In reply to Duke :
Texas & Pacific F-units leading steam locomotives to the slaughter. David Page Morgan's The Mohawk That Refused To Abdicate recounts how on the Chicago & Illinois Midland, they were using an old ex-Wabash 2-10-2 for the same duty, and they didn't make it to their destination before the old 2-10-2 suffered a failure and diesels haf to come tow the whole thing away, adding insult to injury
We were visiting some friends in Vermont this weekend and came across these engines idling in White River Junction
There was a steam locomotive on display as well.
So, Saturday I drove east to the Saratoga, Corinth & Hudson for Operation Toy Train. I was already a little disappointed that they weren't using RS-3 #4118, despite it not being winterized, but was looking forward to catching them making a rare mileage run north of Corinth to Hadley, particularly over the high bridge over the Sacandaga River, and the day was slated to be warm and sunny all day.
So, let me say that in my experience that you get a railroad's operating practices pretty much memorized and that's the time they change things, and they will always manage to accidentally run things in the manner least desirable to a photographer. Normally, SC&H has their power pull the train south to Lamothe's Landing, in Greenfield Center, and then shove north back to Corinth, since they lack a runaround track at Lamothe's Landing. And when the SC&H does their springtime trips to Hadley for the Maple In April Festival, they always hook their Alco S-1 and S-2 on opposite ends of the train in a push-pull manner.
Well, when I got there, they were moving the consist around in the yard, they had "D&H" S-2 #3021 and Alco S-1 #5 hooked to the north end of the train back-to-back, and they had the "Greenwich & Johnsonville" (actually ex-Penn Central, I believe) caboose hooked up to the south end with a caboose whistle and a brake dump valve attached to the brake hoses. So clearly the plan was to shove south and then have the Alcos pull the train north to Corinth and on to Hadley. And the sun is literally directly over the track the whole way to the south, meaning I would get a lot of beautifully-lit shots of the caboose headed south, but every shot headed north would be horrifically backlit. Well, I was already there, so I might as well try, right? Between the two Alco switchers, they had a refrigerated boxcar that's been converted to a stationary museum display on the Adirondack Branch but would be serving as a mobile bandstand, a passenger car for the Operation Toy Train volunteers to travel in, the flatcar for Santa and Mrs. Claus and guests, and the caboose.
The winterized #4118 looks a bit derelict with the headlights removed, but that's because it's been put away for the winter and that keeps the wayward youth from knocking them out with rocks.
There's also this interesting Reading FA-1 cab sitting in the weeds. This was Reading #301, which was built as an FA-1, but then was part of an upgrade program by Alco to convert them to FA-2 spec with upgraded "250" engines, which were a later version of the 244 that Alco called a 250 to distance themselves from the 244 reputation. It ran for a few more years, broke the crankshaft and then was traded in on new C424s in '63. Alco was no longer building FAs, or the carbodies for them, and decided to saw the nose off of the #301 and hold onto it to sell if a railroad wrecked an FA and needed a new nose. No need for it ever arose, and the nose was still sitting around the factory when things shut down in 1969 and some guy bought it at the liquidation sale and parked it in his backyard for several decades.
Shoving south at South Corinth
Still shoving south just past the Spier Falls Road crossing. You can see that lighting is just rough.
Still southbound at Bockes Road, trying to make the trees work for me.
Stopped down to Lamothe Landing, where a local band performed some live music, a local BBQ joint provided free hot chocolate, and kids could visit with Santa, while folks could make toy donations.
The #3021 is actually not an ex-D&H engine, despite the number and paint. It was built in '42 for the US Army and did time on the Staten Island Rapid Transit, as well as previous operators of the ex-D&H Adirondack Branch, Upper Hudson River Railroad and Saratoga & North Creek Railroad, befor Hal Raven acquired it and gave it a makeover to look like D&H #3021. It's the oldest unit on the SC&H roster, with Alco #5 built in '47, and the two RS-3s turned out in 1952.
The big difference between the S-1 (#5) and the S-2 (#3021) is that the S-1 uses a naturally aspirated version of the Macintosh & Seymore 539 4-stroke inline-6 diesel, rated at 660hp, while the S-2 uses the same engine but with a turbocharger rated at 1000hp. The main spotting difference between the S-1 and S-2 is that the S-1 uses a smaller, single-panel radiator on the hood sides, while the S-2 uses a larger 2-panel radiator. The way to tell an S-1/S-2 apart from the later S-3/S-4 is that the S-1/S-2 use the interesting looking Blunt truck, while the later S-3/S-4 use a more conventional AAR truck.
Also, aside from the lighting, another issue from a photographic standpoint was the speed. Normally, SC&H pokes along at a pretty leisurely rate, to extend the trip out to a length that passengers feel they're getting their money's worth and to give them time to enjoy the scenery. But today, they had a set timetable to adhere to, and the primary purpose of the trip was to get the Operation Toy Train volunteers and the band to the stops to perform and collect toys at. I just barely caught them going past what I believe was an old crushed stone loadout on approach to Corinth.
The other side of the loadout ramp has been cut off and has had a concrete retaining wall installed. During the Saratoga & North Creek days, it had this mural painted on it, which depicts the S&NC's BL-2s in D&H-esque paint passing by the no longer extant Corinth depot.
I skipped the majority of the northward journey to Hadley, since there was really only two grade crossings in between, and instead hiked (or more like, stumbled) down to the riverside, then hopped across stones nearly to the middle of the river to get this shot of the consist crossing the Sacandaga River. Behind the railroad bridge is the intriguing Hadley Parabolic Bridge or Hadley Bow Bridge. Built in 1877, it is the only surviving iron semi-deck lenticular truss bridge in the state, and the only extant of three known to have been built. Unlike most of the Pauli, or lenticular truss, bridges that were built with the parabolic trusses above the deck, this one has the deck at the middle of the trusses. It's also very narrow, and was shut down in 1983, to automobiles first and then even pedestrians. Demolition was actually considered until efforts were made to save and restore it to service in 2006.
Probably the best photo of the trip, but I wish the locomotive and cars hadn't reflected the sun quite so much. And, of course, I wish it had been an RS-3 leading instead of an S-1 and S-2. Particularly odd was the inclusion of the #5, since I realized at Hadley that it had never been used all day. It wasn't that it was just idling around and not contributing, it wasn't even idling. Keep in mind that these S-series switchers are not equipped with M.U., so it would take two crews to operate. The only thing I can think was that they were either concerned about the #3021 developing mechanical issues, or that maybe there would be leaves covering the unused rails north of Corinth and they might need a helper.
Arriving at Hadley. The station says Hadley/Luzerne because Hadley and Lake Luzerne were two separate census-designated places, which were merged and then redlineated by the census at various times. Currrently they are two separate CDPs. The depot is currently used by Revolution Rail for their railbike operations, and they run north of Hadley. This is why SC&H cannot regularly run north and can only get waivers to run north during the railbike offseason.
Reversing downgrade to Corinth past the Antone Road crossing. Kind of amusing was that an SC&H employee had to come flag the crossing since the box for the crossing guard switchgear had gotten absolutely annihilated by an automobile in an accident and had blown the box right off the base and mangled it all up. Since this section of the line is basically dormant, it hasn't been repaired.
Tremont, PA:
Duke said:Tremon, PA:
Hey, I've ridden over those very rails. Last spring we took the R&N RDCs up to Tremont.
That was the old Lebanon and Tremont Branch of the Reading. The line beyond Good Spring was cut off in the 1970s and then in 1990 Conrail dumped that, as well as the line up to Minersville. They said there wasn't any profit in it, and the coal traffic was dying off. Andy Muller bought it, along with the line from Reading to Tamaqua and the lines up into Shenandoah and West Hazelton. This year they moved 1 million tons of anthracite off those lines, and tons of other traffic.
Conway Scenic announced today that for the first time in over 60 years, passengers will be able to ride up the MEC Mountain Division to Crawford Notch. Conway Scenic has never operated regular excursions up to Crawford Notch in the winter time since they acquired an operating lease for the former Mountain Division line in 1994. Part of that is because of adverse conditions in the winter, which was a big reason that Guilford/Maine Central stopped using the Mountain Division in 1983. I imagine that the diminished winter weather of recent years might be why Conway is willing to try it at least this year. They do have a restored and functional Russell V-plow and I'm curious if they'll dispatch any plow extras to keep the line clear.
Fighting the snow on the Mountain Division near the end. It's interesting that Richard Samsel caught #254 leading at two separate times. Also, in the second and third photos, one of the MEC's two RS-11s is hooked up behind the #254, with one of the GE U18B boats at the rear.
MEC #580 handling a "dimensional extra" at Crawford Notch.
In reply to 914Driver :
The Milwaukee Road's Skytop Lounges. They were designed by Brook Stevens, while the streamlined F7 Hudsons that pulled the Hiawathas were designed by Otto Kuhler. Wallace Abbey caught both of them in the same shot in a rather moody photo at Chicago.
The interior is also very striking. Although look at all those uniquely-shaped windows that they had to inventory. That had to have been a nightmare.
I've never ridden in (or even seen in person) a Skytop Lounge, but I have ridden in one of those Milwaukee Road Super Domes, as shown here two cars from the rear. Reading & Northern ended up with a pair of them through the Iowa Pacific Holdings Liquidation (as well as a similar ATSF full-length dome) and I rode it in Lehigh Gorge Scenic service, partially to say I've ridden all four classes of service on the LGSRy (Cab, coach, open-air, dome).
Interesting to think that that car that I rode up the Lehigh Gorge in, once raced it's way across the Pacific Northwest on the Milwaukee Road's Pacific Coast Extension behind an EP-1 boxcab, EP-2 "Bi-Polar", EP-3 "Quill" or "EP-4" Little Joe electric.
Hell, that dome car may very well have been pulled by one of those exotic Fairbanks-Morse "Erie-Builts", since those were retired in the early-60s, and the SuperDomes came online in '52.
What would have pulled a UP domeliner from Chicago to (or beyond) Boise Idaho in 1957? This is me and Mom in a photo by Pop.
In reply to TurnerX19 :
If I had to guess on the train, it was probably the City of Portland, which originated in Chicago and made a stop in Boise and was dome-equipped.
Guessing at power, it most likely would have been EMD E7s, E8s orr E9s, through process of elimination.
That leaves the E7s, E8s and E9s. The E7s were delivered in August of 1946 and were retired in '61-'63. The E8s began to arrive in 1950 through to 1953, and retirement started in 1968 but a lot of them lasted until the end of passenger service, with some of them being purchased by Amtrak. And the E9s showed up in dribs and drabs in 1954, 1955, 1956, 1961, 1962 and 1963, and, again, a lot of them lasted until the Amtrak era and Union Pacific still owns a handful for executive service, although they haven't run in quite a few years because they need new wheels (E-units use a different size wheel than Geeps, SDs and F-units and they are not available new).
Now, there are a couple of possible, but unlikely outliers.
One is also a Fairbanks-Morse "Erie-Built". Union Pacific had a roster of 13 "Erie-Builts" (F-M never assigned a model name to these, the name was given by railfans, since they were assembled at GE's Erie, PA plant), which was 8 A-Unit and 5 B-Units. Purchased in '46, their poor reliability and oddball nature did not impress the UP. Several sources have stated that the units were used in passenger service until 1953 when sufficient EMD E8s arrived to take over most, if not all, passenger trains. Railroad records also state that the Erie-builts were then converted to freight service. UtahRails.com does note that no photos have surfaced that show the F-M units in freight service though, and there are numerous photos that show them in continued passenger service throughout the 1950s, right up to their retirement in 1960 and 1961. So, theoretically, one may have pulled that train in '57, although I feel like UP probably would not have assigned an Erie-Built to a dome-equipped train unless there was no other option, since they were pretty much ready to throw in the towel on them in '53, at not even 10 years old.
The other possible option would be an Alco PA-1. UP originally ordered Baldwin "Centipedes" for passenger service, but Baldwin took forever to start building the Centipedes, and UP's reps heard about the nightmarish reliability on other roads, so they canceled the un-started order and purchased eight PA-1s and six PB-1s. Union Pacific wasn't very happy with these either, and reportedly converted them to freight service, like Erie-Builts (PRR and LV did something similar with their PAs) but that wasn't until 1958. So it's possible, but again, unlikely due to the poor reliability. UP was going to assign the newest and best power to any City trains but there could have been some sort of shortage that pressed PAs into service.
TLDR: almost certainly an E7, E8 or E9, with an extremely low chance it was an Erie-Built or PA-1.
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