Google Maps Railfanning Section (READ RULES!)

https://goo.gl/maps/w1kVvgmJHyh4C4fZ8

A couple of KCS switchers 4348 and 4350 doing their thing in Baton Rouge, LA.

A head-on shot.

https://goo.gl/maps/bsAjarMCB6qq4NVV9

and one of the switcher in the distance switching cars.

https://goo.gl/maps/W7NngQqzUFA6YBz3A

A freight heading out or in from the yard with KCS 2806 and 2813

https://goo.gl/maps/dpmvWPZZBKxL4fiK7

Here's a track-mobile switching hoppers.

https://goo.gl/maps/mzpLYWhe3xCdYLLt7

A track-mobile sitting...
https://goo.gl/maps/eZChnNwyyFgn21KJ6

A better view:
https://goo.gl/maps/q9yhG98Jxriqjq7R8

An there's more from the same vicinity...

A bunch of CN locomotives in the CN yard including a GT No. 4620

https://goo.gl/maps/1w4VNAyCbperHCQp8
 
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https://goo.gl/maps/w1kVvgmJHyh4C4fZ8

A couple of KCS switchers 4348 and 4350 doing their thing in Baton Rouge, LA.

A head-on shot.

https://goo.gl/maps/bsAjarMCB6qq4NVV9

and one of the switcher in the distance switching cars.

https://goo.gl/maps/W7NngQqzUFA6YBz3A

A freight heading out or in from the yard with KCS 2806 and 2813

https://goo.gl/maps/dpmvWPZZBKxL4fiK7

Here's a track-mobile switching hoppers.

https://goo.gl/maps/mzpLYWhe3xCdYLLt7

A track-mobile sitting...
https://goo.gl/maps/eZChnNwyyFgn21KJ6

A better view:
https://goo.gl/maps/q9yhG98Jxriqjq7R8

An there's more from the same vicinity...

A bunch of CN locomotives in the CN yard including a GT No. 4620

https://goo.gl/maps/1w4VNAyCbperHCQp8



Nice shots! It looks like the Google Cam Car ran the signals in that second shot.
 
Yes, great shots of some interesting stuff! CN in Louisiana, Who'd a thought. I am starting to realize we can see CN and CP just about anywhere in the US these days.
 
Yes, great shots of some interesting stuff! CN in Louisiana, Who'd a thought. I am starting to realize we can see CN and CP just about anywhere in the US these days.

Yup and there will be more once KCS comes under Canadian control.

This area is extremely interesting and I barely scratched the surface. New Orleans too is crazy with all the tracks all over the places as well. If I loved down there, I would be out there taking pictures like mad.
 
Yeah, those metro trains are pretty fun. It's 15 dollars I think for an all day pass and you can ride on any line anywhere in the whole metro rail range for the whole day as many times as you want. And the metro stations link up with other Amtrak, VRE, and MARC rail train stations. Those trains are fun to ride, even though their just dirty commuter trains, it's still a cool experience and worth the money, and an easy way to get from place to place fast, and their just fun to ride even if you have nowhere to go.
 
Yeah, those metro trains are pretty fun. It's 15 dollars I think for an all day pass and you can ride on any line anywhere in the whole metro rail range for the whole day as many times as you want. And the metro stations link up with other Amtrak, VRE, and MARC rail train stations. Those trains are fun to ride, even though their just dirty commuter trains, it's still a cool experience and worth the money, and an easy way to get from place to place fast, and their just fun to ride even if you have nowhere to go.

We have the same daily-pass ticket as well here that's good on all buses, trolleys, and commuter trains. When I was a frequent commuter, I used to purchase the monthly pass at a big discount, which made a big difference in the commuting cost.

Boston MBTA ("T") commuter train at Swampscott. based on the engine this train is heading outbound. Engines run out of Boston North Station cab-cars run inbound.

https://goo.gl/maps/47GFsan7DcGDkXUF8

Here's an inbound commuter train at the same locale.

https://goo.gl/maps/EEbFPd3eoYgrCh5Y8

We use Horizon passenger cars for the commuter trains.

Here's a cab-car at Chelsea

https://goo.gl/maps/cMW59SQ11HXnvysr8

A commuter train waiting at North Station

https://goo.gl/maps/uPG9gw5uQ1WzRjULA

Various commuter trains waiting.

https://goo.gl/maps/7bHkJuJSEwJXTEhD8

https://goo.gl/maps/W4uPSYPPbFj6dJMu7

Passing the Mystic River drawbridge.

https://goo.gl/maps/zawDp8APDTaB8xNA8

Inside the station. The Downeaster on the left and a commuter train on the right. This is a "cabbage" unit on the Downeaster. The bilevel is a Kawasaki cab-car. There are also newer ones, but I can't remember the make.

https://goo.gl/maps/tshp2weV7QgtUgd4A

https://goo.gl/maps/mFY5Y9R9mv8pCx8SA

Just a cool shot!

https://goo.gl/maps/LNAsyDt7jJPPXkwr9

https://goo.gl/maps/ECvcvrHpYJdWhdW16


A couple of coupled LRV on the Green Line. We still call these trolleys.

https://goo.gl/maps/goghHZJCg4TmrXGAA

An Orange Line subway.

https://goo.gl/maps/sHaxKpcCCMMc4vWB6

You can connect directly to the Orange and Green lines at North Station by going directly downstairs. This wasn't always the case. Up until about 15 years ago, you had to go across the street and then go down under for the Orange Line, or wait out in the cold at street level for the Green Line. There was also an elevated Green Line segment that came down around with a stop above at North Station if you came in from Lechmere Square. This line came down a ramp and into a tunnel and the lines joined at Haymarket Square.
 
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Continued...

Some parked Green Line LRVs at Lechmere. There's a loop here to return on the opposite track. This line is being extended to Somerville and Medford. At one time it did street running, but that was terminated sometime in the 1950s. I never knew about that except for some traces here and there of tracks in the street. Now they're pushing the line over to the MBTA/PAR tracks and using that to extend the line by crossing Cambridge Street, located behind the camera and then between some old factories and warehouses on what was once some sidings in the industrial area to bring the line on to the ROW.

https://goo.gl/maps/wCibqUd46C16t7dDA

https://goo.gl/maps/ZbwVmR9Xb2t4zRMn9

Red Line Subway at Park Street.

https://goo.gl/maps/FW2j3qPLgeYq9J2g6

Park Street is one of the oldest subway stations and the line connecting is the oldest subway tunnel in the US, 2nd from London. The Green Line trolley line connecting from Boylston Street station, located just down the block on the corner of Boylston and Tremont, has the tightest curve of any system in use today and in a tunnel. When the "T" orders new equipment, they have to be specific about the bogie radius, otherwise, the trolleys get stuck and derail. This occurred with the "new" Breda LRVs that came in about 20 years ago, and also happened recently with some new equipment. Someone messed up yet again and a trolley derailed on the curve and got stuck in the tunnel. Ooops!

Park Street is also a junction with all the trolley lines coming together. There's the Lechmere/North Station line coming in and that continues on down Boylston Street with branches for other places located farther out. In Park Street, there's also the Beacon Street line with on-surface crossing over between. You can take a trolley between Lechmere and Beacon Street as well as take one going the other way. This is the busiest stations on the system.

Green Line at Park Street.
https://goo.gl/maps/LETgBnGSNBA37bNd8

The Red Line is one of the newer lines, dating back to 1910 or so. That line was known as the Cambridge Subway because it terminated there. Today, that end is extended to Alewife where it terminates at the Alewife Brook Parkway. This line runs under then on the former ROW of the Fitchburg Railroad. The commuter, and some freight, still run above the subway and then passed the terminus at that end. When this station was put in, it broke the Lexington Branch and a large double-wye was removed that was once protected by a big array of semaphore signals. I remember seeing that before they were removed.

The Red line continues on through stops at Washington Street (Downtown Crossing), South Station, and then on to Dorchester and further on the Quincy and Braintree. These latter two stops were added in the 1970s when the line was extended and it runs on the former New Haven Old Colony Line ROW to these locations.

The Longfellow Bridge.

https://goo.gl/maps/AjceEweW4v6nLXme8

https://goo.gl/maps/LmwDFCo15vx3rMA67

https://goo.gl/maps/vkpX2D7DF88G6t9c6 - Boston side near Mass. General Hospital.

The Redline comes out of the subway at Kendall Sq. Cambridge and crosses the Charles River to Boston over the Longfellow Bridge. This bridge has been substantially rebuilt, but preserved (yay!) since these shots were taken.

At Ashmont, the Redline connects with an actual trolley extension using PCC trolleys that have been restored. They run from Ashmont to Mattapan Square.

https://goo.gl/maps/wWz24cxoscBbq2kL7

https://goo.gl/maps/9****pA8rGkJD99D7

This standalone trolley line was created back in 1915 or so when the NH gave up the line to Mattapan and sold it to either the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or Boston Elevated and the line was built.

continued...
 
And there's more...

The Orange Line terminates on the south at Forest Hills.

Alongside the new ROW is the Amtrak Northeast Corridor.

Amtrak 640 running by the commuter platforms.

https://goo.gl/maps/9****pA8rGkJD99D7

This change was a 1970s to 1990s project which involved two parts. The Orange Line once ran on an elevated structure, aka the Main Line. This ran from Everett Square in the north, passed North Station, entered a tunnel by going down a ramp beside the Green Line, and then through Boston downtown with connections to the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, stops in China Town, Dudley Square, places in Dorchester and onward to Forest Hills. In the 1970s, there was a push to take down the elevated and move the Orange Line trains to the B&M on the north and Penn Central/Conrail ROW on the south. The north segment commenced in the early 1970s and the latter half came down in the 1990s on the southern end. I have some pics and a story around this elevated line which I'll post up here someday. I need to go through my pics.

This change, however, changed the landscape and the commuting for many residents and some question the reasons behind this. Part of this was a push to kill all outside trains from entering the city by the then idiot director of the "T". He later got charged with embezzlement and payoffs to contractors and the project went idle. Today, there are unfinished stations still today in Malden and Oak Grove, Medford. Moving the trains from The areas once served, impacted these neighborhoods in a big way and instead of getting promised Light Rail service, they got stinky busses instead.

Now to complicate matters, on the Forest Hills end, there was also a Green Line trolley line that ran down the Arborway. This was known as the Arborway Line and it ran from Heath Street at todays terminus of the Heath Street branch down the Arborway and Centre Street where it ended at Forest Hills. In the 1980s, service was stopped "temporarily" due to a cost cutting move. That temporary stop terminated the service completely, and when asked to restore it, the T ripped up the tracks instead. They also ripped up the Watertown branch at the same time.

Forest Hills station platforms with two trains.

https://goo.gl/maps/kwnFq2Mjx6quNy1n6

The Blue Line.

https://goo.gl/maps/KwDSCAvD3Ap5wGMP8

https://goo.gl/maps/BMUTYsbEyHAhDEFHA

The Blue Line is the newest of the subway lines and opened up in 1954. This line is unique for two reasons. It runs underground on third-rail for part of the way then switches to overhead catenary for the remaining portion of its trip to the terminus at Wonderland. The catenary is used due to the close proximity to the shoreline and the salt water. The line was built on a portion of the former "Narrow Gauge" line. The Boston and Revere Beach, 3ft 6in. line that ran from East Boston to Lynn.

South Station operations...

South Station was once the terminus of the NYC (Boston and Albany) and the New Haven passenger lines. Today, the station is shared with the MBTA and Amtrak. At the present time, there is no connection between North Station and South Station so the only way to get between the two terminus is to use public transportation such as the Green Line and Red Line by switching at Park Street. When the Big Dig was put in, provisions were made for the tunnel, but no tunnel was dug to connect the two stations. There has been discussions about doing that for years, but you know how that goes.

https://goo.gl/maps/WBy9MSmPdq2KkbfL6

https://goo.gl/maps/72ZyqpkAPvzWcAYB8

https://goo.gl/maps/spQiREfqBry46X889

Hope you like the pics.
 
Nice find!

I was watching a live storm-chase with Daniel Shaw (Patreon subscription only) and I saw on his tracker that he was in Vernon. The first thing I do is check the surroundings for cool stuff and of course I found the railroad tracks and had to take a look. On the overhead view, there are two locomotives. One appears to be a SW1500 or an MP15 switcher as well as the GP38 we saw in the street view. On the ground, however, the view was different.
 
Yeah, I saw those switchers from the map view too. The overhead map view hasn't been updated on Google Maps in a while, so the street view is always different, usually.
 
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