Falling Fast
For Freight Car Friday here's another one of these once ubiquitous cars. It's kind of sad but this was the last M426/M427 that I actually saw one on. I'm sure there are more around, but they are falling fast.
MEC 31805 is entrained on CSXT M427 (Rigby Yard to Selkirk manifest) hustling west on CSXT's Boston Sub mainline, the former Boston and Albany Railroad, approaching the water plant crossing at about MP QB89.8. The Pan Am blue car is from a 250 unit order of (Lot 17977) of 58 ft, 77 ton capacity cars built by FMC (originally Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation - at that time owner of Gunderson in Oregon) in Nov. 1978.
The profitable little class 1, Maine Central, had ordered over 1000 new boxcars in the half dozen years prior to Guilford buying the railroad in 1981 and until recently there were still enough around that you were nearly guaranteed to at least see a few anytime you were trackside in New England for any length of time. However, the day will probably come soon when I have taken my last photo of one of these in revenue service but I doubt I'll realize it when it happens.
Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Friday October 11, 2024
Falling Fast
For Freight Car Friday here's another one of these once ubiquitous cars. It's kind of sad but this was the last M426/M427 that I actually saw one on. I'm sure there are more around, but they are falling fast.
MEC 31805 is entrained on CSXT M427 (Rigby Yard to Selkirk manifest) hustling west on CSXT's Boston Sub mainline, the former Boston and Albany Railroad, approaching the water plant crossing at about MP QB89.8. The Pan Am blue car is from a 250 unit order of (Lot 17977) of 58 ft, 77 ton capacity cars built by FMC (originally Food Machinery and Chemical Corporation - at that time owner of Gunderson in Oregon) in Nov. 1978.
The profitable little class 1, Maine Central, had ordered over 1000 new boxcars in the half dozen years prior to Guilford buying the railroad in 1981 and until recently there were still enough around that you were nearly guaranteed to at least see a few anytime you were trackside in New England for any length of time. However, the day will probably come soon when I have taken my last photo of one of these in revenue service but I doubt I'll realize it when it happens.
Wilbraham, Massachusetts
Friday October 11, 2024