Grassroots Railroad Sports?

In reply to NickD :

I've ofttimes heard the Genesis units described as "The box the locomotive came in". 
 

I do not think whoever coined that phrase was wrong...

In reply to NickD :

Very cool pics, especially neat seeing such a vintage engine still in use.

In reply to Recon1342 :

To be fair, the F40 looked like the box that EMD F-units were shipped in.

For all the hate that the Genesis gets, they are a pretty impressive unit, as far as technologically. They are 14 inches shorter than the F40, allowing it over every Amtrak route and making it blend into the Amfleet cars better.It uses a monocoque design that makes it lighter, more aerodynamic, and fuel-efficient than all its Amtrak-era predecessors. It produces more horsepower (4,200) than the F40PH (3,000) while burning 22 percent less fuel. And it has dual-mode capability, so it can go into major cities without an engine change. Engineers love them, saying they're quiet, fast, comfortable and reliable (although now that they are headed for 30, they are starting to stack up failures).

Amtrak just compounds the weird styling with terrible new liveries.

ConnDOT's look awesome in the McGinnis New Haven livery

VIA Rail's also look pretty sharp, for what they are.

The Phase I livery even looks better, mostly because it's all sharp lines, which works with the angular creases on the Genesis

I think it'd be cool if Amtrak did more of a heritage system where all the Empire Service engines were painted in NYC lightning stripes, and engines on southwest services wore Santa Fe warbonnets and so on and so forth, but I understand the logistics of that could be nightmarish.

TheRX7Project said:

In reply to NickD :

Very cool pics, especially neat seeing such a vintage engine still in use.

NYS&W #3040 is 50 years young this year.  It helps that these days, she just makes slow (sub-30mph) trips with just a handful of cars, which means she doesn't get worked that hard. A couple weeks ago, she did suffer some sort of failure and NYS&W had to borrow one of MA&N's big Alcos (which are even older) to rescue #3040 and her train and then used it for a few days while she was getting fixed. She is fairly displaced from her original home, as well. She was originally delivered to the Atlanta & West Point, then that became part of Seaboard Coast Line, then CSX and then sold to NYS&W.

I noticed yesterday that her left fuel tank had some big dents in it, and the very same dents are visible in this 1973 photo, so she received those early in life and has carried them around.

In reply to NickD :

We get the NH-liveried ones around here fairly regularly, though I think I read something about CTDOT rebranding and repainting everything to something far less interesting. I'd love the heritage liveries too, but it's tough for a nationwide system. I really wish Metro-North would do up their Hudson and Harlem Line equipment in NYC colors, and do the west of Hudson stuff in whatever ran over there (E&L?).

The VIA Rail scheme is very European, which is a good thing. Quite frankly most modern European railroad schemes aren't flashy, but they always seem to look better than what Amtrak and other US passenger operators manage to come up with.

So, I saw yesterday that Adirondack #25, the rare 1-of-3 Alco RSC-2 that was facing the torch but was saved at the 11th hour by crowdfunding, was back on the rails. And then last night a post went up on Facebook that Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern was going to be dead-towing it to Remsen, NY today. I had the whole week off, so I woke up early, used Google Maps' satellite view to plot out the MA&N's route to Remsen, and then headed to Utica again. When I got there, they were shuffling some cars around with MA&N Alco C425s #2453 and #2456.

Then they backed down and coupled Adirondack #25 between #2453 and a hopper car. Also, since #25's brake system was entirely suspect, they routed an air hose to bypass #2453 and allow them to control all the train brakes from #2453, instead of needing two crews. Hooked up to #2453. the #25 looks pretty small.

And then, for the first time in 30 years, Adirondack #25 rolled out of the Utica yard.

You can hear the unique chant of Alco engines. While EMDs have a smooth purr, Alcos go clack-clack-clack-clack.

I then started a game of leapfrog, running ahead and waiting for them to come through. Good thing is that they were moving pretty slow. One of the Remsen Depot folks who was waiting at the same site as I said that the journal boxes on #25 had been completely full of water for an unknown amount of time. They had pumped the water out and greased the living daylights out of them, but the MA&N crew was still concerned about a hotbox or cutting an axle, so they were only moving at 10mph. 

Crossing over River Road in Marcy, NY.

Then off to where the MA&N crosses Morris Rd in Marcy.

At Cavanaugh Road in Marcy. The white hose is the air line that they used to bypass #25's brakes

At each stop, I met a different railfan tracking the progress. Then, at Holland Patent we all converged, plus a few more people. The Holland Patent depot is the old New York Central depot, as this is the former Adirondack Division. There was also an MA&N track crew present.

Then it was back on the road, with everyone scrambling in a half-dozen different directions. At just about every intersection I saw someone in the chase turning off on a different route. Apparently a lot of them went to where it crosses over Route 365 on a bridge, but I went to Sand Road in Barneveld, which I had seen on Google Maps. While waiting there, first a gentleman who was walking by stopped to ask me if I needed help. I explained what was going on and he got talking and said he had ridden the original 1979-1981 Adirondack Railway up to Lake Placid and said the stretch from Tupper Lake to Lake Placid was gorgeous, and that he was mad that the state was making the Adirondack Scenic Railroad tear the tracks up from Lake Placid down to Tupper Lake now. He said he attended the two meetings held by the state and tried to object but said that anyone who tried was pretty much talked over. An MA&N crew member in a truck also showed up and joked "This must be the berkeleying social event of the season. You guys are everywhere today." He was also griping about them tearing up the tracks, especially because the segment into Lake Placid was just rehabbed a few years ago with new ties, rail and roadbed. And then #2453 came snorting up the slight grade, puffing a plume of smoke in Alco fashion.

And finally, Remsen, NY. A good puff of Alco smoke here as well.

Final positioning on the display track will come in the spring, after the ex-Santa Fe Super Chief diner is trucked up from Utica as well.

MA&N #2456 showing off those clean Alco Century-series lines that made them so popular.

Everyone went inside the depot for coffee and donuts and to warm up, as it was sub-20 and very windy in Utica and only slightly warmer in Remsen. The MA&N engine crews and track crews also came in and got a warm thank you for helping with the move. I was also talking to a gentleman about family I had who worked on the Adirondack Division, only to realize it was John Taibi. Mr. Taibi has written numerous books on the NYO&W, lives in the old NYO&W depot in Munnsville, and I attended many of his lectures with my father when I was a kid. As soon as he said his name, I said "I know who you are. I'm Nick Dixon." He went "Oh my god, I haven't seen you since you were a *this* tall. You had more hair then." We spent some time catching up, and he asked how my parents were. It was good to see him. He is apparently working on a book on the Rome, Watertown & Ogdensburg Railroad aka Rotten Wood & Old Rusty Rails or the Hojack Line. The MA&N crew headed up to Boonville to dump off the hopper car at the Agway, while I headed for food and to go home. 

Last night, Western Maryland Scenic Railroad posted footage of C&O compound 2-6-6-2 #1309 moving under her own power for the first time in 65 years. C&O #1309 is historically important for being the last steam locomotive built by an American manufacturer for an American railroad (N&W built some engines in their own shops as late as '53 and Baldwin built some steam engines for India as late as '54-'55, as Baldwin was preparing to leave the market entirely)

C&O #1309 and #1302 doublehead with a coal train at Scarlet, WV in 1950.

In reply to NickD :

There was some daylight footage posted today too. 
 

I'm curious if they have solved some of their infrastructure issues. I know that they weren't certain if they could get #1309 onto their turntable. There was a curve approaching it that exceeded #1309's maximum curvature rating, and then there is a vertical gap up onto the turntable that they weren't sure it could negotiate either. 

In reply to NickD :

The vid didn't mention anything about the turntable, but did state #1309 wouldn't be seeing any action for a while due to the needed infrastructure upgrades. 

In reply to Pete Gossett (Forum Supporter) :

I know they have to add a bunch of ties. The FRA has a requirement for so many ties per feet, based on weight. Western Maryland #734 was a heavy engine, but #1309 is a whole 'nother level.

Taken at Lake Placid station on February 24th, 1980, the day that the US hockey team defeated the Finland hockey team at the Lake Placid Winter Olympics. Adirondack #28, an ex-D&H RS3, was frozen up, so a D&H Alco (you can see its headlight reflecting in #28's headlight) and Conrail #5711, a rare unrebuilt GP7, were used for power. Also note the Norfolk & Western steam heat generator car. When I was chasing the move of Adirondack #25, an MA&N crew was talking about the '79-'81 Adirondack Railway operation and how the cars were old cast-off junk that the steam heat leaked and didn't work very well on. Also, they weren't sure of what to expect for ridership, so when people from New York City were showing up at Utica and they needed a longer train, they would go grab a couple more cars. Those cars had been sitting unheated though, so they were completely cold-soaked and they would still be cold by the time they got to Lake Placid.

Adirondack #29 and Adirondack #25. While #25 wears the green and gold livery now, it actually never wore that paint scheme during the two years that the original Adirondack Railway operated. It instead wore the orange and light blue of previous owner Florida Power & Light

Adirondack #25 and other equipment at the interchange at Snow Jct. on 11/30/1981. It was waiting for Conrail to pick up the equipment after shutdown of the railroad. It, and the two RS-3s, were towed back to Utica and given to NYS&W. 

Those three ex-PRR P70 coaches ended up going to Austin Steam Train in Austin, TX, who ironically has not had an operable steam engine since 1999.

Parked at Thendara.

Crossing the Utica Marsh in 1980. It crossed this same spot this week, only 40 years later, in a different paint scheme and not under its own power.

I really like the blue and orange livery on it. Might have to try and do that in HO scale.

In reply to slowbird :

The #25 was nicknamed "the Tampa Tiger" by the Adirondack crew for the paint color

Conrail ex-NYC GP7s #5711 and #5792 with that N&W steam heat car and a mix of other equipment on their way to Lake Placid through Stittville on the Adirondack Railway Company. This is taken 3 days before the other photo of #5711 at Lake Placid, so the #28 must have been laid up a couple days. I believe the steam heat car had been used on the N&W's Chicago commuter operations that they inherited from Wabash when they merged.

Borrowed D&H RS-3 #4075 at Remsen on the Adirondack Railway. Notice the Olympic torch at far left. And the assortment of passenger cars. No bones about it, this was a thrown-together, last-minute, low-budget affair. 

Adirondack Railway #28 and #29 at Thendara being prepped for operations. Originally D&H units, they had been sold to Roberval & Saguenay Railroad in Camden and then were purchased by Adirondack Railway. #28 is still in the R&S blue and black, while #29 is in red oxide primer with the windows masked off, about to be painted in the dark green and gold.

#28, still in R&S colors, at the D&H's Colonie shops. The D&H gave them a once-over before shipping them up to Thendara

And #29 at Jonquiere, Quebec in 1970.

They then both were repainted to green and gold with Adirondack lettering.

After things fell apart in 1981, the #28 was sold to Buffalo Southern, who kept the paint scheme and lettering. From what I can find, the #28 was either briefly or never operated by Buffalo Southern and has since been used as a parts source. She's still there but in rough shape. The group that saved #25 has expressed interest in trying to save #28 and moving her to Remsen as well.

#29 was sold to New York, Susquehanna & Western, painted into their yellow and black and renumbered to #104. From the photos I can find, they operated it from '81-'85, and then it suffered some sort of mechanical failure and was set out and kicked around until the mid '90s and was sold to Cuyahoga Valley Scenic Railroad who parted it out and scrapped it.

Adirondack #25 after being handed over to NYS&W. This is at the Utica yard.

In front of the ex-DL&W, ex-E-L freight house.

Presumably during the parting-out procedure.