"Up North" Gawking (District 1 sightings)

[newpylong]

Why the 70's though? Surely the track was laid in the 19th century?

[gokeefe]

Why the 70's though? Surely the track was laid in the 19th century?

Two parts, discussion centered around questions of six axle diesels and that may have been the last time the railroad have enough money to make these kinds of changes.

Good point though the MEC certainly had their fair share of big and heavy steam locomotives in its time.

[KSmitty]

Today I went to NMJ, big hook and a bunk or kitchen car was right by the depot. POSJ came into NMJ with 333, 310, 335. Brought in 3 or 4 NS gons with more new ties. 510 was tied down with a local and there were 2 MEC centerbeams with ties on the siding behind the big hook.
On the way back to campus going through Bangor a tamper was just tieing down in the yard.

[gokeefe]

Today I went to NMJ, big hook and a bunk or kitchen car was right by the depot. POSJ came into NMJ with 333, 310, 335. Brought in 3 or 4 NS gons with more new ties. 510 was tied down with a local and there were 2 MEC centerbeams with ties on the siding behind the big hook.
On the way back to campus going through Bangor a tamper was just tieing down in the yard.

No holding back now...camp cars and all. I can't remember ever reading about the wreck train working in MoW service not related to a derailment or other accident.

Is this really all that unusual for the PAR MoW train to be used for construction and not recovery/repair operations?

[CN9634]

The wreck train is NOT being used for MoW. It is being stored at NMJ for the time being. It was working at Bucksport to clean up a derailment a few weeks back. Please stop making assumptions about equipment based on location and appearance.

[gokeefe]

The wreck train is NOT being used for MoW. It is being stored at NMJ for the time being. It was working at Bucksport to clean up a derailment a few weeks back. Please stop making assumptions about equipment based on location and appearance.

Thank you for the information. Please reserve your anger for things that are more important than just talking about trains.

[MBTA1016]

Holy cow! BNSF meets BNSF on PAR. Can't imagine I would have ever thought that would happen.

That is an incredible series of shots and I think it really says a lot about why PAR is doing as much work as they are on their tracks.

Big heavy Class I engines with long unit trains. They haven't got a choice.

I agree with gokeefe about the Bnsf meets. I thought those were in California on Bnsf rails, then I saw the location and it said Maine. Nice meet of the big Bnsf locos. Then throw Norfolk southern in for laughs. Great shots of the power.

[KSmitty]

'Keag again today 9/26. 11ish, NBSR blew through town with oil loads from MMA. --> http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3214496 <--Crossing what I think is the Mattawamkeag River. They had 3 or 4 SD40-2's a spacer and a bunch of oil tanks. Listening to the scanner, they made good time from Brownville to 'Keag, and didn's stick around highballing east the tail end splits the old CP guard --> http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3214498 <-- a crew change was scheduled, maybe at the border.
Heading south, the tamper was working around MP.5 well behind tie crews working the MP. 17-24 section of the line. --> http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3214495 <-- Down at milepost 23.09, Hammett Rd in Enfield, we found a couple Kershaw cranes working digging ties out of the big piles and moving them into the crossing protection zone. --> http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3214499 <-- Ties are in the ground at least as far as MP.17 and based on current rate should be into the 20's by end of business Friday. Course the only indication of ties in Lincoln is the piles of mud along side the track, the new ties were buried in mud, they need new rock and rail. Most of it looks really light still, some rail recently removed was date stamped 1928 and weighed in at 85lbs.
We continued south, listening and checking crossings for an eastbound oil move that cleared Bangor at about 10A. We found it after 1 in Old Town. From what we could gather, an OT crew was used to bring the oil NMJ-OT and then commandeered the power for use as the OT switcher. They were wrapping up their day when we got there, shoving cars back towards the car barn. Their taxi was already there. The oil is on the main, just out of sight of the lens. --> http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=3214501 <--The oil may have already headed north, it will go pdq after the track crews clear up for the day. Also in OT's northern yard was a long string of tie gons, some still loaded and others not so much. Must have been 12-18 cars there.
I've been told MP.44 is the goal for all the trackwork this fall, which means track crews really need the line all day everyday. They seem pretty intent on accomplishing this, holding oil can't be popular with anyone.

[newpylong]

Check out the ties they pulled out picture #3, or what you might have called a tie, lol.

[KSmitty]

Check out the ties they pulled out picture #3, or what you might have called a tie, lol.

Splinters. Its amazing they haven't put oil on the ground.

[CN9634]

This happens sometimes when ties are extracted so its not like the tie was splintered like this exactly (But it wasn't perfect either) when it was under the rails

[JB283]

Are there any plans to upgrade or fix the long siding in Enfield?

[newpylong]

This happens sometimes when ties are extracted so its not like the tie was splintered like this exactly (But it wasn't perfect either) when it was under the rails

It's not as bad as some Industrial tracks or yards where it's rail on ballast but the ties are all dried out (turned white) and would shatter if you moved them, so it doesn't surprise me that they look like this.

[gokeefe]

A drive past Waterville Yard revealed some interesting developments "of note":

1. ST #52 in operation switching freight. The engine was coupled to other power which was running MU with the engineer running the train from the cab of #52.

2. The tracks furthest to compass direction West have had a lot of ties replaced, perhaps recently. In locations observed tie replacement rate appeared to be close to 50%.

3. As reported there is a very substantial gravel stockpile at the lower end of the yard. There were no indications that it would be disappearing anytime soon.

4. I was a little surprised to find that apparently there are long standing quiet zones in Fairfield. At least three crossings near the downtown area are all signed "No Train Horn" and have protection with flashers and gates. Of course given how long the railroad has been there that is not surprising.

5. I traveled down US-201 S from Winslow to Augusta and will have written observations in the Augusta Lower Road thread in the New England Forum.

[KSmitty]

Wednesdays are becoming a regular event, so long as work holds up, and with it my gas money...

Into 'Keag at about 9:15 or so, maybe a bit later. My Luck Continued, we found oil at Keag again. The NBSR was intown to pick up oil Pan Am brought north last night. Pretty much everything north of NMJ is running outside of daylight, trackwork gets absolute priority. Anyway, NBSR backed down the PAR line and grabbed oil loads. They pulled east to clear the interchange switch. My Shot of the Day came early today. Leased HLCX 63naught4 led the train across the Mattawamkeag on a beautiful day. They left a man on the ground to line and lock the NBSR main, which meant a second take on the train! Rolling West they shoved back to pick up the man on the ground. On the NBSR line they kept going , back across the Penobscot. Heading east again they pass through Little Round Top. We got a friendly wave from the cab of HLCX 6304 and then they headed around the bend towards the yard. Keag provides a great place to see the oil cans stretched out. Also in the yard was the Pan Am power that brought the train up, MEC 354 and company.

In Winn we ran into the first signs of life on PAR, it also marked the north end of the track work. Headed south along the PAR line we ran into track machines west of MP.24. in a roughly 2 mile stretch between crossings, couldn't see much. We got some numbers though, they are replacing about 500ties/mile. They are doing about 800/day and they have a goal of "Waterville before snow." Based on current progress, unless something breaks or we get an early freeze, they should make NMJ, with a little wiggle room and should actually be able to start NMJ-Waterville this fall.
We continued south and found the shortest bridge on Pan Am.

Now, back to the trackwork, ties are staged for placement into Pass the dum Keag, they are stacked for staging into Old Town where they also have switch ties stacked and they are in the ground MP.0-MP.24.50+. We'll give them 25 miles in 3.5 weeks, they have with a late freeze 12 weeks left or roughly 85 miles if all goes well. So, if all goes well, that puts ties in the ground to MP.110, which is actually CPF.110, the break between the main and the branch to Sappi in Hinckley. Thats not Waterville, but damn if they won't be close. Of course ties are 1 thing, tamping which is lagging behind by several miles, a total lack of ballast in places like Lincoln where the ties are literally hidden beneath oozing mud, and 85 and 100lb stick rail some of which weathered the Great Depression are all serious issues up here. Its a great start, but there is so much to be done and so few good days.