Changing Seasons
On this gloomy early fall Friday I finally got my first look at New England's newest railroad, The Berkshire and Eastern Railroad, a Genesee and Wyoming subsidiary which began operation on September 1 after a protected delay. They are the new contract operator of the jointly owned CSXT/NS former Pan Am Southern which is basically the western half of the former Boston and Maine Railroad and all its attendant branch lines and trackage rights. How things will change in the future is yet to be determined, but for now it still looks like the Pan Am of old we all knew and loved....haha right?!?!
There is the first hint of early fall color in the swamps as an unidentified Ayer yard crew switches out Catania Oils as they nose onto the Ardent Mills loop in this telephoto view from the Wagon Wheel Rd. crossing at old PAR milepost 312.5 (measured from Mattawamkeag, ME) on District Three of the former Freight Mainline. They are using solo BERX 7635 still dressed in unpatched Pan Am blue (several others have already had their PAR lettering and logos painted over). The unit is a GE C40-8 originally built for CSXT in Aug. 1990 and acquired by Pan Am in 2017 in a deal brokered by GE.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday September 29, 2023
Changing Seasons
On this gloomy early fall Friday I finally got my first look at New England's newest railroad, The Berkshire and Eastern Railroad, a Genesee and Wyoming subsidiary which began operation on September 1 after a protected delay. They are the new contract operator of the jointly owned CSXT/NS former Pan Am Southern which is basically the western half of the former Boston and Maine Railroad and all its attendant branch lines and trackage rights. How things will change in the future is yet to be determined, but for now it still looks like the Pan Am of old we all knew and loved....haha right?!?!
There is the first hint of early fall color in the swamps as an unidentified Ayer yard crew switches out Catania Oils as they nose onto the Ardent Mills loop in this telephoto view from the Wagon Wheel Rd. crossing at old PAR milepost 312.5 (measured from Mattawamkeag, ME) on District Three of the former Freight Mainline. They are using solo BERX 7635 still dressed in unpatched Pan Am blue (several others have already had their PAR lettering and logos painted over). The unit is a GE C40-8 originally built for CSXT in Aug. 1990 and acquired by Pan Am in 2017 in a deal brokered by GE.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday September 29, 2023