A seven-year-old, junkyard-bound Plymouth Valiant was revived to serve as the author’s temporary transportation to spend a weekend photographing trains, seen here as Vermont Railway SW-1500 No. 501 passes through Shaftsbury Depot.
It was getting on toward the end of August, 1971 and I was getting ready to head off to college in Boston in another couple of weeks. One of the rites of passage for a young man leaving his home town, I believed, was to take an epic road trip before putting his homestead in the rear-view mirror. In my case, it would be a trip to photograph railroad activities in Vermont’s largest city, Burlington, a little more than two hours distant from my location in the southern part of the Green Mountain state. The only problem at that point was that my car was up on blocks, awaiting a new transmission. My salvation was temporarily found in the form of a well-worn and rough-running ’63 Plymouth Valiant that I bought for $75.
I thought it would be interesting to look back and see which articles from the past seven years have the most views. Of course, there are any number of factors that affect how many views any individual article receives, not the least of which is how long the story has been online, so it is no surprise that all of these articles are from 2016, 2017 and 2018.
This selection reflects the diverse perspectives on railroading that have been the hallmark of The Trackside Photographer from the beginning.
Here then, are the Top Ten:
#1 Michael Froio – “They All Fall Down” The classic Pennsylvania Railroad Position Light signals are falling fast. This article explores the history of these signals and documents their place in the PRR landscape with two dozen evocative B&W photographs.
#2 Michael Brotzman – “Ghosts of Winslow Junction” One hundred years ago, Winslow Junction was at the center of the busy rail line carrying vacation passengers to the New Jersey shore. This article quite literally gets into the weeds of what’s left of this now abandoned railroad.
#3 John Marvig – “The Kate Shelley Story” “The horrible crash and fierce hissing of steam.” On a stormy night in 1881, the heroic efforts of an Iowa teenager saved the lives of the passengers on Chicago and North Western Railway’s Midnight Express. This is the story of that night and its aftermath.
#4 Bob Hughes – “A Maine Central Education” Bob remembers the friendly and generous men that made the Maine Central’s Waterville Yard a fun and welcoming place in the 1960s. He was in Waterville to attend college, but what he learned about the Maine Central sparked his lifelong love of railroads.
#5 Doug Bess – “Railroad Town: Nitro, West Virginia” One hundred years ago, during the First World War, railroads and gunpowder came together to create explosive growth in a small West Virginia town. Doug tells the story of his hometown from the coming of the railroad in the late 19th century to the present.
#6 Fred Wolfe – “The New River Gorge” Hike along the New River Gorge in West Virginia with photographer Fred Wolfe. The scenery is spectacular, and better yet, a railroad runs through it.
#7 Matthew Malkiewicz – “Inside The East Broad Top” In the hills of south central Pennsylvania, The East Broad Top Railroad slumbered, waiting to be brought back to life. The roundhouse is there, the turntable is there, the locomotives are there, but until the railroad was brought back to life in 2020, the silence is all encompassing.
#8 – Gordon Glattenberg – “Construction of Southern Pacific’s Colton-Palmdale Cutoff.” In 1966, Southern Pacific planned a new mainline across California’s San Gabriel mountains to bypass the growing congestion around Los Angeles. Gordon was on hand to witness and record the construction.
#10 – Bob Hughes, Al Cook, Denis Hurst – “The Pine Tree Route“ Words, music and photographs come together in a moving tribute to the Maine Central and the railroaders who made the Pine Tree Route what it was.
Back in 1970 we still had the sixteen hour law and many freight jobs out of New Haven, Connecticut would work 15:59 so they did not outlaw. If you worked 16 hours you had to have 10 hours rest. But any other amount of time meant you only had to have 8 hours off. Any job that went into New York had to have a fireman on it as they still had a full crew law; this was the way it was until about the 80’s. One of the jobs that went to NY was NH-1 that turned for HN-2. It was called the Drop as it made many stops along the way. The engineer on the job at that time was Joe De Cuffa, who was another great guy to work with and knew his job well. He enjoyed having firemen to teach and was the first engineer that started teaching me how to run a freight train. Before 1974, to become an engineer you were a firemen for a while, as a rule, about three to four years. During that time you worked with many men and most would have you sit in the seat and show you how they ran their train. At the end of your years of doing it that way you took exams on rules, air brake and mechanical aspects of the engines, and then qualified on the characteristics of the road. That last part was where you sat with the rules examiner and he would say take me from a point some place on the section of track you were doing to another part until he was satisfied you knew where you were. This meant each signal, switch, station, interlocking, speeds and any other special instruction you would have to know.
ICG Paducah rebuild 8289 leads a Memphis, Tennessee to McComb, Mississippi freight in February, 1976 as it splits the US&S block signals installed in the mid-1930s.
Every Rail Enthusiast has their favorite place. Most of the time, their favorite place is called “My Place” because there’s a sense of ownership through the unique nature of the location, an emotional tie or, perhaps, just a quiet location where they feel comfortable and enjoy just being there. To qualify for “My Place” status, the location must look great without a train. For me, there are two places that fell into that category.
I don’t usually indulge in New Year’s resolutions. Too many disappointments over the years I guess, and I still don’t understand trigonometry and haven’t written that book in spite of well intentioned January wish lists. But I am going to make a couple of modest resolutions for 2023. I plan to travel more while I still can and spend more time on my own photography.
For those reasons, among others, I will be retiring as the editor of The Trackside Photographer. Submissions will be accepted through January 19th and we will continue to publish until all of the articles in the pipeline are online. After that, there will be no new content published although The Trackside Photographer will remain available online indefinitely. The final article will most likely appear sometime in March to complete seven years of publication.
This has been a difficult decision for me; one that I have thought about for over a year and I feel the time is now right. I am so grateful for the support and encouragement of all our readers and contributors over the years. The Trackside Photographer has been enjoyable and rewarding to produce, and I have made many friends in the railfan community.
Thanks and all the best in 2023.Onward and upward!
I lived in Mystic, Connecticut for the summer and fall of 1972. I had the use of a good camera and was a short walk to the former New Haven ‘Shoreline’ and so I often watched the trains, mostly Penn Central passenger trains. As a child, my family rode the New Haven occasionally and I remember riding along and seeing the ocean much of the way. In 1972 my interest in railroading was mild at best, but I couldn’t help but look up when I heard the rumble or horn. A friend and I had recovered and restored an old rowboat, which we kept tied up at a marina on the Mystic River across the street from where I was living. This provided me with alternative transportation, and so this little story. The marina was in the area between the Route 1 highway bridge and the downstream railroad bridge, and I often rowed that stretch of the river when I wasn’t working painting houses.
Before — 1968-1972
Having worked on a sport fishing boat in Niantic, Connecticut in the early 1960’s and having to help guide the boat through the narrow channel between the Route 1 bridge and the New Haven’s lift bridge, I was acquainted with the routine of notifying the bridge tender when wishing to pass through the channel. It was the same routine in Mystic; once or twice we took the boat over there and had to pass through the bridge. I got a kick out of blowing the klaxon and seeing the bridge open. Back in the ‘60’s, the New Haven trains were shiny and flashy but by the time I was back there they were dirty and looked worn out. Penn Central didn’t really care about passenger trains and they did their best not to dissuade anyone of that attitude.
Westbound train pulled by PC 4267, looking like a seagull roosting spot, just after passing through the Mystic River bridge on its way to New York City. 1972
One day I rowed down to the railroad bridge, tied off the boat, and climbed up to have a closer look at the bridge. The bridge tender invited me in and so started a ritual of rowing out and visiting that summer. I think I recall his name as Bob but do not remember his last name. I pretty much stayed out of his way, but he showed me how everything worked. He wouldn’t open the bridge for boat traffic if a train was due within a certain period of time, and sometimes the boat traffic piled up.
Bridge tender at his post on the Mystic River bridge. 1972
The bridge was a double track center bearing through truss swing bridge dating from 1919. It had an interlocking plant that protected the trains when the bridge was not fully closed and locked in place. Rails on the bridge locked into place when the bridge was closed, ensuring safe and smooth ride across the joints. There were derail switches on each track on both sides of the bridge. These would prevent a train from going onto the bridge if it wasn’t fully closed and locked in place or over the bridge abutment and into the river if the bridge was open.
It was an enjoyable summer there and I took a few photos to remember it by. I wasn’t interested in a railroad career back then and don’t remember much detail about the bridge operation. Penn Central was a depressing operation and I moved on. What I never imagined were the changes that were coming to the railroad and to the Mystic River bridge and that I would spend almost forty-five years (so far) working in the railroad industry.
Westbound Penn Central passenger train passing a work train on the eastward track, just west of the Mystic River bridge. Note exhaust from the derrick behind the locomotive and first car. 1972
Mystic River bridge in the open position, looking west. Bridge tender’s cabin to the left of the jointed mainline track. 1972
So, in doing some research for this story, I came across a series of photos in the Library of Congress taken by W.H. Moore in 1968, just before the Penn Central took over the New Haven, for the Historic American Engineering Record that show the bridge in great detail. They are too good to pass up and since they are in the public domain, here are a few of them.
All of these and a few more that I didn’t include here are covered by the following citation:
Historic American Engineering Record, C., Moore, W. H., New York, N. H., American Bridge Company, Searles, Union Switch & Signal Company & National Railroad Passenger Corporation. (1968) New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad, Mystic River Bridge, Spanning Mystic River between Groton & Stonington, Groton, New London County, CT. Connecticut Groton New London County, 1968. Documentation Compiled After. [Photograph] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/. If you’re interested in railroad bridges, the Library of Congress has over 1,000 images, most of which are available online.
Mystic River Bridge in Closed Position. 1968
Mystic River Bridge in Open Position. 1968
Center Pivot Under Bridge. 1968
Detail of Rack and Track Mechanism. 1968
End Pier Locking Wedge and Wedge Lock That Holds Bridge in Closed Position. A Similar Mechanism is Located on Center Pier. 1968
Bridge Tender’s Cabin Viewed from Open Bridge. 1968
Miter Rails with Rail Alignment Guides on Movable Span in Unlocked Position. 1968
Electro-Mechanical Interlocking Machine and Track Diagram. 1968
Foot Operated Limited Override Switches. 1968
Mystic Depot in 1972.
After — 1991
Traveling back to Mystic many years later, I wanted to see the replacement bridge that Amtrak had installed. Rebuilding the northeast corridor had been front page railroad engineering news for several years and the Mystic River bridge was one of the features. It was finally finished, and I was able to go by and have a look. The difference between 1972 and 1991 was amazing. The bridge was in operation, still a swing span truss, but the bridge tender’s cabin was now on top of the bridge structure. Welded rail, concrete ties, elastic fasteners, deep ballast, and beautifully surfaced double track. Derails were still in use protecting the trains and the bridge. Bob was most likely retired, and I didn’t try to meet the new bridge tender because I couldn’t find the ladder. Train traffic across the bridge was busy during my visit, and I was content to see it in full operation.
New bridge in a partial open position, looking west. Note derails by signals and red stop indications. Sept. 28, 1991.
Westbound train on new bridge. Sept. 28, 1991.
Looking east there is still some jointed track east of the bridge by clear signal at MP 135.8, just past the depot. Note 60 mph speed limit and clear signal. Sept. 28, 1991.
Amtrak’s Mystic Depot, looking even better than it had in years past. Sept. 28, 1991.
Eastward view of bridge partially open, interlocking rails visible on both tracks at end of bridge. Sept. 28, 1991.
Fully open bridge. Tri-colored signal above stop signal. Sept. 28, 1991.
Westbound train through bridge. Note 55 mph speed limit sign for trains crossing bridge. Sept. 28, 1991.
Of course, even these ‘after’ photos are outdated now. Amtrak has electrified the corridor from New Haven to Boston and the entire railroad is lined with catenary support structures and wires. I haven’t been back to examine the electrified bridge, but have ridden across it on a couple of occasions behind now-retired AEM-7’s. The only diesel-electric locomotives you’ll see there now are occasional freights of the Providence & Worcester Railroad and Amtrak work trains. But the new Mystic River Bridge should be around for a good long time.
Peter Conlon – Photographs and text Copyright 2022
