Trackside Log for Friday, March 20, 2009

Sam and I awoke to a beautiful morning in Brunswick, Maine. After our complimentary breakfast we headed a few blocks to the junction of Guilford and the Maine Eastern, my first quarry for the day. There was nothing of interest there so we ventured east to Rockland whilst keeping an eye and ear out for anything in between. US 1 sort of follows the track, but we found nothing between. Upon arrival at the shops in Rockland we were rewarded with one of their FL9s and a snow plow. This is what I was hoping for.

• 1003 Rockland, ME - Maine Eastern power - MERR 488 (photo)
• 1005 Rockland, ME - Maine Eastern plow - ME 64525 (photo)

We then made our way down to the cement unloading facility on the coast and managed to locate a local switching cars.

• 1018 Rockland, ME - Maine Eastern local - MERR 3573 (photo)

Sam wanted to get a photo of her by the ocean so we headed over to the local pier and took a couple pictures. After exploring a bit more we heard on the scanner that the local was switching so I returned to the unloading facility and caught the local leaving with a cut of concrete cars.

• 1040 Rockland, ME - Maine Eastern westbound - MERR 3573

The rest of the day was filled with nice scenery and visits to railways with nothing to photograph. Nothing was left at the Belfast and Moosehead Lake in Belfast. The Montreal, Maine and Atlantic offered nothing at either Bangor or Brownville Junction. We also dropped by the MMA shops in Derby. I could see a pair of ex-Canadian National SD40-2s off in the distance, but nothing to photograph there since everything was behind the shop buildings. It was interesting to see though.

That was about it for daylight so Sam and I drove straight on to our friends Ken and Kim's home in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec for the Montreal St. Patrick's Day Parade on Sunday.

Trackside Log for Thursday, March 19, 2009

Sam and I awoke to what was looking to be a promising morning in Rutland, Vermont. After a quick breakfast at the Red Roof Inn we drove over to the Vermont Railway yard to see what was up. There were two sets of power around but the Providence & Worchester and Washington County pairing was hiding on us. However, the pair of former Helm Leasing engines was easily photographable.

• 0837 Rutland, VT - VTR eastbound - VTR 308-VTR 205 (photo 1, photo 2, photo 3)

Next we began our northerly trek through Vermont. First stop was White River Junction where we discovered a New England Central GP38-2 parked across from the Amtrak station.

• 1020 White River Junction, VT - NECR power - NECR 3869 (photo 1, photo 2)

The sun was just starting to come out on the way to our next major stop, St. Johnsbury, Vermont. This is on the former Canadian Pacific (later Canadian-American) Lyndonville Subdivision. It's now operated by the Washington County Railroad, a member of the Vermont Rail System. Two locomotives were present with the crew chatting in front.

• 1219 St. Johnsbury, VT - Washington County power - VTR 307 and GMRC 304 (photo)

We continued north to the junction at Newport, Vermont but aside from a variety of freight cars nothing else was present. We then turned southeast and drove to North Stratford, New Hampshire to check out the New Hampshire Central. Unfortunately the only locomotive around was comfortably parked inside the shed. Onward we trekked through Crawford Notch en route to North Conway and the Conway Scenic Railroad.

• 1652 North Conway, NH - Conway Scenic power - BM 4268 (photo)
• 1653 North Conway, NH - Conway Scenic power - CSRX 573 (photo)
• 1654 North Conway, NH - Conway Scenic power - CSRX 23 (photo)
• 1659 North Conway, NH - Conway Scenic power - CSRX 6505-CSRX 6516 (photo)

After photographing what I could we continued eastward to the St. Lawrence and Atlantic's shops in Lewiston Junction, Maine. It was getting pretty dark, but I managed to photograph two locomotives parked in front of the shops. Quite a few other engines were parked back by the shops.

• 1851 Lewiston Junction, ME - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - SLR 3008-LLPX 1505 (photo)

It was getting dark quickly so Sam and I bolted for what would be our overnight location, the Travellodge in Brunswick, Maine. Since it was the coast of Maine we had to have fish and found some good food at Joshua's Tavern.

Trackside Log for Tuesday, July 16, 2002

• Falmouth, Maine - Maine Central ???bound - MEC 378-MEC 377
• Lewiston Junction, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - LLPX 3202
• Lewiston Junction, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - SLR 31
• Danville, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic switcher - SLR 62
• Danville, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - SLQ 3516 (SLQ M-420s in storage)
• Danville, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - SLQ 3517 (SLQ M-420s in storage)
• Danville, Maine - St. Lawrence & Atlantic power - SLQ 3512 (SLQ M-420s in storage)
• North Conway, New Hampshire - Conway Scenic Railway power - CSRX 6516-BM 4266
• North Conway, New Hampshire - Conway Scenic Railway power - BM 4268
• North Conway, New Hampshire - Conway Scenic Railway power - CSRX 15
• North Conway, New Hampshire - Conway Scenic Railway power - CSRX 573
• St. Johnsbury, Vermont - Canadian-American southbound - CDAC 515-CDAC 505

Trackside Log for Monday, July 15, 2002

• Bangor, Maine - Maine Central power - MEC 354
• Bangor, Maine - Maine Central power - MEC 300-MEC 502
• Bangor, Maine - Bangor & Aroostook power - BAR 64 (derelict)
• Bangor, Maine - Bangor & Aroostook power - BAR 65 (derelict)
• Bangor, Maine - Bangor & Aroostook power - BAR 60 (derelict)
• Bangor, Maine - Bangor & Aroostook power - BAR 78 (derelict)
• Bangor, Maine - Bangor & Aroostook switcher - LLPX 2266
• Belfast, Maine - Belfast & Moosehead Lake power - BML 52
• Rockland, Maine - Safe Handling Rail power - LLPX 1505-LLPX 1507