First P&W stone train - 3/10

[DutchRailnut]

Today's first stone train went up Danbury Branch with P&W 3909-3907-3904 leading a Lumber car for rings end and 30 loads for Tilcon on Federal Road. the trailing engines were 3901-3906. This is very early for stone train and will be coverd of Extra list till April stone season starts for real.

[Tom Curtin]

Went up the Danbury Branch? The stone trains are running via Norwalk now?

[badneighbor]

would any of this stone train action be headed toward the New York & Atlantic any time soon??

[badneighbor]

Stone train questions:

Where do these trains originate, name of town where quarry is?

What route does P&W take to get to Hell Gate Bridge?

I know this may belong in New England Railfan section, but these are my only questions... thanks in advance...

[DutchRailnut]

The stone originates at Reeds gap near Durham Connecticut on the ex NH Airline.
Don't know if LIRR stone will start up soon it depends on blacktop use by Prima.

[badneighbor]

thank you for the quick answer... you know I'm already tuning up the camera for this year's trains...

[Otto Vondrak]

Hope you have night vision on that camera... most of these trains run during the overnight hours so as not to interfere with passenger operations.

-otto-

[Trainer]

We'll just stand in the middle of the track in the middle of the night and shoot using high-intensity strobe flashes

[Maybrook fan]

Is this the new routine route ? Or is there trouble on the Housatonic (old Maybrook line) somewhere again ?

So the Stone trains come up from Norwalk and go around the "curve" in Danbury ?
I've always wanted to watch them take the curve when they were detoured in the past but never got the chance.

[DaveP]

Neither, it was a one shot deal. Under normal conditions CT-2 runs via the Maybrook both to and from Danbury. Unless they need to switch Rings End Lumber in Bethel. In that situation they make the return leg of the trip via the Danbury Branch.

[the missing link]

i saw that "thing" go up last friday night.when i changed to the shuttle at s. norwalk,it was on track 1. i waited only a short time at wilton, they got a clear block pretty quick.what a sight. run 8 right through the station,must've been doing 40 or so, sparks shooting out the stack.oh, what the hell! so i chased it a little, watching it along 7 to old mill rd. i waited a while by the country diner just above branchville. i guess they had to wait for the block again, but all the better.same show coming up around the hill,more sparks and some flames, lots of smoke. de- facto alco's? blasphemy! great show...

[Tom Curtin]

Hey missing link, based on the date of your note, "last Friday night" would have been March 24th. This means they went that route again. Very interesting.

Seriously, your description of sparks and flames coming out the stack suggests one of the following: 1) They were running a steam locomotive and you didn't notice; or, 2) You are employing a little literary hyperbole; or, 3) There's something really wrong with the condition of P&W's power.

[Lirr168]

Seriously, your description of sparks and flames coming out the stack suggests one of the following: 1) They were running a steam locomotive and you didn't notice; or, 2) You are employing a little literary hyperbole; or, 3) There's something really wrong with the condition of P&W's power.

I know very little about P&W's power, but for what it's worth, the EMD locomotives on the LIRR have been known to spew spent carbon all over the place when attempting to pull especially heavy loads, most recently with the circus train last Monday. It's not an ideal thing to have happen obviously, but it doesn't appear to cause any damage to anything, so might as well enjoy the fireworks show they provide.

[DaveP]

Tom,
There is something wrong, I would assume a track issue, that has CT-2 using the Danbury Branch routing. I have no idea whn they will return to their normal Maybrook route.

[Tom Curtin]

I was thinking that too . . .

Now, if anybody knows, can you tell us:
- If that stone train is using the MN Danbury line regularly, does it have a regular schedule of nights of the week?
- Is there any predictable time it goes up the branch? It has already been posted above that it followed one of the shuttles up the branch one night, but it wasn't stated whether it was the shuttle leaving S.Norwalk 9:10 PM or 11:10 PM.