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Classic Railroad Quiz (at least 50 years old).

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, December 2, 2022 12:25 PM

While I'll take West Bridge Junction as an answer, the "station" sign on the former SP Sunset Route says "Westwego" (West Bridge Jct is in Westwego LA!)

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Posted by ZephyrOverland on Saturday, January 28, 2023 4:01 PM

Bumping this thread up.

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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, February 3, 2023 6:45 AM

Since I got no response to the last question...

By merger this railroad ended up with an "Eastern Route" and "Western Route" between its two major cities. For part of the distance the "Eastern Route" ran to the west of the "Western Route".  Only one of the two routes remains today as a through route.

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Posted by daveklepper on Friday, February 3, 2023 7:21 AM

But please give us the answer vto your unanswered question.   Thanks!

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Posted by CSSHEGEWISCH on Friday, February 3, 2023 10:24 AM

rcdrye

Since I got no response to the last question...

By merger this railroad ended up with an "Eastern Route" and "Western Route" between its two major cities. For part of the distance the "Eastern Route" ran to the west of the "Western Route".  Only one of the two routes remains today as a through route.

 
I am going to say that the road in question is Seaboard Coast Line.
The daily commute is part of everyday life but I get two rides a day out of it. Paul
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Posted by rcdrye on Friday, February 3, 2023 10:53 AM

CSSHEGEWISCH
I am going to say that the road in question is Seaboard Coast Line.

Bit further north - the route names in question appeared in the timetable.

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Posted by rcdrye on Saturday, February 11, 2023 3:01 PM

The Western Route got its name because it left its southern city to the left - or west - of the Eastern route, which was already named so before the merger.  The two crossed about halfway betweern the two endpoint cities.  Passenger service is offered today on all but a short portion of the Western route, and the southern third of the Eastern route.

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Posted by daveklepper on Monday, February 13, 2023 7:24 AM

C &NW between Chicago and Milwaukee?

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, February 13, 2023 10:08 AM

C&NW did have two routes between Chicago and Milwaukee, both largely intact today, but the freight line to the west of the passenger route was built by C&NW and did not result from a merger.

The Eastern route I'm looking for was known as the Eastern even before the merger.  It was leased first, then merged into the company that owned the Western Route, all of which took place before 1900.  All of the remaining Eastern route is east of the Western Route.

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, February 13, 2023 11:20 AM

Mr. Klepper... try New Haven.

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Posted by rcdrye on Monday, February 13, 2023 12:00 PM

Further east...

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Posted by Overmod on Monday, February 13, 2023 9:19 PM

Central Vermont and CNE?

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Posted by rcdrye on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 6:07 AM

Overmod

Central Vermont and CNE?

 

That's North.  How about if I say that both the Eastern and Western routes went Down East...

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Posted by Overmod on Tuesday, February 14, 2023 10:25 PM

B&M Boston-Portland, including the site of that awful wreck at Revere in 1871 (on the Eastern)...

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, February 15, 2023 7:12 AM

B&M acquired the Eastern RR by lease and then by purchase by 1890.  Most of the Eastern was built to lower standards than the Boston & Main main line, which became the Western Main Line.  The Eastern is still operated by the T as far as Newburyport MA, and some bits remain around Portsmouth NH.  The Western Main Line, which was relabelled the Freight Main Line at some point, has passenger service over its entire length, by the T south of Wilmington, by Amtrak and the T between Wilmington and Haverhill MA, and by Amtrak to Portland.  Appears to be the CSX Portland Sub north of Haverhill, which is where the T's ownership ends.

On to you, Overmod.

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Posted by daveklepper on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 3:08 AM

The "Eastern" was west of vtghe "Western" only north of Beverly. perhaps brefore WWI.  The track bvetween P:olrtsmouth and Bevcerly remained into 1950 or 19512.  I then had a girlfriend living in Lynn, and after a date one evenhing, saw her off at Noirth Station ojn a trasin through to Portland, with one of the tenb Pullman Standard LD coachnes with reclinuing seats, thev other coasches being Amnericasn Flyers.

Winter of 1952-1953, when I regularly rode GP-7s 1567 and 1568, Boston - P:ortsmouth on the c4pm passenger and returnedc on the nhighgt Portsmouth - Sommerville vYard freight, sane e3ngine vcrew cand locomotive, the link nfrom Portsmjouth to nBeverly waw gone.   The branch between Portsmouit west to the Main Line remains.     

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Posted by rcdrye on Wednesday, February 22, 2023 7:41 PM

The former Eastern Railroad (which included the Beverly Branch) runs entirely to the east of the Boston & Maine (Western Route), which the Eastern crossed in North Berwick, Maine.  From there to Scarborough, just south of Portland, the line ran to the west of the B&M.  From Scarborough into Portland both routes shared track under various arrangements until the Eastern was absorbed completely by the B&M.  Some through trains were routed via Portsmouth as late as 1950, but even those used the original B&M rather than the former Eastern.  The B&M shed lots of branches in the late 1940s and early 1950s, including the former Eastern between North Berwick and Scarborough.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, February 26, 2023 3:48 AM

Sorry for memory mishap thast substituted "Beverly" for N. Berwick, but--

in 1950 the Eastern was still used between bPortsmouthg and N. Berwick.

The track  from Portsmouth that is still used for freighgt had a gas-or-diesel-elecdtric doodlecug that continueed weswt to Nashua, p;ossibly continuing to Manchester and posssibly Concord or even Plymouth. 

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, February 26, 2023 7:57 AM

The Eastern via Portsmouth was used for a few through trains until the early 1950s.  The Manchester and Portsmouth had daily Gas-Electric and mixed train service until the late 1950s.  The line was more-or-less intact until the mid 1980s, when rail was removed between East Manchester and Rockingham Jct. The remaining rail between Manchester and East Machester came out in the early 2000s. CSX continues to operate the remainder into Portsmouth, with stubs of the old Eastern north to the shipyard in Kittery ME and south a couple of miles to serve a few customers.  The line to Kittery operates over the recently replaced Sarah Mildred Long bridge.  When movemets are made to the shipyard, the lift bridge's deck is lowered to rail level from its normal position at highway level.

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Posted by daveklepper on Sunday, February 26, 2023 3:12 PM

Wow!  Thasnks!  Is there any other bridge like that anywhere else in the World?  Can someone post a photo?

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Posted by Overmod on Sunday, February 26, 2023 6:52 PM

It is not as unusual as the original 1937 bridge, which had a more conventional double-deck arrangement in the lift span for road over rail BUT featured a retractable section near one end for 'recreational' traffic which was kept open; this actually lifted and rolled on the railroad rails, which is an arrangement I've never seen described anywhere else.

Incidentally, it was an accident during the construction of this bridge that put B&M 3666 in the river, where it was carefully documented as 'found' a few years ago...

The new bridge indeed has a lighter main span (and higher free opening when lifted) by the simple expedient of fixing running rails in the road deck, and closing the bridge to road traffic as if for a boat crossing when a train needs to use the track.

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, February 26, 2023 8:10 PM

HistoricBridges.org has a gallery of images:

HistoricBridges.org - Sarah Mildred Long Bridge Photo Gallery

Rail movements across the new bridge are rare, usually steel in and DODX fuel transport cars.

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, March 2, 2023 9:19 PM

I am having trouble with researching any kind of sensible question, so anyone with something interesting, go ahead in the meantime.

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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, March 25, 2023 6:38 PM

There was a train running entirely within the state of Michigan with an extremely unlikely-sounding name, a name shared by a number of other railroads with somewhat more sense in the choice.  When did it run, and between what nominal endpoints?

Bonus if you can find pictures of the motorcar service connecting at the east end, and tell where it went.

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Posted by daveklepper on Thursday, March 30, 2023 6:40 AM

"Motorcar," diesel or gas self-propelled railcar or some kind of automobile? 

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, March 30, 2023 9:54 AM

daveklepper
"Motorcar," diesel or gas self-propelled railcar or some kind olf automobile?

My understanding was that it, most likely, was a gas-electric railcar.  I cannot get my copy of Keilty to cross-reference more specifically what it was, but it was an 'accommodation' or connecting service to the 'name train' involved...

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Posted by rcdrye on Thursday, March 30, 2023 3:38 PM

Not having much luck with this one.

DSS&A's trains 1 and 2 ran under the "Atlantic Limited" name from time to time, between Marquette and St. Ignace/Mackinaw City (via ferry).  The connection from Soo Jct to Saulte Ste. Marie may have been a motorcar. 

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Posted by Overmod on Thursday, March 30, 2023 6:35 PM

The train I'm thinking of has a much, much more unlikely name... but indicating, yes, a place close to the Atlantic...

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Posted by Overmod on Saturday, April 1, 2023 7:58 PM

For extra credit: what was the name of the all-too-short-lived SP train that used ex-Pickwick Nite Coaches adapted to run on rails for sleeper service?

As a hint, it was supplanted by ex-ACF demonstrator equipment in the early 1950s, and its name updated (in the country it served) by a rhyming name.

A pity... but not really a surprise... that more is not recognized about these groundbreaking efforts in low-cost customer 'service'...

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Posted by rcdrye on Sunday, April 9, 2023 7:54 PM

Detroit & Mackinaw had the intrastate train 4 "The New Yorker" from Alpena to Bay City, with through coaches to Detroit via Michigan Central.  Connection from Cheboygan to Alpena with a motor car, pictures of which are, to say the least, elusive.

The only record of a Pickwick Nite Coach rail conversion I can find is on the SPdeM in Mexico, where a Pickwick coach was converted to a railcar.  A photo is embedded in this article: Bus Stop Classics: 1928 – 1933 Pickwick Nite Coach – What’s Old is New Again | Curbside Classic

 

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