View allAll Photos Tagged serviceability
Parked on the spur track just north of the freight house in this former Boston and Maine yard are three veterans very much on home rails. All polished up and resting in the sun are 1949 vintage F7s 4266 and 4268 and 1957 built GP9 1741. The trio are all fully serviceable and are owned by the 470 Railroad Club of Portland, Maine but call the Conway Scenic Railroad home. I look forward to seeing the trio in action again on November 1 when the group's annual charter takes place. To learn more see the caption with this photo from last year's outing: flic.kr/p/2qx4Myq
Village of North Conway
Town of Conway, New Hampshire
Saturday August 2, 2025
Owing to a shortage of serviceable 60’s, DCR used its pair of 56’s (56301/56103) to cover the Willesden - Merehead working. 56301 still strongly displaying it’s livery from the Fastline days, I imagine it’s only a matter of time before it gains the corporate DCRail grey colour scheme. Owing to some developing issues with my camera’s focus, I couldn’t quite achieve the outcome I wanted but still relatively pleased with this image. Cheers to Steve King for the early morning text on the gen allowing enough time to trek from Plymouth!
Chessie GP35 No. 4386 and a CSX mate give a power assist to NYS&W-run Delaware & Hudson at the rebuilt bore in Tunnel NY on 20 August 1988.
Left with little serviceable motive power of its own after the Guilford pullout, D&H and designated operator Susquehanna and friends pooled a colorful assortment of engines to keep trains running.
Midland Mainline must have been struggling for serviceable class 43s on September 7th 2000 because 43061, pictured at Nottingham at the rear of a St Pancras service, was turned out in this condition. Even with a sizable chunk of bodywork missing it was running all week on MML services.
I posted this shot over 7 years ago, but the visual result was pretty much what I deserved: A muddy piece of crap that was spit out of a cheap scanner with cheap "repair software". I did a re-scan a couple years ago and never shared, so here is the second time around on my Flickr page complete with the original caption. Apologies to those with a great memory and taking up your time with a repeat.
For some reason, I titled it;
"The Short And Long Of It".
This just might be my most rare photo on the New York, Susquehanna & Western Northern Division. Three reasons why.
Number one; C420 #2000.
Number two; RS3 #29.
Number 3; Hardly a cloud in the sky.
The 2000 started life as Louisville & Nashville #1312 in 1966 and spent much of it's life in eastern Kentucky coal country like many of it's Alco siblings. In 1982 she was picked up by the Delaware Otsego Corp. to aid in the expansion of Corporate owned NYS&W. She arrived in May of 1982 dressed in a fabulous altered version of the NYS&W "yellow jacket" paint scheme with brilliant silver trucks.
The #29 was born in 1952 as Delaware & Hudson #4117. She served the D&H well for nearly 20 years and was sold to a railroad supply company which in turn sold it to the Roberval & Saguenay as #29. She arrived south of the border in 1979 to be used for the new Adirondack Railroad which would be a passenger railroad from Utica to Lake Placid to serve the 1980 Winter Olympics still as 29. That railroad would cease to exist not long after the games were over due to poor track conditions. D&O picked up the 29 and Conrail delivered it to Richfield Jct. in March of 1982. At Richfield Springs splashes of green paint covered the gold "Adirondack" lettering and NYSW stenciled under the cab windows and she was pressed into service. Many didn't even know that the 29 existed because she stayed up in the north country rarely being visited by fans. Try and find her on the all time roster. She didn't exist. The following month after this shot, she'd become #104 and ply the rails of the NYS&W into the 90's. Her fate came one evening on a heavy New Jersey bound haulage train. Brakes got "set up" on her and the Conrail crew with the big powerful C430's kept on going to reach the Gulf Summit dragging the RS3 along flattening the wheels and ruining the motors.
On the other hand, the 2000 is a much different story. By December of this same year she be met with a major component failure. Some time was spent resting in Binghamton. Then a bed was made up in the Little Ferry roundhouse. There she sat in a coma for years until NYS&W finally pulled the plug and mercilessly torched her to bits right behind the roundhouse in 1988 after living a serviceable life of a mere 16 years.
This is the only time I ever captured these two "rare birds" together. Throw in a wonderful summer evening in upstate Earlville, New York and you get what I mean.
The shape of things to come...maybe. The ČD (and ÖBB) railjet sets (including Taurus locomotives) do not have the correct ETCS version and will not be fitted in time for the December ETCS switch on in Czechia. This means that although the sets will continue to operate, they will be hauled by other locomotives - nominally Vectrons although other substitutions will happen no doubt.
A shortage of serviceable Taurus 1216 locomotives in January 2024 saw a few weeks where the sets in Czechia were hauled by various Class 362 and 380s and even one occasion where the entire set was replaced with Bdmtee between Praha and Breclav! 362 175 is here between the stops of Poříčany and Tatce with rj 257 from Praha hl.n to Graz.
WNYP 637 leads stone loads north from Driftwood at South Emporium, PA. This was a bit of an experimental shot, primarily just to get the hell away from the crowds of people and I probably could've made do with some more reach for this photo too. But after I got the picture onto the computer, I was quite happy with how this turned out.
On my adventure down to track level from the road here, I inadvertently managed to spook a couple bears that were hiding in the thick brush here. Completely unbeknownst to me until they took off running. If they were cubs, it's a good thing momma bear wasn't near by!
It was a neat experience getting to see the WNYP BIGs in service in their last summer. But the absolute swarms of people as things got closer and closer to the end really took away a lot of the fun. It's one thing to deal with all the people, and it's another when a third of these crowd's follow you like your interconnected at the hip because they were too ignorant and lazy to do any research prior to making their trip.
It's now 2020 and most of these big alco’s have been put into serviceable storage at Olean, NY. The mass crowds have died off again, and some of the 6 axles still see intermittent service on the BP transfer trains to Salamanca, NY from time to time.
The GE era has taken over at the WNYP, and while their no ALCO's, they did arrive on property in company paint which was a big help to ease the pain. Hopefully before the 2020 stone season comes to a close I can make it up to get the GE's in action over Keating Summit, through the heart of the endless mountains.
One from a while back and just copied across onto lightroom for a play. A couple of wagons were left behind at Sheffield overnight in January 2017 when a fault was discovered. These were later rescued by 60095 and I caught it on the way home from work at a timely blue hour.
How the memory plays tricks. This is 6Z60 0530 Tinsley SS to Sheffiled. Apparently the cripple was taken to Tinsley overnight as 8z60 and this was the remaining 2 serviceable wagons for taking forward the following night. This shot is actually a morning blue hour shot on the way to work.
Dardanelle & Russellville's pair of Alco switchers, #19 an S3 and #18 an S1, sit at the railroad's "shops" in North Dardanelle. The shop building was recently torn down. These Alcos, while out of service, are stored serviceable, I believe. The D&R uses their SW1 and a recently acquired ex CN GMD1 to handle their trains currently.
The Dardanelle & Russellville is one of the oldest railroads in the United States still operating under its original charter, having been formed in 1883. The D&R operates 4.8 miles of track, and traffic largely consists of forest products (include a large RR tie mill), plastics and pulp board. The railroad is currently owned by Arkansas Shortline Railroads Inc, but has remained largely independent.
Interested in purchasing a high-quality digital download of this photo, suitable for printing and framing? Let me know and I will add it to my Etsy Shop, MittenRailandMarine! Follow this link to see what images are currently listed for sale: www.etsy.com/shop/MittenRailandMarine
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S312, S317, S311 and N466 head north away from Teddywaddy with 9195 empty grain train bound for Nullawil.
Saturday 1st March 2025
North of Wolsztyn station on a misty evening, 17th January 2014, the level crossing gates clatter down as the driver of Ol49-59 eagerly waits for the signal to be pulled off. The footplate crew's last duty of the shift before loco disposal is to move the empty stock of the evening 'commuter service' arrival from Leszno out of the station's main arrival platform and into the rolling stock sidings. With no serviceable steam locomotive available for the foreseeable future, Wolsztyn has fallen silent to the familiar bark of the 1950s-built 2-6-2 and routine captivating out of daylight hours activity such as this. Let's hope that regular timetabled main line steam passenger services return here again soon.
© Gordon Edgar - All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without my explicit permission
A Sunday extra SC-7 splits the power at the Delaware-Lackawanna's South Scranton shops. The RS11s to the right are parts sources until GVT's CMO Don Colangelo decides they are worthy of a return to service. When I was a kid I saw the former W&W 351 in sand service in Virginia, while the former KB&S 324 I saw out in Illinois before GP38-3 rebuilds eliminated their small ALCO fleet. To the left is THE C636, looking mighty fine after a week in the shop getting electrical work done. Monday morning it'll lead PO-74 to the Delaware Water Gap with the three other serviceable "BIG ALCOs". Today's heritage trio is former Erie-Lackawanna C425 2452, Lehigh Valley C420 414, and Central of New Jersey RS3 1554, moving sand up the former Delaware & Hudson to Carbondale.
This is a 2-seat version and is used to give extremely expensive passenger rides.
I have mixed feelings about these modern, 2-seat conversions. Apart from a couple of one-off examples, there were no two-seaters during the war; your first flight in a Spitfire was strictly a solo affair. In the late 1940s, a small number of 2-seaters were manufactured (or converted Mk IXs) for the Indian and Irish Air Forces - about 17 in total. In recent years, several more, otherwise perfectly serviceable, Mk IXs have been butchered to make 2-seaters. The revenue from joyrides helps keeps the single seat aircraft flying. Even so, the T9s are my least favourite Spitfires to see, and I rarely photograph them.
This aircraft, MJ627, is a genuine war survivor and is known to have shot down an enemy aircraft. It appears to be one of the original batch converted for the Irish Air Force in 1950.
If you fancy a flight in the back seat of a Spitfire, be prepared to hand over about £3,000/$4,000 for a 30 minutes experience.
The date is 28.12.1991 and 50015 and 50008 were stored un-serviceable at Plymouth Laira after a recent repaint and the 'Hoover Hoop' railtour on 19.10.1991. History tells us that both engines were saved from the cutters torch and are operational today.
Macro Monday - Chip
There is a little chip on the rolled edge of one of our garden bird baths.....fortunately the rest is in tact and perfectly serviceable!!
I've written in the past about the periodic Mercury Retrograde and the challenges that presents in our daily lives. Mercury is out of retrograde at the moment, but there are currently five other planets in simultaneous retrograde. That's five of eight and it's fairly unusual to have this many at once. The energy of this mass retrograde is no doubt causing people much internal reflection and perhaps second-guessing and hesitation. There's a tendency toward feeling disconnected and frustration over life in general. Mars in retrograde can cause thoughts of life coming to a standstill and an acute sense of lack of progress. Not a great time for meetings of the mind and the discord is readily apparent in the news lately. Our priorities have shifted over the past year in large part due to the pandemic. In many respects 2020 has reshaped our worldview and the impact will be felt for years to come. The planets will slowly begin moving out of retrograde starting tomorrow so there should be some easing of tension. However beware as Mercury turns retrograde in mid-October just in time for the election.
Somehow I blew this photo opportunity the other day.
Don't know if it was related to the retrogrades or just plain carelessness. Possibly a combination. Found myself standing on a lonely country lane in the aftermath of a thunderstorm. Just a hint of clearing to the north created wonderful highlights in the reflected light of the rain-sautrated roadway. Angry scud clouds reached across the sky. The epitome of bleak energy that I live for, and me standing here with a DSLR and a new lens. Like fishing from a barrel, there was no way I could screw up. I bracketed exposure, bracketed camera angle, all to ensure the capture. Alas I just discovered this morning the lens was zoomed in to 34mm the entire time. The photos were serviceable but lacked the grandeur I felt standing there. I absolutely should have been shooting in wide angle and I still do not comprehend how I failed to notice something so basic. All was not lost however as I had backed up the DSLR shots with a smartphone camera. This is the takeaway shot, and it captures every nuance of what I was feeling that day.
The first grain to Elmore in quite a while ran over the 26th and 27th of December 2022 when SSR sent 9097/9098 to load at the site with their two serviceable Broad Gauge S Classes in charge- S317 leading on the 9097 empties and S312 on the 9098 return, with the former seen at Kangaroo Flat on the 26th.
Video available at: youtu.be/UIUsgOTRFgg
Load Haul 'Grid' 56116 of Immingham TMD having just acquired the token for the Haydock Branch moves off before passing under Ashton Road bridge in Golborne with the Lindsay - Kelbits loaded bitumen tanks.
* Load Haul was formed when BR Railfreight was privatised and sported one of the most attractive and serviceable liveries.
The elegant and smooth-riding PCC streetcar first graced the streets of Philadelphia in 1938. The cars delivered in 1947/48 have enjoyed exceptionally long lives, lasting in their original form with SEPTA into the early 1980s, when they were displaced on the city’s subway-surface routes by the 9000-series of light rail vehicles supplied by Kawasaki that remain in service today.
Many redundant Philadelphia PCC cars were snapped up by the Market Street Railway in San Francisco, where they were placed in service painted in a variety of historic liveries on the F Market Street line between Castro and Fisherman’s Wharf.
SEPTA itself emulated the successful San Francisco heritage venture by bringing back into service a batch of 1947/48 vehicles with upgraded electrical equipment to operate the 100%-surface 15 route along Girard Avenue. However, after 15 years of renewed service, concerns about frame corrosion and other issues caused SEPTA to withdraw the service in early 2020, by which time at least 14 of the 18 vehicles were no longer serviceable.
Happily, the withdrawal was not permanent and SEPTA chose to rebuild the heritage cars, in effect creating a PCC III version that would be fit for the 21st century. To date, some eight vehicles have been rebuilt to the latest standard. The revived Girard Avenue Line is now known as the G Line. PCC III #2333, new in 1947, was captured heading east, passing beneath the L Line station at Front-Girard.
37409 and 37424 with a Derby to Carlisle test train
37409 very unhealthy with clag and engine sounding poorly !!
with these and 37716 the only serviceable 37s at Crewe to come over to Derby for this plans were made but the river Trent flooding the surrounding area and roads meant you couldn't easily get to better locations for the grid and these
( Mobile phone mast removed in proccesing )
Metroline DP1010 (RL51DNX) stands on Kymberley Road in Harrow waiting to form the next 395 working to Greenford Westway Cross retail park.
The former Armchair Dennis Darts were legacy survivors at West Perivale following their service on the 90 & E6. Five remained in serviceable condition at PA following the E6 route transfer to Greenford in June 2016 and the full decking of the 90. None were ever allocated to the 395, which had its own allocation of six E200 DEs. However that didn't stop the darts appearing on numerous occasions from late 2016 into mid-2017 before they were slowly withdrawn. On March 11th the remaining darts formed the majority of that day's allocation which ironically was the beginning of the end!
37403 powers away from Arbroath with the Aberdeen portion of the Highland Sleeper - 1A25 04.28 Edinburgh to Aberdeen.
A dire shortage of serviceable Caledonian Sleeper class 73s saw 37403 'Isle of Mull' drafted in from the SRPS to keep the service running.
73968 was only in use as a coupling adaptor and not providing any power/ETH.
On territory that probably couldn't get more removed, from a terrain perspective, than Montana, a pair of former Montana Rail Link SD35s rip through Carland, MI with a good-sized train in tow. Working for their new operator, Great Lakes Central, the pair of MRL transplants are gunning for Clare with ONTN to set out cars for GLC's Cadillac crew while working customers along the way. Great Lakes Central picked up the three remaining SD35s from MRL in 2020 (MRL 701, 702 & 705). The 705 became 383 on the GLC and was the first to be released for service. The 701 and 702 needed some work done to make them serviceable. The 702 became 384 and was released next. Lastly, the 701 was the last released from the GLC's Owosso Shops as their 386.
An old relic of a truck rests in the woods near an abandoned saw mill on Vancouver Island near Duncan, British Columbia, Canada.
Although no longer serviceable it provides a great photographic opportunity with the woods slowly recovering the area on which it rests.
4 April, 2010.
Slide # GWB_20100404_7857.CR2
Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.
© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.
"Straight from camera" (sfc) foto, which better you may enjoy here: www.darckr.com/username.php?username=10112197@N02
________
Question: The subject of this foto is what?
Hint? How close is nearest one to you?
Out hunting, I learned below at
www.giga-usa.com/quotes/topics/passion_t001.htm
The way to avoid evil is not by maiming our passions, but by compelling them to yield their vigor to our moral nature. Thus they become, as in the ancient fable, the harnessed steeds which bear the chariot of the sun.
- Henry Ward Beecher
A genuine passion is like a mountain stream; it admits of no impediment; it cannot go backward; it must go forward.
- Christian Nestell Bovee
Passion looks not beyond the moment of its existence. Better, it says, the kisses of love to day, than the felicities of heaven afar off.
- Christian Nestell Bovee
The passions are like fire, useful in a thousand ways and dangerous only in one, through their excess.
- Christian Nestell Bovee
As rivers, when they overflow, drown those grounds, and ruin those husbandmen, which, whilst they flowed calmly betwixt their banks, they fertilized and enriched; so our passions, when they grow exorbitant and unruly, destroy those virtues, to which they may be very serviceable whilst they keep within their bounds.
- Robert Boyle
The worst of slaves is he whom passion rules.
- Henry Brooke
CSX LO39 job is slowly negotiating the former connecting track between NYC Adirondack Division and Grand Trunk Massena subdivision right in the middle of Huntingdon,QC, a former industrial town located in the southwest part of the Quebec province near the border with United States.
If you look closely, the NYC mainline could still be seen hidden under the brush at right, just pass the gravel area. The Central crossed over the GTR on a diamond interlocking, manned from the station once located in the southeast quadrant. The only still serviceable remain of the area's trackage was the west connecting leg, shown at left, used by CSX MoW crew for track machinery storage.
The former NYC between Beauharnois and Huntingdon and the former GTR between Huntingdon and Massena were now renamed Montreal subdivision and see about four trains five or six days a week.
CSX LO39-28
5464
Milepost 199.9 Montreal subdivision
Huntingdon,QC
March 28th 2025
For those of you who are curious, I have been using an old EF lens I've had for fifteen years on a crop sensor, so it's effectively a 160mm, not 100mm. I set the shutter speed relatively high so to preserve detail, and just let the ISO compensate. Even at ISO 6400 one can still capture a serviceable image. Anyone who has questions about handheld macro in the wild please do inquire if you like. I will say in advance you will also need luck in addition to skill.
Union Pacific DD35A units No. 74, 78, 71, 72, 77, 83, 73, and 79 are stored serviceable, awaiting traffic levels to pick up in Salt Lake City, Utah on July 30, 1977. A second set were stored nearby which included DD35A No. UP70 and DD35s No. 93B, 87B, 72B, 82B, 98B, and 80B.
Willys Overland Crossley radiator. Must have been made before 1934 when the company wound up. Still looked serviceable.
Last operated in Swansea, this was the first Streetcar being the Wrightbus demonstrator. It was tested locally in Rotherham, and is now preserved at the South Yorkshire Transport Trust. Some of the rare parts have been obtained with a hope to returning it to serviceable condition one day - would certainly be a head turner even after all these years !
The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad hoated their third annual Railfans Day this year, offering the rare opportunity to photograph their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have when new leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.
New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 ans Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively) are leading the first of three trip back to the festivities in Hyannis yard from Bourne as they belch out a puff of exhaust as they notch up headed south at MP 59.7 on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal Railroad Cape Mainline near the former location of the New Haven Railroad's Sagamore station.
The train is paralleling the blue waters of the Cape Cod Canal as walkers and cyclists enjoy the adjacent path while rising overhead is the Sagamore Bridge. Built between 1933 and 1935 by the Public Works Adminstration along with its sister span the Bourne Bridge to the west, it is 1408 ft long and 275 ft high and a rather narrow 40 ft width with four lanes. The bridges became necessary after the government purchased the privately owned toll canal in 1928 and began widening and deepening it between 1935 and 1940.
Bourne, Massachusetts
Saturday August 16, 2025
Norfolk Island does not have a safe harbour, but there are two piers, on opposite sides of the island. Depending on the weather and winds, one of the piers is usually serviceable. Kingston Pier was in use on the week I stayed on the island.
5360 leads a three-pack of Rio Grande tunnel motors west out of Red Narrows on the Provo Sub east of Thistle, UT. The next set of signals protect the crossovers at "Rio" and I distinctly remember hearing crews call "clear signal Rye-O" as they approached. This hot Z train carried RBLs full of Coors beer on the head end, ahead of the intermodal traffic. There doesn't appear to be one bit of graffiti on those RBLs! It was a nice touch for the crew to use the gyralight on the low nose. I imagine not many of them were still serviceable in the early aughts.
UP ZDVRO:
UP 5360 SD40T-2
DRGW 5410 SD40T-2
DRGW 5407 SD40T-2
The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad hosted their third annual Railfans Day this year, offering the rare opportunity to photograph their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have when new leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.
New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 ans Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively) are brining up the rear in this going away view of noon trip headed back north to Bourne for more passengers to bring back to Hyannis yard for the event. The train is passing the former New Haven Railroad station at MP 77.5 on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal operated former New Haven Cape Main. Now a local restaurant this non descript blue wood frame structure was the third Hyannis depot and served the NH from 1953 until regularly scheduled service ended in 1964. It replaced an older turn of the century structure a mile and a half to the south at Main Street, which was the second station having replaced the original 1854 depot dating from the line's opening. Today Cape Cod Central excursion trains and the Cape Flyer call at a modern high level platform located south of the yard near that original station site.
Village of Hyannis
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Saturday August 16, 2025
The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad welcomed a big crowd to their second annual Railfans Day on Saturday August 17, 2024. The big draw for photographers this year was the operation of their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have operated leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.
The railfan festival has wrapped up and this is the third train of the day headed back south to Hyannis as an empty deadhead move after dropping off visitors at the Bourne Station who had parked and ridden in from there. The train is hustling south just north of Sandwich station as they approach the Jarves Street crossing at MP 62 on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal operated former New Haven Railroad Cape Mainline. Leading the train are the stars of the day, New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 and Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively). The former Sandwich Auto Parts, long a photo prop, dates from 1900 and was sold last year. Hopefully the building will be restored and not demolished, but I do not know what the plans are for the historic structure.
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Saturday August 17, 2024
Apparently suffering from low serviceability levels, so it was nice that two of six Super Lynx Mk.100s of the Royal Malaysian Navy attending the maritime segment of LIMA-23. M501-1 was on static display while M501-6 took part in most of the daily tac demos.
Here is another frame from our Sunday wanderings. This isn't much of a photo but these battered old warriors harken to the early days of the BNSF so figured were worth of a frame.
After grabbing this shot off the bridge as seen here: flic.kr/p/2mntm3o I figured it was worth a little walk down the hill for a closer look at a couple of holdovers from the ever dwindling fleet of units in pre-merger colors now more than a quarter century since Burlington Northern and Santa Fe dissapeared into BNSF.
Argentine Blvd. runs along the northeast edge of the yard providing public access to the diesel shop and it afforded me the opportunity to get a closer look at a couple veterans and grab this roster over the fence.
BNSF 631 is a GE C44-9W blt. Feb. 1994 for the Santa Fe with the same number and its more than quarter century old warbonnet livery clearly shows its age. BNSF 1061 is the same model but nominally younger having been blt. Nov. 1996 for BNSF and delivered in the first scheme the railroad adopted dubbed H1 and often called 'goat boats' by railfans since the scheme mirrored the classic Great Northern Railway look of old.
As for these two, I have no idea on their status and if they are active, stored serviceable or retired awaiting disposition. If anyone here knows I'd be grateful for the information.
Argentine Yard
Kansas City, Kansas
Sunday August 29, 2021
Inspired by Garland McKee’s recent posting of Maine Central 572 crossing this bridge in 1981, I figured I would look through my collection for a more recent view of the same scene from the area I’ve lived in for most of my life.
By the early 1990s, the former Maine Central Lewiston Lower Branch from Brunswick to Lewiston was completely out of service with several grade crossings paved over. By the mid-2000s, the state of Maine-owned portion of the line to Lisbon was brought back into serviceable condition, and Pan Am Railways began running occasional trains to the Grimmel Industries Scrap Yard in Topsham, Maine’s Pejepscot Village in 2009. This was a business dependent service that would see multiple years with no trains at all, and to the best of my knowledge, Grimmel has not seen a train since 2017.
Times were better for the Lewiston Industrial Track in August 2015, as Pan Am Railways high hood GP40 374 is seen leading PO3 with one empty gondola across the Androscoggin River from Brunswick into Topsham, Maine. 374 has also since been taken out of service since April 2019.
The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad hosted their third annual Railfans Day this year, offering the rare opportunity to photograph their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have when new leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.
New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 ans Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively) are leading the second of three trips from Bourne south to the festivities in Hyannis yard after atopping to pick up more visitors at Sanwich and West Barnstable along the way. The train is at MP 76.4 on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal Railroad operated Cape Mainline just after passing under US Route 6 only a bit over two miles from their destination at Hyannis yard.
Some recent nearby land clearing opened up this new elevated view which I readily took advantage of as any elevation is rare and welcome down here on rhe Cape!
Barnstable, Massachusetts
Saturday August 16, 2025
Fire truck PMG-36 (GAZ-51, 1963) from mobile exhibition of the Museum "Mosgortrans". All vehicles are serviceable and on the go.
"The waking mind is the least serviceable in the arts." - Henry Miller
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Friday night, Scott and I ventured down to Brockville to check out a festival that was happening this weekend.
For the most part it was disappointing for us, but the night out was fun. It's always good to get away from home and try something new!
I was hoping for more photography opportunities but things just weren't set up for great photos, oh well!
Hope everyone has been having a good weekend.
Click "L" for a larger view.
The Cape Cod Central / Mass Coastal Railroad hosted their third annual Railfans Day this year, offering the rare opportunity to photograph their two serviceable (they also own a third) classic original New Haven FL9s coupled back to back just as they would have when new leading the Neptune or Day Cape Codder up from New York City back in the early 1960s.
New Haven 2011 and 2026 (blt. Sep. 1960 ans Sep. 1957 as NH 2038 and 2007 respectively) are leading the first of three trips back to the festivities in Hyannis yard from Bourne. They have just paused to pick up more passengers at Sandwich station and are now accelerating southbound across the marshlands surrounding Dock Creek at about MP 62.4 on the MassDOT owned and Mass Coastal operated former New Haven Railroad Cape Mainline.
Sandwich, Massachusetts
Saturday August 16, 2025
Part 2 of 4 of my collaboration with Inthert for the Space Rally Racers category of the Space Jam 2020 contest.
In this great solar-system spanning race, the pilots taking part must be both an ace pilot and engineer. A dash through an asteroid field and a race across the planet’s hostile surface to the finish - by any means necessary.
“Well folks, that was a less than elegant landing by The Super Six at the first checkpoint, those space rocks certainly did a number on his ship. But the good news is, he’s repurposed the salvageable parts into a serviceable skiff and he’s currently speeding his way across the scorching desert sands.”
The other builds in the series:
56091 "Driver Wayne Gaskell" passes Trent Cottages while working the 4Z91 0915 Chaddesden Sidings - Kings Lynn sand empties getting a welcome run out due to a lack of serviceable class 60s on 5th Aug 22
37409 and 37424 with a Derby to Carlisle test train
37409 very unhealthy with clag and engine sounding poorly !!
with these and 37716 the only serviceable 37s at Crewe to come over to Derby for this plans were made but the river Trent flooding the surrounding area and roads meant you couldn't easily get to better locations for the grid and these
Grand Canyon Railway's last operating MLW FPA4 leads the "Pumpkin Patch Train" under the BNSF main line as an eastbound double stack zips by. A serviceable FPB4 resides in the shop at Williams, another is displayed at Grand Canyon, and another A and B, still in green paint, are stored unserviceable. No. 6793 was the last FPA4 built in May 1959.