A Schnabel Car in action

[JCitron]

Here's a Schnabel car in action. The video was taken back in 1991 when the car was used to move a generator or some part from Seabrook/East Kingston, New Hampshire down to Lawrence, Mass.

This video takes place on Guilford Railroad Industries mainline which runs through where I live. Once a wheel is changed out, the video follows the short train as it makes its way along the main. The train will pass through Kingston NH, Newton Jct NH, Atkinson NH, Rosemont (Haverhill) MA, over the Merrimack River Bridge where it gets stuck on South Main Street overpass in, Bradford MA, under Ferry Street bridge, then the video cuts to the train pulling into Lawrence Yard in Lawrence MA.

I vaguely remember when this train went through. I was living in Andover at the time on the southern end of this same line. The short train then went west to Ayre where it was swapped to CSX for the run to Pittsfield, MA where General Electric is.

Right now the MBTA and Amtrak are working to repair the Merrimack River Bridge because the slow orders on it slow down that portion of the line from 35 mph down to 5-10 mph. The bridge was built in 1910 and has never been maintained well. The area shows really awful looking track. This is what we had when Guilford took over the B&M. Now that Amtrak is running to Portland, ME, the track is in far better shape, and it is being redoubled tracked again through Andover. The power for this train, is typical of Guilford. Very old, used, and worn out. They're slowly replacing their engines with new old engines. In all their history, going on 30 years now, I've never seen anything new on their lines that belongs to them.


http://youtu.be/1p4gikwMXu8

John

 

[Euphod]

They really had to squeeze that load through some tight clearances! I thought the trailing gondola had a flat spot on one of it's wheels as well. Thanks for posting the video.

 

[JCitron]

They really had to squeeze that load through some tight clearances! I thought the trailing gondola had a flat spot on one of it's wheels as well. Thanks for posting the video.

I never realized how tight a squeeze this is until I saw this video. This is actually a former junction with the old Georgetown branch. This branch was removed in pieces, starting in the 1940s, after a hurricane wiped out some bridges. The tracks originally connected with the Wakefield-Newburyport branch, and the Georgetown to Newburyport. This was the Boston and Maine's line to Newburyport built to compete with the Eastern Railroad and became redundant in the early 1900s after the B&M merged in the Easter RR into its operations. The branch went from a busy line down to a rural branch at that time. The Wakefield to Danvers section still exists, but sadly it has been slated for removal to become another railtrail. There are remnants of a wye still and yard in Georgetown. You can still see the ROW in places where powerlines now follow where the tracks used to be, and some of the bridges have been replaced for power trucks to drive over.

On my Trainz route, I've incorporated the tracks from just north of Ward Hill (southern Bradford) to about Rosemont Avenue (north Haverhill). I've been pretty close to the track layout, except where the Bradford and Haverhill yards are. Both of these areas really don't exist anymore. In and around the stations is a lot different now too with tracks missing and realignments. In my version, I've added a few extra tracks in Haverhill, and at Bradford an extra siding in the yard. When I was growing up on Front Street, which overlooks the Bradford yard area where the T station is today, there were several tracks making up a small yard. I used to sit near the fence with my dad and watch the small SW9?? or Alco S3 switch the cars there.

After the tracks go under Interstate 495, my route varies a little bit just as I blend the baseboards into my old route. I'm also planning on rebuilding the line from the junction to Georgetown, and then possibly out to Newburyport. At least in my world, these long gone, and never should have been removed branches, will still carry freight and passengers to and from Bradford, Groveland, Georgetown, Byfield, and Newburyport.

Overall I've found this area very difficult to work on because of the closeness to me. Working on the Bangor to Bucksport section, which I heavily modified wasn't as difficult because I don't live there. Perhaps this is due to living in the area now and growing up here too. There are also some unique buildings that need to be custom made, and I don't have the energy to do so. Every time I get to a certain point on the map, I get stuck wondering what building will look right at a certain place.

The other thing too is there are so many buildings missing now in the old mill area in Haverhill. Haverhill once hosted the largest shoe manufacturing center in the world. It was once known as Queen Heel City because of all the women's shoes that were once made here. At one point the old mills employeed 10,000 people. Today the mills are empty and are being converted into condos, shops, and loft apartments. The only manufacturer left is Mason and Hamlin Piano Company. They're located on a side street near the railroad track. There were once all kinds of tracks down along Railroad Street, Lafayette Square, and Hilldale avenue, but all that is gone now. So anyway, this has become a bit of realness and grand license. I showed this to my dad, and he did recognize the area so something must be right. When I get a chance, I'll post some pictures up of my version of Bradford and Haverhill. It might be interesting to see the comparison of this train going over the Merrimack River Bridge into Bradford and my version of a train going into Bradford.

John

 

[bendorsey]

I've read moves like this are planed well in advance with many measurements fior clearence taken. They also occasinally have to temporarily raise power and telephone lines while the consist passes underneath. Quite a complex operation.

Ben

 

[JCitron]

This was definitely a complex operation. I think the car its self can lift up the contents when there are width clearence problems such as the South Main Street bridge here in Bradford.
Bradford is part of Haverhill, having joined in the 1880s and is about 3 miles from my house. I can see the old Georgetown branch from the top of my street. That branch swings off to the right just at that bridge over S. Main Street. The last train to run down to the Haverhill Paperboard mill was around 1982, shortly after Guilford purchased the Boston and Maine. Prior to then, there were quite a few little companies that received service until Guilford chased them away besides the paperboard company.

The cool thing about Trainz is the ability to bring old lines back to life. As I said before, I may build the complete Bradford to Byfield and Georgetown to Danvers some day.
In my rebuild, it will be modern times with bridges under I-95 where the line would have crossed today. There are power lines that follow the ROW so it's easy to see where the tracks used to be.

John