Control car and locomotive pairings

Hi,

Myself and 3 friends are visiting Boston in early to mid September and would like to track down a handful of locomotives, with a view to taking a ride on them if they're in service.

As we haven't got a vast amount of time available I was hoping to be able to use this mapping tool, http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~wuen ... -beta.html, to be able to locate these locomotives, therefore I'd like to solicit some help from fellow posters, with sightings of which control car is paired up with any of the locomotives listed below: -

010
011

1002
1006
1008
1011

1025

1074

1116
1117
1119
1132

Any HSP-46

Please post your sightings in here, all help would be appreciated.

010: Im assuming with 1711 as it was recently on the Capeflyer
011: idk

1002: Last time I saw it, it was with 1652 and 1652 was blocking 1645
1006: idk
1008: idk
1011: idk

1025: Its with an all flat set up north but I forget which CTC

1074: idk

1116:idk
1117: Pretty sure with 1814
1119: idk
1132: Good luck, its been out of service for a year and a half!

HSPs: i know 2008 is with 1644 but i dont know about the rest...
Also, sets are subject to change at any time, they really do it quick around here. Also, the F40PH rebuilds (1025-1036 &1050-1075) and the GP40MCs (1115-1139) transfer between the South side commuter rail sets and North side commuter rail sets. The F40PH "Screamers" (1000-1017) are guaranteed to be up North though.

MetroBostonRailways wrote: 010: Im assuming with 1711 as it was recently on the Capeflyer
011: idk

1002: Last time I saw it, it was with 1652 and 1652 was blocking 1645
1006: idk
1008: idk
1011: idk

1025: Its with an all flat set up north but I forget which CTC

1074: idk

1116: idk
1117: Pretty sure with 1814
1119: idk
1132: Good luck, its been out of service for a year and a half!

HSPs: i know 2008 is with 1644 but i dont know about the rest...
Also, sets are subject to change at any time, they really do it quick around here. Also, the F40PH rebuilds (1025-1036 &1050-1075) and the GP40MCs (1115-1139) transfer between the South side commuter rail sets and North side commuter rail sets. The F40PH "Screamers" (1000-1017) are guaranteed to be up North though.

Cheers for that, it's got the ball rolling. I'll be in Boston on the 11th and I'll be keeping an eye on http://www.transithistory.org/roster/ in the first instance to see which side of Boston I should tackle first, the Screamers and Geeps being the priority over the later F40's and new stuff, so at the moment that looks like it'll be North Station first. As for 1132, it's one of my friends who's after that one, so I'm not too concerned about it being OOS, even if he might be

Keep em coming...

Honesty I would wait a little closer to the date to start asking for numbers, locomotives and control cars are added and cut on a daily basis depending on needs (I.e failure, required inspections, service.)

8th Notch wrote:Honesty I would wait a little closer to the date to start asking for numbers, locomotives and control cars are added and cut on a daily basis depending on needs (I.e failure, required inspections, service.)

Maybe, but if I leave it too late I may only get a handful reported by the time I arrive. I'd rather have a week-old sighting than no sighting at all.

Ideally on the day I'll be able to speak to an employee at North Station who would be able to tell me where they all are, but I'd rather not count on that being the case.

HSP-46 #2008 is not with CTC #1644, as 1644 is currently on train 219, while I just saw 2008 pushing train 68 inbound.

I've no idea which control car it is paired with though.

Of course, this would all have been a lot easier if MBTA had their GPS systems installed in the locomotives instead of the control cars .Cheaper too!

MetroBostonRailways wrote:010: Im assuming with 1711 as it was recently on the Capeflyer
011: idk

1002: Last time I saw it, it was with 1652 and 1652 was blocking 1645
1006: idk
1008: idk
1011: idk

1025: Its with an all flat set up north but I forget which CTC

1074: idk

1116:idk
1117: Pretty sure with 1814
1119: idk
1132: Good luck, its been out of service for a year and a half!

HSPs: i know 2008 is with 1644 but i dont know about the rest...
Also, sets are subject to change at any time, they really do it quick around here. Also, the F40PH rebuilds (1025-1036 &1050-1075) and the GP40MCs (1115-1139) transfer between the South side commuter rail sets and North side commuter rail sets. The F40PH "Screamers" (1000-1017) are guaranteed to be up North though.

1025 is with the 1626, 1116 is with the 1631, and 1117 is with the 1633. I just saw all three of these sets in Medford about 2 hours ago

I wonder if Stefan's mapping program could be adapted to have users submit 'cab car to locomotive' info into a DB table ...

nomis wrote:I wonder if Stefan's mapping program could be adapted to have users submit 'cab car to locomotive' info into a DB table ...

That would be useful.

jt42cwr wrote:

8th Notch wrote:Honesty I would wait a little closer to the date to start asking for numbers, locomotives and control cars are added and cut on a daily basis depending on needs (I.e failure, required inspections, service.)

Maybe, but if I leave it too late I may only get a handful reported by the time I arrive. I'd rather have a week-old sighting than no sighting at all.

Ideally on the day I'll be able to speak to an employee at North Station who would be able to tell me where they all are, but I'd rather not count on that being the case.

Sorry to tell you this, but the employees there probably wont know what you're talking about. in CT, an Amtrak Exhibit Train employee didn't know what the hell I was talking about when I asked him where #406 had gone.

Unless he knows someone that has access to the info that usually isn't public either, generally the consist list are only kept by the trainmaster or dispatcher. Most regular employees don't care what's with what and where.

8th Notch wrote:Unless he knows someone that has access to the info that usually isn't public either, generally the consist list are only kept by the trainmaster or dispatcher. Most regular employees don't care what's with what and where.

I know where to go to find out, it's whether or not they want to tell me!

If you hang out on the bridge by Community College from 3 to 6 you are likely to see every North Side consist operating that day.

The South Side is more difficult, since there is no common bridge or other viewpoint. Old Colony and Fairmount trains go under Broadway while the rest go under Albany etc. Hanging around near the end of a South Station platform is likely to arouse security. Trains change routes to insure equipment is cycled, and locomotives are swapped onto Old Colony consists, even when the cars remain together. All in all there is no sure way to seethe all. Good Luck

Old Colony Bridge Park on the Boston Harborwalk (across from Gillette) is a spot to see everything. It's a park with benches and pieces of the old lift bridge displayed for historical purposes. You can see everything that comes in and out of South Station from there. There aren't any spots to take photos though as the trains are too close to get a complete shot through the fence.