Webster Junction
After shooting I022 I planned to wait around for M436 that was at least 90 min away. Initially I'd planned to get breakfast but the spot I wanted to go was closed so I checked what else was around and saw that M427 was coming down from Barbers. There is only one spot on the east end of the B&A where a morning westbound works so I headed that way but with slow driving conditions I didn't quite make. Two more minutes and I could have gotten set up for a proper shot but alas all I could manage was this tight grab shot since I didn't have time to even swap lenses.
CSXT M427 (manifest Rigby to Selkirk) hustles west at MP QB50.7 on CSXT's Boston Sub behind a trio of veteran GEs led by AC4400CW 465 which dates from Aug. 2000 and still wears its as delivered YN2 'bright future' livery. They are approaching the switch for the spur into Casella Waste Systems, which receives the occasional boxcar delivered by West Springfield local L012 that makes the trek east past Palmer as needed. But that track is more than it appears on the surface and the clue is in the name of this spot which still graces maps to this day....Webster Junction.
For 72 years this was where the Boston and Albany Railroad's 11 mile long branch to Webster left the mainline and the Casella spur sits right on the branch right of way. Interestingly the branch was built by the Providence, Webster and Springfield Railroad in 1884 to provide the mills in Webster with a competitive alternative to the Norwich and Worcester Railroad which had arrived 44 years earlier. Though technically independent, it was operated by the B&A/NYC for its entire existence but was never formally merged. Alas, the branch was abandoned in its entirety in 1958 leaving a few clues on the land and on maps for those who know where to look.
Auburn, Massachusetts
Monday January 20, 2025
Webster Junction
After shooting I022 I planned to wait around for M436 that was at least 90 min away. Initially I'd planned to get breakfast but the spot I wanted to go was closed so I checked what else was around and saw that M427 was coming down from Barbers. There is only one spot on the east end of the B&A where a morning westbound works so I headed that way but with slow driving conditions I didn't quite make. Two more minutes and I could have gotten set up for a proper shot but alas all I could manage was this tight grab shot since I didn't have time to even swap lenses.
CSXT M427 (manifest Rigby to Selkirk) hustles west at MP QB50.7 on CSXT's Boston Sub behind a trio of veteran GEs led by AC4400CW 465 which dates from Aug. 2000 and still wears its as delivered YN2 'bright future' livery. They are approaching the switch for the spur into Casella Waste Systems, which receives the occasional boxcar delivered by West Springfield local L012 that makes the trek east past Palmer as needed. But that track is more than it appears on the surface and the clue is in the name of this spot which still graces maps to this day....Webster Junction.
For 72 years this was where the Boston and Albany Railroad's 11 mile long branch to Webster left the mainline and the Casella spur sits right on the branch right of way. Interestingly the branch was built by the Providence, Webster and Springfield Railroad in 1884 to provide the mills in Webster with a competitive alternative to the Norwich and Worcester Railroad which had arrived 44 years earlier. Though technically independent, it was operated by the B&A/NYC for its entire existence but was never formally merged. Alas, the branch was abandoned in its entirety in 1958 leaving a few clues on the land and on maps for those who know where to look.
Auburn, Massachusetts
Monday January 20, 2025