Two great B&M stories on the home page...

Check out our home page for two great Boston & Maine features.

First up, "The Boston & Maine on the eve of Guilford" by Tom Nelligan. Looking back through the long scope of time, it's hard to believe that the Boston & Maine was swallowed by by Guilford more than twenty years ago. Tom looks back on the eve of Guilford to bring back memories of this colorful road... in soulful black and white.
http://www.railroad.net/articles/railfa ... oguilford/


Next up, "My Day Working on the Boston & Maine Railroad" by Barry Sanel. In this first-person reccollection, Barry remembers a special day when veteran railroaders offered to teach him the tricks of the trade while switching the yard in Manchester, NH circa 1977.
http://www.railroad.net/articles/railfa ... nthebandm/

We hope you enjoy these original features!

-otto-

Clicking on the second article brings the first one up again......

But the link in Otto's post above works fine. They just need to change the homepage.

The best of times on the Boston and Maine ended in 1956 when Patrick B.
McGinnis assumed the position of president.
While the passenger trains of this period would not have lasted too long
anyway, McGinnis litterally wrecked this fine railroad by yanking off all of
the through passenger trains as rapidly as possible whether there was any
hope of success or not. He wasted funds on a Talgo train which by the
time of its delivery, there was no use for it and it ended up for a short
time in commuter service before it went to the scrap heap. He also did
some time in federal prison for a scandal involving passenger cars that he
sold off for personal gain.
Maintenance was slashed to the bone and by 1965, you could not get from
Boston to Portland by passenger train.
The railroad probably would not have avoided bankrupty but McGinnis
made the situation much worse and hastened the end.
Noel Weaver

We fixed the links, sorry about that! enjoy!

-otto-

Good story!! Many of us became hooked on railroading after similar experiences riding with local crews. Wonder how many kids can do things like this today, with all the usual liabilty concerns and corporate lawyers running everything.

Thanks to Barry & Tom for the articles.

In a related note, I grew up not too far from a Sanel Auto Parts store.

We're always interested in a good story, so send your ideas to me.

-otto-

Otto,
Thanks for posting this, I was just getting into photography at 13 and I took a ton of B&W & Color photos.

By the way, those two GP9's were moving quite fast in the photo and I was clicking away. I was supposed to get on that train to Boston, I always wondered what photo's I might have gotten in the Boston Yard that day.

Barry

Great article and pictures Barry, thanks for sharing.

Brooks

*

[quote="H.F.Malone"] Wonder how many kids can do things like this today, with all the usual liabilty concerns and corporate lawyers running everything.[/quote]

Ill bring you on the Palmer switcher anytime on the weekend when Im in the yard.

Brian

H.F.Malone wrote: Wonder how many kids can do things like this today, with all the usual liabilty concerns and corporate lawyers running everything.

Ill bring you on the Palmer switcher anytime on the weekend when Im in the yard.

Brian

Interesting