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.

Photo of the Week: 9/23/2011

Today's photo comes from the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. I haven't posted a photo from there in a while, so I thought I'd do it again. I took this photo two years ago, when the museum inaugurated locomotive 100 after a complete restoration. They ran a short parade in honor of the locomotive, and anyone who wanted to photograph the parade could get on the last car which would drop them off here at this field. I chose to do this, and took photos of all the cars as they went by. This is Wheeling, WV car 639, which at the time had been a month out of the shop after a 35 year restoration period. Here is the photo:

The pumpkins are there for the Pumpkin Patch event, which was scheduled for the next day. I did not go that year, but I have gone in the past. You get on board your trolley, which drops you off at this field, which is filled with pumpkins and paints and other decorating supplies. You get to pick out a pumpkin, decorate it, and then you get a baggage claim for it. The pumpkins are loaded onto a post office trolley that the museum has, and brought back to the visitor's center. You can keep going to the end of the line, or go back to the museum and look around at the visitor's center or at the collection, or whatever else you want to do. When you are ready to go home, you turn in your baggage claim, and your pumpkin is found and brought to you to take home with you. It is a lot of fun, especially for kids, and gives the museum an excuse to use their mail car.

Pumpkin Patch is always the last weekend of September and the first weekend of October. This year, Pumpkin Patch starts is on Saturday, September 24; Sunday, September 25; Saturday, October 1; and Sunday, October 2. If you are looking for something to do this weekend or next weekend, I recommend this event. Visit www.trolleymuseum.org for more info and driving directions. I am planning on going on September 24, so if you recognize me from the photo of me on all my articles, don't be afraid to say hi!

Photo of the Week: 6/10/2011

It's Friday again, and this week we are once again visiting the Seashore Trolley Museum in Maine. Last summer I brought my friend Kierra there for her birthday. I had signed her up for the Be-A-Motorman (BAM) program, where an instructor teaches her the basics of operating the streetcars and takes her out on the main line with her at the controls. I rode along with my camera as she brought us to Talbott Park at the end of the main line.

We got there at about 1:00. Kierra's instructor, Rob, brought us aboard Dallas, TX car 434 and showed Kierra the controls and explained what each one does and how to use them. When it was time for the next run, Kierra pulled the car ahead in the loop so the car for the public, Connecticut open car 303, could pull up to the platform and let the passengers board. The dispatcher gave us clearance to Talbott Park, and we were off. The ride was a little rough, but that is to be expected with a first time operator. 434 is a very gentle car to operate, so it was a much smoother ride than my first time at the controls of a trolley!

At Talbott Park, Rob asked me if I wanted to run the car back to the Visitor's Center. I of course agreed, and when 303 appeared at Talbott Park I brought the car back down the hill. It was nice being at the controls again. Back at the Visitor's Center, I showed Kierra around the museum and told her about the different trolleys on display there. Afterwards, Rob asked us if we wanted to go out again. Of course we said yes, and Kierra once again brought 434 up the hill and I brought it back down.

I am a member there, so being at the controls was not a new experience for me, but it was still fun to do it again. I had served as conductor on several BAMs before, but I had never bought one for someone. It was all new for Kierra, however, as she had never even been on a rail vehicle before. Not many people can say the first time they rode a train was when they were at the controls! She had a great time there, and I think it was well worth the money and the drive. If you're looking for something to do for the special railfan in your life, I would highly recommend a Be-A-Motorman program or something similar at your local museum or tourist line.

Photo of the Week: 5/14/2011

Today is Saturday, and time for another Photo of the Week. I usually do this post on Friday, but due to some technical difficulties, it is coming a day late. I apologize for the delay, but here it is.

It's been a while since I posted something from the Seashore Trolley Museum. The museum just opened for the season this month, so I think it's time to spotlight them again. The car in this photo is Manchester & Nashua car 38 waiting for a red signal during a parade celebrating locomotive 100's inaugural run in September 2009:

As I mentioned above, this is car 38 from the Manchester & Nashua Street Railway. It ran out of Manchester, NH with lines to Nashua, Derry, and Goffstown. It was built in 1906 at the Laconia Car Company in Laconia, NH. It was the second car the museum acquired in 1940.

This car has an interesting history. It was built as number 4 in 1906. It has five windows along the side, some of its sisters had six windows. The six window cars had even numbers starting with 10, the five window cars were even numbers below 10. The car and its five window sisters were renumbered to even numbers starting with 30, with the number 4 becoming number 32. In the 1930s, car 38 was involved in a wreck and was scrapped, and for some reason car 32 was renumbered as 38. 38 was retired a few years later in 1940 when the Manchester Street Railway stopped running, and found its way to Maine.

The line between Manchester and Nashua was owned by the Manchester Street Railway but leased by the Manchester & Nashua Street Railway. The Manchester & Nashua owned the cars, known as the "rapids," and had them painted in a green paint scheme. When the Nashua Street Railway closed in 1931, so did the Manchester & Nashua, and the "rapids" were sold to the Manchester Street Railway and put in a different paint scheme. It was during this time period that the 32 became the 38, so the trolley museum has a correct paint scheme and a correct number for the car, but it never wore the green paint scheme as the 38. There is talk of renumbering the car back to 4, its original number, since it is in its original paint scheme.

I think I should clarify, this photo was taken by me at the trolley museum. It is in black and white and it is smaller than photos I usually post, but it is not a vintage photo. This was taken from the field at the Meserve's Crossing station at the museum during a parade. There is a good book I bought at the museum called "Manchester Streetcars" that is full of old photos of Manchester trolleys, including the 38 shown here and the other "rapids." Every photo also has a caption, and it is an excellent book that I would highly recommend to anyone that wants to know more.

Photo of the Week: 1/1/2011

With all the New Years festivities, I completely forgot yesterday was Friday! So I am posting this week's photo on Saturday.

New Years is a time when people look back on the past year and decide if it was good or bad. They make resolutions to help improve their lives in the following year. It is a time for people to fix mistakes and start over on things. To go along with this theme, I have chosen a photo of a historic piece of railroad equipment that recently got a new life.

Here is this week's photo:

Atlantic Shore Line 100 rolled out of the Laconia Car Company shops looking very much like this in 1906. It was shipped to Maine where it and sisters 101 and 102 served the ASL by hauling freight on their southern Maine railroad line. In 1949 the locomotive was sold to the Seashore Trolley Museum, on one of ASL's former railroad lines, where it remained for over 50 years before attention was turned to it again. The museum was awarded a federal grant to restore the locomotive, and with that and many other generous financial donations the museum turned a tired out workhorse into a beautifully preserved piece of history in a mere two and a half years. During the restoration process, the museum also remodeled its visitors center to focus on Maine and New England electric railways, as well as create a new educational program.

The 100 and many other beautifully restored electric trolleys can be seen at the Seashore Trolley Museum in Kennebunkport, Maine. The museum is open daily from Memorial Day through Columbus Day, and weekends in May and October. Admission is fairly low and well worth the price. When the weather gets warmer, it's time to go to Maine and enjoy the trolleys!