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CSX M426 is seen exiting the St Vincent Hospital Tunnel in Worcester, MA with the only ACSES equipped SD40E3 # 1712 leading the way.
Led by CSXT 1712, M426 is seen approaching Poland, the west end of the siding at Rumford Junction.The 1712 is the only one of CSX's ECO rebuilds equipped with cab signals and ACSES PTC to be able to operate into the former Pan Am territory, making it a worthwhile target to shoot when it leads.
The Pan Am OCS emerges out of the east portal of the historic Hoosac Tunnel in western Massachusetts after making one last round trip across the former Boston and Maine mainline over the Berkshires. Leading the train is an ACSES II-equipped blue dip C40-8 necessary for the trip through MBTA territory north of Boston.
Through the latter half of the 19th Century, Hoosac was the longest tunnel in North America and remains the longest railroad tunnel east of the Mississippi. Construction of the tunnel began in 1851 under the Troy and Greenfield Railroad and lasted 24 grueling years in which 195 workers lost their lives. The stone facade on the east end was built in 1877, two years after the tunnel opened.
Led by ACSES equipped AC44CW 468, M426 is bouncing east over the jointed rail of the former Pan Am District 1, soon to be known as CSX's Waterville Sub. Although changes to Pan Am were slow to start, within the last month or so CSX has been becoming more involved with operations, such as extending M426 to Waterville, and using their own power all the way now.
An ACSES-equipped ex Conrail SD40-2 leads an assortment of other power as CSX M426 heads east past the bog at Readfield, ME amongst melting snow.
A MetroNorth ACSES/PTC test extra passes by the Ballpark at Harbor Yard, home of the Bridgeport Bluefish. The Bluefish were taking on the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs
MEC 3404 takes the No. 2 track at Plaistow, NH. This was just before the MBTA/Keolis activated ACSES PTC west of here so at the time, this ITEMS (or whatever) equipped SD40-2 was able to act as a lead unit for this territory this day.
Last November Pan Am ran their OCS down out of Waterville. With Acses installed on the Keolis territory, the F-units were no longer acceptable to lead. C40-8 #7542 which was already in the Pan Am blue was repainted just for this occasion. The train seen here deadheading to Portland as it crosses Belgrade Stream. Photo taken Belgrade, ME November 9, 2021
It is with much sadness, that I have to report that after 39 years of faithful service, P&W GE B23-7 2201 has been removed from service due to a major mechanical issue. Built in 1978 as a one unit order from GE, the 2201 has logged hundreds of thousands of miles on the P&W system. It worked system wide hauling everything from stacks to coal to freight and hauled billions of tons of stone. After an engine rebuild and changeout just over 10 years ago, the cab signal and ACSES systems were removed and she spent her remaining time in local service. In her last full year of service, we had her assigned to WONR paired with Super-7 2216 passing under the former B&A-NYC Webster Branch at North Main St. in Webster, MA on April 25, 2016.
CSX's Framingham Y101 crew is seen bringing a late B722 west on track 2 at CP-33 in Westborough, MA. Leading the way are 2 yn2 painted AC4400's that have been equipped with ACSES to run over Keolis territory.
A little creative framing to highlight these two visitors to CSXT's Worcester intermodal yard.
CSX1 and CSX2, two of the roads three F40PH-2s dressed in Baltimore and Ohio inspired paint for their office car train bracket Technical and Research Car sitting in Support 3 with a string of road power. The special units have been in town testing overnight on the Keolis Worcester Mainline alellegedly to confirm the functionality of the ACSES PTC system in advance of a supposed May OCS tour across CSXT's former Pan Am property acquired last year.
CSX1 and CSX2 were built as Amtrak 280 and 395 in Apr. 1978 and Aug. 1985 respectively. CSX1 was originally numbered CSXT 9998 was acquired in trade from the Ohio Central in 2005 along with CSXT 9999 (ex AMTK 280) in trade for five units. CSX2 was originally numbered CSXT 9993 and was leased from Amtrak in 1999 and outright acquired in trade for several switch engines in 2002. Interestingly this unit was one of the group built as trade in and with components from Amtrak's SDP40Fs that were retired early due to myriad issues, and this particular locomotive was built was with parts from Amtrak 621.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Friday April 7, 2023
Amtrak 108, in a unique livery for Amtrak's 50th Anniversary, made an unusual trip outside of the northeast on the Carolinian in mid-April. Since this engine has ACSES, it tends to stick around the Albany and New Haven terminals. However, after hauling a new Avelia set to Washington the powers that be sought fit to put it on 79 to Charlotte the previous day, setting us up for a return trip north on Saturday's 80. I rode this one back to DC, and there was a line of fans at just about every station on the way up. The next morning, it got shipped back up to New England on the northbound Vermonter. Fun while it lasted!
Here is a shot from not all that long ago when there was still a dedicated daily auto rack train, and power of any variety could show up on the NS run through trains. Alas, these days thanks to the cutover of ACSES on the MBTA northside routes every NS train now has an SD60E leader.
Here is Pan Am Southern train 28N (Fostoria, OH to Ayer) unit auto rack train arriving at its destination behind CEFX 6030, a CN SD75 and an unidentified NS EMD. They are on Main 2 pulling up to the Wagon Wheel Rd. crossing at MP 312.5 on District 3 of Pan Am's Freight Main, the former Boston and Maine Stony Brook Branch.
The triclops EMD SD60M leading, a member of the CIT Rail lease fleet, was built by EMD in Mar. 1990 and still wears its original Burlington Northern Cascade green and white. CIT leasing is a subsidiary of New York based CIT Group, that traces its history back to 1907 and was originally known as Commercial Investment Trust.
Ayer, Massachusetts
Friday June 22, 2018
A late CSX B725 (Framingham-Attleboro transfer) is seen entering the 3rd Iron at CP-22 in Framingham, MA with a quartet of EMD's providing power. The former Clinchfield SD40 was recently equipped with ACSES to lead on Amtrak and Metro North. The 2nd unit is one of the last remaining SD50's on the roster. Photo taken January 2020.
A few years ago there was still enough autorack business to warrant a dedicated daily train 28N to Ayer. And in the days before ACSES was required foreign power and heritage units were a fairly regular occurrence making for much more fun and interesting times out along Pan Am.
Here is one such train on a chilly early spring day with a pair of CN units leading a long string of racks past the vintage searchlight at MP 430.3 at the crossing to the abandoned Taconic Race Track.
Pownal, Vermont
Saturday April 7, 2018
NS pig train 22k is seen traversing Pan Am's west end with three colorful locomotives for power. Norfolk Southern's "Illinois Terminal" heritage unit is head out, leading a pair of Canadian National six axle's. Fast forward a few years and these trains are now capped by SD60E's with ACSES for the trip over the MBTA's Fitchburg line between Wachusett and Ayer (which is actually on Pan Am - now CSX - trackage).
*I uploaded this once before but wasn't happy with the way it was processed.
September 2016
Erving, MA.
CSX W950, an ACSES test train, is seen blasting east by North Grafton, MA on Keolis's Worcester Mainline.
A non NS leader is at the helm of 23K today. While this is most likely due to ACSES requirements, a four axle B40-8 leading a pig train is a practice of yesterday and created a neat opportunity in a world of standardization. Shirley, MA
The NS Geometry Train tested from East Deerfield to Ayer, MA and return on the now former Pan Am Freight Main. Here we see ACSES equipped MEC 5946 leading the way over the Miller's River in Erving, MA. Photo taken 9/1/2022.
Pan Am Southern 23K is seen heading west at Shirley, MA with MEC 7635 leading the way. Seeing Pan Am power on this train is very uncommon, as Norfolk Southern supplies the power for this train. Due to bad circumstances with the SD60E leading out in New York, the 7635 was added to 22K in East Deerfield last night so that way an ACSES equipped locomotive was leading.
CSX1 and CSX2, two of the roads three F40PH-2s dressed in Baltimore and Ohio inspired paint for their office car train bracket Technical and Research Car sitting in Support 3 with a string of road power. The special units have been in town testing overnight on the Keolis Worcester Mainline alellegedly to confirm the functionality of the ACSES PTC system in advance of a supposed May OCS tour across CSXT's former Pan Am property acquired last year.
CSX1 and CSX2 were built as Amtrak 280 and 395 in Apr. 1978 and Aug. 1985 respectively. CSX1 was originally numbered CSXT 9998 was acquired in trade from the Ohio Central in 2005 along with CSXT 9999 (ex AMTK 280) in trade for five units. CSX2 was originally numbered CSXT 9993 and was leased from Amtrak in 1999 and outright acquired in trade for several switch engines in 2002. Interestingly this unit was one of the group built as trade in and with components from Amtrak's SDP40Fs that were retired early due to myriad issues, and this particular locomotive was built was with parts from Amtrak 621.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Friday April 7, 2023
Pan Am Southern 16R arrives at East Deerfield about a year ago. Three NS units leads the charge, with the lead SD60E required because it's equipped with the ACSES-II necessary to lead on MBTA trackage.
After making its regular overnight turn trip to Attleboro, CSXT Framingham based local L005 is back home. After yarding as much of their train as they could in Nevins Yard (ex Boston and Albany) the yard master instructed them to shove the balance here into the ex New Haven North Yard side.
Here the three EMD SD40-2s shove back on the Northbound track while a brace of five GE widecabs wait tied down on the south end of Track 1 hanging back up the ladder of the busy dozen track yard that serves as the hub for all of CSXT's pre Pan Am purchase eastern Massachusetts carload traffic network.
The motive power based here is all captive and varies little thanks to the requirement that they all be equipped with cab signals and ACSES for operation over MBTA property. SD40-2 CSXT 8840 is on home rails here having been blt. Oct. 1978 as CR 6465. Meanwhile AC440CW CSXT 486 was blt. Sep. 2000 and still wears its as delivered YN2 'bright future' livery.
Framingham, Massachusetts
Friday December 2, 2022
It's not very often that there's a morning eastbound on the Grand Junction, so with word of Amtrak 875, an ACSES test train, was planned to be a morning run in the sun, I decided it was worth getting out of the house and grabbing a shot. Here we see the train heading east up the Grand Junction running track in Cambridge, MA, with P32 708 leading the way.
For a brief moment little Lawrence Yard might just have been the location of the coolest gathering of power on the entirety of the vast CSXT network! Four wide cab GP40 variants, each in a different scheme, congregate in the former Boston and Maine facility which is now CSXT property thanks to its 2022 acquisition of Pan Am Railways.
A pair of former Pan Am GP40-2Ws of CN heritage are at rest in the yard, MEC 516 in PAR blue and MEC 507 in its retro 'heritage' Guilford scheme which it was repainted into in 2020, the last unit ever freshly painted as such. To their left is CSXT's three car geometry train with its assigned one of a kind unit, CSXT 9969, an ex MARC GP40WH-2. Double heading with it is MBTA 1129, a rebuilt GP40MC (rebuilt from an original CN GP40-2W like those beside her) dressed in this one of a kind 'cranberry' heritage scheme.
The CSXT GEO train was being returned by the MBTA after spending two a half days testing on the commuter rail. Due to the fact that 9969 is not equipped with ACSES PTC equipment it could not lead on the MBTA lines.
The T measures and tests its lines quarterly, but with no equipment of its own has always relied on Amtrak's Corridor Clipper car for this work. For whatever reason Amtrak is no longer able to support this so other arrangements were made. An Ensco truck twated all South Side lines except the Worcester Mainline and the MBTA/Keolis made arrangements with CSXT to borrow their train which was used to test east from Worcester, and the Grand Junction Branch, and all the former B&M North Side lines. With the T in the process of building two GEO cars of its own it is unsure if this will ever happen again or if this was a strictly one off occurrence.
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Friday May 23, 2025
Norfolk Southern train 66N, unit ethanol for Motiva at the Port of Providence, rolls through the wooded Providence and Worcester mainline on a gloomy June morning, with P&W B39-8E #3901 leading a pair of Norfolk Southern six axle locomotives.
On most occasions, at the time, run through power would lead the train to Pawtucket, where P&W power equipped with ACSES would be added to the train to bring it the rest of the way to the Port of Providence. That last portion of the trip is on Amtrak's Northeast Corridor, and a majority of foreign locomotives were not equipped with ACSES, thus being not able to lead on Amtrak property. Sometimes, the train ran out of Worcester with a P&W unit already in charge, which made for some neat opportunities to catch P&W power leading Class 1 power on the mainline from Worcester to Providence.
June 2016
Berkely, Cumberland, RI.
Pan Am Southern train 22K is underway after a re-crew at Erving on a beautiful September morning. Norfolk Southern's Illinois Terminal SD70ACe #1072 leads a pair of Canadian national locomotives as one of the more interesting consists I've seen on Pan Am in recent years.
In just short of 3 years from this photo, cab signal and ACSES requirements on the MBTA from Westminster to Boston will force NS SD60E's to lead all trains from Mechanicville to Ayer. Something like this will likely never happen again, especially with CSX now the proud owner of the railroad.
September 2016
Erving, MA.
Norfolk Southern train 265 makes good time down the ex DH "Freight Line" as it leans into a curve near Worcester, NY. While the train is bound for Chicago, this power set will be taken off in Binghamton and used for 264 later in the evening due to the special "ACSES" PTC that is equipped on certain SD60Es for use in MBTA territory.
Just a testament to how quickly things can change. Here is another shot from this last time I shot the Pan Am OCS running behind the Fs. Thanks to the cutover of ACSES and ATC on the MBTA's northside routes they would no longer be able to lead come 2021 and by early 2022 the signals here at FG would be replaced as time marched inevitably on. So for those reasons this catch was extra precious and I'm still astonished I was the only one here to see this.
Pan Am Railways little four car business train races east thru CPF FG beneath classic Boston and Maine era searchlight signals at MP 48 (measured from Boston North Station via the old Fitchburg Route mainline) and also MP 328 (measured from Mattawamkeag, ME on Pan Am's freight mainline).
PAR 1 and PAR 2 are ex Canadian National FP9s 6505 and 6516 built in 1954 and 1957 respectively by GMDD. They passed from CN to VIA Rail in 1978 before being picked up by the Conway Scenic in 1995 when they expanded into Crawford Notch. After 15 years spent hauling tourists in the White Mountains 6505 & 6516 would become PAR 1 & 2 when traded to Pan Am Railways in March 2010 for GP38 252 and GP35 216.
Fitchburg, Massachusetts
Thursday November 19, 2020
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
After being repainted at Huntington this past August, CSXT 9280 (former CSXT/MEC 7627) has returned to the C40-8 pool on the former Pan Am system due to only being equipped with ACSES rather than IETMS required to lead on the rest of the CSX system. The unit is seen leading an oddly-timed POED that was run with an 0300 crew out of Rigby to accommodate a track outage, seen here passing through the city of Haverhill, MA with an almost-matching set of power.
During the short period of time where unit ethanol trains were coming off of Pan Am from Norfolk Southern, a run through power agreement in place allowed whatever units were on the train from NS to stay all the way to Providence. They could lead on the P&W's mainline but had to be capped by a Providence and Worcester unit equipped with Cabs and ACSES for the trip south of Valley Falls. Some times the trains would be taken south by the nightly road train, WODA, and the power would get kicked out in the Valley or Receiving Yard depending on space.
In this case, Canadian National C40-8W #2172, CSXT AC44CW #160, and Norfolk Southern C40-9W #8890, sit over the Blackstone River on the house track in Valley Falls awaiting a return trip north with empties.
It was definitely cool while it lasted.
April 2015
Cumberland, RI.
CSXT local L002, the Worcester to Framingham turn, is starting west heading back home on a dark and drizzly fall morning in this view looking off the Winter Street overpass. This job is basically the extension of the old Q436/Q437 road trains which used to run all the way through to and from Selkirk.
22 yr old AC4400CW still in old YN2 paint leads two non ACSES equipped more modern gevo siblings on the Keolis/MBTA Worcester Mainline, the one time Boston and Albany. Normally this train would have run through and departed from the yard at left via CP23, but as this photo illustrates Nevins yard was completely full so they departed directly out of the old New Haven north yard and crossed over on to Main 1 at CP22 in the background.
Framingham, Massachusetts
Wednesday October 5, 2022
CSXT local L002, the Worcester to Framingham turn, is starting west heading back home on a dark and drizzly fall morning in this view looking off the Winter Street overpass. This job is basically the extension of the old Q436/Q437 road trains which used to run all the way through to and from Selkirk.
22 yr old AC4400CW still in old YN2 paint leads two non ACSES equipped more modern gevo siblings on the Keolis/MBTA Worcester Mainline, the one time Boston and Albany. Normally this train would have run through and departed from the yard at left via CP23, but as this photo illustrates Nevins yard was completely full so they departed directly out of the old New Haven north yard and crossed over on to Main 1 at CP22 in the background.
Of note in this wider view are four more brand new Hyundai/Rotem bi level MBTA passenger cars. These are the 5th thru 8th cars to arrive of a fleet of 83 ordered by the T in 2019 as part of a $278.5 million contract that are being built in South Korea then shipped to the Port of Baltimore where they are put on rails for transport north to the Boston area. The first four arrived in June and are still undergoing setup and acceptance testing at Wareham and Readville.
Framingham, Massachusetts
Wednesday October 5, 2022
NS 16R, led by NS SD70ACE #1068, is seen crossing the Deerfield River approaching its final destination of East Deerfield Yard after making its journey from Binghamton back in July of 2019. Since this past Monday, this train no longer terminates in East Deerfield and now runs all the way through to Ayer. The current pool of SD60E’s in New England are now required to lead this train since PTC (ACSES) is now in effect East of Wachusett.
For the first time since being painted in Amtrak’s 40th Anniversary commemorative paint scheme, Amtrak 130 makes its first trip on the Pennsylvanian after recently having ACSES installed. The eastbound 42 is seen shortly after making its station stop at Tyrone at Plummers Hollow.
NS 23K hauls west through Shirley with a now common (for this area) EMD leader. NS 6945 was at the point of today’s Chicago bound train. These NS EMD SD60E units are needed to lead this train over MBTA/Keolis territory (Ayer-Wachusett) because they are equipped with ACSES and PTC.
Two minutes after shooting Keolis/MBTA train 425 Berkshire and Eastern train B101 raced west on parallel Main 2 trying to cath them. They are passing the small commuter rail shelter as they pass the park approaching the Main St. crossing on Main 1 of the Keolis/MBTA Fitchburg Line main at MP 39.5 (measured from Boston North Station) which is also MP 319.5 (measured from Mattawamkeag, ME) on the ex Pan Am Freight Mainline.
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. B101 is the symbol B&E uses for this to Ayer to Park Manor Yard in Chicago intermodal which turns into Norfolk Southern train 263 at Mechanicville and used to be known as 23K. 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 between Ayer and Westminster.
This train is on borrowed time here because another condition of the sale of Pan Am was the granting of trakage rights to NS for the operation of one daily pair of premium trains (this one and its eastbound counterpart) over CSXT's former Boston and Albany route. These trains will leave their current routing via the Boston and Maine Fitchburg Route and instead depart Ayer south on the Worcester Main then utilize CSXT's, Boston, Berkshire and Castleton Subs to Selkirk then west to Voorheesville where they will hop onto NS's old Delaware and Hudson Albany main to Delanson where they will rejoin their current route to Binghamton and points west. Allegedly, that routing will commence anytime, so if you want shots of 'the pig train' on the old B&M the time is now.
Shirley, Massachusetts
Friday September 26, 2025
While I was back in new England for Christmas, I knew I wanted to shoot PanAm railways in what is likely to be their waning days before the CSX takeover. But the thing about shooting PanAm is it not just THAT easy. Since they began switching power to former CSX units (ironically) you're just as likely to get some spray-pained and duct-taped shitbox as you are something cool. My luck getting painted leaders over Christmas bordered on the absurd, and not only did I get paint, but I managed to get painted SD40s in perfect sunlight. Here is POAY, Portland to Ayer, passing the vintage Boston and Maine depot in Andover, MA. With the new requirements for leaders equipped with ACSES PTC in MBTA territory beginning January 1st, it is likely this was one of the last SD40 leaders through this territory. Sometimes it's better to be lucky than it is to be good, but sometimes you get to be both.
Two years ago on a near perfect early November day Pan Am’s OCS ran west from Waterville to Rigby Yard. The train is approaching Rice’s Rip Road. With Acses now installed on the commuter territory, the FUnits wouldn’t be able to lead over the territory. C40-8 #7542 which was already in the Pan Am blue got a whole repaint job for the OCS. Photo taken Oakland, ME November 9, 2021
After meeting eastbound intermodal train B100 here Berkshire and Eastern Railroad train EDMO is pulling through the searchlights off Main 1 onto the single track at CPF415 on the B&E operated Pan Am Southern Freight Mainline, the one time Boston and Maine Fitchburg Division. Just behind me they will cross the Deerfield River and enter the town of Florida before crossing River Road then plunging into 4.75 miles of darkness through the Hoosac Tunnel.
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. Trailing is BERX C40-8W 7879 in it's Genesee and Wyoming heritage scheme.
Rowe, Massachusetts
August 31, 2025
CSXT local L020 has 17 cars trailing two ACSES equipped ex Chessie GP40-2s as they had back to their home base in South Schenectady after a trip to Rensselaer and up the Troy Branch. They are seen climbing the nearly 1.6% grade of West Albany Hill through the Tivoli Lake Preserve at about MP 144.6 on Main 1 of Amtrak's Hudson Line. Prior to the building of Selkirk Yard and the Castleton bridge the New York Central's main shops and yards were just ahead at West Albany and all freight trains to New York City and Boston had to battle this brutal grade. Upon opening of that bypass, this route was relegated to just passenger trains and local freights, a role it continues to play a century later.
This route dates from 1845 when the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad replaced it's steep pioneering route west from the Hudson River to Schenectady which opened in 1831 as the first component road of what would ultimately become the New York Central Railroad when Erastus Corning united it with myriad other small roads in the state. Cornelius Vanderbilt would gain control of the NYC in 1867 and merged it with his Hudson River Railroad in 1869 to form the contiguous New York City to Buffalo 'Water Level Route' and the rest is history. Ultimately this line would pass from the NYC to Penn Central in 1968, then Conrail in 1976, and finally CSXT in 1999. In Conrail days this was the east end of the Chicago Line though in CSXT years it was designated as the northern end of the Hudson Line. In December 2012 Amtrak took over control and dispatching of the Hudson Line from Hoffmans to Poughkeepsie under a long term lease agreement with CSXT who continues to provide freight service over the entirety of the route.
Albany, New York
Friday October 25, 2024
A friend was up visiting from New Jersey and wanted to take in a bit of the New England rail scene. His main goal was to shoot some Providence and Worcester trains led by locomotives still wearing the independent pre GW orange and brown paint.
Train NRWO arrived from Plainfield with a pair of B39-8s one each in orange and original. While waiting to see whether they would eye the power or not (in order to keep the desired leader) we picked up some other nearby action.
Hearing P&W WX-1 on the radio as well we knew they were close by and a drive down Cambridge Street revealed them working in the yard on the mainline side. In short order the pair of original GP38-2s pulled up with a cut offering a nice view in the warm morning light. While I'm sad these beauties have been banished from work in Rhode Island due to ACSES issues they sure look good here working in the the yard that is the beating heart of the operation.
Worcester, Massachusetts
Friday January 22, 2020
CSX Geometry train headed west on the former B&M West End. The former “Guilford Heritage Unit” led the way for the ACSES Territory. Coming up the Slow Track approaching Cosby’s Barn. Thanks to the CS for the heads up it was running. Photo taken Buckland, MA August 22, 2023
With much of the NS fleet used by COnrail not PTC/ACSES equipped, CSX power has become more prevalent on local jobs out of Morrisville Yard. Here, a pair of GP40-2s lead a 17 car MO-R1 on the Delmorr Ave street running before arriving at A.E. Staley about a 1/4 mile behind the photographer.
Exactly five minutes after shooting Amtrak train 682 and three minutes after shooting the head end of L080, the Keolis work train crew headed east through thru the curve at CPF AS at MP BW25.8 (measured from North Station in Boston) on Main 2 of the Keolis/MBTA Western Route mainline in this view looking down off the old Salem Street bridge from the opposite side.
The north side work train crew will take the train a mile east up to CPF FR then reverse direction back down Track 17 following L080 into the yard to set out the CSXT geometry train before cutting off light with their locomotive and scooting back to BET.
The three car train consists of CSXT 994366 (Geometry/theater car TGC3), 994365 (support car Hocking Valley), and 994369 (crew car Grand Rapids) with its assigned one of a kind unit, CSXT 9969, an ex MARC GP40WH-2. Double headed on the east end is MBTA GP40MC1129 in the 'cranberry' heritage scheme and on the west end is MBTA F40PH-3C 1033. The train had to be capped with MBTA locomotives due to the fact that 9969 is not equipped with ACSES PTC equipment necessary to lead on the MBTA lines.
The T measures and tests its lines quarterly, but with no equipment of its own has always relied on Amtrak's Corridor Clipper car for this work. For whatever reason Amtrak is no longer able to support this so other arrangements were made. An Ensco truck tested all South Side lines except the Worcester Mainline and the MBTA/Keolis contracted with CSXT to borrow their train which was handed off in Worcester. It was used to test east from Worcester, the Grand Junction Branch, and the eastern route on Wednesday then later this morning will head out and test the New Hampshire and Fitchburg Routes. Finally on this morning it tested the Western Route to as far as this point before wrapping up. With the T in the process of building two GEO cars of its own it seems unlikely that this will ever happen again but around here you just never know!
In the background beyond the power substation can be seen the steeple of the South Congregational Church that dates from 1868.
Lawrence, Massachusetts
Friday May 23, 2025
Amtrak 125 received a fresh Phase 7 paint scheme in late June, making this the first ACSES equipped P42 to receive the new branding. After spending a week sitting in Washington DC was shipped up to New Haven where it ran on the Springfield Regionals and Vermonter power pool for the past 2 months. Here we see the engine leading 55 at Holyoke, MA on 7/26/2024.