5/21/05 - Today was the annual "Chester On Track" festival in Chester, MA. There is a nice depot there which is a small museum. It has some old rolling stock next to it, such as a wooden B&M boxcar that was set up for people to eat in, a caboose that was a kitchen, and a Baker's Chocolate tank car. The Berkshire Scenic RR was there with a small track speeder on display
There were a lot of people walking about, some of the braver ones taking helicopter rides way up above the action. In the middle of everything was the CSX mainline, ex-Boston & Albany. A long autorack train with eight engines passed through with horns blaring. Everyone liked that! But what relly made the day interesting was when two CSX engines arrived. They switched onto a siding full of gondolas, so we thought they were going to take them away. Turned out they were just moving them a bit, and were really there for everyone to tour! As soon as they set their brakes and shut the engines, people lined up for their chance to walk through a real live locomotive!
The inside is larger than you'd expect, though I bet crews sometimes think they are too small. You walk up a couple of stairs and as you do, there is a "black box" setup to your left. To the right is a sign explaining what not to do with the toilet! I have never seen such a detailed sign devoted to a toilet before! It even goes into detail about what to do if (and when) it clogs!
Then there are the controls. That is them to the right, complete with computer screens. The other side of the cab has a similar setup, but without any controls. We then walked out along the longhood section of the locomotive, outside of where the engines are, and across into the second engine. Next thing we knew, we were back on the ground.
Here comes the autorack train with 8 engines, horns blaring!
The railfans attack! Two CSX engines just for us.
In front of Belmont Center station
This page was last updated on: November 23, 2006
5/15/05 - Today I finally got to see a real live Sperry Rail Service car! We were out in Ayer, when we heard the scanner talk about "SRS146", Sure enough, after some waiting, the railcar headed east towards us, then down the wye into Guilford's yard. A little bit later, they came out on the other end of the wye, then worked their way onto a siding, where they came to rest.
Sperry Rail Service car #146 at Ayer MA
4/30/05 - Strange noises from the Belmont Center MBTA station this morning got me into my car to see what was happening. What I found was a string of very slow moving track equipment working on the mainline. The large white thing was a tamper that would move tie by tie, lifting the rails and tamping the ballast as it moved along... very slowly... and of course, in the rain...
Here they come! Very slowly...
8/21/05 - While at Ayer with the usual Sunday crew of railfans, a strange train passed through. Led by SD26 #643 and #621, it included two compressed flat cars with bulldozers, two odd work-cabooses with wheelsets on top of them, and at the end a few normal boxcars. I didn't catch the train symbol, and got what photos I could, being caught off guard.
10/1/05 - Today Todd and I took our first railfan trip! The Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts hosted the "Providence & Worcester Tripod Tour", a trip that took us from Worcester north to Gardner MA, then south to Groton CT, then Valley Falls RI. We got to see the abandoned B&M yard in Worcester, industrial sidings both in and out of use, old stations, and lots of scenery. Speeds were swift, and for the most part, the ride was steady... as long as you were not walking around! And using the ladies room was interesting, to say the least! Our hot dogs from the dining car were tasty, though other people had ordered box lunches that looked good as well. There were lots of railfans chatting all day, and taking advantage of the two photo stops. All in all a good, if overly long, trip. Photos of the trip can be found by clicking HERE.
