In September of 2025 I was able to score a work related trip to Boston and since I have been making about two trips per year to that city for the past decade it was somewhat difficult to figure out a railfan mission besides ride up and ride back. I ultimately came up with a nighttime round trip out on the Green Line C Branch to Cleveland Circle. This set of photos also has the distinction of being taken entirely with my phone camera as I was always in low light or actively traveling.
As is typical my trip kicked off at the Amtrak BWI Airport Rail Station. Upon arrival I caught ACS-86 #634 with a southbound Regional, however I would be on classic Acela set #17 with power car #2022 leading train #2252. At this point in time the Next Gen sets had officially entered service, but with only a single weekend round trip I would not be on one.
Here are some videos from the side window of #2252 including racing cars at the BELL flyover and passing through Trenton non-stop.
At the Penn Station "halftime" break I grabbed a photo of NJT ALP-46 class unit #4600.
Crossing the Connecticut River Drawbridge, work had started on its eventual replacement, which did not seem to be making use of the piers the New Haven had built for that purpose.
Old #2022 completed its trip, pulling into Boston South Station's track #6. I then proceeded South Station Under to catch a Red Line train to Shawmut.
Instead of waiting around at South Station Under, I caught a Braintree train to JFK UMass where a CRRC train with #01936 arrived for me to complete my journey down the Ashmont Branch.
Fortunately there was still plenty of classic rolling stock running around on the Red Line like 1970 vintage Pullman Standard car #01617.
Pittsburgh's light rail system is descended from PCC-based streetcar lines running south of the city that had the good fortune to have both their own rights of way and the use of a dedicated tunnel through Mount Washington. These advantages earned the system a light rail style conversion in the 1980's complete with a downtown subway and dedicated bridge across the Monongahela River. While the rebranded Mount Washington Transit Tunnel continued to underpin the network, the Allegheny Port Authority and its predecessors had recognized the Mount Washington Tunnel as a single point of failure and therefore maintained an alternate surface route up and over the hill. Christened the 52 Allentown in 1984, this alternate route, terminating at South Hill Jct, would see declining levels of service until it was discontinued entirely in 2010. However tunnel diversions kept the old 52 Allentown in service as a ghost line, light rail trains running doors closed through the eponymous neighborhood on an as-needed basis. For out of town railfans catching a ride over the 52 was particularly difficult as the diversions were not often scheduled in advance, however in 2025 the tunnel was to undergo a long term renovation with Route 47 and 42 trains diverted over the 52 for the better part of a year. This allowed me to schedule a trip to Pittsburgh to get photos and videos of this rare occurrence.
My arrival in Pittsburgh was too late in the day to properly ride the 52 Allentown, but I was able to catch the arrival of westbound Amtrak Pennsylvanian Train 43 with P42DC leading the usual consist.
It was at this point I had my first ever encounter with a Rule 280a "Clear to Next Interlocking" signal indication displayed eastbound on Track #1 at the former CP-EAST PITT. Displayed as a flashing white marker light next to a standard Medium Clear, the signal us used in cab signal territory without wayside intermediate signals for train movements that are not cab signal equipped. In this case said movement would be Train 43 shoving back to CP-HOME where the turning wye is located.
By displaying Rule 280a instead of a Restricting, the shove move would be able to operate at speeds up to 45mph, saving considerable time across the 8 mile round trip.
The following morning I caught a light rail train at Steel Plaza and was in place to get photos as it crossed over at Panhandle Interlocking and onto the short single track that would lead to the street running up and over Mt. Washington via Allentown.
The whole trip takes about 8-10 minutes, about 5 minutes longer than the trip through the tunnel. The ride was downright exciting as my LRV's operator was really flooring it up the twisty grade. A temporary infill station was also added along the route in the Allentown neighborhood.
My outbound SD400 LRV, running on a 47S service, at South Hills Jct
South Hills Jct is built around a large double track scissors crossover. Although from the point of view of the platforms the crossing routes over the diamonds are in a geometrically straight path, from a railroad interlocking point of view those would be the diverging routes. Normally the light rail trains get a solid yellow lamp for a Restricting indication into street running track. However for the "diverging" route, they get a flashing yellow.
In its original configuration trains from the Overbrook and Beechview lines would merge into the transit tunnel with the option to use the 52 Allentown Route.. With Overbrook Line trains making use of a new flying junction since 2004 and the 52 being discontinued in 2010, the scissors crossover sees rather limited use in its role as a crossover. Here SD400 LRV #4221 crosses northbound over from the Beechview Line to the 52 Allentown line.
Pride month pay have been over, but SD400 pride unit #4239 was still roaming across the light rail system in early July, along with 4202.
Here we see SD400s #4227 and #4201 along with CAF LRV #4317 running out of the junction and up the incline towards Allentown.
CAF LRV #4315 descending southward from the Allentown route. The CAF LRVs were a supplemental order of vehicles to support the re-opening of the Overbrook line, which was closed between 1993 and 2004.
Like the northbound trains, southbounds would roll towards the junction and get a Restricted Diverge flashing yellow signal on the dwarf.
View along the axis of the scissors crossover route from the Beechview/Overbrook lines to the Allentown Line with CAF LRV #4317 and SD400 #4253.. While this routing is physically straight, as far as the interlocking is concerned this a diverging route.
In this video we see an inbound 42S South Hills Village (via Beechview) train with SD400 LRV's #4231 and #4235 passing an outbound 42S with CAF LRV's #4310 and #4313 with #4310 sporting the new "Pittsburgh Regional Transit" paint scheme.
In my previous visit to South Hills Junction in 2023, both PCC loops were still present for short turns both from the north and south. Since that time the southward loop for PCC's coming off the 52 Allentown has been removed along with its boarding platform. PCC's were used through 1993 as the old Overbrook line had wooden trestles that could not support the weight of LRVs.
On the other hand, the old Route 47/52 platform had been re-paved. Before the Overbrook Line rebuild this platform had served the PCC's using the 47 route as well as all 52 Allentown cars which terminated at South Hills Jct.
Another view of LRV's crossing over to the Route 52 with SD400 #4250 and CAF LRV #4308.
The tunnel closing also affected local bus traffic which also had to detour up and over Mt Washington. Here bus #6236 passes inbound SD400 #4227.
All of the construction miscellany made getting a view into the tunnel a bit difficult, but I was able to manage a photo.
Back to the South Hills Jct platforms where I caught SD400 #4224 passing #4201 and #4206 arriving southbound.
The return trip was not quite as exciting, I'm guessing the operators know they have a bit more leeway for speed on the steep ascent since the grade will quickly bring the car to a stop without use of brakes.
Heading north across the Panhandle Bridge I encountered CAF LRV #4314 painted in the new "Pittsburgh Rapid Transit" branding.
Final photo of this set if SD400 #4224 after dropping me off at the Honorable United States Steel Plaza.
All in all Pittsburgh Light Rail is a great little system that still presents a lot of heritage due to the early date of its light rail conversion. If the MWTT ever shuts down again I urge you all to schedule a visit.
In December 2024 I seemed to have a lot going on in the way of local travel with trips to both Washington, DC and Philly via the NEC and holiday related excursions to the MARC stations at Savage and Brunswick for the purposes of drinking. I have assembled all this miscellany into a single set of photos ( mirror ).
My day trip to DC kicked off before sunrise at the Halethorpe MARC station, later passing through Washington Union Station en-route to the DC Metro.
Returning home I actually got a better deal on an Amtrak train, which was departing Washington Union Station adjacent to the Acela platform where a Classic set was standing with power cars #2017 and #2036.
Arriving at BWI I was in time to catch a southbound MARC train with MP36PH-3C #29
My car was still at Hapethorpe I had a friend shuttle me over. Between the two stations I shot a few quick videos which include:
Northbound Acela Express with power cars #2028 and #2007.
Southbound bi-level MARC Penn Line train with cab car #7853 and MP36PH-3C #29.
Amtrak Veterans ACS-86 #642 heading northbound with a Regional at Halethorpe.
Southbound MARC bi-level Penn Line train passing express through the Halethorpe station.
A few days later I was making a day trip up to Philly and back at BWI I caught Amtrak ACS-86's #634 heading south while class unit #600 was heading my northbound.
The trainset was flipped so I had access to the rear window, but the position of the sun combined with dirty windows made the view highly marginal. I only got this video as the train runs across the Susquehanna River between the Aberdeen, Maryland station and PRINCE interlockings near Perryville. The Susquehanna River bridge, constructed in 1906, is unfortunately slated for replacement in the upcoming years. In the video my train passes southbounds including Crescent Train 19 just past GRACE interlocking and another Regional at PRINCE.
Looks like its time to fire up Reading and Northern T-1 class 4-8-4 #2102 for another main line steam excursion in the anthracite coal region of eastern Pennsylvania. This year the August offering for the RBMN's Iron Horse Ramble was a round trip from the new Nesquehoning Regional Transportation Centre to the end of their Main Line in Pittston, PA such that the railfans could spend a few hours enjoying Pittston's annual Tomatoe Festival (which started in 1983 when the decline in coal mining required a rebranding). Because I still need some time to finish the photos I'll be starting things off with a video post.
Sitting on the left hand side of the train, which would face the Lehigh River on the outbound trip, I chose to focus on still photos due to the superior scenery and lighting. The exception to the aforementioned scenery was the part of the trip between Glen Okono and CP-M&H JCT, which is located on the east side of the Lehigh River. Also lacking signals to photograph, I turned my digital camera to its video mode.
Once back across to the east side of the Lehigh River I switched over to stills and allowed my travel buddy Ferrocastor to shoot phone video as he saw fit. The grades on this part of the trip had former Reading T-1 #2102 working hard as it used its full 5000hp to elevate the 19 car consist.
After arriving at Pittston and spending the better part of 4 hours eating Old Forge style Pizza and associated carnival food, it was time to return to the Nesquehoning Regional Transportation Centre. There we found #2102 getting some mid-run TLC from the crews including an ash pan wash.
The locomotive then ran lite up the north end of the yard to fetch the 19-car consist for the return trip south. Most of the standard fare coaches were former Reading "Blueliner" electric MU's built in the 1930's. If one wanted to pay more to not hear or feel the main line steam action, one could ride in one of the post-war "lightweight" cars towards the end.
Intending to capture most of the return trip on video I pulled out my trusty old GoPro and got to work. This first part covers the most dramatic part of the trip as T-1 #2102 attacks the stiff grade of the old LVRR Mountain Cutoff between Pittston and Mountain Top, PA. North of CP-LAUREL RUN the former Conrail Lehigh Line switches to the old Central RR of NJ Alignment to its yard at Mountain Top where we pause to take on water.
All topped up with water, #2102 and friends depart Mountain Top under the old CNJ signal bridge and proceed to the community of White Haven, PA where the Lehigh Line shifts back to the former Lehigh Valley RR alignment. Note the square CNJ mileposts.
Back in the scenic Lehigh Gorge I get to face the cliffs and forests due to the RAMB spinning the entire trainset at Pittston. This video covers the former Conrail Lehigh Line from White Haven to CP-M&H JCT.
Crossing the river I get to pair my earlier video with its opposite facing towards the Lehigh River and the parallel CNJ bike trail located between the river and the LVRR. The video finishes up with our train taking the sweeping curve of the brand new bridge to connect the northern and southern ends of the Reading and Northern Main Line.
From this point on I already had video coverage of #2102 hauling a similar Ramble back in 2022 so I shut down the studio to enjoy the final few miles into the Nesquehoning RTC. Tune in next week for the equally exciting and informative still photos from this trip.
Finding new rail things to do for my annual trips to Georgia has become a real struggle as rear placed baggage cars prevent generating content en-route and I have also covered most rail locations of interest within casual driving distance of my friend. For the 2024 visit I used what might have been an otherwise inconvenient knitting group meeting to perform a walking tour of the old Seaboard Coast Line station in Athens, GA. Combined with the typical Washington, DC power changes, Greensboro, NC layover and waiting three hours at Gainesville, GA for the midnight train going Anywhere (station code ANY?), I managed to collect enough content ( mirror ) for an engaging post.
Because Amtrak Carolinian Train 79 does not stop at BWI, I must start my trips with a short hop on MARC to Washington Union Station. Today my mid-morning train seemed to be a B&O set with single level cab car #7761 eventually leading the consist into Washington track #7, the non-electrified, lowest numbered station track typically reserved for Camden and Brunswick line trains. Split level Bombardier cab cars #8047 and #8053 were on the adjacent tracks 8 and 9.
Train 79 arrived behind ACS-86 #664, which was swapped out for P42DC #94.
The next I saw of #94 was during the smoking stop at Richmond Virginia RF&P Station. These engines might be going on 25 years old, but they are currently more reliable than their Siemens Charger replacements.
CSX SD40-2 #8232, SD40-2 #8253 and GP38-2 #2645 were hanging out in Richmond's Acca Yard that day.
Arriving roughly on time at Greensboro I managed to exit the station and run up to the Elm St grade crossing before #94 and T79 departed.
The former Sothern Railway 1899 Greensboro Depot and later Eastern Division HQ appears to have been sold by NS for redevelopment. Meanwhile, Train 79 was being shown an uncommon R/R/G Diverging Clear signal indication for a slower, but not necessary slow speed, secondary route through ELM interlocking.
After last call I caught the tail end of a southbound NS intermodal train at the same Elm St crossing.
That nights southbound Crescent Train 19 was roughly on time with a pair of new ALC-42 Chargers, #343 and #321.
After somehow managing to avoid a Charger breakdown, Train 19 dropped me at Gainesville and proceeded through MIDLAND interlocking on a Diverging Clear signal indication.
The Seaboard Coast Line's Athens Georgia station currently serves as a CSX MoW base for the Abbeville Sub. Athens is home to the University of Georgia and the station probably had more than its fair share of passenger traffic back in the day.
Some nice touches include "Seaboard" cast into the concrete of the road underpass and "Athens" spelled out in white painted concrete letters.
There was a Southern RR station right nearby with some of the track still in place, but I'll have to visit that next time.
Fast forward to Sunday night and I was back at the Amtrak/Southern/NS Gainesville station waiting for the midnight departure. The train used to arrive a bit after 9pm, but three hours of padding was added to the schedule south of Atlanta to help improve on time performance. As was typical a pair of engines, ET44 #3654 and SD40-2 #3379, were tied down at the station for switching the New Holland yard.
As with past years a cut of road power was also present, likely having delivered a regional manifest freight to the local yard from the Atlanta hub. These included ET44 #3661, ES44AC #8128 and ES44 #8007.
Before my northbound Crescent Train 20 arrived with P42DC's #144 and #45, I was treated to a northbound manifest freight with SD60E's #6999 and #6932 and a southbound manifest with a pair of AC44C6M's taking a Diverging Clear signal at MIDLAND interlocking for a move from track 1 to track 2.
Train 20 and engine #144 getting a re-crew at Charlottesville.
After arriving at Washington DC I headed up to watch the power change. A RailVac unit was sitting on the still unfinished Track 22.
While waiting for #144 and #45 to come off T20, Capitol Limited Train 30 arrived with a somewhat shabby P40DC #817. When the passengers were off, the short Train 30 set was shoved towards Ivy City Yard by #817, before Train 20's P42DC's #144 and #45 are pulled off to be replaced by ACS-86 #668. Just after #668 coupled, an afternoon VRE trainset arrives from the yard with MP36PH-3C # V64 leading and gallery cab car #V723 on the rear.
After that concluded a light engine move including Amtrak P42DC's #128 and #79 coupled ahead of MARCC MP36PH-3C #19 and #17, and SC44 #85.
Also on the MARC front, MP36PH-3C #31 was pulling out with a Penn Line train while #15 sat ready to go all while VRE MP36PH-3C #V59 was pulling into a low level berth.
Well that's all for my 2024 Georgia trip, I'll be back next time with a West Jersey Chapter NRHS sponsored trip to Long Branch, NJ via Rahway.
