Blackstone Crossings
For Monochrome Monday here's a selective color offering highlighting the classic scheme of the independent Providence and Worcester Railroad. The railroad's WOGR crew is headed south with a trio of light engines toward the Providence area to pick up an 80 car empty unit ethanol train...the final one of 2024.
PW 4005, 4002 and 4004 are crossing the Blackstone River near MP 17.9 on the historic original Providence and Worcester mainline just north of the Rhode Island state line. This is the 10th of 14 crossings of the Blackstone along the 43 mile line when traveling south from Worcester to Providence.
As for these units PW 4005 is a GE B40-8W originally blt. Feb. 1992 as Santa Fe 561 respectively and was acquired in 2010 along with sisters 4006 and 4007 the latter of which has since been repainted in Genesee and Wyoming orange. Trailing 4002 and 4004 are standard cab B40-8s blt. Jun. 1988 as NYSW 4008 and 4002 respectively.
This shot is taken from the parallel footbridge that once was the New Haven's Midland Division Mainline. It had scheduled through passenger service as late as 1955 (in fact my father as a young child boarded a train at the station directly behind where I'm standing) for a ride on this very route to Putman, Willimantic, Hartford, and on to Waterbury). Commuter trains from Boston continued to serve Blackstone until 1966 and after they came to an end the NH continued to use the route for high wide freight loads that had clearance issues on the shoreline. However in March 1968 another bridge over this same river east of the station was washed out and never repaired and the remaining bit of freight traffic ceased. The route was abandoned by the Penn Central in 1969 just after they merged the New Haven. In recent years it has been restored as a gorgeously paved bike trail.
P&W is my hometown road and it is inextricably linked to the river it follows both historically and physically. The Blackstone River courses 48 miles from its headwaters near Worcester (at the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook) to where it flows into the Seekonk River at the headwaters of Narragansett Bay. The river drains a watershed of 640 square miles and more importantly drops 450 feet in the 48 miles. It is that drop, that made this river a pivotal point in American History.
From ririvers.org: A series of steep drops along the length of the Blackstone River provided ideal conditions for the development of water powered industry. Samuel Slater arrived in America in 1790, with managerial experience and technical knowledge of textile manufacturing in England. With the assistance of local merchants and artisans, he helped establish the first successful water-powered textile mill in America. Slater Mill was established on the Blackstone River, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This achievement is credited with spawning the birth of America's industrial revolution. Development of the Slater textile mill catalyzed the development of water-driven technology throughout the length of the Blackstone River. By 1914 water-powered mills occupied all of the readily available dam sites in the Valley.
As the birthplace of industrial America, the need for transportation quickly arose in the valley, and between 1825 and 1828 the Blackstone Canal was constructed. The canal lasted only 20 years having been rendered obsolete by the opening of the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1847. The railroad has proven to be a more durable method of transportation and 175 years after its opening here it is still serving the purpose for which it was built.
Blackstone, Massachusetts
Thursday December 26, 2024
Blackstone Crossings
For Monochrome Monday here's a selective color offering highlighting the classic scheme of the independent Providence and Worcester Railroad. The railroad's WOGR crew is headed south with a trio of light engines toward the Providence area to pick up an 80 car empty unit ethanol train...the final one of 2024.
PW 4005, 4002 and 4004 are crossing the Blackstone River near MP 17.9 on the historic original Providence and Worcester mainline just north of the Rhode Island state line. This is the 10th of 14 crossings of the Blackstone along the 43 mile line when traveling south from Worcester to Providence.
As for these units PW 4005 is a GE B40-8W originally blt. Feb. 1992 as Santa Fe 561 respectively and was acquired in 2010 along with sisters 4006 and 4007 the latter of which has since been repainted in Genesee and Wyoming orange. Trailing 4002 and 4004 are standard cab B40-8s blt. Jun. 1988 as NYSW 4008 and 4002 respectively.
This shot is taken from the parallel footbridge that once was the New Haven's Midland Division Mainline. It had scheduled through passenger service as late as 1955 (in fact my father as a young child boarded a train at the station directly behind where I'm standing) for a ride on this very route to Putman, Willimantic, Hartford, and on to Waterbury). Commuter trains from Boston continued to serve Blackstone until 1966 and after they came to an end the NH continued to use the route for high wide freight loads that had clearance issues on the shoreline. However in March 1968 another bridge over this same river east of the station was washed out and never repaired and the remaining bit of freight traffic ceased. The route was abandoned by the Penn Central in 1969 just after they merged the New Haven. In recent years it has been restored as a gorgeously paved bike trail.
P&W is my hometown road and it is inextricably linked to the river it follows both historically and physically. The Blackstone River courses 48 miles from its headwaters near Worcester (at the confluence of the Middle River and Mill Brook) to where it flows into the Seekonk River at the headwaters of Narragansett Bay. The river drains a watershed of 640 square miles and more importantly drops 450 feet in the 48 miles. It is that drop, that made this river a pivotal point in American History.
From ririvers.org: A series of steep drops along the length of the Blackstone River provided ideal conditions for the development of water powered industry. Samuel Slater arrived in America in 1790, with managerial experience and technical knowledge of textile manufacturing in England. With the assistance of local merchants and artisans, he helped establish the first successful water-powered textile mill in America. Slater Mill was established on the Blackstone River, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This achievement is credited with spawning the birth of America's industrial revolution. Development of the Slater textile mill catalyzed the development of water-driven technology throughout the length of the Blackstone River. By 1914 water-powered mills occupied all of the readily available dam sites in the Valley.
As the birthplace of industrial America, the need for transportation quickly arose in the valley, and between 1825 and 1828 the Blackstone Canal was constructed. The canal lasted only 20 years having been rendered obsolete by the opening of the Providence and Worcester Railroad in 1847. The railroad has proven to be a more durable method of transportation and 175 years after its opening here it is still serving the purpose for which it was built.
Blackstone, Massachusetts
Thursday December 26, 2024