and he notes - More than likely a power balance between NS and UP, though CSX and BNSF units have also appeared there. The Bow, NH power plant coal trains do run through from the mines with mixed power and while they await empties for the run back, Guilford often uses them on other trains. The UP units did run light northbound as I was leaving.
The coal train is usually a hundred cars and has as many as five pool locos on the point, at least on B&M (now Guilford) trackage, but I've seen it heading south with as little as two units and presumably it will pick up extra power at Ayer or Deerfield for the run to the mines. At one time it was a mix of Conrail and B&M power. Since Conrail's breakup and B&M's disappearance into Guilford, a variety of power rolls through my old home town. The BNSF units in the link below are passing the defunct Johns Manville asbestos plant adjacent to the long gone passenger station. The yard is only a couple of blocks to the right of the photo. http://granitehighways.com/image.php?subject=grs_bow_coal_nhb79_bnsf_5411_route_111_2_20040201 Not a whole lot is left of this once busy rail center. A portion of the Hillsborough Branch still serves a propane gas tank farm and a few industries but it's been cut back to a point near Wilton. The rest of the line is a tourist railroad. With the exception of the branch, most of the city trackage has been removed. The yards in Manchester and Concord have been reduced to a few tracks served by locals from Nashua and the remaining yard space sold to developers. North of Concord, the line to White River Jct., Vt. has been out of service for decades. The State of new Hampshire talked about reopening the line for Boston - Montreal service but little has come of it. I guess they'd have to harvest the trees growing between the rails first! When I was a kid the station was a busy place and a great place to watch trains. There were two Boston commuter trains terminating there. Steam power lasted until 1953 and shiny new GP7s appeared next to the old roundhouse to the east of the station. There were also several trains from Concord to Boston (and return) and four Montreal/Boston trains. Around 8 p.m. a freight carrying automobile frames and parts rolled through town destined for the Ford assembly plant in Somerville, Mass. The evening usually ended with the night train to Montreal and the station closed for the evening. When I had a nickel burning a hole in my pocket, I'd buy an ice cream cone at the depot coffee shop and watch the parade of trains. When "Rosy", the diner operator retired in the sixties, Savarin closed the facility and a few years later the station closed and was torn down. There were several other freights too and the branch local ran from Lowell Mass. to Hillsborough, NH in steam days. The run took all day and the crew stayed overnight, making the return run in the morning. There was a second local dispatched from Lowell on the next day so two trains were on the branch with a meet at Wilton or Bennington. The branch local once originated in Nashua but yard was dieselized during the War with two ALCO S1s and the coal tower, turntable and all but one roundhouse stall and the adjoining sandhouse were dismantled. Thus the locals origination in Lowell where steam facilities lasted into the fifties. When steam was dropped on the branch, one of the ALCOs did the job and switched cars most of the night after returning to the yard There is a photo of a Guilford train coming in from the branch at Main Street in Nashua: http://granitehighways.com/image.php?subject=grs_bow_coal_nhb79_bnsf_5411_route_111_2_20040201 The building behind the loco was a Baptist Church. I had an after school position there as a janitor. I'm not a Baptist but a friend of my father played the organ there and got me the job. He wasn't a Baptist either and played the organ at the Temple on Fridays. I think he was a Congregationalist! Here's another shot of the branch train meeting a local switcher. The building in the background is the old Concord RR freight house built in 1860. The line continues along the Nashua River crossing it on an ancient trestle about a half mile to the right: http://granitehighways.com/image.php?subject=grs_na-2_nashua_river_20040201&zoom=yes The rails continue along the river and passes near my childhood home and in this photo it's about to cross the street corner next to our house: http://granitehighways.com/image.php?subject=grs_na2_349_temple_nashua_1_20040201&zoom=yes The warehouse behind the train has been there since I was born close to seventy years ago. It's really a complex of three buildings and had at one time, sidings for loading and unloading cars. The train is crossing the junction of Temple and Amory Streets. Our house was across from the warehouse on Amory. Next to that (to the right) was a diner and the engine house, station etc. The train is about a quarter mile from the yard where it terminates. Directly behind the camera was the B&M freight house and team track with an old manually operated crane. (Lehigh Models had one in their catalog and I think I've got one somewhere). The freight house, engine house and nearby land is now a builder supply business and receives lumber and other heavy items by rail. When the builder supply company took over the property, they tore up the team track yard and scrapped the crane. Beneath the many layers of asphalt in the yard was a layer of cobblestones laid in the 1800s. The owner told me once that they made a small fortune selling them. All of the railroad buildings were replaced except the remaining one stall brick engine house. The diner is gone but in steam days the northbound branch local arrived about noon six days a week and the crew ate lunch there. I remember sitting on the pilot while the crew ate and once in a while I was boosted up in the cab for a short trip (about a hundred yards!). I did ride the branch in the cab of an S1 many years later. It left at 6 a.m. and didn't get back until 9 at night. We had lunch in the "Crummie" and stopped for a bite around five. Lo-o-ong day! I guess growing up next to the railroad terminal made me a railfan for life. I've chased trains with one camera or another since 1952 and didn't get into model trains until the sixties, although I was given an AF Atlantic freight by an older brother set in the forties. I still have the Atlantic, albeit a little the worse for wear, but my brother's gone and much of what I remember is gone too. But I have photographs, memories and of course... an Atlantic!.. Raleigh in Maine At 10:01 AM 8/11/2005, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > >In a message dated 8/11/2005 9:37:47 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, >[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > >_http://fishburn.us/nashua1.jpg_ (http://fishburn.us/nashua1.jpg) >Probably "run-thru power" headed somewhere else. Doubt very much UP can >afford to sell any locomotives, particuarly this new, IF their >power problems >are still as bad as they were two yrs ago. > > > >Jim " helping the most expensive legislature in this country live >extravagantly" Lyle > > > >[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > > > >To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use >REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list >(remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). > >Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or >photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ > >Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > To REPLY to the list, use REPLY ALL; to reply to the sender, use REPLY. For those of you on DIGEST mode, all REPLY messages go to the list (remember to edit the SUBJECT of your message). Change message settings, use our CALENDAR or LINKS, view shared files or photos, view the list archives, GO TO http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/S-Scale/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
