Sometimes You're the Bug

Hartwell Railroad; Bowersville, Ga.; December 6, 2016

Shortline railroads come in all shapes and sizes. Some operate like clockwork, with the crew called at the same time every morning and serving the same customers every day. Others are not quite as organized. When you start to explore the hardscrabble shortlines of the South or of New England, you find some interesting, if not seemingly random, operating patterns. Such was the case when I (along with my brother Bruce) stopped in for a day on the Hartwell Railroad in Georgia.

The Hartwell at one time operated from its namesake town to a connection with the Southern at Bowersville, ten miles to the west. As time went on, NS shed its connecting line with the Hartwell, which the shortline picked up; it now runs north from Bowersville to Toccoa and south from Bowersville to Elberton. It's primary connection to the outside world is with NS at Taccoa, although a bit of traffic comes off CSX at Elberton.

Operations on the Hartwell are interesting. The crew comes on duty at about 8:00 a.m. and gets on the train wherever they left it the previous day. This is usually somewhere in the Bowersville area, and the feed mill south of town is a good place to look first. We had tied up in Lavonia, Ga., the previous night, and our motel was just across the street from the Hartwell's line to Toccoa. We set out looking for the train on a gloomy, rainy Tuesday, December 6, and found former Elgin, Joliet & Eastern SD38 No. 654 working a coil steel place just south of town. The unit wasn't accessible so, believing the Hartwell ran to Toccoa every day, we headed there where we planned to wait for the northbound train and chase it back south. In the meantime, the ex-Southern NS mainline could keep us occupied.

Once at Toccoa, though, something didn't seem quite right. We assumed what we saw was a local shifter, and there might be a road train coming north. But as we thought about it some more, we decided we better get back down to Lavonia and check things out. Once there we saw the 654 was gone, and there were coil cars parked on the mainline. We had followed the railroad down from Toccoa and didn't pass any trains that we knew of, so we continued on south and found 654 working the feed mill south of Bowersville.

Hartwell Railroad; Bowersville, Ga.; December 6, 2016

We caught up with the friendly crew during a pause while they were switching. Yes, this is the only train running today. No, we're not going to Toccoa, but we're heading there tomorrow. Now we had to make a decision...

Our initial plan called for doing the Hartwell on this day, and once they were finished driving south to the Heart of Georgia Railroad at Cordele for the next day. But we got nothing on the Hartwell on this day, the forecast was for sun tomorrow, and that neat ex-EJ&E engine would be leading the southbound train. We changed our plans and decided to do a second day on the Hartwell.

The Hartwell has an exotic roster, with power gathered up from a variety of other railroads. And all of those units still wear the last paint job they had before coming to the Hartwell. The crew let us know where the other locomotives were; but since roster shots under thick clouds weren't going to be very good, we decided to pick them off with night shots where we could control the light. First up was a pair of units tied up on the original Hartwell line east of town. We found Richmond, Fredericksburg & Potomac GP35 136 along with Chicago & North Western GP9R 4556 in the middle of a long string of stored container well cars (top photo of this post). The Hartwell generates a lot of money from stored cars, with long strings on the original Hartwell and south of Royston heading towards Elberton. The railroad still has freight customers on these lines, so the long strings occasionally have to be shuffled and jammed out of the way so the train can get through. Next up was CSX GP38 1973 in Conrail paint at the lumber yard north of Royston.

Hartwell Railroad; Royston, Ga.; December 6, 2016

 Next we stopped at the feed mill where the Hartwell crew had tied up EJ&E 654 for the night. We got a shot there with the mill as a backdrop.

Hartwell Railroad; Bowersville, Ga.; December 6, 2016

 Finally we headed to Airline on the original Hartwell where the railroad has a small shop. Here we found Bessemer & Lake Erie SD7 454 missing a few pieces. Two other locomotives that we could see were inaccessible -- Denver & Rio Grande Western GP35 3044 behind a chain link fence south of Lavonia and St. Lawrence & Atlantic GP40 3000, tucked away at the steel coil facility also south of Lavonia.

Hartwell Railroad; Airline, Ga.; December 6, 2016

The next morning we found the crew working the feed mill again with EJ&E 654. They had to spot a few cars, then they'd head south by pickup truck to Royston and grab CSX 1973 and head north with two empty centerbeam lumber cars. At Bowersville they'd add EJ&E 654 to the train, along with a bunch of covered hoppers. From there they'd continue north, picking up steel coil cars and maybe the StL&A 3000 at Lavonia, then head to Toccoa. We watched them finish their work at Bowersville, then headed to Royston. Sure enough, they arrived, put the train together, and headed north, stopping at the mill where they would theoretically put the rest of the train together.

Hartwell Railroad; Canon, Ga.; December 7, 2016

Well, once stopped at Bowersville the crew vanished and the train sat. And sat. It sat there with the locomotive running and the lights on, and we anticipated a move north at any time. But it sat. And sat some more. 

After we had stared at the train for almost three hours we were joined by two county police officers, each driving a police car. Apparently someone saw us sitting there all that time and phoned us in. The officers were friendly and sympathetic to our plight. One said he would drive down to the mill and see if he could find the crew. If he did, he'd report back to us.

About ten minutes later, the officer returned. He found the crew inside the mill, and the news wasn't good. The steel coil place hadn't finished unloading a car that needed to head out to Toccoa. If the train moved at all, it was only going to Lavonia and tying up for the night. Toccoa wasn't happening.

That made our next move easy. We thanked the officer, pointed the car south, and headed for Cordele and the Heart of Georgia Railroad.

Now don't get me wrong -- we have no ill will towards the Hartwell Railroad. The crew was very friendly and did its best to let us know what was happening. We knew that some of these shortline railroads were high risk/high reward attempts, and on this one the reward just didn't happen. As Mark Knopfler wrote (and Mary Chapin Carpenter sang), "Sometimes you're the windshield, sometimes you're the bug." We were definitely the bug for our two days on the Hartwell. All it means is we'll have to try again some other time.

Christmastime In South Jersey

Cape May Seashore Lines; Tuckahoe, N.J.; December 4, 2016

Christmastime brings festivities of all sorts, including some train-themed ones. In recent years there has been a huge growth in the number of trains run by tourist railroads around the holidays, much of it riding the coattails of the movie The Polar Express. There was a time when tourist railroads pretty much shut down after Labor Day in September. Some railroads were blessed to have colorful fall foliage along their lines, expanding the tourist season into October. But now many, many tourist railroads have expanded the season right up to Christmas Day (and sometimes even a few days beyond) to capitalize on Polar Expresses (both licensed from the movie and knockoffs), Santa Trains, and the like.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Dorothy, N.J.; December 4, 2016

Cape May Seashore Lines in southern New Jersey is one of the railroads that has joined the holiday train rush. Starting just after Thanksgiving, the railroad offered daytime trips with Santa on weekends, as well as night trains during many evenings. The railroad runs over former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines trackage between Tuckahoe and Richland; most of their holiday trains can be boarded at either location.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Richland, N.J.; December 4, 2016

The Richland end of the line has seen numerous improvements, including the addition of WI Tower. This tower, built in 1906, once protected a busy junction in Newfield, N.J. After it was decommissioned as a working tower, it was purchased by a private individual in Newfield and moved to his property for use as a storage shed (albeit a big one). Eventually, the tower was donated to Buena Vista Township and it was moved to Richland.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Richland, N.J.; December 4, 2016

The trackage used by Cape May Seashore Lines is former Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines track owned by the state. Conrail Shared Assets runs freight over the line, although that has been much diminished in recent times. The largest customer on the line was the electric generating station at Beesley's Point, which brought in coal and oil. The plant has been converted to burn natural gas, which comes in via a pipeline. The PRSL line ran from Camden to Cape May, with branches extending to Atlantic City and Ocean City. Other branches served other Jersey shore towns in earlier times.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Milmay, N.J.; December 4, 2016

CMSL; Dorothy, N.J.; December 4, 2016

Just prior to this year's holiday season, Cape May Seashore Lines added two new locomotives from the leased locomotive market and used them on its Santa Trains. On the south end was GMTX No. 2015, built as a GP38 for Penn Central as its No. 7684 in 1969. It went to Conrail (along with the rest of Penn Central) in 1976. Eventually it found its way to a lessor and was rebuilt to GP38-2 standards. It sports an attractive red, white & blue scheme, and Cape May Seashore Lines added CMSL heralds to the nose and sides.







At Tuckahoe the tower still stands that controlled the junction between the mainline to Cape May and the Ocean City Branch. The freight trains heading to the Beesley's Point Generating Station diverged here onto the Ocean City Branch (they would diverge one more time outside Ocean City to reach the generating station). No freight customers are currently located south of Tuckahoe. CMSL has leased the line for passenger service all the way to Cape May; it has run an occasional train south as far as Woodbine Junction. From there the track is in place but not up to passenger train standards down to Cape May Court House. In the past, CMSL has run regular passenger trains between Cape May Court House and Cape May, but currently does not.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Tuckahoe, N.J.; December 4, 2016

The station still stands in Tuckahoe, located between the mainline and the Ocean City Branch. A local historical society now uses the station.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Tuckahoe, N.J.; December 4, 2016

The second locomotive recently acquired by CMSL has a much more interesting history. GMTX 2661 was built in 1970 as Pennsylvania-Reading Seashore Lines GP38 No. 2011. It came out of the Electro-Motive Division shop in PRSL paint, but before it could find its way to South Jersey it was diverted to Penn Central. Like GMTX 2015, it went to Conrail in 1976, where it was renumbered to 7671. After Conrail was split up by Norfolk Southern and CSX, No. 7671 went to CSX as No. 1945. It ultimately moved on to Marquette Rail in Michigan as No. 2676. Finally, it found its way into the lease fleet, was upgraded to GP38-2 standards, and renumbered 2661. It wasn't until it was leased to CMSL this year that it finally found its way to the service it was originally intended -- working the PRSL in South Jersey. CMSL has affixed PRSL heralds to the nose and sides of the unit.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Tuckahoe, N.J.; December 4, 2016

So it's Christmastime and we have a nice blue locomotive on one end of our train and a red, white & blue locomotive on the other, both sporting festive wreaths. In between are six passenger cars full of kids (and adults) all waiting to greet Santa Claus. We'll close our visit to South Jersey with a couple of night shots, starting first at Tuckahoe.

Cape May Seashore Lines; Tuckahoe, N.J.; December 20, 2016

And we'll finish our visit at WI Tower up in Richland. Here's hoping you Christmas was merry and bright!

Cape May Seashore Lines; Richland, N.J.; December 20, 2016

A Day In Downtown Atlanta

Norfolk Southern; Henderson Interlocking, Atlanta, Georgia; December 10, 2016

Atlanta, Georgia, is a bit of a crossroads of the South. Both CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern enter the city from multiple directions, and both have yards side-by-side northwest of downtown. And both railroads have heavy-duty mainlines that parallel each other just a few feet apart through the downtown area. It's a great place to visit.

On December 10, 2016, I visited Atlanta with my brother Bruce. We had a few shots plotted out based on morning and afternoon light. One shot we wanted was a morning-only shot on Norfolk Southern south of town. Just below NS's South Yard there is an interlocking known as Henderson, and here you can get NS freights with a water tower (not railroad) in the background. What makes the shot interesting, however, is Chick-Fil-A uses the water tower for advertising and you can get two of the company's famous cows having some fun up on the tank (above).

Unfortunately on this day, traffic was a bit on the light side (we did see four northbound trains at this location while waiting for a southbound, but the light was not the best for these). This put us into early afternoon already on this short winter day, but a CSX train cooperated as we went just northwest of downtown to the abandoned road bridge off Northside Drive NW. Here CSX and NS run side-by-side, but our CSX train was running on NS tracks. A friendly toot of the horn from the engineer scared up the flock of pigeons living under the bridge.

CSX Transportation; Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

Next up on our hit list was South Tower, the building that controlled the south (west) end of Atlanta's Terminal Station. The short summer days and low sun were already causing shadow problems. Once again, this is a spot where CSX and NS are side-by-side through downtown. Our first train was a northbound on CSX trackage with Union Pacific power. The large white building in the background was the offices of the Southern Railway at one time.

Union Pacific (on CSX); South Tower, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

With South Tower largely shadowed in, we made a move to the northwest side of town. Here CSX's Tilford Yard and NS's Inman Yard are side-by-side. A good view of the CSX engine facility with downtown Atlanta in the distance can be had from Marietta Road NW.

CSX Transportation; Tilford Yard, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

A rail train was making its way out of the yard just before sunset and we were able to shoot it.

CSX Transportation; Tilford Yard, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

Just geographic east (railroad south) of the yards is a pretty complex junction known as Howell's. There is a good viewing location of the junction off West Marietta Street NW that railfans have kept clear for photography. While we didn't get a train coming the proper direction (one coming at us from across the diamond would have been nice), we settled for our rail train heading through the junction. Not visible in the photo is the NS mainline directly below us.

CSX Transportation; Howell's Junction, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

With the sun now gone, we headed back downtown to South Tower for night shots. Directly across the street from the tower is the Smoke Ring, a great place to enjoy barbecue between trains. Once it was dark, we set up our lights and waited for trains. The bridge over the tracks heading towards the Southern office building is Nelson Street SW; the bridge is now pedestrian-only, making for a convenient place to watch trains. An NS northbound passed by the tower.

Norfolk Southern; South Tower, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

We did get two NS southbound trains during our wait, including a stack train. The building beneath the red Christmas tree in the background is the headquarters of CNN.

Norfolk Southern; South Tower, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

Our last train of the day was a CSX northbound. It showed up while the NS southbound stack train was passing, requiring a "best guess" shot between the stack cars. With this, our day in Atlanta was over. Perhaps another visit when the sun is a bit higher and the day a bit longer is in order.

CSX Transportation; South Tower, Atlanta, Ga.; December 10, 2016

Chasing the Massachusetts Central

Massachusetts Central; Barre, Mass.; November 14, 2016

New England is dotted with small shortline railroads, and most have a certain charm about them. The Massachusetts Central is certainly one of those charming roads. The railroad operates over former Boston & Maine trackage from Palmer, Mass., north through Ware and on to Barre, Mass. The railroad's primary power, a pair of EMD GP38-2s, pays tribute to the line's heritage, as the paint scheme is inspired by the B&M's "bluebird" scheme.

On November 14 I chased the Massachusetts Central (along with Mike Burkhart) from Palmer. On this day the crew had work to do all the way to Barre (on some days the train only goes as far as Ware), so we got to cover the entire railroad. After a crew meeting at 7:30 the first order of business was to go to the CSX interchange in town and pick up the day's train. The Steaming Tender restaurant is located in the former Palmer Union Station and has a Porter-built 0-6-0 steam locomotive in the parking lot.

Massachusetts Central; Palmer, Mass.; November 14, 2016

After dropping tank car it had just picked up from CSX at an industry in Palmer, the train proceeded north. The line twists and turns on the outskirts of Palmer, crossing a marsh adjacent to Forest Lake.

Massachusetts Central; Palmer, Mass.; November 14, 2016

Next up on the switch list was a transload terminal on the Palmer-Ware border. The low winter sun put everything in shadow here, so we skipped it and headed into Ware, where there is an industry that gets plastic pellets in covered hoppers. The locomotive ran around two covered hoppers and pushed them into the industry.

Massachusetts Central; Ware, Mass.; November 14, 2016

Just north of here, another stop was made at a recycling center. At each stop the crew spotted cars that had just come in from CSX, but left all the outbound cars for the return trip. By the time the train was heading to Barre, there were only three cars left -- a boxcar and two flatcars loaded with pipe. Boxcars are spotted at the old mill in Barre, while a team track is located on the other side of the mill (but on the same track as the mill). Once in Barre, the crew had to head down to the mill with just the engine to pull the cars out of the mill and team track.

Massachusetts Central; Barre, Mass.; November 14, 2016

After grabbing the cars, the train headed back up the hill to the runaround track on the mainline (top photo of this post). Then the inbound cars were pushed down the hill and spotted. Once that was done, the locomotive returned light past the mill heading back to its train.

Massachusetts Central; Barre, Mass.; November 14, 2016

The short winter day was quickly bringing in long shadows as the train rounded the curve and headed up the hill to the mainline.

Massachusetts Central; Barre, Mass.; November 14, 2016

With the train back together, it was time to take the several cars that were lifted from Barre back to Palmer.

Massachusetts Central; Barre, Mass.; November 14, 2016

One of the few places where trees didn't block the low sun was the open crossing at Wheelwright.

Massachusetts Central; Wheelwright, Mass.; November 14, 2016

The crew paused to retrieve outbound scrap cars from the recycler north of Ware, then dropped down past the industry where they spotted plastics cars earlier in the day, heading into the very low sun.

Massachusetts Central; Ware, Mass.; November 14, 2016

The train did not stop at Ware to pick up covered hoppers, but continued on. With the sun just about gone, our last shot was of the train passing through Ware.

Massachusetts Central; Ware, Mass.; November 14, 2016

We headed back into Palmer to the railroad's shop. After thanking the folks in the office for their hospitality, we snapped a quick night shot of the railroad's other GP38-2, then headed for home. It was certainly an enjoyable day of New England shortline railroading.

Massachusetts Central; Palmer, Mass.; November 14, 2016

A Visit To Vermont

Amtrak; West Rutland, Vt.; September 9, 2016

Vermont is a really neat state for railroading. Amtrak serves both sides of the state with the Vermonter going up the west side and the Ethan Allen Express serving Rutland on the east side. There are a few shortlines, including Vermont Rail System (Vermont Railway and Green Mountain Railroad) and Genesee & Wyoming's New England Central. And each year railroading is celebrated in White River Junction at the Glory Days of the Railroad.

It was the Glory Days celebration that got me to Vermont (and some close-by neighboring areas) back in September. First, we paused in New York just west of the Vermont state line to see the Ethan Allen Express making its station stop at Saratoga Springs on a gloomy day. Storms would shortly move in. This train had left Rutland earlier in that morning.

Amtrak; Saratoga Springs, N.Y.; September 8, 2016

The train's counterpart, the northbound Ethan Allen Express, made its way into Vermont after dark. The train turns east off the former Delaware & Hudson (now Canadian Pacific) at Whitehall, N.Y. It passes through Fairview, Vt., which was at one time an Amtrak stop (below). The station structure there was never used by Amtrak; a plastic bubble served that purpose. All that's left of the Amtrak station in a green sign with Amtrak's "pointless arrow." The train would turn back the next morning, heading back to Whitehall and ultimately New York City (top photo in this post).

Amtrak; Fairview, Vt.; September 8, 2016

Once Amtrak is out of the way in Rutland, Vermont Rail System sends a freight out from Rutland to Whitehall. On this particular evening a leaser locomotive that obviously worked recently for the Natchez Railway led the way at the Green Mountain Baptist Church at Center Rutland.

Vermont Rail System; Center Rutland, Vt.; September 8, 2016

Vermont Rail System; Cuttingsville, Vt.

The next day Vermont Rail System sent two trains south from Rutland. The first was destined to cover the Green Mountain Railroad side of the system, heading to Bellows Falls. The second was destined for North Bennington, where it would interchange with Pan Am Railways. Our first catch was of the Bellows Falls-bound train crossing Cuttingsville Trestle.

The train to North Bennington was led by SD70M-2 No. 432, which had been purchased by VRS from Florida East Coast. The locomotive had been pressed into service still wearing its FEC blue and yellow paint. Alas, Pan Am Railways couldn't make the grade out of Hoosick Junction, N.Y., to get to North Bennington for the interchange, so the VRS train had to head south to Hoosick Junction to get its cars. The train crossed the Walloomsac River at North Hoosick on its way there.

Vermont Rail System; North Hoosick, N.Y.; September 9, 2016

With its interchange cars in tow, the train returned back to North Bennington and ultimately on to Rutland. Once again, it crossed the Walloomsac River, this time near the small village of Walloomsac.

Vermont Rail System; Walloomsac, N.Y.; September 9, 2016

At White River Junction, preparations were being made for the next day's event. That evening, a New England Central train headed south. Trains going south from White River Junction to Bellows Falls have to cross into New Hampshire for a short distance. The New England Central train met a Pan Am Railways train heading north at Charlestown, N.H., just north of Bellows Falls (and once again, just a short distance from the Vermont border).

Pan Am Railways; Charlestown, N.H.; September 9, 2016

As part of the Glory Days celebration, Vermont Rail System ran a murder-mystery train from White River Junction north to Fairlee, Vt. Just south of Fairlee is the former Boston & Maine station at Ely, restored and owned by Frank Barrett. He posed one of his antique automobiles at the grade crossing just north of his station as the murder-mystery train returned. Rumor has it the butler did it.

Vermont Rail System; Ely, Vt.; September 10, 2016

Finally, a night photo session wrapped up Glory Days of the Railroad. The session was coordinated by Kevin Burkholder. Two of the Pan Am locomotives that came up on the previous evening's train were on hand to pose by the Vermont Rail System yard office to cap off Glory Days and our visit to Vermont and the surrounding area.

Pan Am Railways; White River Junction, Vt.; September 10, 2016

Remembering Tower 16, Sherman, Texas

Tower 16, Sherman, Texas; March 2001

The railroad interlocking tower (or signal tower) was ubiquitous at one time in the U.S. They could be found every few miles along major mainlines, and guarding even the most rural junction where two railroads met or crossed. They were a place where railfans could stop by to find out what trains were nearby, or simply spend time with the tower operator shooting the breeze. Today there are entire states without a single active tower located in them.

One of the last of the classic towers that I visited was in Sherman, Texas, in March 2001. Tower 16 was built in 1903 to protect crossings of the Texas & Pacific, the Houston & Central Texas, and the St. Louis-San Francisco (Frisco). By the time I got there, the Frisco and H&TC had become a part of Burlington Northern & Santa Fe, while the T&P was operated by shortline Texas Northeastern.

I had business in Grapevine, Texas, which is what brought me to the Lone Star State. With a free evening, I drove north from the Metroplex to Sherman, climbed the steps to the tower, and knocked on the door. The operator answered and I said, "I'm from New Jersey and I heard there's this really cool wooden tower that I just had to visit." He said, "You found the right place. Come on in." I spent the better part of the next two hours talking to the operator and exploring the tower. It was a mix of early 20th century railroad technology with modern computers and accessories scattered within.

Tower 16, Sherman, Texas; March 2001

The operator's desk was well-worn from decades of recording trains and writing orders for movements through Sherman.

Tower 16, Sherman, Texas; March 2001

The rudimentary model board above the desk showed Burlington Northern (by this time BNSF) in green, and the Texas Northeastern in red.

Tower 16, Sherman, Texas; March 2001

The operator was hanging out until the Texas Northeastern needed to cross BNSF on the diamond located in front of the tower; otherwise, everything was left aligned for BNSF movements. A couple of hours into my visit, he got word the Texas Northeastern train would not arrive until after his shift was over. With nothing more for him to do, he said, "I'm heading home." I got a portrait of my host, he locked the door, and we descended the stairs. The third trick operator would come in at 11:00 p.m. and line things up for the Texas Northeastern.

Tower 16, Sherman, Texas; March 2001

Tower 16 was locked for the last time just a few months after my visit, on October 23, 2001. The diamond was removed, eliminating the need for an operator to guide the movements where two railroads crossed.

As I said earlier, I had business in Grapevine, which is why I was in Texas. The business I had was a preview of Royal Caribbean's new passenger car for Alaska service, which was on display at the Grapevine Vintage Railroad. Ironically, after Tower 16 was closed, it was preserved -- it was cut in half (between the first and second story) and moved. And the place it was moved to? The Grapevine Vintage Railroad! The tower now resides just several feet from where I had toured the passenger car.

Tower 16, Grapevine, Texas; June 19, 2008