Handoff In The Valley
I photograph trains here a lot and if you follow me you've undoubtedly seen this angle countless times, but this was my first time catching two crews working side by side here.
The unit loaded ethanol train I'd followed down from Worcester has paused in the Providence and Worcester Railroad's small Valley Falls Yard to swap power with local PR-3. The extra crew that brought the train south has cut away their lead three units B39-8Es 3909, 3910, and 3904 leaving only original red and brown painted 3903 on the train. The regular local crew based here is adding their two GP38-2s on top of that lone GE for the trip down to Cranston Yard and then up the Harbor Junction Industrial to deliver this to the Shell Tank Farm. This made for a quite a treat down thru the city with three matching 'properly painted' locomotives in charge.
GP38-2s 2007 and 2006 are original to the road having been built new for the then only 7 year independent company by EMD in Nov. and Dec. 1980 respectively), and have spent their entire careers working these rails.
Through the heat shimmers of 2006's exhaust can be seen the spire of the circa 1861 Saint Patrick Church. Closed in 2017 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence due to the shrinking number of parishioners (it lost 50% of its families in only a decade) its future is uncertain.
This view looks north from the High Street crossing at MP 6 along the historic original mainline into the compact 7 track wide yard (plus the main) that is the road's primary facility in the Ocean State. Poking above 3909 can be seen the spire of the circa 1861 Saint Patrick Church. Closed in 2017 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence due to the shrinking number of parishioners (it lost 50% of its families in only a decade) its future is uncertain.
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Monday February 5, 2024
Handoff In The Valley
I photograph trains here a lot and if you follow me you've undoubtedly seen this angle countless times, but this was my first time catching two crews working side by side here.
The unit loaded ethanol train I'd followed down from Worcester has paused in the Providence and Worcester Railroad's small Valley Falls Yard to swap power with local PR-3. The extra crew that brought the train south has cut away their lead three units B39-8Es 3909, 3910, and 3904 leaving only original red and brown painted 3903 on the train. The regular local crew based here is adding their two GP38-2s on top of that lone GE for the trip down to Cranston Yard and then up the Harbor Junction Industrial to deliver this to the Shell Tank Farm. This made for a quite a treat down thru the city with three matching 'properly painted' locomotives in charge.
GP38-2s 2007 and 2006 are original to the road having been built new for the then only 7 year independent company by EMD in Nov. and Dec. 1980 respectively), and have spent their entire careers working these rails.
Through the heat shimmers of 2006's exhaust can be seen the spire of the circa 1861 Saint Patrick Church. Closed in 2017 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence due to the shrinking number of parishioners (it lost 50% of its families in only a decade) its future is uncertain.
This view looks north from the High Street crossing at MP 6 along the historic original mainline into the compact 7 track wide yard (plus the main) that is the road's primary facility in the Ocean State. Poking above 3909 can be seen the spire of the circa 1861 Saint Patrick Church. Closed in 2017 by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence due to the shrinking number of parishioners (it lost 50% of its families in only a decade) its future is uncertain.
Cumberland, Rhode Island
Monday February 5, 2024