"Winter Railroaders" MA&N (video)

Mohawk, Adirondack and Northern ran up to Boonville yesterday from Utica to deliver a covered hopper to Bailey's Mill and to switch-out an empty.

It had been a few weeks since the last move on these tracks. Plenty of snow covered the tracks and many crossings had to be cleared of ice and hard-packed snow.

Here's a video showing some highlights of the run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BuFq-a2w3c&t=3s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Also a few photos:

Great video thanks for sharing. I remember an article about this line in trains magazine about 15 years ago and it always interested me. I looked on Google maps and it looks like this line does not have much traffic. Tracks look very good and I was surprised at how fast they appear to be going in this video.

I know you don’t get a lot of responses to these MA&N videos but I appreciate them.

Charles

I used to get bummed if little or nobody responded. But then I paid attention to Viewed.....I was happy with at least people looking at it.

Thanks for the feedback, always appreciated! I'm happy folks check out the post regardless of whether a comment is made.

Great video. From Utica and back, digging out the switches, doing the car switching, etc, that's probably the better part of a day. Figure an engine crew of 2, a flagger, and perhaps some more to do the digging (looked like 3 or 4, but probably included some of the above), how the heck do they make any money on that?

nydepot wrote:I know you don’t get a lot of responses to these MA&N videos but I appreciate them.

Charles

I do, too. They're always great quality -- thank you for sharing them!

Charlie

I have made four videos since "Winter Railroaders" which I thought would be best to include here rather than making new threads for each:

1) "Blizzard Railroaders" (8:21) features the NYS&W switching Matt's Brewery, Utica, and Di-Highway, New York Mills, on February 25th. The National Weather Service issued a blizzard warning that day for the Utica-area:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU7wNpcC_J8&t=2s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


2) "Into The Snowbelt (2:06) features MA&N running Alcos Nos. 805 and 2456 light on February 27th. The plan was for the engines to travel to the line's end in Lyons Falls, 45 miles north of Utica, to clear the way for plowing-in-earnest by the railroad's Jordan Spreader, already positioned in Boonville. The engines made it to Boonville just fine; however, once there, the crew ran into great difficulty with compacted snow/ice plowed on the tracks paralleling Water St in the village. By the time the way north was cleared, it was too late to proceed to Lyons Falls. So, the engines returned, again light, to Utica.

This video shows the train kicking up a lot of snow in the morning as it runs parallel to Barneveld's Sand Road and as it passes through a picture-perfect, snowy Remsen in the late afternoon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SadjyLyJZWI&t=2s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

3) "Clearing the Way" (4:11) features MA&N's Jordan Spreader in action southbound in both the village and town of Boonville and in Remsen on March 1st. The MA&N ran No. 805 up to Boonville on Feb 28th where it picked-up the Jordan Spreader. However, it only made it a few miles north of Boonville before derailing just beyond Thomas Rd, Denley, due to compacted snow on the tracks resulting from illegal snowmobile usage. On March 1st, No. 2456 ran up to the derailment site and the MA&N re-railed 805, and proceeded to Lyons Falls. They then began plowing southward using the Jordan Spreader. Unfortunately, I was unable to catch the plowing between LF-BOON.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Ba1317r3U&t=4s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

4) "A 12-Mile Winter Shove" (6:34) With the line now open to Lyons Falls, the MA&N ran the first train of the year with cars destined for storage on the otherwise unused 10-mile section of track between Boonville-Lyons Falls. The railroad has stored cars here the past several years. This video features switching activity in Boonville, the shove move's arrival in Lyons Falls, and the train's return run south with glimpses in Port Leyden and Denley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCyIN4CTnqI&t=1s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The MA&N ran a 70-car train up to Lyons Falls yesterday:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doqxgr2tpG0&t=1s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Screen shot from video, Remsen.

Interesting the RR was hassled when storing cars on the North Creek line but apparently OK to store here.

Does anyone know what a typical daily fee is for car storage?

I have heard that it is about $1 per day per car.

pumpers wrote:Does anyone know what a typical daily fee is for car storage?

I've heard up to $2 per car per day, but $1 is more commonly cited.

Still - that helps with the payroll.

MA&N had some 1,300 cars stored north of Carthage a few years ago.

After spotting 50 tank cars in Port Leyden yesterday, MA&N engines Nos. 2456, 805 and 2042 are featured here passing a waterfall in Remsen on their return to Utica:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA0_ktVEDVw&t=1s" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Awesome posts, and videos John. I enjoy them very much, keep'em coming. Enjoy your time trackside.

REK, in PA