B100 At East Portal
This was the last stop on my little chase of Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train B100 east from Pownal. They would end up sitting east of here for hours while an MofW crew worked to heat up and repair a pull apart on the mainline at Zoar.
They are emerging from the darkness at East Portal after traveling 4.75 miles and 1000 ft beneath Hoosac Mountain deep in the heart of the Berkshire Range. This is MP 415.7 on B&E's former Pan Am Freight Main, the former Boston and Maine Fitchburg Division. Note the little cistern and ice buid up beneath the pipe which drains water along the cliff face at left....I've always found it fascinating, and a great photo element to include when shooting from this side.
Berkshire and Eastern is a Genesee and Wyoming owned company that was created to act as a neutral third party operator of the former Pan Am Southern property as a result of the sale of Pan Am Railways to CSX in 2022. B100 is the symbol B&E uses for the continuation to Ayer of Norfolk Southern train 264 (intermodal 63rd Street Yard in Chicago to Mechanicville) that used to be known as 22K. The train is led by the standard SD60E which is necessary due to it being one of a small fleet of this model equipped with ACSES for operation on the MBTA property east of Westminster. This train is on borrowed time here because one condition of the sale of Pan Am to CSXT in 2022 was the granting of trakage rights to NS for the operation of one daily pair of premium trains (this one and its westbound counterpart) over CSXT's former Boston and Albany route. These trains will then take the old Delaware and Hudson Albany main to Voorheesville, NY and utilize the connection on to Selkirk Branch which has been rebuilt there. From there they will travel east via Selkirk Yard, the Castelton Bridge and the Berkshire and Boston Subs to Worcester and on up to Ayer. Allegedly that routing will commence June 1, so if you want shots of 'the pig train' on the old Boston and Maine the time is now.
Florida, Massachusetts
Friday January 17, 2025
B100 At East Portal
This was the last stop on my little chase of Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train B100 east from Pownal. They would end up sitting east of here for hours while an MofW crew worked to heat up and repair a pull apart on the mainline at Zoar.
They are emerging from the darkness at East Portal after traveling 4.75 miles and 1000 ft beneath Hoosac Mountain deep in the heart of the Berkshire Range. This is MP 415.7 on B&E's former Pan Am Freight Main, the former Boston and Maine Fitchburg Division. Note the little cistern and ice buid up beneath the pipe which drains water along the cliff face at left....I've always found it fascinating, and a great photo element to include when shooting from this side.
Berkshire and Eastern is a Genesee and Wyoming owned company that was created to act as a neutral third party operator of the former Pan Am Southern property as a result of the sale of Pan Am Railways to CSX in 2022. B100 is the symbol B&E uses for the continuation to Ayer of Norfolk Southern train 264 (intermodal 63rd Street Yard in Chicago to Mechanicville) that used to be known as 22K. The train is led by the standard SD60E which is necessary due to it being one of a small fleet of this model equipped with ACSES for operation on the MBTA property east of Westminster. This train is on borrowed time here because one condition of the sale of Pan Am to CSXT in 2022 was the granting of trakage rights to NS for the operation of one daily pair of premium trains (this one and its westbound counterpart) over CSXT's former Boston and Albany route. These trains will then take the old Delaware and Hudson Albany main to Voorheesville, NY and utilize the connection on to Selkirk Branch which has been rebuilt there. From there they will travel east via Selkirk Yard, the Castelton Bridge and the Berkshire and Boston Subs to Worcester and on up to Ayer. Allegedly that routing will commence June 1, so if you want shots of 'the pig train' on the old Boston and Maine the time is now.
Florida, Massachusetts
Friday January 17, 2025