Portraits of Charlie: The MBTA Group
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In the early 1980's the MBTA was in need of some additional locomotives and purchased six GP9's from the Burlington Northern. Seen here is MBTA 1925 built by EMD in 1958 for the Northern Pacific on train 410.
Dad I'm sure was chasing P&W train GR-WO with GP38-2 2006 is sitting on 'Bull Run' waiting for the window job to clear!
Scanned from a slide K64 Canon F-1
© Robert C Barnett 2022
Mechanical issues on an Amtrak loco led to Keolis lending a hand with the newest heritage unit, the Cranberry #1129. It tied onto the front of Amtrak 695 at Boston for the trip to Maine. Here they are arriving Portland station on the Mountain Branch in a brief cloud opening with sun, before shoving back west to the main to finish the trip to Brunswick. GP38-3 #740 is also seen tied down on one of the layover tracks, waiting for its next assignment.
Taken on 5/24/2025
MBTA F40PH-3C 1030 debuted in its new Boston Maine minuteman 'heritage' scheme on a special charter train operated jointly by the MBTA, Keolis, and the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad. MC's Cape Cod Central Railroad dinner train (including both ex NH FL9s) was bracketed by a pair of MBTA units and operated for the New England Railroad Club as guests enjoyed dinner on board while making a round trip from South Station to and across the Cape Cod Canal and return.
The rear of the southbound train catches the last rays of sun as it passes the cranberry bogs just south of the Wood Street overpass. The train has just cleared BAY (note the small blue block limit sign) at MP 36.44 which denotes the end of the MBTA owned and Keolis operated Middleboro Mainline and the start of the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal operated Cape mainline.
Middleborough, Massachusetts
Monday September 8, 2025
Autumn sun paints the atrium of the MBTA's Forest Hills Station with a golden glow as sleepy commuters head to work. Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
El sol otoñal pinta el atrio de la estación Forest Hills de la MBTA con un resplandor dorado mientras los viajeros adormecidos se dirigen a sus trabajos. Boston, Massachusetts, Estados Unidos.
MBTA Train 18 is seen passing over Draw 7 in Boston, MA. The train is seen with a solid bi-level set to accomodate extra passengers travelling to Salem in the month of October. In the background we also see a pair of Orange Line trains meeting at Assembly.
The MBTA OCS, running as P933, approaches Pine Point on its westbound trip back to Boston. The train, carrying officials from multiple companies involved in improvements to the Amtrak Downeaster route, made a round trip from Boston to Portland and back to inspect progress on the various projects along the line.
The MBTA Office Car Special (OCS) running as Amtrak train B933 is making a trip off home rails as it rolls out over the Fore River at about MP PLD 12.2 on their ex Pan Am Freight Main, the one time Portland Terminal Railroad mainline. They are crossing from South Portland into Portland and will pull into Yard 8 at Fore River interlocking (old CPF197) then reverse to Mountain Jct and shove their train up to the Portland Transportation Center on the Mountain Branch which is where Amtrak's Downeasters presently stop.
The train is lead by GP40MCs 1129 and 1136, the former in its one a kind 'cranberry' heritage scheme and the latter one of three in MassDOT blue. Trailing are four cars: brining up the rear is brand new theater car number 535 (former 1515) named 'Mayflower', and ahead of it are office cars number 529 'Constitution' and number 525 'Minuteman' and on the head pin is 534 (former 1503), one of two specially wrapped revenue geometry cars (only along to meet timetable minimum axle requirements). All four cars are rebuilt 500-series MBBs, among the few survivors of a fleet of 67 cars (33 blind and 34 cab control) built new in Germany in 1987-88. Leading the train are heritage units 1129 and 1030, the former a GP40MC dressed in the 'cranberry' scheme and the latter an F40PH-3C dressed in Boston and Maine Minuteman livery.
The train made the trip from Boston North Station to here and back with officials from the MBTA, Keolis, Amtrak, CSXT and NNEPRA on board to look at and discuss present and future capital projects to upgrade and increase capacity for a future increase in Downeaster service.
Portland, Maine
Friday December 5, 2025
MBTA 904 is seen at Holmes Street in Halifax, MA with a Kingston Extra. The extra brought 8 F40s and one coach stored in Kingston north and eventually to Middleboro. You can see 904 smoking pretty heavily, and eventually set it off at least one small wildfire and broke down en route. The 904 was recently donated by the MBTA to the 470 Railroad Club after a few years of disuse. The old GTW GP18 now resides at the New Hampshire Northcoast Railroad in Ossipee, NH where, I'm sure, it sees a bright future in the hands of the 470 club.
Outbound Keolis/MBTA train 425 accelerates away from its station stop 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 Berkshire and Eastern's ex Pan Am Freight Mainline. Leading the Fitchburg and Wachusett bound train over these former Boston and Maine rails is battle worn GP40MC 1121.
Shirley, Massachusetts
Friday September 26, 2025
I was convinced to shoot this set of old signals at Readville and decided to put the effort in to get on the bridge and include the beantown skyline, or part of it.
Anywho, you're welcome for the new camera portholes.
I am far too familiar with this bus route. Not that it's a bad bus route, just that I shouldn't be taking it so often.
An outbound Framingham/Worcester line train pulled by a rebuilt F40PH eases through the crossover at CP 11.
Just a simple little photo of MBTA 1052 leading a 5 car set back to the house. They are less than a mile out of North Station and have just passed beneath the Prison Point Bridge and are briefly within the city limits of Boston before entering Somerville to lay over at BET.
1052 is an F40PH-2C blt. by EMD in Aug. 1987. This particular unit was noteworthy for wearing this nose banner for more than a decade right up until the time of its shipment off for rebuilding as part of the MBTA's 3C program contracted with MPI/Wabtec. To learn more about that project check out this link: archives.lib.state.ma.us/bitstream/handle/2452/802863/ocn...
And to see a photo of her a few years later on her way home from overhaul check out this shot of mine: flic.kr/p/2nrRLqE
Neighborhood of Charlestown
Boston, Massachusetts
Tuesday May 2, 2018
MBTA 1815 is propelled toward Lansdowne at Mountfort Street, Boston, MA by 1054 with a service from Worcester.
Westbound on the Boston & Albany bound for Worcester is this best case scenario leader with a clean nose.
MBTA GP40MC #1116 brings 8 brand new Hyundai Rotem bi-level coaches onto Seaview Railroad property back on a, cold, winter 2014 afternoon. The coaches were just a handful of many that saw warranty work, performed by Hyundai themselves, at Seaview’s shop.
N. Kingstown, RI.
February, 2014
Although home to the Hobo and Winnipesaukee Scenic Railroads, the former B&M White Mountain Branch north of Tilton, NH has not seen a freight train since 1992 when the New England Southern still had active customers on this scenic stretch of track. This past December the Hobo and NEGS received loaded centerbeams of new ties for replacement this coming spring, allowing for the closest thing to a freight train we'll likely ever see along the shore of Lake Winnipesaukee ever again. After running north with the 3 loads the previous weekend, NEGS' former SP SW1500 is seen crossing the tiny draw span of the Lakeport Draw Bridge (the shortest railroad draw in the country) with one load and two empties returning south to Canterbury. Out of sight on the tail is a former B&M transfer caboose returning to the MBTA after a rebuild at the Hobo, but I wasn't too disappointing about cutting it out of the shot due to it's shoddy plastic-wrap job that had been done to protect the paint.
Boston's MBTA runs an interesting mix of older generations diesels and "newer" HSPs as one of the commuter railroads that thankfully has not been invaded by Siemens. On a gorgeous fall morning, an outbound train is approaching their stop in Norwood, Massachusetts framed by the peak fall foliage. As a commuter rail rider when I lived here, I rarely if ever shot "the T." Since moving to Virginia, I've done what I can to get some shots in my portfolio.
The Keolis/MBTA FRA geometry car extra pauses on rebuilt bridge crossing the Cohasset Narrows at MP 54.3 on the MassDOT owned former New Haven Railroad (originally Old Colony) Cape Main now operated by Mass Coastal railroad. The waterway the connects Buttermilk Bay with Buzzards Bay and the North Atlantic serves as the town line between Wareham at left to the west and Bourne to the east. The 5 car train bracketed between rebuilt F40PH-3C 1028 and unrebuilt -2C 1036 paused here for a bit on its way to Hyannis to await the Cape Cod Canal lift bridge to be lowered. In the foreground some local shellfishermen can be seen bringing a few pots in.
Bourne, Massachusetts
Friday April 9, 2021
MBTA Newburyport/Rockport train 5048 runs parallel to the North River on a gorgeous July afternoon with a mixed consist bound for Boston's North Station.
July 26, 2025
Salem, MA
The MBTA/Keolis geometry train has paused at end of track at MP BK36.5 on what is now known as the Milford Industrial Track. Basically a continuoution of the modern day Franklin Line, this spot is six miles beyond the end of regular commuter train operations at Franklin Forge Park station. As an MBTA owned and maintained route, once a year this train travels to end of track here just shy of Main Street to take measurements of the track structure as required by the MBTA contract.
The train consisted of MBTA cab car 1533, three blind coaches and AMTK 10002, the Corridor Clipper geometry car made from a modified Amfleet I. Providing the motive power was MassDOT GP40MC 1136 in its one of a kind blue scheme.
Conrail and then CSXT freights came to town three times a week and would run around right here in the remains of the old yard until the last major customer closed in 2018 . Since then virtually no trains (excepting these annual test trains and a few rare detours last summer) have traveled beyond the last two customers in Bellingham located not far past Forge Park.
To learn more about this former New Haven line and three other rail routes that once radiated from this town check out the extensive detailed caption with this image of one of the detour trains that ran last summer:
Sharp eyes will note a manual freight crane at right, a relic from New Haven days and through the trees in the right corner is the surviving stone former Boston and Albany station.
Milford, Massachusetts
Sunday January 24, 2021
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority ( MBTA ) F40PH 1009 backing into South Station in Boston, Massachusetts on an unknown day in April 1979, Ektachrome by Chuck Zeiler.
Beyer Patton photo
Shoving on the rear of an outbound run, MBTA 1153 heads out of Boston. 1153 was built in 1947 as Gulf, Mobile & Ohio F3A 883A. It was sold to MBTA at the end of the 1970s and rebuilt. After being retired, it was sold to Edaville where it is on display.
Boston, MA
July 1985
Train of the Day
6/21/23