Jersey Mike's Rail Adventures

The Gasden Purchase was the last territorial expansion of the contiguous United States. It was carried out by the Pierce administration back in 1853 as part of an effort to build a transcontinental railroad and expand slavery into the west. Needless to say the civil war intervened and the transcontinental railroad was constructed on a more northerly alignment in 1869. It would be 11 years later when the Southern pacific would compete its route from LA to El Paso, with that particular railroad eventually stretching to New Orleans.

In 1895, the Southern Pacific began operation of the Sunset Limited, making it the oldest continually operated named train in the United States. It's path, from New Orleans to Los Angeles via the Gasden OPurchase, became informally known as the Sunset Route. Last year I attempted to photograph this route, but unfortunately Dan Aykroyd's private car busted my attempt. This year my view was unobstructed and you can view the full set of photos here.

In 2015 Amtrak was running the eastbound Sunset Limited 2 hours ahead of its usual schedule to accomidate Union Pacific track work. This year it was back on the normal 10pm departure which meant that I got two hours of additional sunlight in the morning and two less in the evening. I woke up as the train was stopped at the Maricopa, AZ station (which is the closest Amtrak gets to Phoenix) where, for some reason, former CBQ California Zephyr observation car #375 is on display. WRONG ROUTE MORONS!

Here we see passengers hanging out on the Tuscon station platform for an extended smoke break. The train was a good 20 or so minutes early into Tuscon so the break was a bit longer than normal. SP 2-6-0 Mogul #1673 was on display, but was unfortunately stuck behind several layers of terrorist grade fence.

My perch for this part of this trip was Amtrak Superliner I sleeping car #32016, which was destined for Chicago on the Texas Eagle.

Here we see the Tuscon Amtrak Station platform with the baggage ramps and refueling truck. It appears that in the resent past the station used an island platform configuration with a passenger/baggage tunnel, however the tracks were re-aligned and passengers no longer use the ramp.

Here UP AC4400 #6630 and SD70M #4233 are flat switching doublestack well cars at the west end of Tuscon Yard.

Over at the engine pit UP SD70M #4126 was coupled to ES44AC #7977.

Stack train lashup at Tuscon Yard with UP ES44AC #8266, SD70ACe #8437 and second ES44AC #7930.

UP SD70ACe #8534 was attached to the rear on DPU duty.

Flat switching yard power lead by remote controlable UP GP39-2 #1211, SD40N #1699 and AC4400 #7286.

Surviving Southern Pacific cantilever signal at 36TH ST interlocking at the east end of the Tuscon yard.

Don't let the headlight food you. UP SD70ACe #8482 is actually a DPU pushing on the rear of a merchandise train.

The Sunset Limited offers some unique scenery like saguaro cacti which, contrary to popular belief, are only located in the Sonoran Desert in southern Arizona and northern Mexico. This example is located in the hills south of Saguaro National Park. Pro tip, don't hug cacti. They can defend themselves somehow.

Prickly pear cacti are also common in this area, with some of the patches growing quite large.

The famous Cienega Creek viaduct where track 1 flies over track 2. Between Vail, AZ and Benson, AZ the two main tracks split and take different routes through the Rincon Mountains. The current track 2 was the original alignment, while track 1 was a later, low grade alignment.

Southern Pacific style signal with an old railroad water tower in the background.

UP AC4400 #6173 and SD70ACe #8982 wait patiently for the Sunset to pass ahead of them and their doublestack intermodal train at the CHAMISO crossovers near Mescal, AZ.

If you think the Benson, AZ AmShack is the most "minimalist" station on the Amtrak network...you'd actually be wrong ;-)

Meanwhile, the old Southern Pacific station goes to waste.

New and old bridges over the Ponerene Canal.

UP SD70M #5110 in the leading pair of engines powering a westbound intermodal train near Sibyl, AZ. Oh, that is the tail end of an NS unit you see there.

Since 2010, UP has double-tracked most of the Sunset Route between LA and El Paso, which had previously operated as a single track with passing sidings outside of hilly areas. Here we can see the new second track complete with 50mph high speed turnouts that came with it.

One of several salt flats the line traverses. The new track as concrete ties while the older track has wood. This makes it easy to see where the second track was added since 2010.

New concrete and salvaged wooden ties near Karro, AZ. Yes, that mile marker has four digits and it is counting up from San Francisco via the Coast Sub.

The Sunset Route is much less mountainous than the other transcontinental lines, but there are still a few like these examples near the NM-AZ border.

Alkali flats. Exactly what it says on the interlocking.

Some derailment action at Lordsburg. Side lift cranes help to re-rail some tank cars while UP ES44AC #7705 looks on.

Brand new UP SD70AH road freight unit #9002 flat switching in the Lordsburg yard.

UP ES44AC #7770 and friends for some reason had uncoupled from their train of autoracks near Lisbon, NM.

It was an all EMD consist powering this unit dry materials train near Borrow Pit, NM. Two UP SD70ACes were on point while SD70ACe #8309 and an unidentified SD70M road the rear.

More EMD power with UP SD70ACe #8545 laying over at Deming, NM.

Southwestern Railroad GP40 #9946 pulling a single tank car with an authentic Quonset hut in the background, Deming, NM.

A pair of Southwestern Railroad SD40-2's, #3910 and #3776, also in Deming, NM.

Remember that Benson, AZ Amshack station? Well Deming, NM actually has it beat because it utilizes an active level crossing as its platform! (In addition to having a pretty bare bones passenger shelter.)

I'll close out this set with a pair of UP SD70M's (#4301 and #4903) in Deming yard.

See you next time as we descend through The Pass in the the valley of the Big River.

At Deming, NM I decided to take an hour off for lunch and was able to just make it back as the eastbound Sunset Limited began the descent down into El Paso, TX. This involved crossing the unimaginatively named "Big River" before making an extended smoke stop, the first since Tuscon. While last year I struggled to get good photos with the private car in the way, this year there were no such impediments and I was able to document the entire El Paso terminal area, coming and going.

You can catch all the photos in this set here.

Lunch was slightly delayed so I was only able to make it back for the east end of the brand new Union Pacific Santa Teresa Yard, which was built on hundreds of acres of desert just west of El Pasto. The new yard coincided with the double track capacity expansion project on the Sunset Route to ease the flow of goods from the Port of LA to the interior of the country. The new yard contains not one, but TWO 7 track fast fuel pads to efficiently gas up trains as they cross the country.

Hanging out on a yard track were UP AC4400 #5714 and ES44AC #5298 couple to a pair of cars.

Entering the yard from the east was a westbound train powered by UP ES44AC #7370, SD70ACe #8376 and an unidentified former Southern Pacific C40-8W I just wasn't able to get in frame. Note the low cost LED signal lamps using a limited number of LEDs for that classy grainy look.

A pair of UP AC4400's, #6765 and #5795, in the super rare "Kissing Lincolns" configuration.

How much power does one train need? Well this Union pacific jobber needed six units, ES44AC #8068, SD70ACe #8497, SD70M #4295 and #5231, SD40N #1735 and not-quite so leet GP40-2 #1377. #5231 was actually the last engine delivered of UP's monster 1453 unit order of SP70M's in 2000.

Starting down the grade into El Paso. You can see the escarpment created by the erosion from the Big River.

S-curves and rock cuts on the way down.

At the Lizard crossover we were held to allow our opposite, Amtrak Train 1, the westbound Sunset Limited, to pass. It was being powered by P42DC's #192 and #186. I was also surprised to see heritage baggage car #1241 following right behind as I had assumed they had all been retired by now. This will likely be my last shot of a heritage baggage car in service.

The train appeared to have some extra cars and I was told second hand that it had former Amtrak CEO Joe Boardman on board, a fact I could not confirm.

If you are interested, here is what Train 1's passing looked like in real time.

I think Donald Trump had been here, because someone had erected a big beautiful border wall. Incidentally, this whole trip was made possible because of the 1853 Gadsen Purchase I had mentioned in my previous post, that moved the border south to make way for a transcontinental railroad alignment.

Crossing the Big River, this time on the track 1 bridge. Last year my train used the track 2 bridge.

After pulling into the El Past station I noticed that a pair of UP ES44AC's, #7366 and #7908, were waiting to highball westbound with an intermodal train. Unfortunately it appeared that Tower 196, something I had not been able to photograph well last year, had been recently demolished along with the old fast fuel pad :-(

Amtrak's historic El Paso station is a popular smoke stop and also sees a lot of traffic.

Amtrak P42DC engine #77 staring down a Diverging Clear signal at CIVIC CENTER interlocking as the station work was completed.

The former Southern Pacific main line is carried through downtown El Paso via this three-track trench alignment.

Union Pacific AC4400 #6518 and SD70ACe #8862 wait to proceed eastbound in the old El Paso yard with a train of autoracks. With the new Santa Teresa yard west of town, the old yard, in sight of downtown El Paso, is noticeably empty.

The El Paso locomotive service facility is still humming, despite the change in yard operations. Sitting outside the bard today are UP SD40N #1852, SD70M #5082 and GP40-2 #1338. Surprisingly UP does not actually have an engine #1337, much to the chagrin of nerds everywhere.

The old fuel pad required engines to be swapped out for servicing. A time consuming and inefficient operation. BTW, note the 9000 series standard cab C40-8 far in the background.

At ALFALFA we passed UP AC4400 #7097 and brand new ET44AC #2655 waiting to depart the yard.

Once known as the Alfalfa Intermodal Facility at El Paso, today the yard is the hub of the city's industrial freight operations as the container traffic is now handled at Santa Teresa. Tank cars are well represented due to the large number of nearby refineries and chemical plants.

Well that's it for this segment. Next week things will slow down a bit as we take off across the ranch lands of west Texas. For anyone who thinks the trick is wrapping up, not to worry. El Paso is actually closer to Orange, California than Orange, Texas!

I've mentioned before that Orange, CA is closer to El Paso than Orange, TX. On the Sunset Limited one doesn't to sleep in Texas and then wakes up, still in Texas. Texas takes a full 24 hours to cross and all while that space has to filled with something, in practice a good half of it it is filled with essentially nothing. West Texas is simply mile after mile of scrubland, dotted with mesas, that has been fenced off and organized into "ranches" where the primary economic activity appears to be maintaining fences, shooting things and prepping for the end times. Aside from never having to drive to a shooting range, the best thing the region has to offer is a 75mph speed limit on two lane roads.

Since this year my Train 2 was running to the normal schedule instead of two hours ahead, I had 2 hours less daylight to photograph the UP Valentine Sub and by the time we reached Alpine, TX it was time to pack it in. Nevertheless, I was still able to get enough content for a reasonable photo set, but if you want to appreciate the full John Ford-esque beauty (or starkness) you can see the full set of pictures here.

We start shortly outside of El Paso where the tracks are lined by miles of nut tree (I assume almonds, but they could have also been pecans or something else) groves. Nuts are very water intensive, so what better place than a desert to plant them! Despite regional water shortages, last year when I passed through the groves had actually been flooded similar to a rice paddy. And people wonder why the Big River is so easy to cross these days.

The line is punctuated by frequent small bridges over dry river beds that can quickly become raging torrents during during rain events. When it isn't raining the bridges are used by off road vehicles to cross the tracks. This area, east of Tornillo, was one of the few not fenced in as a ranch so it was attracting quite a bit of public land use.

This strange structure at McNary is what I have to believe is an illegal immigrant detector, making use of various sensors to detect if anyone is hitching a ride on the train.

The western part of the line actually runs quite a distance from the parallel US 90 or I-10, further increasing the sense of isolation.

Sun position was becoming a problem as we passed UP SD70M #5105 and another UP SD70ACe in the Sierra Blanca siding.

UP ES44AC #8087 sits all by itself on a dump siding in Sierra Blanca.

After diverging over the 50mph high speed turnout at Sierra Blanca, we crossed under Interstate 10 and continued on past Southern Pacific vintage signals before meeting a stored string of seemingly new TOFC containers on the Hot Wells siding.

We also passed a couple of MoW bugs stored on the Hot Wells team track.

Ranch houses like this give of a very colonial vibe, and I mean colonial in the 19th century African Boer sense.

Doublestack well cars stored in the Lobo siding with more f$^#ing unsustainable nut trees!

Well here is a rare bird. This un-rebuilt UP AC6000 is attached to a more conventional GE unit and leading up a long string of empty TOFC cars. This sort of under-utilization compared with less reliability is why most of the 1990's 6000hp beasts were downgraded to 4400hp.

The only town of any size between El Paso and Alpine was Marfa.

The sun was becoming such a problem that I was forced to skip surveying several swaths of track. However, a timely intervention by some clouds provided both a reprieve and an opportunity.

Paisano Jct is where the South Orient Railroad branches off the Sunset Route for a run to the border and the Presidio–Ojinaga International Rail Bridge. The bridge has been out of service since it was damaged by fire in 2008, but there are plans to repair it.

Prior to Alpine, the line passes through a set of hills that mark the beginning of a curvier part of the route.

Compared with the surrounding scrubland, Alpine has a lot going for it.

Amtrak P42DC's #77 and #182 get a new engineer at Alpine.

The fairly new station platform only covers part of the train. The part the cars that don't fit must use the highway grade crossing and the ballast.

And on that Sunset it's time to call it a day. Next time we wake up in the completely different environment of East Texas where the scrub is replaced by grass and the cool dry air is replaced by SUFFOCATING HUMIDITY!

While not the sort of disaster that took up weeks or months of headlines, East Texas received quite a bit of rain in early June 2016, driving some rivers to record highs and causing rail congestion due to washouts and wet spots. The Sunset Route was no exception and about 10 days before by trip went off, a 50 foot high Brazos river severely undermined one of the supports of a rail bridge in Rosenburg, TX forcing detours for all involved.

While this sort of situation can result in massive delays or outright cancellations, I managed to luck out with a rare mileage detour and, ironically, decreased congestion as competing freight trains were either parked or sent on even longer detours. What delays there were stemmed from Union Pacific's decision to throw all available M of W forces at the temporarily empty Glidden Sub to complete the outstanding track work in the absence of freight traffic.

You can see all the photos I took between Luling, TX and Rosenburg here

While the water level had dropped considerably across the region, vintage truss bridges like this 1902 example over the San Marcos River, are still vulnerable to extreme flood events. On this bridge UP had rebuilt the approach trestles, but the original trusses and supports remain.

A Southern Pacific era cantilever mast lives on at the west end of the Harwood siding located at MP 144 on the Glidden Sub. Mileposts run from Houston.

A trio of UP SD70M's (#5075, #3973 and #4881) were sitting on the Harwood siding at the head of a merchandise freight trains.

We passed some BNSF run-through traffic at Waelder, TX with ES44C4 #6724 and C44-9W #4017.

Traffic was stacked up on the siding at Flatonia, TX as UP freight trains transferred to the Cuero Sub to bypass the bridge at Rosenburg. Seen here are two 8000-series SD70ACe's, a 3400-series SD40N and SD70M #4879.

The old Southern Pacific interlocking tower at Flatonia has been preserved downtown.

At Engle, dark storm clouds were looming. Probably the last thing this part of Texas needed.

UP MoW insepction car EC-5 was sound with AC4400 #5817 on the Engle siding.

A trio of excavators prepare to lift a fully assembled palate switch for the Schulenburg, TX team track. Crossings were not working so my train had to proceed slowly, stopping every minute or so for a crewmember to stop highway traffic so the train could proceed.

MoW vehicles at Schulenburg.

1914 bridge over the Navidad River.

Seemingly endless MoW parade at Weimar, TX.

In Weimar, UP workers were handling flagging duties.

A welded rail train was on hand in Glidden Yard with AC4400's #5891 and #7147 while D70M #5225 looks on in the background.

Evidence of recent flooding at the Colorado River bridge.

In Eagle Lake, TX I caught Cotton Belt painted GP60 #1011 paired up with HLCX SD40-2 #1844 with another welded rail train on the siding.

The rail train itself was powered by Southern Pacific AC4400 #6251 and UP ES44AC #8259.

We next ran into a sand train on the East Barnardo siding with UP AC4400 #5794 and a pair of SD70ACe's, #8681 and #8651.

As we pulled into Rosenburg we passed another MoW parade, this one included a rather stout crane.

Well that's it for this week. Next time join me for a very special detour on the BNSF Galveston and Maywaka subs.

In late May and June, 2016, Texas was subjected to a record setting amount of rainfall that caused the Brazos river, just west of Houston, to rise to a level of 53'. While the flooding snarled rail traffic in the area for the typical reasons like downed trees and washouts, at the former Southern Pacific Glidden Sub bridge over the Brazos River, just east of the railroad town of Rosenburg, a far more serious defect developed about 10 days prior to my. The support pier between the easternmost truss and the approach trestle was undermined by water scour and dropped down about 4 feet, rendering the bridge impassible.

Now at first I was worried that the bridge's extended outage would result in a trip ruining bustitution. However, I should have had more faith in Amtrak because when Plan A isn't available, it's time for Plan B! That's right, instead of a ruined trip I was treated to that that wonderful Amtrak event, a rare mileage detour. Instead of rolling into Houston on the Glidden Sub as I had the year before, my train would be rerouted at the famous Tower 17 south on the BNSF Galveston Sub to the town of Alvin, before then heading north on the BNSF Mykawa Sub to T&NO Jct where the line would change into the UP Houston West Best Sub that would then deliver us to Tower 26 where we would then make a backup move into the Houston Amtrak station.

You can find all the photos from this incredibly rare train movement here. Just goes to show that riding Amtrak can really turn delays into ~~lemonade~~ juicy railfan stories.

Movements from the eastbound Glidden Sub to the southbound Galveston Sub are not typically needed so the only direct connection available at TOWER 17 interlocking is west to north. This, and having to travel over BNSF, prompted Union Pacific to detour its freight off the Sunset Route at Flatonia, TX. On the other hand, long backup movements are just a regular part of doing business on LD Amtrak trains. Here we see a Diverging Clear signal displayed westbound at TOWER 17 for a route onto the northbound BNSF Galveston Sub.

TOWER 17 was the site of Texas's last active classic interlocking tower. The tower was closed about 10 years ago, but it and its Taylor Model 2 interlocking machine were preserved in a local railfan park.

Passing the diamond in the other direction. The multiple relay huts is due to the joint ownership and maintenance of the interlocking and its diamond crossing.

These KCS ES44AC's #4680 and #4859 distracted me sufficiently so that I missed out on more photos of TOWER 17. However, in its stead I managed to capture the local BNSF crew base.

KCS SD70ACe #4027 was providing tail end power as the unit train of covered hoppers waited in the siding for us to pass by.

Despite the 1980's vintage ATSF signaling being in relatively good knick, a replacement programme was under way because I guess anything with moving parts is bad.

Sometimes it seems that all of Texas is a highway construction zone. Here some sort of ramp or frontage road is bring added to Interstate 69.

This southbound unit grain train had passed over the diamond at TOWER 17 ahead of us, but we had the last laugh as we passed it on the Manvel siding (even limited to the freight train speed of 50mph). Unlike the popular belief, freight dispatchers do a pretty good job of routing Amtrak trains through freight traffic. Engines are BNSF ES44C4 #6803 and SD70ACe #8598.

What I assume is some sort of old feed mill in Alvin.

Because of Houston's notoriously bad air quality, genset style switchers are typically assigned here by the big Class 1 railroads. Here we see a pair of National Railway Equipment 3GS21B-DE's, #1245 and #1287, shifting cars near Alvin.

Crossing the twin bridges on the 10mph Alvin wye. This movement changes our direction of travel from southbound to northbound.

On the Hastings siding my train passed a BNSF mixed freight with 4 units on the front end including BNSF ES44C4 #7089, BNSF C44-10W #7836 and BNSF SD40-2 #1977.

On the Hastings industrial track a unit train of covered hoppers was parked with BNSF C44-9W's #5130 and #4305 leading.

While moving through the Mykawa Yard we passed a train of mostly tank cars led by BNSF ES44C4 #4282 and C44-9W #5934.

This yard was also equipped with a sequential pair of 3GS21B-DE's, #1239 and #1240. If you look carefully you can spot former ATSF caboose #791.

Not sure if this was a detour or a normal foreign rail movement, but a unit covered hopper train with Union Pacific AC4400's #6509 and #7169 was sitting on the Mykawa yard main track forcing us to jump around on the controlled siding.

Huffing and puffing on the yard lead were another pair of BNSF 3GS21B-DE's, #1285 and #1246, assisted by C44-10W #7459.

The configuration of T&NO Junction is enough to make any grade crossing safety advocate shit themselves. BTW, the diamond is for the same UP Glidden Sub that we had been traveling on previously. Under normal operations the Sunset Limited turns off onto the Houston Terminal Sub that takes it downtown to the station. T&NO Jct is also the division point between BNSF and UP ownership with most UP traffic turning north from the Glidden Sub and into the HB&T Yard.

A duo of UP SD70M's, #4936 and #4329, sit facing the exit onto the Glidden Sub. These SD70's were part of the same, giant 1000 unit order, but changing emissions regulations forced different cooling solutions. The train behind them was a mixed consist containing a bunch of tank cars containing...OH FUCK THAT NOISE!!.

Passing through the HB&T yard one can confirm a BNSF presence by another 3GS21B-DE genset, paired with a proper yard power, BN painted GP39-2 #2911.

Looking back along HB&T yard with the tail end of the Union Pacific freight sticking out into the NEW SOUTH YARD interlocking.

In fact Union Pacific trains were stacked up nose to tail for what I can only assume was due to the bridge related congestion. If they were waiting for my train to clear the BNSF Mywaka Sub I do not know. The second train was being hauled by UP AC4400 #7157 and ES44AC #7759.

Because we were literally crawling towards Houston at this point, I made the decision to call it quits and head back to the dining car for a quick lunch in order to be ready to go again by the time the train reached the downtown station. Still, I was able to snap some Houston skyline photos from the dining car.

Make sure you tune in next week for a special Sunset Limited Video Episode.

Although I did have my GoPro with me on my 2015 Cross Country trip, this would be the first year where I would get to make proper use of it. Still, I didn't have unlimited battery or memory card capacity so I had to make some careful choices about what I would film from the rear of the train using my trusty suction cup mount. First of all, most of the trip is pretty dull consisting of single track railroad through the middle of nowhere or annoyingly slow speed running through urban areas. Second, there was no way in hell that I would fail to film the rare mileage detour portion of the trip. With these two constraints I decided to capture the run in and out of El Paso to the rare mileage as it offered an exciting route at somewhat reasonable speeds with no pesky backing up.

This first video shows the Sunset Limited's descent down the escarpment west of El Paso, into the Big River valley. There is a brief, edited stop at LIZARD interlocking where we wait for the westbound Amtrak Train 1 to pass, before we cross over and continue along the Mexican Border before crossing the Big River on an impressive viaduct. The video ends with our train pulling into the El Past Union Station.

The second video shows Amtrak Train 2, the Sunset Limited, as it departs El Past Union Station, past the now demolished Tower 96, through the downtown grade separation trench and then out into the old El Paso yard. The train passes by a wye junction and the site of the now demolished Tower 47 before passing the Union Pacific engine terminal and continuing to the Alfalfa merchandise freight yard.

Jumping ahead a day, the third video shows the first part of the detour on the BNSF Galveston Sub between the towns of Rosenberg, TX and Alvin, TX. This is normally a freight only line with a maximum speed of 50mph. The line is also in the process of being re-signaled with the 1980's vintage ATSF searchlights being replaced well before their time.

After squealing around the 10mph wye track at Alvin, my Train #2 enters the BNSF Mykawa Sub and proceeds from Alvin to T&NO Jct. Again the speed is 50mph, but upon approaching T&NO Jct, we begin to hit some congestion and speed restrictions and along with this route being generally bland and boring I cut out a few additional segments near the end.

Well that's it for this video post. Next week we continue on the cross country trip, heading from Houston to Beaumont, TX.

Houston generally marks the halfway point on the second day of the westbound Sunset Limited's journey to New Orleans. After the lengthy detour around the out of service Brazos River bridge, we backed into the Houston Station for a shorter than normal smoke stop and prepared to snake our way out of the Houston Terminal complex before striking out eastward towards Beaumont, TX on Union Pacific's Beaumont Sub.

You can view the entire set of photos right here.

Amtrak P42DC's #77 and #182 at Houston's Amtrak station. An Amshack in every sense of the word, Houston's new station may be on the same site as its old one (I assume), but a small change to the layout of Tower 26 east of the station, eliminated the ability of the Sunset Limited to continue on its way without a costly backup move.

Looking back through the old Tower 26 interlocking plant just prior to the backup move. The Sunset Limited just came through the diamonds crossing on Houston Terminal Sub Main Track #2 and will diverge onto the West Belt Sub via the track heading off to the left. This was actually the reverse of the movement the train had to make to get into the station because of the detour!

Tower 26 diamonds as seen from the UP West Belt Sub.

UP ES44AC's #8122, #7766, #7817 and SD70ACe #8912 waiting for us to clear the junction. If you look closely you can see it just received an Approach Restricting signal to proceed.

SD70ACe #8586 was pushing on the rear.

EAST BELT JCT is yet another diamond crossing with wye connecting tracks, a common feature in the Houston Are. A UP work truck is on hand, possibly to maintain the new signaling installed at some point during the last year. The Sunset Limited takes a circuitous route out of Houston (north at Tower 26, east at East Belt Junction, Northeast at Gulf Coast Jct, then through Wye Jct) to avoid the congestion associated with Englewood and Settegast Yards. In theory the backup move could be avoided if the yard route were available.

After Gulf Coast Jct we are finally out of the slow terminal area and on the straight and narrow Beaumont Sub. Here we cross the long ballasted trestle over Lake Houston.

Passing a trio of KCS SD70ACe's on the Huffman siding including #4010.

Almost the entirety of the Beaumont Sub is a causway through a swamp. Not very photogenic and quite a bit monotonous. This picture pretty much sums it up.

A Trackmobile can be seen inside the gates of this hydrocarbon transloading facility.

Shortline owned UTLX geep switching the Amelia Yard near Beaumont.

Cut of UP power just west of the Beaumont with SD70M #4920, ES44AC #8215 and SD70ACe #8646, just after the Beaumont Sub jointed the Lafayette Sub at Langham Rd interlocking.

GP60 #1027 switches cars in Beaumont Yard.

Searchlight dwarf signals are still in service in the Beaumont Terminal complex.

Pair of NS units, SD70ACe #1109 and ES44AC #8004, sitting in Beaumont Yard. NS has a presence in this area due to its former Southern RR heritage and various trackage rights agreements. Once again I am just a hair off capturing a "famous" unit >:-O

Well that's all for this set. Next week we will proceed on the last leg of my Sunset Limited journey from Beaumont through to New Orleans.

In the final segment of my 2016 transcontinental Amtrak Long distance trip I travel from the sweatbox city of Beaumont, TX to Lafayette, LA and ultimately New Orleans. The route follows the gulf coast and the narrow spit of land that curves to the south of the Crescent City. Due to catastrophic backlighting I aborted the survey at Lafayette. You can find the full set of photos here.

About 2 hours east of Houston, Beaumont is the last crew change point and smoke stop on the Sunset Limited route. It is also the hottest place I have ever been with a suffocating humidity that defies belief.

The Beaumont station area has fortunately retained its classic searchlight dwarf signals.

Passing through the complex interlocking east of the station was a train led by NS SD70ACe #1160 and containing AC4400's #6150 #5760 and a few TIPX juice cars.

Doublestacks on the end of the same train passing through a high and wide car detector and a pair of signals operated by Kansas City Southern as part of a joint operation scheme.

Vertical lift drawbridge over the Neches River.

Passing a lashup comprised completely of UP SD70M's and SD70ACe's on the Connell siding.

UP SD70M's #4404 and #4213 on the Francis siding.

The Orange, TX station close to the border of Louisiana. Once again I would like to remind my readers that El Paso, TX (5 photo sets ago) is closer to Orange, CA than this point.

Some NS C40-9W action east of Orange with #9021 and #9878.

Sabine River truss bridge separates Louisiana from Texas.

Paid of real rare birds here, WAMX GP20 #2005 and WAMX GP18 #1801 at Edgerly.

Backlit UP SD70M's, including #4181 and a crewmember waiting for us to clear the main ahead of the Lockmoor siding.

Calcasieu River rail swing bridge and adjacent I-10 road bridge at Lake Charles, LA.

HLCX GP38-2 #1819 and and UP GP40-2 #1386 hanging in the Lake Charles yard. #1819 is one of three HLCX units in the yard that day.

Last photo of Amtrak P42DC #77 at NOUPT, well after the sun has set for the evening. Not long after, #77 was involved in a minor accident with a tree branch.

Purple hued Superdome, where the Saints of Football play standing next to the Smoothie Kings Arena.

Amtrak Superliner #34040, my perch for the second half of the trip, waiting its next trip westbound. This is the perfect place to say Mission Accomplished! And after being shut down the year before, it feels SO good to say that.

New Orleans Union Passenger Terminal.

Well that's it for my epic 2016 cross country trek. However stay tuned for a special bonus set taken in New Orleans itself!

New Orleans has come a long way since it was destroyed in 2005. By the time of my visit in 2009, all three of the streetcar lines were back up and running. Six years later a new line had been built to serve the Union Passenger Terminal and another line was under construction to serve the French Quarter.

When I visit New Orleans in 2015, my friend I was staying with lived in the 7th Ward, which was not served by the current streetcar system. However she since moved to Mid-city, only a block from the Carrollton Ave junction on the Canal St line, so this year when I traveled into downtown I could do so in style. You can find the full set of New Orleans streetcar photos here.

We begin at Carrollton Jct with outbound Red car #2014 destined for the City Park branch about a block away from making the turn.

A bit of a jam up soon occurred after I was picked up by Red car #2006, as outbound Red car #2012 met inbound Cemeteries car #2001.

Canal St Line Red Car #2009 traverses the still new junction with the new Loyola Ave - Union Station branch.

#2009 then fight through traffic on Canal St to turn off onto the Loyola Line.

Passengers pouring out of Red car #2006 at Baronne St.

Waterfront Red car #462 passing by Jackson Square.

New Orleans supports another batch of historic streetcars that pre-date both electricity and rails.

By the time I finished up in the tourist zone the sun had set. Here Red Cars #2006 and #2013 pass at Decatur St on that warm summer night.

Back at Carrollton Jct, waiting for Red car #2023. As you can see from the sign the Canal St line Cemeteries branch is route 47 while the City Park branch is route 48.

Operator's console on #2006.

Red car #2022 at the Tonti St crossover.

The new Rampart St line to serve the French Quarter is taking shape!

Red car #2006 at Burbon St.

Green car #910 making the turn onto Canal. I didn't have much time to ride the historic Green cars this time around. Back in 2015 the entire St. Charles street line was suit down for repair.

Video of #910 making its turn.

Passengers boarding Loyola bound Red car #2008 at Burbon St.

Following close behind, Red car #2001 crossing the connection to the St. Charles line near Burbon St.

Red car #2019 at the new Rampart Jct.

You know what they say, always a car in sight, or in this case four!

Red car #2015 at Loyola Jct, showing the proximity to Rampart Jct.

Finally back where I started at Carrollton Jct, getting off Red car #2001.

To wrap things up, here is another night shot of Waterfront car #462 passing behind the levy near Jackson Sq.

Well that's definitely it for my 2016 Amtrak Cross Country trip related photos. Next week we resume regular service with a booring old trip up the NEC.

Thanks to various personal contacts, Boston has been a perennial railfanning destination of mine going way back. During the summer of 2003 I had was taking advantage of a break in schooling to stuff as many railfan trips in as I could manage and a couple of these involved the original "Bay Area". The showpiece of this journey was a trip out to the end of the MBTA Fitchburg line and back as it is basically the Port Jervis Line of the (T). I also managed to capture the waning days of the Green Line elevated section before the opening of the North Station Superstation. I should probably have explored that more, but at the time digital media storage was still limited so I still had to conserve my shots. You can find the full set of photos here.

We begin with a close up of the upper floor of the PT&TRR's 'F' interlocking tower, located in Sunnyside, Queens. Not long after the tower was demolished for reasons unknown.

Speaking of Sunnyside, on this day, surviving Phase III Amtrak AEM-7's #949 and #950 were laying over attached to various trains. Additional things that aren't there anymore includes MHC express cars and a Phase III 4-door baggage car.

Former New Haven RR SS119, later renamed GROTON, standing on the east end of the Thames River in Groton, CT. This tower is still standing as of 2016.

SS165 at Attleboto is a rare surviving wooden tower and also contains a mechanical interlocking machine. It also still stands and will hopefully be preserved.

MBTA F40PH-2C #1066 passing the TOWER 1 signal gantry on an outbound run.

Yes, there was a time when Boston was home to elevated trains and trolleys. The last elevated segment was part of the Green Line as it snaked off the Charles River bridge, crossed in front of North Station and then went underground to Haymarket. Here are some photos of the Green Line North Station structure.

Here are a couple of Type 7 LRV's negotiating the El.

If you were wondering why the El was torn down, it had kind of been left to decay past the point of no return as seen here with Type 7 #3645.

Here we see the iconic North Station Charles River drawbridges with Tower A and some temporary "Big Dig" I-93 ramps in the background. Yeah, remember when the Big Dig was this thing that wouldn't end? XD

MBTA GP40MC's #1139 and #1131.

A collection of MBTA snowplows, which would come in handy in the winter of 2015.

Riding to Fitchburg, myself along with fellow Subchatter Alex, camped out in MBB ADA coach #510. At the time the German built coaches were the only ones with accessible bathrooms and were placed at directly behind the locomotives where they would like up with the mini-high platforms. The 2+2 reversible seating was also an upgrade over the 3+2 fixed seating in the Comet cars.

Unfortunately, the MBB cars were suffering from a number of defects such as this melting window molding and also cloudy window glass.

AYER tower in Ayer, Mass, located on the Gulford Rail System Main Line.

MBTA Operation Lifesaver unit #1025 was an M-K built F40PHM-2C built in the early 1990's. This was the direct predecessor to the popular line of streamlined MP36 and MP40 model locomotives of the 2000's.

MBTA Comet II Cab Car #1631 laying over on the Fitchburg station track, the dispatcher having already pulled up the signal to depart.

Here is a Red Line 01800 series train pulling past the old tower at the entrance to Ashmont Yard. This tower was later demolished during the Ashmont terminal reconstruction project.

MBB cab car #1507 laying over at Boston South Station. These cab cars continue in service today, while many of the single level coaches have been replaced by newer "ADA" bathroom bi-level cars.

Well that's it for this little trip back in time. Next week we should return to the present.

CP-TRAFF in Trafford, PA is located at the east end of the former PRR Pitcarin Yard, just outside of Pittsburgh on the old Main Line. Today the yard has been mostly gutted and now stands as Norfolk Southern's Pittsburgh area intermodal terminal. However what Conrail designated as the Pittsburgh Line, still runs through it all carrying 40-60 trains per day. While CP-TRAFF lost the last of its high position light signals in the late 1990's, it still features a lot of heritage elements as well as a great place to catch more dynamic rail action. Included in this set are a number of photos taken in downtown Pittsburgh where the other members of my party had decided to stop for the day. You can view the full set of photos here.

The interlocking logic dates from the Penn Central era of the early 1970's and was installed as part of a general West End CTC project stretching from Johnstown to Pittsburgh. The all relay plant has held up well over the years, even if it requires a bit more physical space than modern installations.

Another throwback would be the compressor hut supplying air to the pneumatic point machines. Popular in the days before reliable mains power was available in rural areas and household voltage buried wires could be reliably insulated, air operated interlocking plants are facing extinction both in North America and abroad due to the increased maintenance requirements.

Conrail blue is still flies proudly next to the 4W mast signal, displaying an Approach indication for an upcoming westbound movement on track 2.

In due time a doublestack intermodal train shows up with NS SD70ACe #1075 in the lead, SD70ACe #1001 behind and ES44AC #8136 in the number 3 position. I'm sure 1001 makes some sort of emoticon, but so far it has not gained the same notoriety as NS "barcode" unit #1111.

As the doublestack train braked to a halt for the Stop signal at CP-WING, a helper pack consisting of SD40E's #6312 and #6308 drifted past as an eastbound manifest train roared by on track #1.

With the train stopped, the two helpers were cut off and proceed east to wait for a signal at CP-TRAFF on their way back to the helper base at Johnstown. Typically helpers for westbound trains are cut off on the fly as the trains summit at Galitzin or at the Johnstown helper base. In the Conrail era a third helper base was in service in downtown Pittsburgh, but NS eliminated it and appears to have replaced its functionality utilizing this stop and proceed operation at Pitcarin.

If the two SD40's look a bit beefy, that's because they are former SD50's, de-rated to 3000hp from 3600hp. Using a higher RPM and other tricks to boost power, the early EMD 645F engines suffered reliability problems, which has made SD40 spec rebuilding a popular option.

With the prior eastbound manifest train apparently still in the picture somewhere, #6308 and #6312 get a Restricting signal indication crossing over to track 1. The cantilever masts replaced a variety of rickety PRR/PC signals in the late Conrail/early NS era.

The traffic never stops on the old PRR Main Line. A few minutes later a westbound merchandise train rolled through with NS C44-9W's #9857 and #9510 on the point.

In recent years these brightly colored POTX marked Potash Corp hoppers have appeared and are quite adept at attracting the attention of photographers.

The C&S department was nice enough to leave the guts of a US&S A-5 pneumatic point machine laying out to show how it functions mechanically. An air cylinder pushes a piston back and forth, which in turn operates a crank mechanism to throw the points while a position detector reports back to the interlocking logic. The extreme simplicity of the design (at least compared to electric machines with gear trains, racks and pinions), was a factor in the popularity of the pneumatic point machine back when stuff was expensive and labour was cheap.

Moving on to downtown Pittsburgh, here we see the famous PRR Fort Wayne Bridge during golden hour.

NS C40-9W #9870 and C40-10W #7666 proceed westbound on the Fort Wayne Bridge. Mediocre access control at Pittsburgh's David L. Lawrence Convention Centre provides for excellent views of the bridge.

NS C40-9W #9578 at the head of a UPS TOFC train on the Fort Wayne Bridge.

The downtown Port Authority parking garage (located over the intercity bus station), provides another quality view of the Pittsburgh Line and the east end of Pittsburgh's Pennsylvania Station. Today, the station is reduced to only 2 through tracks. A third track was cut off at the west end of the station. The old relay hut for CP-WEST PITT is still visible adjacent to the old trackbed. The current Amtrak station building is also visible tucked between the old station headhouse and the trainshed.

PAT Light Rail trains no longer serve Penn Station, however the old branch is in surprisingly good nick.

The Ohio Central private car "Sugar Creek" was sitting under the Penn Station trainshed on the former siding track.

Graduates of the NS SD60E rebuild programme don't seem to stray far from their place of birth in Altoona. Here #'s 6927 and 6968 assist NS C44-9W #9211 across the Fort Wayne bridge.

Although NS has been pretty good about going the rebuild route instead of guppying up for new power hobbled by new emissions regulations, they did purchase some new Tier 4 ES44AC's. Here #3638 leads CP AC4400 #8627 elephant style across the Fort Wayne Bridge.

Time to wrap things up with a spectacular sunset over the Allegheny River.

Next week tune in for some commuter action in both the Philly and DC markets.

Sometimes that which you see every day so blends into the background that it becomes easy to ignore. With the impending rebuid of the classic PATCO cars, I have been making more of an effort to take photos of my local transit scene. Here are some I took around the July 4th holiday period.

Here is a train of unrebuilt Vickers PATCO cars, with #261 and #261 leading and trailing, wrong railing at the Haddonfield station on a weekend day.

The wrong railing was going on overnight too as seen crews worked to rebuild the direct fixation system on the Westmont viaduct, as seen this video of a train featuring PAtCO Car #268. The operator had better be careful to not get pulled over due to a faulty tail light.

Lit signals at SOUTH RACE interlocking indicate that a train is approaching. The Approach Medium indication is for a diverging move at RACE interlocking.

At the side of the old Utica Ave station in Westmont, NJ, an NJT Atlantic City Line train passes by powered by PL42 #4021 with Comet V cab car #6059 on the rear. The train advanced on an Approach Medium to a Medium Clear signal at RACE interlocking where it would make its Cherry Hill, NJ stop.

Amtrak tends to schedule ACL trains to pass just west of SHORE interlocking on the NEC. This creates about a 20-30 minute gap between opposing trains. Today things were running to schedule so here is a southbound train with Comet V cab car #6047 and PL42 #4010.

Here we find SEPTA SL-IV #296 at Market East station.

PATCO car #271 at 9th-10th and Locust.

Original Budd PATCO car #239 at 8th and Market.

Another view of inbound PATCO car #269 at 8th and Market.

Lit Brothers department store in downtown Philadelphia, this time in purple. The low light capability of the latest generation of digital camera is simply phenomenal and I have consciously made the switch to my phone for a lot of "station platform" type shots where my regular cameras are conspicuous, bulky and take significant effort to deploy.

SEPTA SL-V #814 at 30th St station. This was taken just prior to the SL-V fleet being temporarily withdrawn due to cracked equalizer bars.

Amtrak Budd Metroliner Cab Car #9649 on a Keystone train at 30th St station.

The night photos continue on another trip to Baltimore with ACS-86 #653 at the head of a typical Regional consist.

Next week we are back on the road as we head out to the People's Republic of Austin, TX.

In recent years CSX has made a number of infrastructure upgrades to its Capitol and Metropolitan Subdivisions that host weekday commuter operations from Maryland's MARC service provider. I should probably mention that this was probably not done out of the goodness of their heart, but because they got some sort of State or Federal money to make the upgrades. Because the Capitol Sub between DC and Baltimore had already been sprinkled with State funded crossovers back in the 90's, the upgrades there mostly served to improve freight service. One major bottleneck was the bulk auto delivery terminal in Jessup, MD. Trains of autoracks would have to foul the main line as they stretched through PA TOWER interlocking due to the shortness of the yard lead.

The solution was a new third track between the auto terminal and SAVAGE interlocking, about 2 miles to the south. This third track passes through the Savage MARC station and effectively eliminates the bottleneck. While funding for all day service on the MARC Camden Line has not materialized, one additional afternoon round trip, turning to DC at the popular Dorsey Park and Ride station, was added. This created a meet between the first DC bound train from Baltimore and the early Dorsey turn train out of DC in the vicinity of the Savage station (they are in fact separated by 4 minutes on the timetable).

In addition to the Savage meet I have photos from the Amtrak BWI Rail Station and CSX freight action on the Baltimore Belt Line.

In fact let's begin at the BWI station with a typical midday consist of new split level Bombardier coaches sandwitched between MP36PH-3C #17 and single level cab car #7756.

I was at BWI at a busy time with Train 79, the southbound Carolinian, running on the center express track with ACS-86 #651, being followed by a more typical Regional pulled by ACS-86 #663.

An non-stopping Acela trainset soon passed by on the local track with power car #2019 in the lead.

Followed by a northbound Regional pulled by ACS-86 #609.

When the MARC train I was waiting for finally showed up, it was led by single level cab car #7749.

I happened to be in Baltimore for the large Artscape arts festival, and while seeking out some shade under the old B&O Mount Royal Station trainshed I caught a pair of GE ES44AC;s (#881 and #3174) working hard up the grade from the Baltimore waterfront to the highlands north of town. Back in the age of steam these tunnels and this grade combined to force the B&O to install the world's first Main Line electrification system to provide a smoke free assist to through trains as they battled the grade.

CSX C44-10W #5256 pops out of one of the short tunnels under Mt Royal Ave and into the trainshed as it brakes a manifest freight down the hill.

Some CSX MoW equipment was occupying the North Ave passing siding.

Here are a pair of trains traversing the Jones Falls viaduct that also crosses the Baltimore Streetcar Museum. The first westbound train is led by CSX AC4400 #92 and the second by C44-10W #5228 and ES44AH #958.

Speaking of the grade out of Baltimore, here CSX C40-8W #7920 and C40-10W #5363 rumble up the Baltimore Belt Line as it passes through the cut between Charles St and St. Paul St. This was the site of the of the big retaining wall collapse back in 2014.

Here we see the Savage MARC station, whose track 1 now sits within the limits of the new PATUXENT interlocking. At this point the third track had always been in place as an industrial siding between here and SAVAGE interlocking, however it was non-interlocked and did not connect through to the Jessup terminal's lead. PATUXENT interlocking provides an power operated crossover between the siding and the main track for westbound trains. Eastbound trains enter at SAVAGE interlocking.

B&O Caboose C-2946 is preserved across the street from the MARC station at the B&O Historical Society.

Before the first southbound MARC train arrived on the scene, the dispatcher decided to squeeze in one last merchandise freight headed by ES44AH #991 and re-engined AC6000 #674.

As a surprise bonus, the merchandise freight had the CSX chemical safety training train attached to the rear.

The surprises continued as the westbound MARC train from Baltimore turned out to be triple header with MP36PH-3C engines #17, #32 and #21!

Video of the triple headed commuter train departing. I believe that at least one of three engines was shut down.

The eastbound train to Dorsey was sporting a more conventional single MP36PH-3C with MARC #24.

MARC train 848 departing Savage with cab car #7760.

Next week tune in for some random Philly area commuter rail and PATCO photos.

In honor of the 16th SEPTA Mid-Winter Trip taking place this Tuesday, I wanted to post some classic photos from the first and so far only SEPTA Mid-Summer trip. At the time, many of the SubCHAT regulars were still in school and summer presented an opportunity to come on down and experience some weekday SEPTA service. The itinerary worked in typical Mid-Winter fashion with a mix of SEPTA transportation modes including the MFL, Rt 100 and Regional Rail. Chuchubob was along for the ride as the only "senior" member of the excursion, which actually became an important plot point that I'll let you discover below.

All of the photos can be found here

The first stop was the newly reconstructed Frankford Terminal. The old Bridge-Pratt station had only been retired about a month earlier and the NYC area fans were interested in the results. Here SEPTA M-IV car #1087 departs the new terminal as we approach from the south.

M-IV car #1139 sitting at the new terminal platform.

The 1918 Elevated structure was still in the process of being demolished.

While the east headhouse was demolished, the west headhouse was being rebuilt for future use. The entire Frankford Transportation Center concept, including new trackless trolley and bus terminals, was still under construction.

SEPTA Comet cab car #2402 laying over at Suburban Station for its afternoon run back to the Suburbs.

SEPTA M-IV car #1036 pulling out of 69th St terminal to head up and around the loop for a return trip to Frankford Terminal.

M-IV car #1056 arrives at the head of another 69th St train (making all stops).

SEPTA N-V interurban car #147 hanging out at 69th St terminal. Back in 2003 the rollsigns had not yet been replaced by an LED display.

At this point a SEPTA employee noticed our group taking photos and instead of calling the police, they assumed that we were a school group from Transit Tech (someone was wearing a shirt) on a field trip to Philly and Bob was the teacher. We did little to disabuse the employee of this notion and the result was that we were offered a quick tour of the SEPTA MFL 69th St shoppes. Unfortunately due to the unofficial nature of the tour we couldn't take photos inside, but I did get some shots of the old M-III cars stored for work train service. This one was labeled 82X.

65X (former M-III car #610) was parked behind a number of spare, rusting M-III axle sets. The Budd-built M-III cars utilized an uncommon right angle drive first experimented with on the 1958 vintage Pioneer III (Silverliner I) cars built for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

These modern looking stainless steel cars were actually never equipped with air conditioning. The roof humps housed ventilation fans and provided the cars with the nickname "Almond Joy".

SEPTA N-V car #136 at the Norristown Transportation Centre.

SEPTA Silverliner IV #350 pulling into the Norristown TC Regional Rail station.

We rode the R6 to the North Broad Station where we then walked the short distance to the former PRR North Philadelphia Station. Upon our arrival a westbound CSX freight was passing by Amtrak's still active NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower on the former Conrail Delair Branch led by CSX SD40-2's #8240 and #8137.

Amtrak Phase IV painted AEM-7 #906 pulls through on Track 3 with a southbound Regional train.

Northbound Acela Express train on track #1 featuring power car #2019.

Inbound SEPTA R7 local making a stop on track 4 with Silverliner IV #367.

Here the Mid-Summer Trip participants pose in from of the 1914 vintage NORTH PHILADELPHIA tower. The tower was closed and the interlocking was re-signaled about two years later. For decades the overbuilt plant was left to decay, with extraneous tracks slowing being removed.

Outbound SEPTA R7 local making a stop on track #2. If outbound Amtrak and SEPTA trains are in potential conflict at ZOO Junction, the dispatcher will often run the Amtrak on local track #1 to North Philadelphia before crossing it over in front of the SEPTA that has to stop anyway.

Of course no SEPTA Mid-anything trip would be complete without a visit to Fern Rock to see what passes for SEPTA's historic fleet.

Well that's it. Hope to see at least some of you on MWT 16 in two days time.

Known by many as the only civilized city in Texas, Austin is a cultural hub and home to the University of Texas. However, when it comes to rail transportation, Austin finds itself somewhat lacking compared to other megalopolises such as Huston and Dallas-Ft. Worth. To this end Auston looked to supplement its Amtrak station and network of bike routes with one of those newfangled, European style light commuter rail lines and on a recent trip to the city for a conference I got to try it out. You can locate all the photos about that and the heavy rail action here.

Austin's Capitol MetroRail is a 9 stop commuter line using 6 FRA "compliant"Stadler GTW railcars. Fare collection is a typical proof of payment affair with two fare zones and a $7 day pass. Service terminates at a downtown station across from the convention centre that's actually about 4 blocks from the true downtown and a few more from the Texas state capitol complex. Here car #103 lays over at the aptly named "Downtown" station.

Only two vehicles are needed for the 1+ hour mid-day service frequency. The trains pass at the Kramer station, which is also used as a crew relief point. As you can see there is a minimally acceptable railfan view.

Mid-day service terminates at the Lakeline station, with peak period trains continuing to Leander. This is likely necessary to make the two vehicle load line work. The service is contracted to Herzog Transportation Services.

The maintenance depot and yard is located mid-way along the line at Serta. This is where most of the fleet, including #106 here, hangs out during the day.

Normally I wouldn't have many serious complaints about a low cost commuter rail starter line, however the whole CapitolMetro is rendered useless by a 40mph top speed, even in the cross country portions away from downtown Austin (where the speed drops to between 10 and 25mph). The RoW is not particularly curvy and is also fully signaled, so I'm not sure what their excuse is beyond not wanting to upgrade the former freight line it runs on to anything above Class 2 standards. Compared to the NJT RiverLINE, which would like to increase its speeds to 70mph, CapitolMetro is simply a joke. To illustrate the point, here is 4 minutes of side-video taken between Howard and Kramer.

#103 back again at downtown. Platforms are of the low, level boarding type.

#103 departing downtown on another run to Lakeline.

Austin's only heavy rail action comes on the aptly named Union Pacific Austin Sub, which is a single track line snaking its way up from San Antonio. Here UP ES44AC #8226 and SD70MAC #5192 roll by the iconic Austin City Power Plant with a merchandise train in tow.

Here both #8226 and #5197 are seen crossing the Colorado River bridge.

More than a few of the box cars were running with doors open is what was probably a test of post-Amtrak long distance rail passenger service. Note the quality of the graffiti in a city with a thriving arts scene.

Amtrak Train 21, the southbound Texas Eagle, crossing the Colorado River at golden hour, with P42DC #61 and Austin's growing downtown in the background.

Some of Austin's Monk parakeet population colonizing a cell tower near the Amtrak station.

Since the Sunset Limited only runs 3 days a week, the same trainset returned the following morning as eastbound Texas Eagle Train #22 with P42DC #61 and Viewliner II baggage car #61032.

The station is a modest affair, but arrival and departure times are both scheduled for daylight hours with convenient travel times to both San Antonio and Dallar-Fort Worth.

Amtrak P42DC #61 ready to depart and then departing Austin, TX.

After Train 22 left, a northbound union Pacific autorack train appeared on the scene with UP SD70ACe #8375 leading and UP AC4400 #6386 helping on the rear. Note these and similar photos were taken from the Pfluger bicycle and pedestrian bridge.

Well that's it. Austin might not have the most exciting rail scene, but it has enough if you look. Next week stay tuned for a special video episode covering Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.

So since Amtrak moved Business Class to the rear of Regional Trains, I realized I had been rather lax in taking advantage of the previously inexpensive real window access after the point that I became equipped myself with a GoPro. However, all is not lost because thanks to the new Amtrak Guest Rewards credit card I come into regular possession of class upgrade coupons and so I have been provided with a shot at redemption.

This past Labour Day weekend I utilized one such coupon on a trip to Boston on Amtrak Regional Train #172 and was able to capture sufficient rear facing videos to cover the NEC between the Martin Airport and New York Pennsylvania Station. This will nicely dovetail with my existing video covering the Shore Line between Mill River and South Station, which I was able to complete with the Mill River to Old Saybrook segment on this run.

Due to some camera issues the first segment begins approximately at Martin Airport and continues to Wilmington. Interesting points to note includes being sandwiched by an empty NS oil train and a southbound Acela express just south of Newark, DE.

The next video begins at Wilmington with the southbound Train 79 across the platform and continued on to Philadelphia. Due to the TML operating on track 2 between HOLLY and HOOK, we have to cross over to the local track for that stretch, right before passing a southbound SEPTA local just shy of Lamokin.

The following segment is Philadelphia to Trenton. The only action here is a short NS local just west of HOLMES.

After that we run from Trenton to Metropark. This video starts off with a bang as a westbound SEPTA R7 local pulls out of Track 5 before you are lulled into a false sense of security as Train 172 creeps along at slow speed on Track 1. Does it have to do with the arriving NJT Trenton Local? Nope, we are being slow rolled to HAM so that we can be overtaken by a surprise northbound Acela Express on Track 2 just before a southbound Acela Express roars by on Track 3! After crossing over to the express track behind the AX, between there and New Brunswick you can view all the new catenary and signaling work, including two new interlockings just west of COUNTY. In addition to all that, Train 172 overtakes an NJT local pulling into New Brunswick on Track 1.

The next segment stretches from Metropark to Newark International Airport Station. Train 172 encounters a southbound Regional just after leaving the station and then another southbound NJT local at UNION interlocking.

The next video runs from Newark International Airport Station to Newark Penn Station and starts off with a little jump scare as we are passed at speed by an eastbound Keystone train on track 2. Pulling into Newark Penn there is plenty of PATH to be seen before Train 172 enters the trainshed.

In the final part of the NEC proper video series we run between the two Penn Stations, passing a southbound Coast Line and regional right after exiting DOCK interlocking. What I assume is a mid-day westbound Raritan Direct train passes with an ALP-45 just east of Secaucas just before Train 172 enters the North River Tubes and grinds to a halt, waiting for its platform at Penn Station. Feel free to skip ahead, although at this point I talk a bit with the conductor.

Finally we have the past piece of my Shore Line puzzle, New Haven (Mill River) to Old Saybrook. No trains passed us, but I assume if you look closely enough you can probably spot Fred G taking pictures somewhere along the right of way.

Thanks for watching and tune in next week as I ride the Dome car on the Downeaster.

On my most recent trip to visit Boston, which took place over this past Labour Day Weekend, I found myself with an additional 45 minutes to kill on top of the usual 90-120 minute layover between the Regional arrival at Boston South Station and the Downeaster Departure from Boston North Station. This was because Amtrak's Great Dome was running on the Doneaster and because there is only one of them it was scheduled on the later 5:45 departing train instead of my usual connection of the 5pm departing train. Anyway I decided to use this bonus layover time to rectify a long running problem I had with the MBTA rapid transit network, mainly that I had never been to Braintree on the Red Line.

Now this wasn't because I had never ridden the Braintree Branch of the Red Line, because I had, but only as far as Quincy Adams. Back when I was in Boston more frequently, Wikipedia and smart phones had yet to exist and nobody I was with could tell me if trains arriving at Braintree dumped riders outside with no way to return for free. This was especially important information because the Braintree extension exit fare system was still in effect so getting dumped out a la Wonderland would result in not one but THREE additional fares to get back. This resulted in my choosing to exist at Quincy Adams on my one and only previous excursion down the line.

Visiting Braintree was also doubly important due to the impending replacement of the Classic Red Line rolling stock in favor of Chinese junk. You can find photos from the entire trip here.

The trip began in Baltimore with MARC HHP-8 #4911 still hanging on to life as it arrives with an early morning local train.

My Regional Train 172 was running to schedule and we met a southbound counterpart at Wilmington with ACS-86 #922.

Temporary signals at HAROLD interlocking as it is rebuilt for ESA.

PRR Position light signal bridge at HAROLD.

Additional signs of "progress".

Providence and Worcester GP38 #2010 hangs out with Amtrak P42DCs #100 and #104 and GP38H-3 #522 at the New Haven motor storage yard.

Metroliner Cab Car #9640 was attached to a Springfield Shuttle trainset.

Amtrak P42DC #108 was shuffling around before or after a power change.

At Boston South Station I caught an Acela Express trainset with sequential power cars, #2012 and #2013.

To escape the heat underground, I hopped an Ashmont train to JFK-UMASS where I caught an outbound MBTA train on the Old Colony with F40PH-2C #1065.

MBTA #01838 on an Alewife run at JFK-UMASS. The 1800 series cars were built by Bombardier ~1994 and replaced the older 1400 series . They are fully modern and have AC traction.

Inbound Ashmont train with #01650 leading. The aluminum bodied 1600 series were built by Pullman Standard in 1970 as an order extension to the 1500 series.

End of revenue track at Braintree. The Red Line was extended from Quincy Center to Braintree in 1980 and the two additional stations were given the special exit fare to compensate for the commuter rail level distances involved. The whole Quincy Extension was built in part as a replacement for the New Haven run Old Colony Railroad commuter services, which were suspended ~1960 with the construction of the Southeast Freeway. In 1997 the commuter services were restored and you can see the modern style bracket mast signal installed as part of the rebuild.

A double wide island platform and 20 years separate 01510 and 01728 at Braintree. The 1700 series cars were built to the same general design as the earlier cars by what would soon become Bombardier in 1988. 01728 has the starting light for departure.

Cab display unit in #01728 showing the cab signal speeds.

01510 getting the "green" light to depart Braintree.

#01514 was tail end charlie on the #01510 train and can be seen crossing over north of the Braintree platform.

#01831 soon pulled in to fill the empty platform berth.

We finish up with a train of classic style cars at Braintree. The 1500, 1600 and 1700 series cars are compatible with eachother, but not the 1800 series.

Next week we will continue on to New Hampshire via Amtrak Great Dome car.

Most years, Amtrak's sole remaining Great Dome car gets trotted out in the fall to provide leaf peepers with a better view on the Adirondack and (occasionally) Cardinal services. In 2016, NNEPRA, the governmental organization in charge of the Downeaster passenger service to Maine, hit upon the idea of booking the dome for a few weeks in August. One of the two trainsets would be equipped with the dome and it would be run on about half the weekday and weekend trains. As luck would have it, my annual Labour Day Boston trip involves a Dwneaster journey to New Hampshire, so the only action I had to take was moving back my departure from 5pm to 5:45pm.

If you didn't peek ahead and see all the photos last week, the full set is right here.

Former Great Northern dome car #10031 was one of 6 Great Dome cars ordered by the Great Northern in 1953 to upgrade service on the Empire Builder. It is currently the last dome car on the Amtrak roster, last seeing regular service on the single level version of the Auto Train.

Prior to my trains departure from Boston North Station, a strange Amtrak train consisting of P42DC #205 and a sister sandwiching a single Amfleet car was parked ahead of our trainset on the same track. It departed before ours was finished boarding and I still have no idea what was going on.

Our train was being hauled by Amtrak P42DC #140 and the dome car was placed behind the engine.

On the opposite train Rotem bi-level K-Kab-Car #1802 arrived at the head of an inbound MBTA commuter train.

Seating in the dome was at no extra cost and was first come first serve. The dome was open prior to departure and one did not need to maintain a seat in one of the regular coaches.

For anyone who has never ridden in Amtrak's Great Done, here's a video tour.

Speaking of video, I still had some space on my GoPro memory card so I found a way to rig it to the front of the dome to record a quasi railfan view of the Downeaster route between North Station and Haverhill. The first video includes the MBTA Lowell Line between North Station and the Anderson (Cooper) RTC. The second picks up from there and covers the Wildcat Branch as well as the Haverhill Line to just shy of the Bradford Station.

Halfway descent view of the former B&M Tower 1, now housing the North Station drawbridge tender.

Departing North Station I got this dome view of the MBTA maintenance facility.

The former Boston and Maine Lowell Line still included some signaling throwbacks like this double green clear indication.

Newer signaling, like this cantilever mast at FY interlocking south of Lawrence, did not disappoint either, shown here displaying a Medium Approach Medium signal.

MBTA Cab Cars #1809 and #1630 at the Bradford layover yard.

Amtrak Great Dome #10031 departing Exeter, NH.

Unfortunately, my return schedule would not permit a second ride on the Dome. A few days and some better weather later, I am back at Exeter with Amtrak cabbage car #90224 approaching.

Here we see MBTA F40PH-2C #1057 stitting at North Station in the shadow of the Bill Buckner Bridge.

Here is an additional F40PH-2C #1064, sitting adjacent to Amtrak P42DC #22.

Of course the TOWER 1 Drawbridge was doing its thing going up and down.

While waiting for a Green Line train at the North Station Superstation I shot this little video of some decrepit 01200 series Orange Line cars.

A short while later I found Amtrak ACS-86 #628 at Boston South Station.

Across the way was MBTA HSP-46 #2000.

For all you boat fans, at New London, The USS Colorado (SSN-788) was visible outside the Electric Boat Company construction hall.

For some reason the USS Truxtun (DDG-103) was also parked nearby.

I'm going to finish up with this shot of #628 at New Haven.

Well that's it for this year's Labour Day trip. I was told by the conductor on the Dome Car train that the car had been quite popular and that NNEPRA was looking to book it again next year. Hopefully I'll get a second bite at the apple at least video wise with better weather and sufficient memory card space.

Back in 2003, SEPTA was in the process of replacing the last piece of its un-rebuilt elevated structure on the Frankford section of the Market-Frankford Line that dated from 1918. While a harbinger of the total replacement of the Market St elevated just a few years later, at the time the replacement of the old "Bridge-Pratt Station" with the new "Frankford Transportation Center" represented the replacement of a station with charm and character with a bland piece of purely functional transit engineering. As is now common, the work would involve a shutdown period in which the old station approach would be removed and new beams installed to connect the new station. The good news was that because I was off school for the summer, I had the opportunity to take part in the closing festivities, scheduled for a Friday evening after the bulk of commuters had returned home.

Much like the last ride of the Silverliner II's and III's nearly a decade later, the last day at Bridge Street, July 25th, 2003, had a strange pseudo-fan trip quality about it. The station was fully in service, but was crawling with both railfans, history buffs and anyone else even remotely tapped into the nostalgic aspects of the situation. SEPTA employees were more the accommodating, a welcome change in the anti-photographer period that followed 9/11.

You can find the photos from the last day here. Some additional photos taken a few days before can also be found here.

Of course some things do manage to stay the same. Here we see the 1896 vintage SHORE interlocking tower s seen from the MFL line.

Here we see M-IV car #1126 on the 1980's rebuilt portion of the Frankford El. Unlike the later Market St reconstruction, the Frankford Portion had a new desk placed on the 1918 steel supports. The track utilizes direct-fixation techniques.

Here we see M-IV #1095 departing the terminal interlocking. The Bridge-Pratt station, built on Bridge St, just where it curved off Frankford Ave, was left in its 1918 state during the 1980's reconstruction and you can see the ballasted roadbed and other classic features, including a bizarre switch-diamond mashup one would never get away with today.

On track 1 we can can see this direct comparison between the old and the new on the final day of service. The two stations were built so close that they are literally touching. The Bridge St station was built on the street due to a bus/trolley facility that is now occupied by the new Frankford Transportation Center. Note that items on the old island platform are already starting to be removed.

View along the track 2 gauntlet a few days earlier. MFL trains would discharge onto the side-wall platform, then board from the center platform. Despite this, there was no forced exit from fare control as there is at 69th St.

The anticipated replacement had led to deferred maintenance as evidenced by the thriving green ecosystem. Four days later, any salvageable hardware would be marked with green paint.

Bridge-St's claim to fame was that this token booth briefly appeared in the 1980's Eddie Murphy film "Trading Places".

Empty side platform with train.

The island platform could support 8 cars, but was cut two carlengths back with a dispatch booth/crew hangout.

Egg salad anyone? Due to the change in location, the east headhouse was not used for the new Transportation Center and was ultimately razed. The lot remains vacant to this day. The west headhouse would be incorporated into the new FTC.

1918 vintage engineering. Note the arched concrete trackbed supports and the economic use of, then expensive, structure steel.

Main fare control in the west headhouse. A token clerk was nice enough to let me leave fare control for photos without having to pay another fare to re-enter.

At one point I was invited out into the normally employee only section of the island platform for a few photos of the end including the 26R and 20L signals.

After a certain point, a crowd began to develop on the platform, counting down the trains and waiting for the last departure to be announced.

The mid-summer twilight caught the mood particularly well.

When the time came there were basically three options available. The most popular was to ride the last car to be the last person to depart the station. The one I chose was to ride the first car with a railfan view and less competition for it. Also, because there would be one last employees-only train, trying to be the last person out of Bridge St was kind of moot. To this end, one could stay on the platform and take photos/video of both departing trains, but that would leave the issue of how to get back to Center City. Here we see the SEPTA GM coordinating the whole mess, flanked by railfans. Note the shoulder carry VHS camera and pointless arrow Amtrak shirt.

Off we go in car #1134 while workers stand by to cut the rails at the end of the interlocking.

So my one big regret was that this didn't happen in the Youtube era so that there might have been a greater amount of video footage captured of the old station and its operations. There is a woefully small amount of classic (even 2003 classic) MFL videos online and I doubt VHS camera guy ever bothered to transfer what he shot that day. Interestingly enough I was interviewed by KWY News Radio 1060 and my sound byte made it to air later that night. Another piece of the day languishing in an archive somewhere.

Well, at least my photos will languish no longer.

Notice I didn't title this "Montclair-Boonton Line". Back in the summer of 2002, the word came down that the old Erie RR portion of the NJT Boonton Line would be abandoned in favor of a new routing via the old DL&W Montclair Branch with electrification extended to Great Notch. As a result I set up with once and future Subchatter Spider Pig
to ride the entire "classic" Boonton Line before it passed into history. This was made a bit challenging due to the fact that there was no weekend Boonton Line service and very limited reverse peak service. Pigs and I met in Hoboken for the first afternoon Hackettstown train departing around 2pm, then caught a return train via the M&E.

There were a lot of storms out this day and they overtook us just after we got to Hackettstown so that's why there aren't any pix from the way back. You can view the set of pixs we did get here

To get to Hoboken on a weekday I had to catch a train from Meriden, CT, where I was attending school at the time. The Meriden siding was a scheduled meet and the northbound shuttle arrived on the scene first. Much like today, the Amtrak Springfield Shuttle trains were running with one Metroliner Cab Car, one Amfleet coach and one Genesis. Unlike today the Genesis was a P40 (#820) and still dressed in Phase IV paint.

The northbound shuttle train was also running sandwich style with three Material Handling Cars on the end because unlike the other shuttle trains, this was one #490, connecting to early morning "mail" train #190. Before Amtrak exited the mail and express business in 2005, mail cars would traverse the corridor en route to the USPS sorting facility in Springfield, MA.

Here are my old buddies at the Meriden, CT Station. When Amtrak re-signaled the Springfield Line ~1990 they installed New Haven style small target US&S H-5 searchlight signals on new style aluminum masts. In 2005 the H-5's were re-headed with target type LED color light signals. These are now currently being removed to support Rule 562 operation without fixed automatic signals in conjunction with the double track project and CDOT commuter service.

The unpopular GE B39-8 was predecessor to the equally unpopular B40-8. High horsepower 4-axle road power just never caught on with the major railroads so most of the B39-8's ended up being sold to GE's leading arm. #8565 here ran with the Connecticut Southern short line who had the contract for Springfield Line freight service. It pulled into the Meriden siding with #8579 to wait for the arrival of southbound Shuttle train.

That soon appeared with Metroliner Cab Car #9640 on the end.

Arriving at New Haven Station I encountered some of the FL-9's that were still in service back in 2002. Still, by that time they were being assigned to lesser tasks like shuttle service and, in the case of #2014 and #2024, hauling the wire train.

AEM-7 #920 is one of another class of locomotives that have since vanished from the NEC.

Well at least this hasn't changed...recent accidents aside.

Comet V? What's a Comet V?? In this pic the V's were still some years distant. The first Comet cab car I of the entire class, #5100, sits at Hoboken next to Arrow III #1321 ready to follow up a train.

There was still a strong commitment to MU operations on the Hoboken Division before everything was converted to push-pull and funneled into Penn Station behind. Arrow III's #1528 and #1330.

Comet I Cab Car #5130 had had grade crossing protection stripes applied, while #5133 was unmodified.

Comet III cab car #5009 was representing the post-Conrail era. This car would be on the rear of our train outbound and the front inbound.

Double slip switches at TERMINAL TOWER, which closed in 2005.

At the time one of the two Bergen hill tunnels was closed for renovations, as seen from WEST END interlocking.

Why was the old Boonton Line taken out of service? Well the ultimate culprit was that the DB bridge was experiencing structural problems and had a 10mph speed restriction applied. It was only a matter of time before the bridge, which is still standing in the open position as of 2017, would have been removed from service completely.

The old Boonton line still retained its Erie RR signaling as well as jointed rail.

Here we see the yet-to-be cut over Montclair Connection. The electrified DL&W Montclair Line terminated only a few blocks from the Boonton Line. Both lines suffered from low levels of service and connecting them allowed NJT to increase frequency on the surviving parts of both former routes.

Surviving DL&W interlocking towers in Denville and Port Norris.

Comet III cab car #5009 waiting to depart Hackettstown. A signal has already been displayed at CP-COOK.

Back in 2002 the entire length of the platforms were still open to the public allowing photos of trains as they left the trainshed and of the signals west of the station. Here is a night shot of a Clear signal being displayed on DOCK interlocking's 126R signal (note the wet platform from the rain).

Well I hope you all enjoyed the set. I'll fess up and admit that this was actually a double rerun of classic photos, but back when I first re-mastered the 2002 photos in 2007, I not only didn't process them into the proper 1280x720 resolution, but I half-assed the writeup as well.

16-06-16 PHOTOS: Gasden Purchase

16-06-16a PHOTOS: The Big River Pass

16-06-16b PHOTOS: West Texas Intermediates

PHOTOS 16-06-17: Sunwet Limited

16-06-17a PHOTOS: Plan Brazos

16-06-17 VIDEOS: Sunset Detour

16-06-17b PHOTOS: Beaumont Bayou

16-06-17c PHOTOS: Gulf Coast

16-06-18 PHOTOS: Desirable Streetcars

03-08-16 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Boston MBTA Trip

16-07-01 PHOTOS: TRAFF

16-07-04 PHOTOS: Local Color

16-07-29 PHOTOS: Savage Meet

03-08-11 CLASSIC PHOTOS: 2003 SEPTA Mid-Summer Trip

16-08-09 PHOTOS: Austin City Limits

16-09-01 VIDEOS: Amtrak NEC

16-09-01 PHOTOS: Braintree

PHOTOS 16-09-01: Downeaster Dome

03-07-21 CLASSIC PHOTOS: MFL Bridge St Last Day

02-07-19 CLASSIC PHOTOS: Boonton Line