Photo of the Week: Electric Railroading

Well, it would seem that Steven has been quite busy since he returned from vacation, and we did not get any photo submissions this week, so I thought I would share a few of my own.  Just a reminder, if you would like to see your photos featured as a photo of the week, please email them to ogden.bros.trains@gmail.com, and be sure to include a brief description.  We would love to see and share your photos of railroad related subjects!  We will notify you by email if your photo is chosen.

Today, I thought I would share a few photos I have taken of electric trains and transit over the last few years.  These are by no means all of them, just a few of the highlights.  We start with the Seashore Trolley Museum, in Kennebunkport, Maine.  Steven and I volunteered there for a few years, in the summers, and during that time we got to see, photograph, and operate quite a variety of historic and unique equipment.

This first photo is at Talbott Park, the end of the museum's short line.  This is car #1267, which originated in Minneapolis, Minnesota.  This one of the only cars preserved from that area, and incidentally, it was the first car ever operated at a transit museum, and the first car to operate at Seashore.  It began its retirement life at the museum in the 1950's, when a simple generator was connected to the trolley pole with jumper cables, and it moved only a matter of feet.  The line at that time was significantly shorter than it is now.  Today the car operates pretty regularly, carrying people on the three mile round trip to Talbott Park.

This is locomotive #300, on one of the car barn leads, at the Seashore Trolley Museum.  As I recall, it sat on that lead for quite some time.  Unfortunately, a lot of equipment at the museum spends a considerable amount of time sitting around.  I cannot recall the history of this locomotive, and unfortunately I am not able to find information on the museum website.  A lot of equipment at the museum had been renumbered at some point during its life, so it is possible that this has been returned to an original number, and I cannot remember what that was, or if there even was one.  If anyone knows anything about this locomotive, email us, and I'll post it on here.  This is an electric locomotive, as evidenced by the trolley pole sticking out from the roof.

Those of you who keep up with us on Facebook ought to recognize this picture, as we use it as the photo for our Facebook page.  Car #434 originated in Chicago, on the Chicago, Aurora, & Elgin, an interurban railroad that connected downtown Chicago with some of the western suburbs.  The "Roarin' Elgin," as the railroad was sometimes called, was made famous by their closure.  When railroads discontinue service, typically it goes into effect at midnight on the designated day.  The CA&E did things a little differently.  On July 3, 1957, they carried commuters into Chicago, and then discontinued service at noon, with no warning. Commuters who had used the CA&E to get to the city found themselves stranded when they got out of work in the afternoon.  The CA&E used a third rail for electric power, but the car uses an overhead wire at the museum, for safety reasons.  The car in the background of the above photo is car #1267, from Minneapolis., as it idles in the loop behind the museum visitors' center.

Now, we look at some more modern transit.  This photo was taken in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah.  A TRAX train, destined for the Delta Center, now known as the EnergySolutions Arena, makes a left turn right near the landmark Latter-day Saint Temple.  The train reached its destination just a few minutes later, where it turned around and returned to Sandy, about 15 miles to the south.  Since this photo was taken, the Utah Transit Authority has added two new lines to the light rail system, purchased new Light Rail Vehicles, announced and started construction on two more lines, built a downtown transit hub, and launched commuter rail operations.  In the downtown area, three new stops have been added to TRAX, connecting the system to the transit hub at Central Station.  In addition, the FrontRunner commuter trains, Amtrak's California Zephyr, numerous bus routes, and various Greyhound and similar coach lines all arrive at Central Station.  This photo was taken five years ago.  The Utah Transit Authority has been expanding service by leaps and bounds in the last several years, and has plans to continue doing so.

In another city, half a continent away, I managed to snap a couple of pictures of the Chicago El, in the Loop area of downtown Chicago.  Most of the transit lines in downtown Chicago are elevated, as seen in this picture.  They run directly above streets, and in some cases the columns supporting the bridge are right in the middle of the street.  As I took this picture about six years ago, I cannot remember which line the train was operating on, or where it was going.  I do remember that I took the picture looking south, from the corner of Adams and Wells streets.

Continuing east, we find the Long Island Railroad, which operates both diesel and electric trains.  The line into Manhattan was electrified a century ago, when it was built, to keep steam engines out of the tunnels.  Over the past century, the electrification has expanded, but to this day the railroad is still not completely electrified.  It is unlikely that it ever will be, especially on lightly used lines.  The train in the picture above had its days numbered.  In 2008, when the picture was taken, the LIRR was nearing the end of replacing the entire fleet of electric trains.  This train was one of the few older ones left.  In the picture, the train was just starting to pull out of the Mineola station, headed east.  The Pennsylvania Railroad style signals govern most of the railroad, since the LIRR operated as a subsidy of the Pennsylvania for many years.  The signal visible in the photo indicate a clear block ahead.