cancelled due to Covid. As a result I found some local attractions to fill in the gaps, specifically an additional tunnel on the CSX Old Main Line and some N&W position lights on the NS H-Line near Shenandoah, VA. All while the Mid-Atlantic region was getting swarmed by the Brood X cicada's that had emerged after a 17 year slumber below ground. You can find the sets of photos here ( mirror ) and here ( mirror ).

You may recall my 2020 effort to visit all of the tunnels on the B&O Old Main Line between Baltimore and Point of Rocks. Well I missed two, Woodbine and Hartman, and since Woodbine was surprisingly close to the previously visited Hood siding, I figured it would be a nice weekend activity to get some steps in. The Woodbine tunnel was built/rebuilt in 1902, is 385 feet long and is half mile west of EAST HOOD interlocking.

Due to its above average grades, the Old Main Line is primarily used as an eastbound route for empty unit coal trains returning from the Port of Baltimore. I happened to catch one such train on my walk, just west of the tunnel.

Power was provided by CSX two AC4400s, with #413 in the lead.

A bit later in the month I managed to catch Amtrak's westbound Capitol Limited while attending a birthday party near Garrett Park MARC station. P42DC #13 was the only power assigned to the COVID shortened consist.

Since I have an older property with large trees more than 17 years old, I saw a pretty intense cicada emergence. The nymphs feed off the roots of select tree species including, but not limited to Maple, Oak and Sycamore. After 17 years they emerge, molt and mate with the next generation heading back underground for another 17 years. The evolutionary strategy overwhelms potential predators similar in concept to an RAF bomber stream.

They mostly emerge from the ground to crawl up things and molt at night, mostly.

21-05-16 PHOTOS: Tucson

In 2021 I went on a bit of a National Parks kick as I raced to take advantage of the still-low airfares in the time after I was vaccinated for Covid, but before many other people were ready to travel. I had previously learned on some friends in Arizona to enable a visit to the Grand Canyon and this year I was looking to go back with Saguaro national park, located near Tucson, as the target. Between the downtown Tucson Amtrak station and the former Southern Pacific Gila sub that parallels Interstate 10 I managed to cobble together enough railroad related content to fill out this post. You can see all of these photos here ( mirror ).

Although most Americans associate things like giant Saguaro cacti with all deserts, they are actually unique to the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona and parts of northwestern Mexico. Unlike other great world deserts such as the Sahara and the Gobi, the Sonoran Desert receives a surprising amount of rainfall that is confined to two brief monsoon seasons. As a result the local plant life has evolved to absorb and store as much water as possible to get them through the dry seasons. This mostly takes the form of cacti, a plant family that is almost entirely unique to the Americas.

May is when cacti flower. The resulting fruits form the base of the animal food chain in the Sonoran Desert. The spines of a cactus are actually an evolved leaf (thorns are an evolved branch). Replacing spines with thorns not only protect the cactus and its absorbed water, but also reduce the rate of water loss from a leaf's large surface area.

Slow growth mean most notable saguaro cati are well over a century old. Most don't even form their first arm until at least age 70.

Gila woodpeckers are especially common and make these nests inside saguaro cacti.

Amtrak's Tucson station is located downtown with Tri-weekly service to LA, New Orleans and Chicago via the combined Sunset Limited and Texas Eagle.

The most interesting part of the station is a preserved Union Switch and Signal Traffic Control Center CTC console. This example was installed by the Southern Pacific at this station in the 1950's or 60's to control most of the Gila Sub between Tucson and Yuma.

The station also features preserved Southern Pacific M-4 class 2-6-0 Mogul #1673, which is associated with the Southern Arizona Transportation History museum.

21-05-08 PHOTOS: Airport Run

Since visitors who why in tend to fly back out, a week after picking up someone from JFK airport I was involved with dropping the same individual off at JFK airport for their return flight to the west coast. With three people on hand, paying the AirTrain penalty was not particularly appealing so I suggested taking Uber to the Rockaway ferry terminal to take the scenic route to Manhattan. After dinner I proceeded back south via NJT, RiverLINE, PATCO and Amtrak. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

The Rockaway Ferry was started in 2012 as a way to connect the peninsula to downtown after Hurricane Sandy took out the A Train causeway over Jamaica Bay. With subsidized fares, a scenic route and $3 beers, the Rockaway Ferry quickly became one of the best deals in the city and since my friend had never been to New York City before I figured it would be a fun tourist activity.

Unfortunately the weather was a bit cold and grey and they weren't selling any beer on board, but we still had a great time.

Although our destination was Central Park we decided to connect with the A train at Chambers by walking down to the Battery and then up past Wall St.

The expensive PATH headhouse and Fulton TC oculus were both still a thing.

Catching an R46 A-train at Chambers with #6070 in the lead and then a video of it leaving 59th St.

21-05-01 PHOTOS: Moynihan Train Hall and TWA Hotel

A lot of people were talking about that new Moynihan train hall so when presented with a need to pick someone up from JFK Airport I decided to make a side trip one block to the west to see what all the fuss was about. Once I was in the mood for retro travel experiences I also killed some time in the new TWA Hotel built in the old TWA Flight Center structure. The full set of photos can be found here ( mirror ).

Starting off at BWI Airport Rail Station with Amtrak ACS-86 #654 leading Train 20, the northbound Crescent at speed on the center track through the BWI Airport Rail Station. The lack of LD service to BWI is a bit of an annoyance after I moved out of the city.



This was followed by my northbound Regional arriving with Amtrak ACS-86 #610 in the lead.

SEPTA Silverliners IV #433 and #440 at 30th St Station.

Here we have east and westbound PATCO trains arriving simultaneously at 8th and MARKET.



PATCO Rebuild #1071 at Haddonfield.

RiverLINE LRV #3518 southbound at Bordentown.

Amtrak ACS-86 #656 pushing a Keystone set out of Trenton.

SEPTA Push-pull set at Trenton with cab car #2408 and ACS-86 #906.

The east facade of the Farley Post Office building was still under renovation, but branding for the Moynihan Train Hall had been applied.

Inside, the Moynihan Train Hall was very nice, but still pretty empty as COVID was still holding back travel.