• What was 1st C-C freight locomotive to regularly run on B&M?

  • Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.
Discussion relating to the pre-1983 B&M and MEC railroads. For current operations, please see the Pan Am Railways Forum.

Moderator: MEC407

  by johnpbarlow
 
After seeing Ron DeFilippo's posting of an excellent photo of a lone EL SD45 leading a westbound (I think) B&M/EL pool pig train at Belmont MA (see attached link), I'm wondering, given B&M had nothing but B-B freight locomotives, what RR and model of C-C freight locomotive first ran in regular service on B&M's comparatively light rail? Was it EL SD45s or U33Cs running on PB-99/PB-100 in the '60s? Or did Penn Central deploy SDs/U-Boats/Centuries before that on the Bow/Mt Tom coal trains? I think D&H C628s may have shown up on B&M as well but I'm guessing that was post Conrail in the late '70s? Thanks.

http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... rder=new99
  by TomNelligan
 
Yes, in terms of regular appearances, it would have been the EL SD45s and occasional U33Cs that ran through to Boston on PB-99/PB-100 in the late 1960s. The PC power on the Bow coal trains was normally B-B, anything from GP40s to F7s. I don't remember ever seeing any six-motor PC power on that train back then. D&H power also covered PB-99 and PB-100 roughly once a week. I don't remember ever seeing a D&H C628 or U30C on the B&M but it might have happened. D&H U23Bs were most common.

Here's another shot of EL SD45s on the B&M: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/626021/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And an EL U33C at Boston Engine Terminal: https://www.railpictures.net/photo/674144/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
  by b&m 1566
 
Of topic but curious to know if the PC coal trains orginally came and went via the Framingham and Lowell Branch?
  by TomNelligan
 
No, the Bow (NH) coal trains came off Penn Central/Conrail at Rotterdam Junction and always ran on the B&M via Ayer and North Chelmsford.
Last edited by MEC407 on Thu Apr 11, 2019 2:58 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: unnecessary quoting
  by Spike1724
 
There was a period of time in the 1990s when PODH/DhPO was about the only train on the west end. At that time I went camping along the B&A. The Bow trains happened to come through. Therefore they did run coal via the B&A to Worcester for a while.
  by jbvb
 
While the Bow coal trains were using the B&A, they were subject to a Conrail length limitation requiring that ~5 cars be removed from the normal consist and forwarded in another train. This inconvenience was a major motivation for rehabbing the Fitchburg enough that the Bow trains could use it again.
  by SSW921
 
While living in New Hampshire I saw the Bow unit coal train numerous times between March 1970 and September 1975. I spotted one PC SD45 #6227 on that train in early October 1973. The remainder of the PC units I saw were all B-B to include: a GP30, 9 GP35s, 15 GP40s, 3 GP38s, 3 U30Bs, 4 U25Bs, 2 RS-27s, 4 U33Bs, 6 GP38-2s, 2 U23Bs, a GP9, an F7B, and a C425.

Ed in Kentucky