Monochrome Monday
For Monochrome Monday Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train EDMO rumbles west passing the old granite marker at 410 on the B&E operated Pan Am Southern Freight Mainline, the one time Boston and Maine Fitchburg Division. They are tucked betwee Zoar Road and the Deerfield River which they've just crossed and will do so twice more before leaving its banks to cut through the mountains via the Hoosac Tunnel a half dozen miles ahead.
The mileage is measured from Mattawamkeag, ME which was once the eastern most point on the Freight Main after then Guilford Transportation renumbered the mileposts upon combining the Maine Central, Boston and Maine, and Delaware and Hudson Railroads into a short lived contiguous route from that obscure eastern point to the equally obscure western end of the line in Sunbury, PA.
This train originated in Ayer as train SAED and will turn into Norfolk Southern train 11R at Mechanicville for continuation down the old Delaware and Hudson to East Binghamton Yard. Berkshire and Eastern is a Genesee and Wyoming owned company which was created to serve as the neutral third party operator of the former Pan Am Southern property as a condition of the sale of Pan Am Railways to CSX in 2022. The train is led by a rebuilt GE AC44C6M which is a bit unusual as most thru trains feature homely EMD rebuilt SD60Es due to the fact they are equipped with ACSES for operation on the MBTA property east of Westminster to the end of B&E's territory in Ayer.
Charlemont, Massachusetts
August 31, 2025
Monochrome Monday
For Monochrome Monday Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train EDMO rumbles west passing the old granite marker at 410 on the B&E operated Pan Am Southern Freight Mainline, the one time Boston and Maine Fitchburg Division. They are tucked betwee Zoar Road and the Deerfield River which they've just crossed and will do so twice more before leaving its banks to cut through the mountains via the Hoosac Tunnel a half dozen miles ahead.
The mileage is measured from Mattawamkeag, ME which was once the eastern most point on the Freight Main after then Guilford Transportation renumbered the mileposts upon combining the Maine Central, Boston and Maine, and Delaware and Hudson Railroads into a short lived contiguous route from that obscure eastern point to the equally obscure western end of the line in Sunbury, PA.
This train originated in Ayer as train SAED and will turn into Norfolk Southern train 11R at Mechanicville for continuation down the old Delaware and Hudson to East Binghamton Yard. Berkshire and Eastern is a Genesee and Wyoming owned company which was created to serve as the neutral third party operator of the former Pan Am Southern property as a condition of the sale of Pan Am Railways to CSX in 2022. The train is led by a rebuilt GE AC44C6M which is a bit unusual as most thru trains feature homely EMD rebuilt SD60Es due to the fact they are equipped with ACSES for operation on the MBTA property east of Westminster to the end of B&E's territory in Ayer.
Charlemont, Massachusetts
August 31, 2025