23-01-21 PHOTOS: GLX

The big news in Boston for 2023 was the opening of the GLX or Green Line Extension to Union Square and Medford/Tufts. The multi-billion dollar project would extend the E Branch from its terminus at the Lechmere loop several miles up the MBTA New Hampshire Route Main Line as well as the D Branch from a previously downtown terminus to a new stop at Union Square located on the MBTA Fitchburg line. As winter travel to Boston is pretty cheap I booked a round trip on the Acela from Washington, DC. This set of photos ( mirror ) will cover both legs of the Amtrak journey as well as both branches of the GLX.

Starting things off at Washington, DC, the Acela platform was populated with two trainsets with #2016 being my scheduled 10am departure with #2028 standing by.

This would be my first trip over the high speed New Jersey section at 150mph. Crossing the Hackensack work was evident for the replacement PORTAL bridge.

Acela power car #2016 at NY Penn.

While en route to the Seaport District I caught MBTA Silverliner trackless trolley #1124 at the World Trade Centre station.

I was staying in the new Seaport District, and although it lacks the ambiance of the Old Towne, it does have some quirky bits.

The next morning I managed to catch one of the new Type 9 LRV's at Park St on a D Branch routing to Union Square. The small order of Type 9's will cover the GLX expansion and are planned to replace the Mattapan PCC's after the Type 10 order.

Passing Type 8 #3890 on the Lechmere Viaduct.

The GLX included the construction of a new yard and shoppe complex located adjacent to the existing MBTA commuter rail heavy maintenance facility.

Passing Type 8 #3877 approaching Union Square. Both legs of the GLX were built to light rail standards as opposed to streetcar operation.

MBTA Type 9 #3903 at Union Square along with Type 8 #3838.

22-12-27 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XXII

The SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip is an annual curated transit experience covering the entirety of the SEPTA rail transit network. Part of the curation is to provide variety both within the same type and between different types and although SEPTA had just opened its long delayed R3 Wawa extension in 2022 MWT XXII would have to defer on visiting the new station since MWT XXI had already covered most of the route when visiting the old Elwyn terminal for the first (and last) time. Therefore MWT XXII focused on completing the Route 66 trackless trolley line all the way to the City Line loop before a walking transfer to the R7 Torresdale stop. The morning consisted of an R1 Airport run, returning via Eastwick and the Rt 36 trolley.

Unfortunately my phone bricked two days after the event, taking about half the trip photos with it including most of the underground material. Fortunately I had enough regular camera content to put together a reasonable post.

Starting off at Market East, the outbound R1 Airport took me on what turned out to be my last run through SEPTA's ARSENAL interlocking in its post-NECIP configuration before passing northbound Amtrak Silver Meteor Train 98 led by ACS-68 #650 at PHIL.

Our R1 train had a student engineer on board who was having some issues with the overly sensitive PTC system that continued to hinder performance. I was able to catch a little of the system in operation returning from the Airport, but refer to my related signaling blog post for a more in-depth analysis.



Eastwick was built as an infill station on the R1 Airport in 1997 and allows for a walking connection to the Route 36 trolley's western terminus. Currently mid-day R1 trains send to pass here as we can see with out inbound train with Silverliner V #706 and an outbound train with Silverliner V #869. Regrettably #869 is not lettered "PENNSYLVANIA".

The walk to the Eastwick Loop down Mario Lanza Blvd took us by a feral cat colony that is probably causing a lot of ecological harm.

Arriving at the Eastwick we found K-car trolleys #9074 and #9001, with #9048 soon arriving, but since one apparently can't board at the loop we messed a headway herding the entire group over to the passenger shelter.

We used the headway time to take a group photo of the morning trip attendees before #9019 showed up, passed #9001 and #9048 on the inside loop then ran light back to Elmwood depot leaving us to ultimately depart on #9001.

22-02-19 PHOTOS: MBTA Trolleybuses

In February 2022 I was able to able to ride most of the MBTA's Cambridge trolleybus network for the first, and unfortunately last time as it was shut down and scrapped about two weeks after my visit. I was actually quite lucky as the shutdown lined up with my annual late winter trip to the Boston area via Amtrak's NEC that provides the opportunity to utilize any remaining discount and upgrade coupons. The full set of photos ( mirror ) includes both legs of the NEC round trip as well as use of Boston's subway network to reach the trolleybus terminal at Harvard Square.

Although my trip began at Amtrak's BWI Airport Rail Station, I was not catching my Acela Express train from there, even though I arrived in time to see #2029 departing northward. The 10am departure from Washington offered a better price point as well as the ability to ride the entire NEC instead of just most of it. Instead I boarded MARC cab car #7851 in the opposite wirection to begin my trip.

My Acela trainset had power car #2012 on the rear seen here at the typical AX departure platform at Union Station.

K TOWER hanging on, LANDOVER looking sad and ZOO with new windows and a PRR keystone.

One of the nice parts of taking the Acela is no Trenton stop!



At at Manhattan Transfer my Acela was routed on the less frequently used track #1 due to Amtrak ACS-86 #667 being stopped on track #3 while a conductor fouls track #2 to carry out a hotbox inspection on an Amfleet.

A PATH train passing HUDSON tower en-route to Newark.

#2012 at New York Penn during the extended station stop.

P42DCs #106 and #99 leading the Lake Shore Limited at Boston Back Bay.

The next morning I was heading to Harvard Square via Green Line Type 8 trolley #3889 and 1800 series Red Line car #1840.

Although greater Boston once featured quite an extensive trolleybus system, all but 3 routes were shut down by 1963. Those that remained were saved due to the construction of an underground transit tunnel in Harvard Square in 1958 where the exhaust from diesel buses would present a hazzard in the confined space.

Unfortunately both the Routes 71 and 73 had been bustituted that morning due to a problem with the overhead wires. The MBTA was never a fan of the operational complexities of trolleybus operation and the wealthy residents of Cambridge were increasingly hostile to the "unsightly" overhead wires. By 2022 the need to invest in both the overhead power system and new vehicles gave the T an opening to bustitute the entire operation.

18-12-27 PHOTOS: SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip XVIII

The 18th Annual SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip took place on December 27th, 2018 and was focused on first ever trips on the Route 59 trackless trolley and R2 Newark along with a return to the 63rd St terminal of the Route 15 streetcar. Unlike the previous year where the group had missed the late afternoon Newark express train, this year we managed to catch it and were treated to a set of Silverliner V's in the process. One can find the full set of photos here (mirror) and as an announcement the 2020 MWT will be taking place on December 26th.

Informally, each MWT starts with an inbound PATCO express run from Lindenwold. This would be the first year where there would be no opportunity to score a classic style car with the railfan window as the last batch of classic cars were retired in June 2018. Here we see PATCO cars #1061 and #1093 waiting at the Lindenwold platform.

Here we have a video of from the new railfan view of the express portion of the run between Woodcrest and Ferry Ave.



Since the Route 59 runs out of the Arrott Transportation Center, the official trip began with an MFL trip to the eastern end of the line. Here we see a variety of MFL trains encountered along the route.

This Eagles Wrap on MFL car #1053 is a bit mis-placed given that the MFL does not take one to the Sports Complex. 

Another type of Philadelphia Eagle, only one with a better record.

The Route 59 has some diesel buses mixed in with the trackless trolleys, however we were able to score one of the latter and #807 was able to take us the entire way to the Bell's Corner loop.

14-08-17 PHOTOS: Seattle Reunion

Last August I was planning to attend a computer security conference in San Diego. I had already completed that year's coast-to-coast Amtrak trip and was basically looking forward to some fun in the sun eating fish tacos, but then a travel buddy suggested that we could use this as an opportunity to take the Coast Starlight. Checking the airfare I determined that it would only cost 2$ more to fly out to Seattle and then back from San Diego so after that a call to Amtrak Guest Rewards set up the sleeping accommodation and I was off to collect another leg of Amtrak's national rail network.

I had been to Seattle once before in 2011 prior to my Empire Builder trip and found it to be a wonderful city (seeing as how I went during the 3-week long Sunny season). This trip would present me with far less time due to the Starlight's morning departure, but I would still have about a day to see some old school friends and ride around on transit. I also was able to see the completed King Street Station, which had just been beginning its refurbishment when I was there 3 years ago.

The complete photoset is right here

Flying in via Southwest I took this photo of Mt. Ranier, which will one day erupt and destroy the SeaTac area.

Sound Transit light rail LRV #141A wrapped to promote a concert series at the Tukwila Station. The line to the airport travels a distance that rivals most commuter rail systems.

Here is a video of SoundTransit LRV's #152 and #120 departing the Tukwila train station towards Seattle.



I had no reason to ride the Mono-D'oh, but I was near the Westlake terminal which is surrounded by trolleybus wire.

Here we see BNSF C44-9W #5261 sitting north of Olympic Park. The waterfront was packed with people and access control due to...sigh...Hempfest. I would have tried getting closer to the engine here, but my friend was refused entry because he had a 5 ounce glass bottle of artisan olive oil. Cannabis was fine, but small glass bottle? That's too much. 

Dinner at Ivar's Salmon Shack provided me with excellent views of the University Ave Bridge and Lake Union.

The University Ave bascule drawbridge is notable for supporting a trolleybus line and its associated overhead lines.

One of the control cabins on the bridge. Note the original traffic control signals embedded in the concrete structure.

South end control tower with the trolley wire structure.

I had gotten a good rate at a place called Hotel Seattle. Well, I quickly discovered that you get what you pay for. Despite being downtown the entire building was ratty with infrastructure that had been last refreshed in the 1970's...or before. One silver lining was the creaky old elevator with the clockwork noises that indicated relay logic. After poking around I made my way into the control room where I found this.

Car leveling was handled by this analogue of the elevator shaft, which I guess saves on wiring physical contacts for the car to trigger directly.

I had a friend in the elevator to run it down to the lobby and back while I took some video. The elevator was a Montgomery product.



From the hotel it was on to King Street station to catch the Starlight's 9am departure. Commuter trains were also coming and going like F59PHI #906 on the front of soon to depart Tacoma train.