Kriegsloks Rail Adventures

[KriegslokBR52]

Next morning my buddy was hee-hawing around and i'm a morning person. After a quick waffle and coffee at the hotel, back to Saint Albans railroad station i went:

What i believe is the "Vermonter" getting ready for a trip to NYC. Amtrak standard passenger coaches are still Amfleet, and thankfully the railroad has fair number of them still available. The recent corrosion issues on newer Horizon coaches prove once again that back in the day stuff was just built better. Amfleet bodies are welded inside out and made completely from stainless steel, almost indestructible, and were based on original order of Metroliner cars built back in 1960s. Although travel inside them is kind of like a narrow body jetliner, they still look modern and rather exotic to me;

On the north side of the roundhouse was a pair of Canadian looking RDCs:

Former VIA, ex CP?
I'm not only about trains, so after a quick station tour, i decided to see some of the city, City Hall:

Went back to the station and they were about to pull the "Vermonter" to station platform for passenger loading:

The spot where i'm standing was occupied by a very unique brick train shed during steam era. Too bad it was raised and only the main station building remains:

Taking advantage of some more time, i went near the roundhouse again for more photography:

C40-8W was the hottest thing on the rails when it came out in early 1990s. This freshly repainted unit was one of three at the engine house facility that day:

 

[Rico]

I had to study that fifth picture to see if you’d snuck a model in there!
Jeff’s restaurant just looks so much like a Faller or similar kit. Maybe it’s the colors or the signs that look like they’ve been cut out and glued on.
I could have sworn the buildings across the street were Walthers kits! Lol

 

[KriegslokBR52]

I had to study that fifth picture to see if you’d snuck a model in there!
Jeff’s restaurant just looks so much like a Faller or similar kit. Maybe it’s the colors or the signs that look like they’ve been cut out and glued on.
I could have sworn the buildings across the street were Walthers kits! Lol

This is why i like small cities like this, they didn't tear down the original buildings and the city retains its own unique character.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

A few more shots from St. Albans roundhouse before i've headed back to hotel:

The wooden sign seen on the corner of that building drew my attention:

Since the weather was still not cooperating, we made decision to cross Lake Champlain through few islands and end up in the upper right corner of New York state. Traveling west through the state my buddy mentioned never being in Chicago...well, we're on a road trip after all and anything goes On the way on route 2, we were spotting some really cool old school stuff, like this pick-up:

By late evening we made to Buffalo and got a hotel for the night. Next morning a quick breakfast in Tim Horton (another first for my friend). After breakfast it was his idea to hit Niagara Falls before we headed west;

From Buffalo we just stayed on the interstate, since we had a few hundred miles to cover. Our stop for the night was South Bend, Indiana...why? Keep reading to find out.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Driving out of Buffalo i've giuded my buddy to Hamburg, NY-my idea. In town there is, or was a small functioning tourist railroad. I have no clue if any operation is still taking place, but there is some very interesting equipment standing around. Lackawanna caboose:

Penn Central transfer caboose with rather unprototypically painted mating worms, signs and numbers:

Coupled to the caboose are a pair of former Long Island RR "Ping pong" coaches, which i believe were unique to LIRR. Generally similar to the standard Pennsy P54 coaches, but riding on rather delicate looking trucks, which caused a lot of bouncing reportedly, giving the coaches their nickname:

The main attraction however is the only one in existence; Pennsylvania Railroad I1 decapod, nicknamed "Hippo" by the Pennsy men:

The I1 is my favorite American steam locomotive;

Hiding in the foliage was an old outside ribbed trailer with interesting heritage:

 

[KriegslokBR52]

From Hamburg, we finally headed toward Chicago with stops only for food and fuel. Quick run through Cleveland:

The plan was to find a place to sleep outside Windy City and to take train next day for an all day outing. The most sensible idea turned out to be South Bend , Indiana, where the South Shore commuter line from Chicago ends at the airport. There were several hotels to choose from and a short walk to South Shore line station. After checking in my buddy still wanted to drive to Chicago to see it at night, so off we went:

We got back late to the motel and early next day after breakfast we were on South Shore Line train:

Here we are pulling into Metras La Salle station:

South Shore line sees mostly single deck electric equipment, but the former Illinois Central line uses the new double deck coaches and both types of equipment can be seen mingling together at La Salle;

We are at ground level and much of our time was spent inside or near the so called 'Iron Loop":

One of Mr. "T"s towers can be seen in the back.

Per my friends suggestion we had a meal in UNO, the so called Chicago style pizza. The Windy City lived up to its nickname, thankfully the sunny weather kept it comfortable until the evening. The date for Chicago pictures is May 7 and the cold wind from the lakeside effect was felt even between the high rise buildings.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

It's been a while since i posted here. Today was a quick trip to Philadelphia to send out a package. This cool Toyota Celica was parked on a side street not far from Allegheny Ave:

Since i didn't feel like getting back on the turnpike to go home, i hopped on state route 63 out of North Philly and headed towards Lansdale. Lansdale was strictly a Reading Railroad area and SEPTA as well as freight shortline Pennsylvania Northeastern are currently the operators in the area.

Reading line looking towards Philadelphia:

From Lansdale the railroad lines are radiating in 4 directions. What was Readings Bethlehem branch comes in from Philadelphia under wires and electrification branches off to Doylestown. The line to Bethlehem was never electrified and is being used by the freight operator only. Very rare now (possibly the only one in existence on American rails) C39-8 is parked in the freight yard:

The locomotive is up for sale and not used at this time. This catenary structure is spanning over Bethlehem branch tracks;

Over in the small SEPTA yard there was a surprise waiting:

This was the first time i saw the Sprinter parked here with coaches and all three kinds of current SEPTA commuter equipment is shown. On the last shot the track with inclined catenary is the Doylestown branch looking north towards its namesake town.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Family portrait:

Some existing industrial buildings in the station area:

Doylestown branch looking towards Doylestown and method of joining inclined catenary wires with vertical wires on a switch:

Both Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading used inclined catenary on curves. Later New Haven electrification from Stamford to New Haven also had inclined catenary system on curves, although much different in style than former two. Other railroads which used inclined catenary were Virginian, Norfolk and Western and out west Great Northern. Last three are no longer electrified and New Haven catenary is pretty much gone, replaced with European style self tensioning system. So only on former Pennsylvania Railroad and Reading lines we can still see that graceful style of hanging catenary on curves. Over in Europe, France has extensive system where inclined catenary is to be seen and i believe some lines in Bulgaria have similar style catenary.

 

[RhB Michael]

Thanks for all the interesting photos!

That Amtrak locomotive looks so much like a Br.187. The resemblance is uncanny.

 

[Rico]

That’s a lot of cool history plus great modelling ideas, thanx!

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Thanks for all the interesting photos!

That Amtrak locomotive looks so much like a Br.187. The resemblance is uncanny.

I definitely like the BR187 better, the overall shape is more flowing. The SEPTA (not Amtrak) ACS64 is in fact modified Sprinter design, Amtrak engines are basically identical.

 

[DeaconKC]

My wife had a Blue Celica like that when we got married. That thing had the slickest shifting 5 speed you can imagine.

 

[Colorado Midland Modeler]

I was just reading a little bit about the Siemens ACS-64, and from what Wikipedia says, its basically a hybrid of the company's EuroSprinter and Vectron series, beefed up for American standards.

 

[RhB Michael]

Yes, Siemens, Stadler, and Bombardier all build derivatives of German locomotives for the US.

The biggest visual difference is always the front end and usually the missing cab on the rear end. "Look ma! no buffers!" either. And of course the knuckle coupler.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

Yepper, here is a "Traxx" derivative without one cab:

Shot in Dover, New Jersey during fall season this year.

 

[RhB Michael]

That looks a lot like a Br.101, but I forget who makes that.

 

[KriegslokBR52]

That looks a lot like a Br.101, but I forget who makes that.

Bombardier, but in actuality components built in several factories across Europe, assembled in Kassel, Germany.