Mainline Local
I strangely have very little coverage along the 15 mile stretch of CSXT's ex Boston and Albany main between Palmer and Springfield, so finally decided to try out a few new (for me) spots on this gray Friday.
CSXT West Springfield based local L038 is a Mon-Fri local on duty at 1030 that handles work on the mainline as well as the Athol Industrial Track and other chores in the Springfield area. I'd never made the effort to photograph it before despite spending time hunting down nearly every other local freight job CSXT operates in New England. After running east with a healthy train, they dropped their cars on Main 1 and then made a 'big runaround' west via Main 2 between CP 92 and CP96 on the Berkshire Sub. Having pulled and spotted the Sulco Warehouse to the east they have now moved west on Main 1 and dropped their train and cut away to head into the other Sulco Warehouse just east of the Roosevelt Ave. overpass at about MP 95.1 from where this was captured.
The pair of 6200 series GP40-2s of Chessie System heritage are the standard power on all New England locals these days, but in my youth these jobs that prowled industries, yards, and branchlines were exclusively the domain of Conrail blue B23-7s.
Springfield, Massachusetts
Friday March 15, 2024
Mainline Local
I strangely have very little coverage along the 15 mile stretch of CSXT's ex Boston and Albany main between Palmer and Springfield, so finally decided to try out a few new (for me) spots on this gray Friday.
CSXT West Springfield based local L038 is a Mon-Fri local on duty at 1030 that handles work on the mainline as well as the Athol Industrial Track and other chores in the Springfield area. I'd never made the effort to photograph it before despite spending time hunting down nearly every other local freight job CSXT operates in New England. After running east with a healthy train, they dropped their cars on Main 1 and then made a 'big runaround' west via Main 2 between CP 92 and CP96 on the Berkshire Sub. Having pulled and spotted the Sulco Warehouse to the east they have now moved west on Main 1 and dropped their train and cut away to head into the other Sulco Warehouse just east of the Roosevelt Ave. overpass at about MP 95.1 from where this was captured.
The pair of 6200 series GP40-2s of Chessie System heritage are the standard power on all New England locals these days, but in my youth these jobs that prowled industries, yards, and branchlines were exclusively the domain of Conrail blue B23-7s.
Springfield, Massachusetts
Friday March 15, 2024