In 2025 a friend in southern New Hampshire I had stayed with during the HART tower trip back in October 2024 informed me that they would be soon be moving back to Ohio. Although I had largely completed by Connecticut Valley signal documentation project there were still a few odds and ends I wanted to check on so I found a free weekend with cheap Acela runs. Unfortunately, my friend was presented with a surprise gift of tickets to see Ringo Star's All Star Band at Carnegie Hall on the night where I would arrive via Amtrak's Valley Flyer to Greenfield, MA. Well, no problem, instead of transferring to the Flyer, I could just backtrack from New Haven to where my friend would be parked at Stamford, killing the remaining time at a brewery in South Norwalk. Here is a set of photos from what turned out to be a surprisingly successful Plan B.
Somehow I managed to get a reasonably priced seat on the 330pm Acela out of BWI which arrived with a classic set and power cars #2027 and #2033.
Using an upgrade to first class I was able to two meals on my trip to New Haven, crab meat enchiladas and a cheese plate.
I managed to make a very short connection to the next westbound Metro-North local with M8 MU #9729 leading. The previous eastbound MNRR NHL train was on the adjacent track with M8 #9365 on the rear.
I arrived at South Norwalk well after dark. I had been to the station a couple times before to visit the nearby preserved SS44 interlocking tower, but never inside the actual station building.
When presented with the need to travel to Atlanta with in May of 2025 I saw an opportunity to introduce a non-railfan fried to traveling via sleeping car on Amtrak's southbound Crescent Train 19. I am well versed on this route, traveling to see a friend in Gainesville most years, however this time I would be completing the full "northern" half of the Crescent by traveling all the way to Atlanta, a city I had only passed through on a northbound Crescent trip from New Orleans in 2010. This trip didn't present the opportunity for a large amount of photos, but you can see all the ones I did manage here.
The trip started off at the Odenton MARC station as the southbound Crescent did not stop at BWI and Odenton informally allows free overnight parking. Here MARC ML cab car #8049 leads a Penn Line train to Washington, DC.
Passing the VRE storage yard at Ivy City, MP36PH-3C's #V62 and V64 were waiting to head out on their evening return runs.
Our Penn Line train on the non-electrified track #7 next to a lineup of other MARC trains serving the Penn, Camden and Brunswick lines.
The call to Train 19 from the lounge was a bit late and by the time we got down to the platform the power change had already taken place with Amtrak P42DC #158 behind ALC-42 #348.
If you remember VRE #V66 from the yard, well here it is pulling into Track #23 to collect its passengers.
Although I had missed Train 19's power change, I was able to catch the train for northbound Palmetto Train 90. P42DC #114 was replaced by ACS-86 #641 while a classic Acela express, with power cars #2037 and #2006, arrived on upper level Track #20.
With #114 out of the way I was able to get a photo of Amtrak ALC-42s #314 and #365 on the head of Northwestbound Floridian train #40.
This was followed by Veterans ACS-86 #642 with aa southbound Regional train of some kind.
After departure on Train 19, my friend and I were offered an early dinner slot in the "new" Viewliner 2 dining car.
The Crescent isn't the most scenic of Amtrak's LD routes, especially with the 6pm departure out of DC so close to sunset and the 8am arrival in Atlanta so close to Sunrise. The only photo-op available to me was the smoke stop at Charlottesville.
Fast forward and here is Train 19 arriving at Atlanta's Peachtree station.
Formerly a small suburban stop, Peachtree Station is is 633 railroad miles from Washington, DC and became Atlanta's one and only station after the downtown Union Station was closed in 1971. To accommodate the Crescent, the Southern built a long island platform between the two main tracks with an elevator installed for baggage purposes. A two track storage yard is also present for the times when the Crescent needs to be short turned. The Crescent was turned over to Amtrak in 1979 and at 1100 miles is Amtrak's longest Eastern LD train route.
The Crescent essentially serves two markets, Atlanta to DC and Atlanta to New Orleans, with a large part of the ridership turning over at Atlanta. This high turnover creates quite a bit of crowding at Peachtree as the cramped station is not fit for the purpose of serving the passenger rail volumes generated by one of the country's largest metro areas.
Although small, the station's exterior retains its 1918 appearance.
The pointless arrow lives on a sign directing departing passengers to the parking lot. Those arriving in the city either have to make do with an Uber or walk about a half mile to the nearest MARTA station.
Since I had some discounts and credits I chose the Uber option. While we were waiting an southbound NS manifest freight rolled past with C40-10Wn #7605, AC44C6M #4133 and ET44AC #3603.
That's all for the first course. Next week I'll be back with some MARTA action.
The last time I went to Lowell, MA was during the height of COVID and I only had enough time to walk the length of BY interlocking where the MBTA Lowell line briefly merges with the old Guilford Rail System Freight Main Line. With all of the re-signaling that is currently taking place along that route, I returned with a friend for a day of craft beer appreciation and searchlight signal photos. This post will detail the more interesting parts of the trip along with my return to the Mid-Atlantic via Acela express.
On weekends service to Lowell is pretty awful with trains running on a 1-2 hour headway. Today was no different and the only thing I was able to catch at Lowell's transportation was an empty high-low island platform. Lowell has an interesting layout as the two tracks on the left are used for MBTA service to Boston, while the three on the right are part of the former Guilford Rail System "Freight Main Line" that at one point stretched 714 miles from central Maine to Sunbury, PA.
A few years ago what remained of the Guilford was purchased by CSX which has wasted no time assimilating the line with new chaining, signals and, in this case, bridge art.
Due to the presence of hydro power, Lowell had become an early industrial hub, mostly specializing in textile production. The advent of electricity and modern logistics allowed this industry to move to more suitable locations turning Lowell into the stereotypical "gritty old mill town". In 1978 Federal money was obtained to create the Lowell National Historic Park as an urban renewal. One component of this was a heritage streetcar operation coined the "National Streetcar Museum", which I was able to visit and ride back in 2006. On this march day 20 years later the vintage streetcars weren't running, so I made do with a photo of Boston and Main 0-6-0 switcher #410, which is displayed on the streetcar platform.
Since 2006 Lowell has undergone an impressive recovery as the cost of housing in the core Boston area has exploded. Helped by the presence of UMass Lowell and MBTA service, the city is full of new development with many of the old mill buildings converted into artist lofts or new housing. This vintage service station sign was located across the street from the National Streetcar Museum.
Heading out of town my host suggested seeing the old B&M station at North Chelmsford. The trackside structure is being relocated for preservation with the wooden building already gone and the foundation marked up for disassembly. This project is likely one of CSX's "good will" gestures after taking control of neglected Guilford assets.
The MBTA Fitchburg Line station Shirley might look like something out of the 19th century, but it was actually constructed in 1993 after the station itself was reactivated in 1981 after over a decade of Fitchburg Line extensions and retrenchments. Although the minimal infrastructure gives the station a vibe similar to some of MARC's least used stations, Shirley currently serves a respectable 100+ passengers a day.
Because I had been out all day getting photos of 1940's and 50's vintage railroad signaling I hadn't really noticed that it was almost sunset when I had encountered an actual train movement in the form of a Norfolk Southern run-through freight with a former Guilford C40-8 leading a trio of NS units including SC70ACC #1807, AC44C6M #4857 and C44-9W #9928. In the 2010's NS had invested in a joint venture with the Guilford to run freight from Harrisburg to Ayer in conjunction with NS's of the former Delaware and Hudson route between Sunbury and Schenectady.
