Today's Train of Thought- Springtime Is Near-Lee Here, March 20th 2014

Today's train of thought takes us to the hills of western Massachusetts and the busy-yet-picturesque Housatonic Railroad.


The hills of Berkshire County generally get more snow accumulation than the valleys, forests and open terrain further east- although this winter, much of New England got shellacked by old man winter regardless of elevation. Still, while places in the New York or Boston metropolitan area may only get a light dusting, this translates into more snow for ski resorts and bucolic state parks in the far west corner of Massachusetts [even if Mother Nature or old man winter can't provide the white stuff in a timely manner, the resorts are often equipped with snowmaking equipment for the slopes- NANESB!].


Neglected and split in two by indifferent class one railroads, the former New York, New Haven & Hartford's Canaan running track between Danbury, CT and Pittsfield, MA runs through the heart of this territory sought out by skiers and snow-shoers in the wintertime. Since dieselization, the New Haven provided both freight and passenger service on the line with Alco RS3s and self-propelled Budd RDCs. However, by 1969 the bankrupt New Haven's assets were purchased by the Penn Central- the ill-fated merger between the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroad that would give way to Conrail in early 1976. The Canaan running track was one of many branchlines Conrail wasn't interested in, since two years prior the middle section between Boardman Bridge and New Milford, CT was abandoned and not included in the formation of Conrail. By 1982, the stretch just south of the Connecticut state line in Canaan and the Conrail interchange at Pittsfield, MA was purchased by the Boston & Maine. However, within two years the B&M would become part of Guilford and the line was still considered a fairly insignificant backwater and prime candidate for abandonment.


But in 1983, a company revived the name of New Haven predecessor Housatonic Railway and began operating nearly 30 miles of the abandoned ex-New Haven track that wasn't included in Conrail. By 1992, the Housatonic had purchased the Canaan running track from Guilford and was able to interchange with Conrail's former Boston & Albany mainline in Pittsfield, MA.


Both carloadings and speed limits were low in the early years as the Housatonic operated with a hand-me-down SW switcher, a GP9 and a rebuilt RS3. Traffic north of Canaan usually consisted of plastic products from Beckton Dickinson in Canaan and paper products from the Mead-Westvaco paper plant in Lee, MA. Throughout the 1990s, improvements were made to the tracks that allowed the Housatonic to operate longer trains with bigger power in the form of five rebuilt former Pennsy GP35s between Danbury and Pittsfield.


Here- railpictures.net contributor Ryan Parent catches Housatonic GP35M #3604 busting through a snowbank behind the old Hurlbut paper mill in Lee, MA in March 2008 with symbol freight NX-13x [a revival of New Haven-era train symbols- NANESB!]. Besides the plastic pellets, and paper traffic, the Housatonic has also been kept busy hauling lumber, propane, trash, limestone, construction debris and even the occasional carnival train.


The Housatonic is also fairly unique in that it is one of the few revenue freight carriers in the USA that is seriously looking into reviving passenger service- the only way into and out of some of these ski areas in the Berkshires from Connecticut and New York's suburbs is usually a narrow and winding US Route 7. Passenger service along the Canaan running track would save a lot of hassle and treacherous wintertime driving for a number of visitors.

Iron Horse Update for March 2013

In a scene that won't be repeated anytime soon, Delaware & Hudson painted GP38-2 #7304 is seen rolling along the former Pennsy RR High Line through Philadelphia, PA with a mixed bag of CP and leased SD40s in charge of Train 158-04 in August 2011. Lee King photo

CANADIAN PACIFIC/DELAWARE & HUDSON- The Canadian Pacific railroad announced their pullout from the Philadelphia area effective March 4th. The move comes as something of a surprise as the CP Rail [NYSE- CP] had been seeing increased traffic in the form of dedicated unit crude oil trains between the Bakken formation in North Dakota and refineries in the Northeast- including in the Philadelphia area. In fact, the Carlyle group plans on investing more than $200 Million in a Sunoco [NYSE- SXL] refinery along the Schuykill River.

The Canadian Pacific actually owns no right-of-way around Philadelphia. Instead, the CPR reached the city of Brotherly Love thanks to trackage rights date back to the 1976 formation of Conrail after the bankruptcies of the Penn Central, Lehigh Valley, Reading, Central New Jersey and Erie Lackawana. The Delaware & Hudson was allowed trackage rights into Philadelphia (as well as Newark, NJ Buffalo, NY and Chessie System/CSX's Potomac Yard in Alexandria, VA) to prevent Conrail from monopolizing freight rail service. The trackage rights were included in CP Rail's 1991 purchase of the Delaware & Hudson, but since Conrail's 1996 sale of the former Lehigh Valley mainline between Scranton and Packerton, PA and the 1999 breakup of Conrail itself, the Canadian Pacific has had to negotiate trackage rights over multiple railroads just to reach Philadelphia proper. While CPR still utilizes trackage rights over Norfolk Southern's Southern Tier line to reach Buffalo, the D&H's Potomac Yard service was cut back to Harrisburg, PA in 1989 [while the New York, Susquehanna & Western was the designated operator- NANESB] and the Newark service was cut back to Allentown, PA in 2012.

Canadian Pacific's ceding Philadelphia to CSX and Norfolk Southern reflects a broader trend of cutting back on trackage deemed unprofitable or redundant since the 2011 takeover of the Calgary-based Class 1 carrier by private equity firm Pershing Square Capital. In December 2012, the CPR announced they were seeking buyers for more than 600 miles of former Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern trackage in South Dakota, Wyoming, Minnesota and Nebraska.

CANADIAN PACIFIC/SOO LINE- Fourteen cars of a 94-car southbound Canadian Pacific freight train derailed in Western Minnesota on March 28th. The derailment took place near Parkers Prairie, MN and three of the cars had spilled oil onto the ground. Initial estimates claimed that as much as 30,000 gallons had leaked from one of the ruptured cars, but that figure was later revised downward to less than 15,000 gallons.

No injuries were reported in the derailment, although the cold weather hampered cleanup by giving the oil a thicker, tar-like consistency. The line was reopened within a matter of hours.

SWEDEN- A woman in the Swedish capital was hospitalized and is facing charges of suspicion of reckless endangerment after allegedly stealing an empty commuter train from a depot in Stockholm and crashing it into a house back in January.

Tomas Hedenius, a spokesman for train operator Arriva, said the woman, born in 1990, stole the four-car train at a depot outside Stockholm.

She then drove it about 1.6 kilometres to the end station on the railway line, where it jumped off the tracks, careered for about 25 metres and crashed into a three-story building.

“There were three families inside the apartment building, but no one was injured. At least not physically,” Hedenius said.

The motives of the woman, who worked for a company contracted to carry out cleaning for the train operator, were not immediately clear.

“We have only heard good things about her. We’re investigating how this could happen, and why she did what she did,” Hedenius said.

It is unclear how the woman got the keys to the train, but the Arriva spokesman said that operating the commuter trainsets is pretty straightforward once in the cab.

HOUSATONIC RAILROAD- The Housatonic Railroad suffered its second derailment since November earlier this month. Shortly after midnight on March 15 four cars jumped the rails and tipped over near the entrance of a paper mill in Lee, MA with two high-sided gondola cars spilling construction debris along the banks of the Housatonic River.

Crews spent the weekend cleaning up the derailment and re-opening the line, although a Housatonic spokesman said that the two gondola cars would likely be scrapped on site.

Texas-New Mexico SD9043MAC #113 seen leading a short mixed freight at Hobbs, NM. The 104-mile Iowa Pacific subsidiary is enjoying a revival of oil drilling in the Permian Basin, which straddles the Texas and New Mexico border. JR Leal photo

TEXAS-NEW MEXICO- After spending approximately $25 million dollars on improvements to the right-of-way, Iowa Pacific's Texas-New Mexico Railroad began handling their first unit train of crude oil at the end of January. Ultimately bound for refineries along the Texas Gulf coast, the crude is loaded along the TNMR in Winkler County, TX. Some of the improvements also include a joint Union Pacific/Texas-New Mexico unloading facility for frac sand at the interchange in Monohans, TX that Iowa Pacific chipped in more than $1.5 million towards.

When Iowa Pacific Holdings first acquired the Texas-New Mexico and disconnected sister line West Texas & Lubbock in 2002, there were reportedly only 12 oil rigs operating throughout the Permian Basin. More recent estimates now put the number at 450.

The Texas-New Mexico operates with a motley hodgepodge of motive power, including new SD9043MACs as well as B39-8s from sister railroad San Luis & Rio Grande as well as former Arizona & Eastern GP20s and GP35s.

Before the reinvigoration of drilling the Permian Basin, the TNMR was pretty busy handling fertilizers, LNG, clay, chemicals, aggregates, scrap metal and unit trains loaded with contaminated silt dredged up from the Hudson River in upstate New York and destined for Waste Control Specialists in Andrews County, TX. In addition to those commodities and the new unit oil trains, the TNMR also recieves trainloads of fracking sand and proppants from the upper Midwest at the UP interchange in Monohans.

[Hat tip to Ruckus Rails for the background information on the TNMR- NANESB!]

Iron Horse Roundup for October/November 2012

EGYPT- At least 49 schoolchildren in southern Egypt were killed when the bus transporting them to school was struck by a speeding train at the village of al-Mandara on Saturday.

The bus was carrying more than 50 children ages four to six when it was hit near al-Mandara village in Manfaloot district in the province of Assiut, a security official said. He said it appeared that the railroad crossing was not closed as the train sped toward it.

Books, school bags and children's socks were strewn along the tracks near the blood-stained, mangled bus. Parents of the missing wailed as they looked for signs of their children. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said many of the remains were unrecognizable.

All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

Residents in Assiut complained that there were not enough ambulances in the area that could respond quickly enough and that the ambulances themselves were ill-equipped to deal with the emergency.

At al-Mandara village, angry families and locals gathered near the tracks, shouting at officials. Some chanted: "Down with Morsi!"

This is the biggest disaster in Egypt since the Muslim Brotherhood-backed Mohammed Morsi took power in the wake of last year's 'Arab Spring' popular uprising. With frequent accidents and outdated equipment, Egypt's rail network has long been considered unsafe and accident-prone.

A pair of New Jersey Transit GP40s seen delivering 21 new Bombardier multilevel commuter cars at Dunellen, NJ on November 17, 2012. The cars are sorely needed after Superstorm Sandy damaged or detroyed 25% of NJ Transit's passenger cars after they were sent to a low-lying rail yard before Superstorm Sandy made landfall in late October. Robert Pisani photo

NEW JERSEY TRANSIT- New Jersey's commuter railroad agency has been dealt a considerable setback in their attempt to resume full service in the wake of Sandy after officials had decided to shuttle locomotives and rolling stock to a low-lying yard in Harrison, NJ ahead of the superstorm.

At least $385 million in equipment- including nine dual-mode locomotives, 84 multi-level commuter cars and NJT's computer equipment for dispatching- were damaged in a tidal surge at the Meadowlands facility while more equipment was damaged at the agency's Hoboken terminal and rail yard.

"If there's a predicted 13-foot or 10-foot storm surge, you don't leave your equipment in a low-lying area," said David Schanoes, a railroad consultant and former deputy chief of field operations for Metro North Railroad, a sister railway serving New York State. "It's just basic railroading. You don't leave your equipment where it can be damaged."

Most of the avoidable damage came at NJ Transit's Meadows Maintenance Complex, a sprawling 78-acre network of tracks and buildings in an industrial area of Kearny that is surrounded by wetlands. The complex is the primary maintenance center for the agency's locomotives and rail cars, with both outdoor and indoor equipment storage; repair, servicing, cleaning, inspection and training facilities; and the agency's rail operations center, which houses computers involved in the movement of trains and communication with passengers.

The yard sits in the swampy crook where the Passaic and Hackensack rivers come together. Elevation maps show that it lies between 0 and 19 feet above sea level. The National Hurricane Center was predicting a storm surge of 6 to 11 feet along the New Jersey and New York coast on top of an unusual tide that already had the rivers running high.

Forecasts were that the storm would make landfall on Monday, October 29, somewhere along the New Jersey or New York coast. On Friday, October 26, executives from the New York City subway system and all of the region's commuter rail systems - NJ Transit, Long Island Rail Road and Metro North Railroad - decided they would halt all service Sunday night.

NJ Transit's last trains left their originating stations at 11 p.m. on Sunday, and workers spent the next 12 hours securing equipment, said Weinstein.

At NJ Transit's emergency command center, reports streamed in from the governor's command center in Trenton, county emergency management officials and the National Weather Service, which provided frequent updates on the storm's progress. Monitoring those reports and advising the agency on what to expect from the storm was NJ Transit Police Capt. Robert Noble, who is well-versed and trained in monitoring storms, Weinstein said.

On any given weekday, New Jersey Transit carries an estimated 136,000 people between New Jersey and New York's Penn Station. NJT got some relief in the form of 21 new bilevel Bombardier commuter cars assembled in Plattsburgh, NY that arrived on Nov 17th.

Shortline operator Morristown and Erie has reportedly been contracted by the agency to repair at least ten of the damaged NJT locomotives at their Morristown, NJ shops.

Mass Coastal GP9M #2008 seen trundling down the Falmouth line past the cove at Bourne, MA with a trash train enroute to the Otis transfer station in August 2008. Ryan Parent photo

MASS COASTAL- Chicago-based Iowa Pacific Holdings acquired a controlling interest in the parent company of two southeastern Massachusetts shortlines in late October.

Iowa Pacific announced the acquisiton of Cape Rail, Inc- the parent company of Mass Coastal and Cape Cod Central- last month. Cape Cod Central hauls seasonal excursion trains on Cape Cod while Mass Coastal handles freight on the former New Haven Falmouth Line in addition to a pair of lines that serve New Bedford, MA and Fall River, MA from a CSX interchange in Taunton, MA. Both the Fall River and New Bedford lines are reportedly prime candidates for a proposed expansion of MBTA commuter rail service to Boston's South station. Mass Coastal has operated those lines for the last two years.

Other railroads in the Iowa Pacific fold include the Permian Basin Railways in New Mexico, San Luis & Rio Grande in Colorado, the Mount Hood Railroad in Oregon and the Saratoga & North Creek in upstate New York.

Norfolk Southern SD60 #6920 seen at Brea, OH with intermodal train 21G.
Dan Davidson photo.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN- Norfolk Southern unveiled a specially painted locomotive honoring veterans just prior to Veteran's Day.

Photographers got a glimpse of red white and blue (not to mention copious amounts of black) SD60M #6920 at the railroad's Altoona, PA facility before it headed south for a Veteran's Day event in Norfolk, VA. According to a press release, the special paint scheme required 26 employees (two of whom were veterans) and 66 gallons of paint. The railroad also stated that military veterans currently make up about 14% of their current workforce and they were ranked #32 by GI Jobs in their list of top 100 military and veteran-friendly employers.

After the Veteran's Day weekend ceremonies, the #6920 resumed regular service and was spotted leading intermodal freight 21G through Ohio.

Today's Train Of Though- Canaan Able, Feb 13 2012

Today's Train of Though takes us to the wintry foothills of Western Massachusetts where a wintertime snowstorm seems to do little to slow down Canaan, CT-based shortline Housatonic Railroad.

The former New York, New Haven & Hartford line between Pittsfield, MA and Danbury, CT- sometimes known as the Canaan Running Track- went through a number of owners since the New Haven's 1969 merger with Penn Central. Shortly before the 1976 formation of Conrail, the section of the former NYNH&H line between New Milford and Boardman Bridge was abandoned. While the line south of New Milford was included in Conrail, the Canaan to Pittsfield line became part of the Boston & Maine (later Guilford) in 1982. The following year, the Housatonic Railroad was formed and began rebuilding the abandoned trackage between New Milford and Canaan.

While being operated by Guilford, the Canaan Running track was isolated from the rest of the Guilford lines and both the line and freight service began to detriorate. Operations were more or less limited to one train a week out of Pittsfield for the Beckton Dickinson plant in Canaan and some paper mills in Lee, MA. The Berkshire Scenic would run seasonal excursions over the line in the late 1980s, but operations were suspended when the track continued to deteriorate.

In 1991, the Housatonic entered into an agreement with Guilford to purchase the Canaan Running Track and less than a year later, purchased the New Milford, CT to Danbury segment from Conrail.

Now, in addition to the already-existing customers on the line, the Canaan Running Track was acting as a bridge line and the Housatonic was being used to forward contaminated soil and construction or demolition debris to out-of-state landfills [embodying the old saw of 'It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it'- NANESB].

Above, railpictures.net contributor Ryan Parent catches Housatonic GP35M #3601 heading north through Great Barrington, MA with Canaan, CT to Pittsfield, MA freight NX-13X. The #3601 is only a few miles into its trip out of Canaan, having crossed the state line at Sheffield, MA before making its way through Great Barrington.

The crisp yellow and green EMDs in the Housatonic fleet keep busy with at least one roundtrip to the CSX interchange at Pittsfield, MA each weekday and sometimes on Sunday. Apparently the train symbols from the Housatonic are throwback to the New Haven-era ones used on that part of the NYNH&H.

Today's Train of Thought- The Strates Story, September 7, 2011

Today's train of thought takes us to Connecticut for a yearly- yet seemingly timeless- ritual in the western corner of the Nutmeg state.

Since the Great Depression, the Orlando, FL based James E Strates carnival train has been travelling up and down the east coast. The train typically consists of 50 flatcars, 10 sleeping cars and a generator car.

One fairly recent stop that the current 61-car train added to its East Coast tour in the last decade is the Danbury City Fair. And for the Strates carnival train, the way in and out of Danbury is the Housatonic Railroad's line between Danbury, CT and Pittsfield, MA. Acquiring the line incrementally throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, the Housatonic earns its keep by hauling paper products, limestone, plastics, liquefied natural gas, lumber and construction debris on a near daily basis- not bad for a line that both Guilford and Conrail seemed more than willing to leave for dead.

However, in addition to the near-daily freight on the Canaan running track Interchanging with the CSX in Pittsfield, MA and Providence & Worcester in Danbury, each summer brings the sight of the unique and colorful Strates Carnival Train through the rolling hills of Western Massachusetts and Northwestern Connecticut.

Here, railpictures.net contributor Dave Jacobs caught Housatonic GP35M #3603 leading a trio of EMDs south with the distinctive Strates trainset at River Rd in Cornwall, CT in June 2007 as the line parallels its namesake river.

Today's Train of Thought- Berkshire Revival; October 11, 2010

Perhaps no railroad in New England could better personify the revival of rail freight in Western New England than the Housatonic Railroad. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had relatives who lived in towns along the weed-choked and forlorn Canaan running track between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA which the Boston and Maine received during the formation of Conrail in 1976. A decade of neglect under B&M successor Guilford Transportation didn't help matters much: the outlook for the former New Haven Railway line was bleak and it looked as though western Massachusetts and northern Connecticut would get yet another sorely needed bike trail.

To the south, the most recent incarnation of the Houstaonic Railway started up service in 1983 between New Milford and Canaan, CT. It was expected that the Housatonic would do reasonably well hauling excursion trains on the weekend, but these plans were undone by the line's 10 MPH speed limit. However, there were a number of freight customers available that allowed the railway to continue operating.

In 1991, the Housatonic took over operations on the 35-mile former B&M/Guilford section of the Canaan running track between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA. In that time, the line has gone from once-a-week service to weekday freight trains to and from the CSX interchange in Pittsfield as well as excursion trains in Berkshire County and the occasional circus train. Freight traffic includes lumber, plastics, limestone, paper products, construction debris and contaminated soil. The railway has even begun doing feasibility studies for restoring regular passenger service along the route.

Most of these duties are handled by the Housatonic's fleet of dapper green and yellow rebuilt GP35s. Here, railpictures,net contributor John Ryan snaps Housatonic GP35M #3600, heading southbound from the CSX interchange at Pittsfield, MA with symbol freight NX-13 at the village of Housatonic, MA on a sunny November 2007 afternoon. The line between Canaan, CT and Pittsfield, MA follows its namesake river pretty closely.

Today's Train of Thought- Change of Seasons; October 26, 2009

There's nothing quite like fall in New England, as exemplified by today's train of thought from railpictures.net contributor Rich Barnett. Sure the highways are crowded, but if you're inclined to take in the scenery without the hassle of traffic, there's always an excursion train like the Berkshire Scenic Railway in the Western corner of Massachusetts.

The Berkshire Scenic Railway actually ceased operations in 1989 due to deteriorating track conditions on what was then Boston & Maine's Canaan Running track- a scenic but lightly-used rail line between Pittsfield, MA and Canaan, CT that was isolated from the rest of Guilford's system. Around this same time, the Housatonic Railway was working on rehabilitating the dormant former New Haven mainline between Canaan and New Milford, CT that connected with the Canaan Running track. In 1991, the Housatonic purchased the Canaan Running Track from B&M and freight traffic has been up considerably on what was once a decrepit New England branchline. However, it wasn't until 2003 that the Berkshire Scenic resumed operations on the line between Lenox, MA and Great Barrington, MA.

Here, painted in colors reminiscent of the New Haven railroad (and matching some of the surrounding foliage), Berkshire Scenic SW8 #8619 is seen passing the Hurlburt-Willows paper mill in West Lee, MA on October 21, 2007 on it's return trip to Lenox.