Yeah....ah...in my mind I was right... but because 40 years seperates me from having lived there I am not in my right mind by geographical names and precise locations...there were no bike trails back then, just old dirt roads into reservoir lands, which even a 6 cyl. stick shift Ford Falcon shouldn't have tried...
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B) 1) Wachusett Reservoir
The bridge was over the Lancaster Mill Pond in Clinton, and the tunnel is through the hill just to the east of same, just east of / under Rts. 62 / 70/ Boylston St.
2) The then-abandoned railroad was the Old Colony Railroad* - see the "1888 image of the corridor" - a route map of the Massachusetts Central - and the circa 1908 "Antique Topo Map" of "Hudson, Berlin, Clinton, West Boylston", which are linked at:
http://www.masscentralrailtrail.org/mapsofthemcrt.html
* - This is a stretch, but the clues got me there. The segments are so short and the lables so spaced out on the various maps that it could have equally well been one of the branches of the B&M or the NYNH&H.
3) South Branch of the Nashua River - see:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/parks/central/wachRes.htm
I can claim some knowledge of this line, other than / from before this question, my SPV Railroad Atlas, and the above links (and Internet research generally). About 6 years ago my wife & I rented bikes & rode the segment from Northampton east to Amherst - including the long bridge over the Connecticut River, and the then-new underpass of Route 9 / Russell St. - to the Mountain Farms Mall, and return. We ate lunch at a cafe in what had to be a former freight station in Hadley, and got dinner from the Hadley Whole Foods, which is actually just west of the mall, on the southwest side of Amherst. Would highly recommend it, except that on the Sunday afternoon we were there, it was easily the most crowded and busy rail-trail we've ever been on - it felt and looked more like a city sidewalk !
- Paul North.
P.S. - It's now the Mass Central Rail Trail - see:
http://www.masscentralrailtrail.org/home.html
And I believe that the reservoir that others were thinking of is the Quabbin Reservoir, which apparently also bisected the Mass. Central, but further west.
Since this is taking a while, I'll confirm some of your musings...
The project I'm thinking of was a reservoir built to supply water for Boston. The dam never had any hydro electric equipment. It was the largest gravity dam when completed in 1905, and still remains the world's largest hand-dug dam. It is 205 feet tall and 965 feet long. It is located in the central part of the state.
Also, none of you have guessed the river yet...
This is why I am stuck with the Ware River Line and Quobog Reservoir as it bisected the straight line of the Mass Central east of Amherst to Ware...
But if not, then we must look at the Fitchburg RR east out of Greenfield/Deerfield and some dam built there toward Athol that caused the Mass Central to abandon it route..
A public works project at the turn of the century, that caused a major RR detour, that involved a bridge and a tunnel. hmmm.
The bridge and tunnel means it's probably in the middle or western part of the state.
It's too early for it to be a highway project, but it was right in the era of the growth of hydro power, but probably too early for the ACE to be heavily involved in flood control - so maybe a dam for power generation built by a utility or for water for growing cities, like Boston or Springfield?
What other rivers are candidates? Thames? Is it even more than a trickle in Mass?
Anybody familiar with any large man-made lakes in Mass?
-Don (Random stuff, mostly about trains - what else? http://blerfblog.blogspot.com/)
You're in the wrong state. The Central Massachusetts origanates in Boston, MA, and ends in Northampton, MA... It never leaves the state of Massachusetts...
Should we move to the Hudson River and the NYC bridge south of Albany...Castleton?....OR...
....Am I too far north and should be thinking Hell Gate Bridge to Penn Station?
Nope, nothing to do with the Connecticut. You're on the right track though; it was a public works-type project.
"How about a dam on the Connecticut River?" he said, grasping at straws.
Could be the replacement of the Green Line Elevated at North Station with a the new subway (inlcuding a new underground Green Line "North Station") and realignmnet of the old B&M route into North Station from the line to the west?
Nope. Not the one I'm thinking of.
Wasn't it some kind of reservoir around Ware or Belchertown, MA..Quobog maybe.
Part A has, it's the Massachusetts Central Railroad, but I'm still waiting on Part B.
What was the project that required diverting the ROW of this railroad onto a different defunct railroad's ROW (bonus points if you can name what it was!) using a 1110 foot tunnel and a 917 foot bridge?
Has the last question been answered correctly? - a.s.
Good guess! That does meet the criteria, but that wasn't the Massachusetts Central.
I will add that this whole line in question is currently abandoned.
All I have is a SWAG:
Hoosic tunnel. Housatonic RR.
ns3010Oooh, I remember this one! Kinda. A) It was the Massachussets Central B) Completely forgot, but I remember you saying something about a bike path...
Oooh, I remember this one! Kinda.
A) It was the Massachussets Central
B) Completely forgot, but I remember you saying something about a bike path...
A is correct, it was the Massachusetts Central.
Anyone got part B?
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Paul, the FL9s lost their electrical gear quite a while back, although I'm not sure of the exact year. It was probably around when Metro-North ordered the duel-mode Genisis locomotives to replace the FL9s.
Here's my question:
A) What was the name of the Boston & Albany competitor that operated from Boston, MA, west to Northampton, MA, and later became part of the Boston & Maine?
B) What was the project that required diverting the ROW of this railroad onto a different defunct railroad's ROW (bonus points if you can name what it was!) using a 1110 foot tunnel and a 917 foot bridge?
TrainManTy Finally! A question that I might know! I'm going to guess: a) The original owner was Niagara Junction, and Conrail took over them in 1976. b) The locomotives were GE, and I believe they were built at the Schenectady, NY plant. c) The locomotives were classified E10B, and spent their last days in Harmon, NY circa 1980/1981.
Finally! A question that I might know!
I'm going to guess:
a) The original owner was Niagara Junction, and Conrail took over them in 1976.
b) The locomotives were GE, and I believe they were built at the Schenectady, NY plant.
c) The locomotives were classified E10B, and spent their last days in Harmon, NY circa 1980/1981.
Correct! (except they didn't start in service on MN until 1983. They displaced the S1s switching GCT.
I had to double check the NH New Rochelle/Woodlawn Jct to New Haven piece, tho'. I was pretty sure that that part of the NH went over NY and Conn state ownership on "Conrail Day" (4/1/76). I double checked a 1978 Conrail system map and it shows CR has having trackage rights, not ownership. Conrail operated the commuter services for NY, NJ, Conn, Mass, PA, etc, up until sometime in 1980 when the owning authorities set up their own operations.
Unless this question is intended for catenary / overhead electrification only, wouldn't the ex-NYC from Grand Central Terminal north to Harmon - mainly 3rd rail, with a little bit of overhead at the complicated switchwork, etc. - also qualify ? I'm pretty sure the S-motors ran into the CR era.
The New Haven's main line eventually was conveyed from CR to Amtrak - circa 1983 ? - so you might want to qualify the question with regard to time, too. Otherwise, that segment might be included (or not).
If it is included, then the locos are EMD's FL9's, last working for ConnDOT or MetroNorth - not sure which, or the divisions between the two.
Don,
a) NYNH&H between New York and Hartford
b) GE ?
c) Amtrak NY - Hartford ?
Mark
Electrified portion of Conrail that was not ex-PRR or ex-DL&W.
a) where was it?
b) who built their locomotives?
c) where did the last survivors of these locomotives operated and for whom?
We at last have the routing of the Dixie Flyer at the time when the GS&F handled the train between Macon and Tifton, Ga., and the change that was made after the GS&F was taken into the Southern System.
Don: CG north of Macon (½), ACL Tifton to Jax (1), NC&StL Atlanta to Nashville (1), L&N north & C&EI (½)
Al - in - Chicago.: L&N (½)
Mark: CG Macon to Atlanta (½), L&N Nashville to Evansville (½) & C&EI Evansville to Chicago (½) + (extra credit for the first change) CG to Albany & ACL to Jax (1)
The last change made while it was still a through train Chicago-Jacksonville was to remove the CG entirely in the early fifties, and run it over the AB&C (ACL) from Atlanta on south. It is interesting that when the Dixie Flagler was inaugurated, it did not run over the CG, but always over the AB&C out of Atlanta; otherwise, it was straight Dixie Route (Dixie Limited & Dixieland also used this route) from Chicago to Miami.
Looking at who knew what and who guessed what and when you posted, I say that Don did the most. Good work, guys. Now, ask one about some other section of the country.
Johnny
Deggesty oltmannd OK, Time for another SWAG. Nashville, Chattanooga and StLouis from Atlanta to Nashville (I think this one has a good chance) L&N to Louisville (this one, too) C&EI to Chicago (I don't even know if the C&EI went to Louisville!) Don, you are almost there! You have the right roads, but did not take one turn that you should have. The C&EI did not go to Louisville. Johnny
oltmannd OK, Time for another SWAG. Nashville, Chattanooga and StLouis from Atlanta to Nashville (I think this one has a good chance) L&N to Louisville (this one, too) C&EI to Chicago (I don't even know if the C&EI went to Louisville!)
OK, Time for another SWAG.
Nashville, Chattanooga and StLouis from Atlanta to Nashville (I think this one has a good chance)
L&N to Louisville (this one, too)
C&EI to Chicago (I don't even know if the C&EI went to Louisville!)
L&N Nashville to Evansville
C&EI Evansville to Chicago
KCSfan Johnny, CofG Macon to Atlanta L&N Atlanta to Cincinnati PRR Cincy to Chicago I will hazard a guess and say that when its route was changed from the GS&F it ran CoG between Atlanta and Albany and ACL between Albany and Jax. I believe this was the Southland's (or its predecessor's) route until the ACL's Perry Cutoff was opened in 1929. Sometime after that date the Southland was routed down the Cutoff between Albany and Tampa and St Pete bypassing Jacksonville. Mark
Johnny,
CofG Macon to Atlanta
L&N Atlanta to Cincinnati
PRR Cincy to Chicago
I will hazard a guess and say that when its route was changed from the GS&F it ran CoG between Atlanta and Albany and ACL between Albany and Jax.
I believe this was the Southland's (or its predecessor's) route until the ACL's Perry Cutoff was opened in 1929. Sometime after that date the Southland was routed down the Cutoff between Albany and Tampa and St Pete bypassing Jacksonville.
Yes, the L&N was very much in it--but not as Mark posited. Mark is right on the routing change that was made after the GS&F came into the Southern fold. The Southland (until the Perry Cutoff was opened) and this train both followed the same route between Atlanta and Jacksonville.
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