Post Road Junction
Late fall color is lingering on the trees brightening up the scene as Amtrak 145, in 40th Anniversary heritage phase III livery, leads train 448, the Boston section of the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago off the Amtrak owned Post Road Branch onto CSXT's Berkshire Sun mainline at CP187.
Amtrak's Post Road Branch is an interesting story in that it came back from the dead....a very rare and special thing for an abandoned line. Built in 1841 as the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad (a subsidiary of the Western Railroad of Massachusetts) it ultimately became the west end of the Boston and Albany Railroad's mainline. It lost its utility as a heavy haul freight route with the opening of Selkirk Yard and the Castleton Bridge in 1924 and thereafter it served primarily passenger trains to and from Boston. However as those waned in the second half of the 20th century the route lost its utility and Penn Central (the B&A and NYC's successor) abandoned and removed the 12 mile line in 1972.
The right of way devoid of all track material was assigned to Amtrak by the USRA upon the formation of Conrail in 1976, and three years later the passenger operator relaid the route. Since then it has basically served only one daily train in each direction, the one you see here, though in recent years the weekend only Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield has also traveled this way.
Schodack, New York
Saturday November 9, 2024
Post Road Junction
Late fall color is lingering on the trees brightening up the scene as Amtrak 145, in 40th Anniversary heritage phase III livery, leads train 448, the Boston section of the Lakeshore Limited from Chicago off the Amtrak owned Post Road Branch onto CSXT's Berkshire Sun mainline at CP187.
Amtrak's Post Road Branch is an interesting story in that it came back from the dead....a very rare and special thing for an abandoned line. Built in 1841 as the Albany and West Stockbridge Railroad (a subsidiary of the Western Railroad of Massachusetts) it ultimately became the west end of the Boston and Albany Railroad's mainline. It lost its utility as a heavy haul freight route with the opening of Selkirk Yard and the Castleton Bridge in 1924 and thereafter it served primarily passenger trains to and from Boston. However as those waned in the second half of the 20th century the route lost its utility and Penn Central (the B&A and NYC's successor) abandoned and removed the 12 mile line in 1972.
The right of way devoid of all track material was assigned to Amtrak by the USRA upon the formation of Conrail in 1976, and three years later the passenger operator relaid the route. Since then it has basically served only one daily train in each direction, the one you see here, though in recent years the weekend only Berkshire Flyer to Pittsfield has also traveled this way.
Schodack, New York
Saturday November 9, 2024