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I think the main factor was not railroad-related at all: the state (and likely federal) departments of transportation were eager to use the ex-DL&W right-of-way for highway construction. The former Erie route from Binghamton westward had tighter curves, limited clearance between the tracks and a...

Good catch placing the location on the ex-Erie rather than DL&W main based on the signals. Sure looks like the Barton / Smithboro area of Tioga County, NY (there is a similar view driving eastbound through Barton along NY 17C), although so much of the Southern Tier looks so similar that it would...

Heheh, I was expecting to see something a little more grandiose to qualify as a "large" electric. :wink: I've always been curious about the DL&W, Erie and LV's terminal operations across the Hudson. I've not seen much coverage of them, either in print or photos. The tugs have gotten so...

I fell for the April Fools joke. If only it were true *sigh* :( That being said, if it were true, I'd advocate for the all-NYSW routing via Hawthorne, Paterson and Hackensack. However, getting NYSW trains onto tracks leading to either Hoboken or Penn Station would require some new infrastructure. EL...

In the mid 1980s, I occasionally rode the one weekday peak outbond to Long Beach that stopped at St. Albans. Since the current West Hempstead Branch timetable no longer shows any 800 series trains stopping at St. Albans, I presume that no Long Beach trains do so at present. However, there were occas...

A couple of years ago, when I was visiting St. Anne de Beaupre on the north shore of the St Lawrence River about 15 miles east of downtown Quebec City, I observed some evidence of a dinner/excursion train that may have operated on the tracks that passed between the basilica and the river. Was that ...

Click on the link below, which will take you to the exact location of the adjacent business on Google Maps. Click on Street View, then pan around 180° until you see the coaches. https://www.google.ca/maps/place/Cazes+Pi%C3%A8ces+D'Autos/@46.707813,-71.220444,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x4cb892f72dc...

I guess my post about a pair of ex-LIRR MP coaches on the south shore of the St. Lawrence near Québec City would have been more appropriate here than in the "Ping Pong Coach in Indiana" thread, but I discovered the other thread first. :) Here is a link to my post in that thread: http://www...

There are a couple hanging around on the abandoned stub of the Québec Central Railway between Charny and St-Jean-Chrysostome, Québec, where I lived until recently. They are painted for the defunct Train Touristique Chaudière-Appalaches, in a rather attractive teal and dark blue livery that looks qui...

Any idea when the plant switched from coal to oil? I was excited to see 2 or 4 coal hoppers on the wye at the plant a few times in the early 1970s, but that was my only recollection of them. I always wondered how the coal hoppers got there, since the thought of a diesel locomotive, or freight of any...

Hello all, Re: Pushing the speed limits on the diesel lines, as others mentioned, it was likely more prevalent prior to ASC and event recorders. Since I lived in electrified territory, seeing diesel trains at all was noteworthy for me, but seeing and hearing the GP38-2s blast through in Run 8 was al...

Hello all, Guess I cast a broad net with this thread, but I'm glad it has prompted some good discussion. But, we still don't have answers on the LIRR-related questions: -- When were the RS1s withdrawn from commuter train service on the LIRR? -- When were the RS1s withdrawn from freight / work train ...

Hello all, I think I posted this question to the ERIELACK list server a few years ago, but I don't remember the answer and couldn't find it now if I tried, so here it is again: Background: To my knowledge, the red light centered on the top of the nose of the U34CH was something unique to this locomo...

Hello all, As I mentioned in the thread about the MP15s as passenger power on the LIRR, I've always seen the MP15 as a successor to the Alco RS1, RS2 and RS3, which truly were "road switchers" and filled both roles on many railroads, including the LIRR. Which brings up a couple questions a...

Hello all, It has always been my understanding that the Blomberg B trucks are what set the MP15 apart from "true switchers" (e.g., SW1500/1504 that immediately preceded them in the EMD catalogue), and thus enabled their "peculiar" use as road engines on the LIRR. I've always seen...