Those of you who know me on Facebook are probably already aware of this, but mast March my father passed away from a long simmering condition. Over that month I was doing a good deal of driving to visit him in various hospitals and care centers. As a result I wound up with a number of random railfan photos that don't really come together into a unified theme apart from the external life event. So nothing I can do except to run with it! So just sit back, relax and if you are looking for the full set of photos you can find them here
We begin with a video of an Atlantic City bound ACL train running through the Haddonfield Trench with Comet V cab car #6063 and GP40PH-2B #4215.
On the second weekend in March I was attending the Harrisburg Horse Expo and used the oppurtunity to swing by STELL interlocking on the former PRR Enola Branch which was being re-signaled by NS. The stretch of Rule 251 ABS was being replaced by Rune 562 cab signal operation. Here the old eastbound PRR PL signal bridge is being replaced by a two track NS cantilever with the Rule 280a 'C' boards.
NS had already cut costs by scrapping the old catenary supports and
removing the signaling entirely between Enola Yard and STELL.
The "New Bridge" over the Alloway Creek is an historic swing span drawbridge
in Salem County, NJ. Built in 1905 by the New Jersey Bridge company,
the New Bridge has been out of service for nearly 30 years and is
threatened with demolition or removal.
The bridge has both finials and deteriorating street lamps. Alert Kevin Walsh!!
In Salem, NJ the old PRSL freight house still stands and
is possibly used by whatever railroad crews have the contract to run
freight on the county owned line between here and Sweedsboro.
Washington Terminal Alco RS-1 #59 is sitting in the now empty freight
yard in Salem. For many years the unit was stored at the Mannington
Mills facility to protect it from vandalism, but the isolated location
only encouraged said actions.
Back in February I took an early morning Amtrak train up to Boston for an event. Normally I would have been tempted to take the overnight train 66, however it is about 2 hours slower than other Regional trains, is full of loud party-goers all the way to NYC and finally i find it nearly impossible to fall asleep on until departure from NYC since I normally stay up late. Combined with surprisingly heavy travel that might make getting a seat pair impossible I have developed a real loathing for T66.
This time instead of catching T66 at ~10pm and suffering through until 3am, I just stayed up until 4am and caught the next day's Train 190. This was a far better strategy. I instantly fell asleep upon boarding and didn't really wake up until well past New Haven. Unfortunately the timing of the train and the nature of the event somewhat limited the photos I could take, but I figured I should post them anyway.
First up are a pair of P&W GP30-2's #2006 and 2009 working the Providence Yard.
In case you hadn't heard, Boston received a record amount of snow this year so it's good that the point heaters were doing their job. Here Train 190 passes through PAWTUCKET interlocking.
New Haven RR interlocking towers SS 154 "Lawn" and SS156 "Boston Switch".
Three track RoW south of Attleboro on the 150mph section.
Four tracks at Attleboro.
Passing SS165 Attleboro tower.
Meeting an outbound MBTA commuter train at HOLDEN interlocking.
Of course thanks to my GoPro I was also able to shoot video at the same time. Unfortunately the blowing snow began to cloud the rear window forcing me to cut the video early.
Side window shot of AEM-7 #941 departing from South Station.
On an unrelated trip a few days later I was back in South Jersey catching PATCO. Here is Budd built married pair with #234 arriving at Haddonfield.
A low rumble in the distance heralded an outbound Atlantic City train with Comet V cab car #6063 in the lead.
Video of the same as it passes through the Haddonfield Trench with GP40PH-2B #4215.
I'll finish up with this photo of SEPTA SL-IV #442 at 30th St Station.
Next week I'll be featuring a set of guest photos from 2013 so stay tuned!
Every February I take a trip to upstate New York to the Capitol Region and the Adirondacks for some skiing and other activities. One can typically expect snow and sold weather, but this year both were taken to extremes. In fact with a projected high of just 2 degrees at Gore Mountain, my friend and I called an audible and went to West Mountain a day earlier where the highs would be in the 30's. This left us with a free day available for a road trip and we decided to head up to Lake Placid and the Saranac Winter Carnival.
Aside from a tourist railroad there wasn't much in the way of railfanning in that area, however there was a different sour of fixed guideway that supported vehicle speeds that most American rapid transit systems only see on their best day. I'm taking about the Mount Van Hoevenberg Olympic Sliding Center, which although wasn't in operation did allow myself to wander about for some photos. I also got a good number of Boston and Maine Main Line infrastructure photos the following day so don't just click "back".
You can view the full set of photos and experience some Valentines Day in July here.
We kick off with this photo at the State Senator Joe Bruno Albany - Rensselaer Amtrak Station looking south into CP-142. I had planned to take photos from the rear of the train, but the amount of snow on the tracks kicked up a large white cloud behind the train and covered the rear window in ice.
Like most classic railroads and transit systems, the Lake Placid sliding
run started out great, but has been cut back and slowed down over the
years. The original course was a 1.5 mile run, but it was cut back to 1
mile after the 1932 Olympics to 1 mile and then completely replaced
with a more "modern" (aka slower) run in the late 1990's. The upper
portion of the track is now completely overgrown and are only visible
when there isn't snow on the ground. The 1980 track is still there, but
completely unused and around that the modern track was built. You can
orient yourself with this diagram of the modified 1932 track used in
1980.
Here is the administrative building for the complex built for the original track.
The finish line and runout for the 1980/1932 track.
Banked curve of the modern track which is refrigerated and can be used for sliding year round.
Most of the track has been covered by a white tarp to eliminate sun glare and eliminate problems with uneven freezing.
Timing house at the finish line of the modern track with the runout. One of the methods used to slow down the new track is to make the last few hundred yards on an uphill.
Ice castle built for the Saranac Winter Carnival.
VW Bus built out of ice.
Olympic cauldron and Whiteface Mountain.
In this year's searchlight tour I stopped off at CPF-466 on the former
B&M Main Line to the large D&H yard at Mechaniscville. Here the
eastbound mast signal is displaying an Approach signal.
The old B&M main between Mechanicsville and Ayer has been turned
into a joint venture between NS and the Guilford Rail System resulting
in a sizable number of NS power freight trains now appearing on the
line. This train was parked on the siding with a pair of C44-9Ws, #8927
and #8945, on the front.
Well it's time to kick off the 2015 railfan year the same way I've kicked off many of the most recent railfan years, with a trip to Princeton, NJ to watch the Engineers of RPI get thrashed by the Princeton Tigers. This usually results in an extended visit to the Princeton Jct NJT station in the warning hours of the winter sunlight where I catch the evening action before I get sick and tired of being cold.
This year was the first occasion where I would actually be taking transit from the game due to the way my ride situation had worked out. As a result I have photos of both PJ and the newly relocated Princeton, NJ station. You can find the full set of photos here
We start off at Princeton Jct with ALP-46 #4621 at the head of my eastbound push-pull train.
Shuttle duties were being performed by a pair of Arrow III singles #1311
(seen here) and #1306. The shuttle pulled off the platform so that
people wouldn't have the temerity to get on and warm themselves during
the crew's break. The Princeton shuttle waits patiently for the
outbound NJT NEC train to unload its passengers.
Did I say it was cold? Yeah, it was cold. So cold that the LCD screen on my camera starts to glitch up.
Half-hour headways meant plenty of NJT action. Here palindrome unit ALP-46 #4664 waits the buzz to depart Princeton.
Pulling out past the former PRR NASSAU tower and Princeton Substation.
While the light sucked for still photos, it still worked for video. Here is a little montage of NJT NEC Trains and Princeton shuttles moving through the Junction.
If that wasn't enough for you here is a shorter montage of Amtrak traffic blowing through PJ at speed. Sorry, I didn't really try to keep track of what train was what.
Well my web hosting is down for maintenance this week, but that doesn't matter because it's time for a Video episode and YouTube will be up and reliable even after the cockroaches have gone belly up. The subject of this video episode is the 14th Annual SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip, as seen in last week's still gallery.
In year's past I had always had to choose between shooting videos and shooting still because I only had one camera and, perhaps more importantly, one set of hands. Well that limitation has been lifted with my recent purchase of a GoPro Hero 3+ HD camera. Using its suction cup mount combined with a Silverliner V's railfan window I am able to get that up front view without needing to zoom or incurring the wrath of the crew. Also this videos are shot in 1080p HD, instead of the usual 720p generated by my still camera.
As you might remember, this year's trip ventured from Center City to Lansdale to Doylestown and then back to Wayne Jct. Originally catching a Silverliner IV train at Market East we were forcibly upgraded to an SL-V train at Temple University where my first video begins. I should mention that the sound track contains commentary from the MWT-14 participants so think of it as a bonus feature XD
Before we begin with the MWT content, I shot some test footage from the rear of an early morning PATCO train running from Haddonfield to Lindenwold. I was hoping to GoPro an inbound express run, but unfortunately due to a screwup I had the GoPro in single shot mode and failed in my attempt. Oh well, I guess there's next year :-\
The next video runs from Temple University through to Jenkintown with an unfortunate stop at North Broad...for some reason. However that is partly made up for with an express run between Fern Rock and Jenkintown. Sorry for the rattling noise, this was my first time using the suction mount.
Continuing on our outbound SL-V train makes the run from Jenkintown to Lansdale.
While the outbound train on the Doylestown Branch was SL-IV stock, the return trip brought forth another set of SL-V's. Here is a full video run down the branch from Doylestown to Lansdale.
Continuing on our inbound train runs from Lansdale to Glenside.
And finally Glenside to Wayne Junction. It's the next best thing to being there!
Now I wasn't planning to video the MFL, but I was presented with a rear facing RFW so why the hell not! It wasn't a full recording because the barrery died and then the mount kept falling off the window so that's the reason for all the jump cuts.
After transferring to a Route 10 trolley (by way of Fern Rock), I once again stuck my camer onto a window, this time facing out the back as our SEPTA K-car traveled from 19th St all the way to 63rd and Malvern. Fun times!
Just because the trip is over doesn't mean my work is finished. Here I travel back with David Greenburger and his father on their way to Woodscret where they parked and rode. I alighted early when the train reached Haddonfield.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed all the videos. The GoPro is a really amazing little gizmo that will ensure a steady stream of front and rear railfan window for your viewing pleasure.
Always feels a bit funny when I am posting the MWT photo set in the middle of summer, although I did manage to beat the six month mark ;-) Anyway, for those who remember this year's MWT returned to Doylestown for the first time since the very first MWT all the way back in the year 2000. The time commitment to get all the way out to the end of the R5 always discouraged me from adding it to the itinerary, however by including a headway long photo stop at Lansdale and then using D-town as the lunch stop everything worked out. The rest of the trip included a stop at Wayne Jct, a trip on the Route 75 and finally a Route 10 trip out to Overbrook to return via the PRR leg of the R5.
This was the first year with my new GoPro camera which I was able to use to great effect both on the railfan window of our Silverliner V equipped trains and also the MFL and Route 10 vehicles. You can find all the still photos here, but stay tuned for the video in a separate post.
Starting out on a reverse peak train to Lansdale, our Silverliner V threaded its way past the Huntington conga line of trains waiting to cram their way into Roberts Yard to pay over until the evening rush. Here we see an inbound train with SL-V #864 passing the backup on track #1 including SL-IV #144.
The train with #144 was actually third in line to enter the yard...hence the term.
Back in that first MWT the small group of 4-6 people managed to get
invited into the cab of the Silverliner IV on the trip up. This time
our SL-V provided the railfan view for "free". Here we see SL-IV #184
at the Wayne Jct double slips.
Having arrived at Lansdale I grabbed this shot of SL-V #882 on the rear of our train as it leads off to Link Belt.
The inbound train with SL-IV #412 soon arrived from the same intermediate terminal.
In the Lansdale freight yard a variety of Penn Northern power was laying
over. Penn Northeastern hauls local freight on the SEPTA-owned former
Reading Bethlehem Branch. Here is former CN GP-9RM #7210.
Also hanging out was a properly painted PN SD40-2W #5342.
With the partial opening of Phase III of the New York Central High Line it was time to plan another trip to New York City to photograph it. Usually during the holiday season I am in an around the city for Nostalgia Train purposes, but this year I was interested in a bit better transit service and to hook up with some fellow Subchatters who prefer to spend their weekends outside the city limits, so I scheduled my trip for Boxing Day instead.
My secondary mission on this trip was to photograph some of the surviving interlocking towers on Metro North property due to some recent rumblings about demolition and I was able to cover both the former New York Central MO tower in Mott Haven and the former New Haven SS22 in New Rochelle. You can find both the tower and High Line photos in one gallery, right here
We begin with southbound RiverLINE LRV #3501a arriving at the Bordentown Station. With its $1.50 fare and free parking, even traveling with 2 people is cheaper than paying to park at Hamilton.
Who’s that hiding off to the side at Trenton? Why that’s SEPTA AEM-7
#2306 with its bomber trainset. Due to the quasi holiday SEPTA was
operating a modified timetable that did without the express runs.
MO Tower, situated at a wye junction en route to a major
downtown terminal, is likened to the ZOO tower of New York City. Prior
to the 1970’s the tower also controlled the Central’s Mott Haven coach
yard complex which was located to the north and was since overbuilt by
housing towers. The tower was closed during the 1980’s resignaling
projects and was boarded up about 10 years ago when the C&S forces
were moved into trailers.
Like most late model Central interlocking towers, MO was equipped with a
GRS Model 5 pistol grip type interlocking machine. These machines were
not very space efficient compared to the US&S counterparts
resulting in rather bloated lever counts which in turn required very
long towers. Note the Central era tower placards still denote the proper name of the interlocking.
Of course more than a few trains did pass by the area while I was taking
pictures of the tower. Here Shoreliner I #6213 brings up the rear of
an outbound push-pull trainset on track 1. I think many of the
push-pulls were deadheads to Hibridge Yard as they tended to stop on
track 1 for a while before continuing on.
One such trainset was hauled by P32AC-DM #216 with Shoreliner IV cab car #6221.
Inbound push-pull trainset with Shoreliner III cab car #6304 and P32AC-DM #208.
A few M-2/4/6 trainsets could still be found serving the morning rush.
