Smokey diesels and Lawrence, MA Yard. My old railfanning area.

[JCitron]

http://youtu.be/NnSBzyKCkIs

This is the area that I used to railfan when I was growing up. I wish I lived down there today because up in Haverhill, I'm too far for a good train watching. In the old days, I was about a mile from the tracks, and about 2 miles from Lawrence, so I could bike there and hang all day.

The overhead shots taken in Lawrence yard were taken from a now gone footbridge. This bridge provided and awesome safe way to view the yard action. Sadly the bridge became very delapidated and was torn down.

Notice the poor shape of the Guilford GP40s as they pull into Lawrence from the south (west). This is typical of their road power, although they are replacing units today with more used equipment and repainting everything into the new blue theme for PAR, I'm sure their new power will be smoking like this as well.

The MBTA commuter trains are typical of the area. The first train has former RDCs that have been totally depowered and made into coaches. If you look carefully, one of the cars has odd-looking side panels. This car was once an RDC baggage car turned into a coach. Not all these cars are Horizon cars either. There is a Messerschmidt car in there as well to provide lavatory service because the Horizons lack toilets. Today the Messerschmidts are being retired and so are the F40Phs. The new Kawasaki double-deck cars were being introduced on the MBTA at this time as well, but we never got them because then there were also clearance issues that needed to be worked out at Medford Jct. Now with the new clearance, we still don't get them very often because they're used mostly on the more heavily-traveled lines on the South Shore.

Later on the video goes from Lawrence to Andover through Shawsheen Village (Frye) where the track goes to single. Today this is being redouble-tracked again. The double track into the yard too is now triple-track again with the rebuilding of the old lead. This will be sort of what the track used to be like prior to 1977 when everything was single-tracked by the dying B&M.

In the last few minutes, the train crosses over the Concord River as it traveled from Tewksbury. This is the final leg as it enters into Metacross Street yard at the Bleachery in Lowell.

John

 

[sawyer811]

nice catch Mr. Jcitron! I always did love those little U18B's, but these guys are putting even ALCos to shame! Reminds me of an old Mark 1 Video I saw once of Delaware & Hudson ALCO power in the 1960's: losta grime, losta grit, losta smoke, and lotsa Alcos in the best paint scheme ever for an alco to wear

 

[JCitron]

nice catch Mr. Jcitron! I always did love those little U18B's, but these guys are putting even ALCos to shame! Reminds me of an old Mark 1 Video I saw once of Delaware & Hudson ALCO power in the 1960's: losta grime, losta grit, losta smoke, and lotsa Alcos in the best paint scheme ever for an alco to wear

What's interesting is Guilford got rid of the Alcos on the system as soon as they took over. The old Portland Terminal (Portland, ME) S2s went right away along with anyother Alcos on the B&M, and the D&H when they had control of them too. The Conrail units, now that I remember for the most part, were run-throughs on the SELA/LASE and SEPO/POSE. GTI did purchase some later on and painted them in their grungy gray. The U-boats came from the MEC including an old Rock Island unit which used to be in the old Rock paint scheme until the end. The unit wore this as though it were a badge of honor, or perhaps in memory of the old route.

I remember seeing this unit up in New Hampshire on the now embargoed, and partly abandoned, MEC Mountain Division which Guilford closed up shortly after taking over the 3 lines. This line went around the same time they ripped up the famous DH line that ran under the Starrucca Viaduct. The Conway Scenic now runs their passenger trains over the Mountain Division as far as Fabian, but it was quite the sight to see a 100 car mixed freight up on the high tressels and ledges above Route 302 below, or catch a meet at Bartlett where there was a passing siding. Sadly during the early to mid-1970s, the B&M had abandoned their line from Sandown to Intervale (North Conway, NH). The tracks are still in place and are now owned by the state of New Hampshire. I only wish they'd run something on them instead of letting them rot. I'm afraid they'll become a rail trail just like the Northern did a few years ago. The New Hampshire North Coast or NHN runs sand trains from the Sandown gravel pits south to Boston Sand & Gravel as well as a few other freights in the Dover, Rochester area.

I sure wish that footbridge was still there. That was quite the view, sadly the days when I visited I rarely had a camera with me. I can be dumb that way on many occasions. I do have some mid-1980s action on some old still pictures, though I need to dig out and scan some day. There are Easter Eggs pulling depowered RDCs, a D&H run through, and some switching action in Lawrence. This is just before their big strike and sadly the end of the D&H as we knew them, and an end to much of the freight traffic that was running then.

John