Lowville & Beaver River #1950, a couple cars, and MA&N #645 in pusher service. There are some pretty rickety bridges and some very light rail at some of the customers, so the NA&N Northern Division would run the #645 and one of the 44-tonners together. The 44-tonners could run over the couple real bad bridges or work some of the sidings, and the M420W would provide the horsepower once the trains were built. The big Alcos also tended to be brought out for punching through snow in the winter.
Lowville yard. MA&N #806, an ex-EL/BCRail C424 is visiting from the Southern Division. This is now the #2456 and wears the grey, yellow, and red GVT corporate colors. You also have L&BR #1951 and #1950 behind it and a Plymouth 66-tonner from Benson Mines in Newton Falls. Also, check out the awesome square-body Chevy hi-rail truck
The Milk Truck Crash: July 7th, 1997, the #1951 was crossing Ridge Road near Dadville, and the guarding had signs but no gates or flashing lights. A milk truck failed to yield the crossing and struck the #1951 and knocked it just about perpendicular to the rails. The milk truck driver and #1951's engineer were both injured but no fatalities. The #1951 was rerailed and repaired.
The #645 switching cars at Newton Falls Fine Paper Mills. The closure of the paper mill in 2007 was really the death knell for the Northern Division. The state actually began rehabilitating the Carthage-Newton Falls line before the Paper Mill's future was set in stone, perhaps hoping that the paper mill would pull itself together or that improved rail service (the track rehab bumped speeds from 5mph to 30mph) might save it, and continuing once the mill was gone in hopes that it might attract new industries.
I'm sure this has been posted here before now, maybe even by me ( ! ) but I'll post it anyway, since I drive past this site a couple times a week, on average.
The Railroad Historical Society of Northern New York is based out of Croghan, NY, on the eastern end of the L&BR. They ran some passenger trips using a mix of passenger cars from the RF&P, NYC and PRR, a gondola converted to an open air car and a couple cabooses of mixed heritage, with the L&BR 44-tonners for power. Well, one member of the RRHSoNNY, Livingston "Liv" Lansing, wanted to have a steam locomotive to use, and since the only surviving L&BR steam locomotive, 2-8-0 L&BR #1923, was rotting away at Steamtown he purchased a 1918 Lima 2-truck Shay built for the Oklahoma Portland Cement Company and shipped it north to haul excursions, around 1991. In 1994, for Steamtown National Historic Site's big opening weekend, "Lowville & Beaver River #8" was shipped south to Scranton for the big event. These photos show it being loaded and transported. To get it on a flatcar, they cut the rails, lifted them up level with the flatcar and built cribbing under them, then coupled a flatcar between the #1951 and the Shay and shoved it up on with the 44-tonner. The smokestack, headlight, number plate, and whistle were removed, and it was then towed to the interchange by MA&N #806 and hauled south to Scranton for display.
A somewhat more modern view of the Triple Crossing
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The #8 was run sparingly between '91 and '01 and was supposedly a wretched old mule. One MA&N engineer says he got to operate it on one of the trips and said he spent the whole next day walking the right of way looking for parts that rattled off. He said he refused to sign off on any certification paperwork on it after that. It was knocked out of service by the FRA for needing extensive boiler work and when the historical society looked into getting it up to par, they found lots of other issues, like crankshaft cracking and frame issues. It sits outside at Croghan, unlikely to see another fire anytime soon.
The L&BR/MA&N Northern Division certainly made for some odd sights.
Like an ex-Transportacion Ferroviaria Mexicana SD40-2 (originally built for the Milwaukee Road) alongside the little L&BR #1951 at Carthage. The SD40-2 now belongs to KCS de Mexico and was in the area on a pooled-power run with CSX.
Ignore that modern Ford truck on the right and this photo could almost pass for being taken in the '50s
The #1951 taking coal cars up to the Newton Falls line to store
Headed north at Diana Center. I like the trees growing in those cars.
The odd couple, MA&N M420W #642 and L&BR #1951 rolling through Carthage to tie down for the night.
The #642 tiptoeing through the weeds at Remington Corners. The crews were always careful with the bigger Alcos when they had to break them out, because it was pretty light rail underfoot.
At Carthage with a cut of cars. You can see just how bad that track was.
The #806 at the pulp and paper mill at Lyons Falls, it's primary customer at Lyons Falls
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The #1950 crossing the Black River near Lowville.
On the subject of M420Ws and northern New York, M420W #3753 is on the move from Phillipsburg to its new home on the Adirondack Railroad. $150 dollars of that locomotive belongs to me, lol.
1988RedT2 said:A somewhat more modern view of the Triple Crossing
At least CSX doesn't own all-3 lines.
In reply to NickD :
I wonder if they'd sell that Shay for scrap value? Not that I have anyplace to park it.
In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :
RRHSoNNY has a car shed at Croghan. But the Shay sits outside. Inside the shed they have a Rutland combine that was purchased by O. Winston Link. About a year ago, some guy was making rumblings of reactivating the line from Lowville to Carthage to run excursions over, even purchased a side-rod 45-tonner from the American Car & Foundry auction and shipped it up there. I'm betting the historical society is hoping they can convince that guy to go in halves or something to get the Shay running again and lease it to him.
Freshly-arrived Adirondack #1502 leading a northbound train. The #1502 is a true boomer unit as well, having been around a few railroads. It was built as an F3A for the Gulf, Mobile & Ohio. Then, after the GM&O/Illinois Central merger, it became part of the Illinois Central Gulf roster and hauled freight and Chicago area commuter runs. Then, in the '70s it was sold to Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority and was rebuilt into an FP10 at IC's Paducah shops. The FP10s had a 480V HEP generator installed, received dynamic brakes on those that weren't equipped, F9-style stainless steel grilles on the carbody, and red marker lights over the number boards to allow them to serve as an End of Train Device in push/pull operation, as well as just a general overhaul. They did not receive 645 power packs though, retaining their 567 engines in unmodified form. MBTA retired their FP10s in the '90s, and the #1502 was one of four sold to Metro North and repainted in the Metro North silver/red/blue. Metro North retired it in the 2000s, and it was purchased by Adirondack Scenic Railroad to pair up with #1508, since the #1500 was out of service with a broken prime mover. In these photos, they had given it a quick makeover by painting over the red stripes with more silver and adding Adirondack lettering, but today it wears (faded and rusty) green, yellow and black.
I'm following along on Facebook trying to find out if anyone knows the route and ETA of Adirondack #3753 at Utica. I have vacation time to burn and I have money invested in it's purchase, so I would kind of like to catch it being delivered to Utica. No luck yet.
In reply to NickD :
A friend invited me to join an Illinois Terminal RR Facebook group yesterday & I found these pics.
This is the interurban depot at Fithian, IL. I'd last driven past it about a decade ago & it was still standing in decent shape, but didn't really look like it was being used.
Apparently someone has not only restored it, they built a matching addition onto the rear of the building. The post didn't specifically state, but I presume it's being used as a residence now.
I always though the ITRR didn't really make much sense, as it's right of way was only feet away from the Big Four tracks most of the way between Danville & Urbana, and again from Champaign to at least Monticello & I think all the way to Decatur. Granted, the IT not only ran throughout downtown Danville, it also had a sub southward through a few towns, as well as subs southward & northward from Ogden to Homer, and Urbana to Rantoul - but all of those towns were also serviced by other railroads at the time.
The Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington has announced their Steam & Sleighs To SeaLyon Farm event in February, which was the event I went to last year where I road the Maine 2-footer. And it was a lot of fun and I wouldn't mind going again, but I'm holding out hoping that they do another winter reunion like they did 2 or 3 years ago, where they had all three operating Maine 2-footers, WW&F #9, Bridgton & Saco River #7, and Monsen #3, all running.
Canadian Pacific D-10 4-6-0 #453 being moved by the MA&N to the Rome Locomotive Works in the winter of '89. That was a pretty tragic story. O. Winston Link had purchased the #453 from Canadian Pacific in 1960 and had it moved down to Elizabethport, NJ. He'd have rather had an N&W engine, I'm sure, but there were none to be had and there was plenty of Canadian steam still around in 1960. It was moved around from there to Sparrows Point, MD and then to Newfoundland, NJ in 1974. In 1989 he had it sent north to here in Rome to be restored at Rome Locomotive Works, which was running a locomotive overhaul shop out of the old Pettibone Crane factory. It was actually towed up the mainline from Elizabethport, NJ to here in Rome, which is something that is now unthinkable. I'm sure if you asked CSX nowadays to move a derelict steam locomotive over the mainline, your ears would ring for the next year from the resounding "No" they'd give you.
I'm not sure if the plan was a cosmetic or an operational restoration, but things went to hell. O. Winston Link's (second, much younger) wife was found to be having an affair with owner of Rome Locomotive Works, RLW's owner was trying to scam Link out of a bunch of his money, the wife was trying to have Link declared "mentally unwell" so she could take full control of his estate, and there were allegations that she had locked him in the basement of the house and wasn't allowing him out of the house or allowing visitors. Rome Locomotive Works went out of business, the #453 was thrown back together with a lot of parts missing, it was given a quickie paint job and put on display at a siding on the NYS&W's Utica Division where it sat for years. A couple years back it was bought by a private owner and spirited away to Virginia and hasn't been seen since. O. Winston Link also owned an N&W caboose, which is on display in Roanoke, and the ex-Rutland combine up to Croghan, NY.
This is the "Dignitary Run" from 1995 that carried a lot of media, politicians, state people and invited guests to show what the line had to offer from Utica to Thendara. NYC RS-3 #8223 took the freshly built "Mountain View" open air Pullman and four coaches north from the MA&N yard to Thendara, and "NYC" SW-1 #705 followed behind with two empty coaches as protection power in case of emergency. The trip was the first such excursion from Utica to Thendara and predated major track work, so it was done at slow speeds. Sadly, there was a pall over the trip, because Harris Dexter, founding member of Adirondack Railway Preservation Society, suffered a fatal heart attack while trying to get the train ready the morning of the trip in the Utica yard. The railroad later on ran a funeral train from Thendara to Big Moose for him.
This was about 5 years before MA&N reconstructed one of the platform tracks, so the passengers embarked right in the MA&N yard. This was also during the early years when they were shooting for a revived NYC look, so not only are the locomotives in Central colors, but the passenger cars are painted Pullman Green with New York Central lettering as well.
Crossing Old Route 12, the #8223 is flying white flags, indicating it is an extra, unscheduled train.
Going over the Moose River at Minnehaha
Arriving at Thendara.
Sadly, this is a sight not to be repeated, since #8223 is no longer in use by Adirondack. They leased it from a group, and last I heard negotiations had entirely broken down between the owners and the Adirondack with no hope of reconciliation. The #8223 sits out of service at Utica and is supposed to eventually be trucked out and moved to a new home. A lot of bad blood there, between the #8223 and some MLW M420-TR that sits in the MA&N yard. I don't know what the story is with the M420-TR, but it's supposedly a real ugly tale and no one wants to talk about it.
Adirondack's new M420W was spotted in Wharton, NJ yesterday. Still can't find anyone who knows the ETA for its arrival in Utica.
Must be a slow news day down in Lancaster.
A woman and her father are complaining about the whistles at Strasburg after living in the area all their life, saying that they're more frequent, running earlier in the day and later in the evening, and are more annoying. The Paradise Township board of supervisors says this is the only complaint that they've gotten and Strasburg says there has been no change in operating schedule.
On one hand, its the same infuriating issue that race tracks have: the railroad has been there and operating since 1832, you moved into the area some time after that, you're at fault, not the business that's been there.
On the other hand, Strasburg's response is...strange. They seem to be acting perplexed by the complaint and are willing throw #611 under the bus for the noise, when the real cause is that they put a PRR "banshee" whistle on the #89 this summer for the first time in 5 years, they were running #611 pretty early in the morning to get it down to the Leaman Place end for the In-Cab Experience sessions, and they were also running Sleepy hollow-themed trains at 6:45pm and 8:00pm through the fall.
I could see people getting irritated by a PRR Banshee whistle (although the fact that it is so irritating is what makes it a good warning device)
In other (very significant) news, the last surviving Alco RSD-4 in the world passed through town on her way home to Ely, Nevada. No pictures, but what a sight!
https://elynews.com/2021/11/16/unique-locomotive-returning-to-ely/
She was built in 1951 and purchased by Kennecott Copper for use on the Nevada Northern Railway, and remained there until 1982. In 1984, she was donated to the Northwest Railroad Museum, where she remained in operation until this year, when the Nevada Northern raised the money to bring her home.
That's one hell of a tow rig!
In reply to Recon1342 :
That was actually the second half of a move too. Northwest Railroad Museum had an ex-Northern Pacific Alco HH660, #125, at the Port of Longview that had been donated to them back in 2001 that they had never had moved to their site in Snowqualmie. So the truck picked up #125 at Longview and hauled it to Snowqualmie and then unloaded the #125 and loaded up #201 and headed for Ely.
They are also getting a second original Nevada Northern locomotive, SD7 #401, which hauled the last general revenue train on the NN in 1983. She's now owned by the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power at their facilities in Delta, Utah. It's been kept in excellent shape and has been repainted in the original Nevada Northern colors. This one has a much shorter move than the #201, but it has to be shipped over the Loneliest Road in America, US Highway 50. This is a narrow two-lane highway that crosses some of the most desolate areas in the country and includes Connors Pass, elevation 7,729 feet, 8% grades at parts and lots of curves.
Both these moves over the highways are costing $250 per mile!
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