22-12-17 PHOTOS: Salida

Once again I managed to find the time to explore the defunct DRG&W Tennessee Pass Line while on one of my annual trips to Colorado. I had previously visited the area in April of 2021, but as is often the case, I overlooked a couple of accessible signal locations so it came down to finding a mechanism to get my friends to drive the 5 hour round trip from our base in Evergreen. The solution came by surreptitiously arranging a "brewery tour" around the tourist/artist community of Salida, Colorado that just happened to align with the aforementioned missed railroad locations. Unfortunately out of service rail lines don't tend to feature many train movements, however I was able to pop by the Peoria RTD station to pad out the content that can be seen here ( mirror ).

Departing Amtrak's BWI Airport Rail Station Airport I spotted Southwest's New Mexico heritage unit at the new terminal A.

Salida, Colorado was the northeastern interchange point for the Denver, Rio Grande and Western's narrow gauge network. Until the 1960's, what was mostly mineral traffic would be transferred off narrow gauge, steam powered freight trains to the DRGW's Tennessee Pass main line at a yard located at the base of Tenderfoot Hill in Salida.

After the termination of narrow gauge ops, the yard at Salida continued to serve local industry including this limestone processing facility that was build adjacent to the east end of the yard.

After Union Pacific engineered an underhanded merger to gain control of the Southern Pacific and DRGW in the mid-1990's, it immediately shut down the Tennessee Pass route connecting Pueblo and Salt Lake City as it was surplus to requirements. However as the Union Pacific did not want to expose itself to competition it has held the line out of service ever since as opposed to selling or abandoning it. This has had the effect of preserving the 1960's vintage CTC signaling system such as this mast with hooded GRS Type D signals at EE SALIDA.

The proximity to town has resulted in the equipment at EE SALIDA being more exposed to infrastructure explorers, but there was been surprisingly little wanton destruction and all the glass lenses were intact.

Manipulating the rear doors on the signal made it possible to simulate a Clear main track signal indication in the eastbound direction.

View of the rusting Salida Yard looking westbound with Mt Princeton off in the distance.

The Sawatch Range overlooks the Tennessee Pass Line valley to the west.

Although I had already visited the west end of Salida yard in 2021, I took a moment to check back in and found the same old GRS model 5D switch machine amongst some higher weeds.

Unfortunately because of the booming local real estate market an enterprising vagrant had dumped out the contents of the relay hut and taken up residence.

Elevation Brewing Co off US 50 west of town was built right on the old DRGW narrow gauge RoW which now serves as a cycling path.

21-09-04 PHOTOS: Demolition Targets

To be interested in railroad or any sort of industrial history is to face the constant threat of demolition. The summer of 2022 was no different with the northbound headhouse of the former Reading Spring Garden St station approved for demolition and the former PRR SHORE interlocking tower suffering a fire making demolition likely. In late August I finally had some free time to head over to Philly and try to get my photos in before the hammer tropped. You can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

I started my morning with PATCO rebuild car #1012 at Haddonfield.

The Reading Viaduct is part of the disused approach to Reading Terminal built in 1893 and used for rail operations until 1984 when the stub end terminal was closed in favor of the Center City Commuter Connection tunnel that linked the PRR and Reading commuter rail networks. Although closed for rail operations in 1984, the viaduct remained in use until 2012 as a right of way for overhead catenary feeders and transmission lines to the Callowhill substation that supported SEPTA's 25hz traction power system. The result of this slow motion closure was that almost all of the infrastructure including signals, catenary supports and rails, was left in place including the southbound outer signal bridge shown below including the 14R and 16R high signals.

The abandoned portion of the viaduct runs between Fairmont Ave and Vine Street and has been largely taken over by nature over the previous decade.

The section of the viaduct includes portions of the former Spring Garden St station that was replaced in form and substance by SEPTA's current Temple University station a mile to the north. Spring Garden Street was once a prosperous major thoroughfare as evidenced by the triple concrete arch bridge used by the Reading Viaduct to span it.

Based on the success of linear urban parks in New York and Chicago, the City of Philadelphia is eager to redevelop the viaduct and reap the resulting real estate bonanza in the adjacent neighborhoods. The fact that trendy apartment buildings like Aspect 281 are already appearing validates the City's enthusiasm.

Getting in the way of this dream is the Reading Entertainment Company, corporate successor to the Reading Railroad where all of the leftover assets were shoveled after the 1976 bankruptcy and rail asset transfer to Conrail. in the case of the former Reading Railroad viaduct, Reading Entertainment retained ownership, but either SEPTA or the City retained a permanent easement for its use as a rail/power corridor. The reason for the name Reading Entertainment Company is because until recently its most worthwhile asset was a chain of movie theatres previously owned by the Reading RR with most locations being in California apart from a single one in Manville, NJ. Anyway. Reading Entertainment sees a payday in selling the City a previously worthless asset. However due to the easement precluding any other use, the City is confident it can force a better deal.

Throwing a wrench in the works of the standoff between the City and Reading Entertainment was the presence of the passenger headhouse and platform area for the former Spring Garden Street station. Long abandoned and serving as both a eyesore and hub for illicit activity, in 2021 a local preservation group filed a lawsuit hoping to force Reading Entertainment to cleanup/stabilize the historic structure using a local anti-blight ordinance. Instead, Reading Entertainment chose the other option available to them in the law, demolition of the problematic property and after a period of legal wrangling, Reading Entertainment was granted a demolition permit in August of 2022. 

 

 
Unfortunately my plan to get out and take better photos of the property was pretty much a day late and a dollar short as Reading Entertainment had wasted no time and demolition was just wrapping up by the time I got out there.

20-12-28 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XX

It was going to be difficult running the 20th iteration of the SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip as the COVID 19 pandemic had only only caused massive cuts to transit schedules, but also made spending the better part of a day riding around in enclosed transit vehicles. While the two most common solutions would be to either cancel the event entirely or ignore the threat of getting sick (and passing it to others), I turned the situation into an opportunity and converted the SEPTA Mid-Winter Transit Trip into a walking tour of Philadelphia rail infrastructure. Starting at the same Market East location as usual the trip would wander around the former Reading Viaduct and City Branch before heading to 30th St Station, hiking the ARSENAL loop through University City before ending with a stroll along the Schuylkill river walk and Suburban Station approach. Although only 5 people turned out for what turned out to be a brisk 8 mile walk in surprisingly warm weather, everyone had a great time and we were able to cover a lot of interesting territory not generally available to the Mid-Winter Trip in normal years. You can view the entire set of photos here ( mirror ).

In normal years I would start at Lindenwold in order to catch one of the handful of express PATCO trains, but with the express services cancelled I just started at Woodcrest Station. My inbound train was led by PATCO #1009 with #1042 bringing up the rear.

For the folks who spend their Philly time in and around Market Street, Convention Center or Central Business District, they might not realize how the old Reading line to its downtown stub end terminal was just abandoned in place in 1984 after the station closed. Subsequent redevelopment pushed back the end of the old viaduct to just north of the Vine Street expressway.

The Reading viaduct was ostensibly constructed around 1890, but as it was modified over the years it developed a bit of a Ship of Theseus feel.

The Viaduct is currently owned by the Reading Entertainment Company, the corporate successor to the Reading Railroad after its 1970's Bankruptcy. Reading Entertainment gets its name from a chain of 12 motion picture theaters that it owns in addition to a hodge-podge of real estate assets. The company has been engaged in a standoff with the city over the development of the Reading Viaduct into a linear park.

One casualty in the battle was the old Spring Garden Street Station's northbound passenger headhouse and platforms. Neglected for years, a local preservation group used an anti-blight law to sue Reading Entertainment to clean up / restore the old headhouse and platforms. Reading Entertainment choose the other option available to them, complete demolition and clearance of the site. After a court battle the structure in the photo was demolished in August 2021. Of course in December 2020 there was no way to know that would happen and therefore I only have this one photo of the building.

The real Reading Spring Garden St station building is across the tracks and has already been converted into apartments.

This area is seeing significant gentrification with one building branding itself "Aspect 281" in a serious case of cultural appropriation. Developers know that the Philly Hi-Line park is inevitable and are getting in on the action.

Arguably Philly's most famous closed subway station, Spring Garden on the Broad Ridge Spur retains some of is above ground structures.

20-07-25 PHOTOS: Continetal Divide

The Continental Divide sounds like an intimidating barrier to transcontinental travel, however on some rail lines such as the Southern Pacific's Sunset route the crossing is so sedate that it's not even marked. The Great Northern offers a bit more drama, but was still able to get over the top out in the open at an altitude not much higher than Denver. Colorado however is where the Continental Divide in the form of the Rocky Mountains lives up to the stereotype, creating a massive barrier to east-west travel. While most of the Brand Name railroads built their routes to the north or the south, the Denver, Rio Grande and Western decided to go through the Rockies, not around them and this ultimately took the form of two distinct route. The first ran northwest from Pueblo to the headwaters of the Colorado river over the Tennessee Pass. Unfortunately this meant a 180 mile detour for trains trying to get west from Denver so in 1922 the State government funded a project to tunnel through the Rockies on a more direct route. On my summer 2020 trip out to Denver I visited both of these crossings and you can find the complete set of photos here ( mirror ).

The Moffat Tunnel was built between 1923 and 1928 and runs 6.2 miles underground between a point west of Tolland, CO and the resort community of Winter Park. Due to the length of the tunnel forced ventilation is a requirement, even with comparatively less polluting diesel locomotives. As the comparatively populated Winter Park would object to a constant haze of locomotive exhaust, the fan plant was located on the east side of the mountain seven miles down a dirt road from the nearest state highway.

Unlike the East, large portions of Colorado is public land and therefore the East Portal is a popular trailhead with ample parking, day or night.

The Moffat Tunnel route had actually been first cut by the Denver and Salt Lake Railway, that used an extreme switchback route over the Rollins Pass that ultimately proved unsustainable. This still eased the way for the Moffat Tunnel project that just had to bypass the bit over the Rolls Pass. Today some of the cabins used by the tunnel work crews are still standing and were recently made a state historic landmark.

The original tunnel headhouse consisted of two parts, a pressure door and two large squirrel cage blowers with the gatehouse structure supporting the door and the two boxy towers behind it the blowers. The door would prevent blower air from just rushing in/out the eastern end.

In 1988 the Rio Grande purchased the Southern Pacific with the resulting combination being purchased by Union Pacific in 1996, who operates the tunnel to this day. With the UP's original main line through Wyoming to Ogden, UT offering lower grades and more capacity, the former DRGW route now sees a much reduced amount of traffic with most road freights terminating in Grand Junction, CO leaving Amtrak as the primary user of the line in its original purpose as a shortcut to Salt Lake City and beyond.

The Moffat Tunnel itself was built by the public improvement district and leased to the railroad. Bronze plaques at the east portal attest to the principles involved.

The original fan plant was upgraded to modern standards some time in the 1980's with an entirely new plant built directly behind the first. A new door system was installed and the squirrel cage blowers were replaced by axial turbine units. To avoid polluting Winter Park the fans suck air towards the east end with large exhaust horns attached to the comparatively small electrically driven fans. There are two primary fans located on either side of the tunnel extension.

As giant fans are long lead items, a spare fan motor is on site in case of a failure.

A third fan is available to blow air from the east in the face of slow moving eastbound trains that might become bound in their own exhaust plume. Line speed is 40mph compared with 25mph in the similarly operated Cascade tunnel.

Direct drive diesel backups are provided for each fan.

A 10 foot wide pilot tunnel used in construction of the main bore was repurposed into a pipe to transport water from the Colorado River headwaters on the western side of the Continental Divide to the City of Denver on the eastern side. The water can be seen her exiting the mountain next to the rail line.

The fan plant requires a substantial amount of electric power which is supplied to this substation.

I timed my visit to coincide with the afternoon passage of Amtrak Train 6, the eastbound California Zephyr from San Francisco. Power on the head end consisted of P42'sDC #17 and #167. At 9239 feet in elevation the Moffat tunnel is the highest point on the Amtrak network as well as one of the highest main line passenger routes in the world.

20-05-16 PHOTOS: Flyover Country

With train service largely shut down due to COVID in the spring of 2019, it is time for an infrastructure week and what better infrastructure is there than the remains of the Pennsylvania Railroad Philadelphia and Thorndale low grade freight line! Specifically the P&T junction with the Main Line at Thorndale, PA and the magnificent flyover at Whitford, PA. Not much more to say except that you can find the full set of photos here ( mirror ).

The P&T low grade line extended the Trenton Cutoff about 10 miles from its original terminus at Glendale, PA to Thorndale, PA to avoid a number of significant grades on the original Main Line alignment. Although its hard to notice today. what is now the high speed Keystone corridor has all sorts of grades that often required helpers in the age of steam. Thorndale itself served as a helper base even after the coming of electrification in 1939. Because the PRR didn't want to disrupt the busy Main Line passenger operations flying junctions were constructed at Thorndale and Glendale. Here we see Main Line at Milepost 34 looking eastward as it approaches the P*T flyover that takes the form of a short tunnel on tracks #1 and #2. While originally 4 tracks, track #3 was lifted between Thorndale and Downingtown around 2010.

The P&T itself was reduced to a single track under the Penn Central and then removed entirely in the 1980's. Today only the ballasted right of way remains as an access road. Here is the view from on top of the flyover tunnel looking westbound then eastbound.

Here is the west portal to the tracks 1 and 2 flyover tunnel looking in the eastbound direction. Sheet metal shields were added to the 1906 tunnel to discourage people from coming in contact with the 12kv overhead wire.

The catenary structure dates from the 1939 Harrisburg electrification project and retains many original components.

The P&T junction with the previously covered THORN Interlocking is out of sight to the west.

East of the Thorndale flyover is Amtrak's Thorndale Substation. Built for the 1939 electrification project, it is associated with one of three Phase Breaks on the Amtrak 25hz power system that can isolate the western end of the PRR's electrification system which is chiefly supplied by the Safe Harbour Dam.

Thorndale Substation is also one of only 3 locations on Amtrak's 25hz system to have high voltage oil filled breakers for the 138kv distribution circuits, as the PRR found it easier to switch load on the 12kv side of the breakers. The HV breakers at Thorndale and other places are 1939 pieces of equipment.

Due to multiple rounds of government funding over the years, Amtrak has largely replaced the PRR's 1930's stock of 25hz single phase transformers with updated models. However the Thorndale substation features one of the few remaining 1939 units, with the GE logo still present on the glass globe oil bushing.