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| PHOTOS: DON'T CALL ME SHIRLEY (1647248) | |||
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PHOTOS: DON'T CALL ME SHIRLEY |
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Posted by Jersey Mike on Sat Mar 14 00:32:30 2026 The last time I went to Lowell, MA was during the height of COVID and I only had enough time to walk the length of BY interlocking where the MBTA Lowell line briefly merges with the old Guilford Rail System Freight Main Line. With all of the re-signaling that is currently taking place along that route, I returned with a friend for a day of craft beer appreciation and searchlight signal photos. This post will detail the more interesting parts of the trip along with my return to the Mid-Atlantic via Acela express. On weekends service to Lowell is pretty awful with trains running on a 1-2 hour headway. Today was no different and the only thing I was able to catch at Lowell's transportation was an empty high-low island platform. Lowell has an interesting layout as the two tracks on the left are used for MBTA service to Boston, while the three on the right are part of the former Guilford Rail System "Freight Main Line" that at one point stretched 714 miles from central Maine to Sunbury, PA.  A few years ago what remained of the Guilford was purchased by CSX which has wasted no time assimilating the line with new chaining, signals and, in this case, bridge art.  Due to the presence of hydro power, Lowell had become an early industrial hub, mostly specializing in textile production. The advent of electricity and modern logistics allowed this industry to move to more suitable locations turning Lowell into the stereotypical "gritty old mill town". In 1978 Federal money was obtained to create the Lowell National Historic Park as an urban renewal. One component of this was a heritage streetcar operation coined the "National Streetcar Museum", which I was able to visit and ride back in 2006. On this march day 20 years later the vintage streetcars weren't running, so I made do with a photo of Boston and Main 0-6-0 switcher #410, which is displayed on the streetcar platform.  Since 2006 Lowell has undergone an impressive recovery as the cost of housing in the core Boston area has exploded. Helped by the presence of UMass Lowell and MBTA service, the city is full of new development with many of the old mill buildings converted into artist lofts or new housing. This vintage service station sign was located across the street from the National Streetcar Museum.  Heading out of town my host suggested seeing the old B&M station at North Chelmsford. The trackside structure is being relocated for preservation with the wooden building already gone and the foundation marked up for disassembly. This project is likely one of CSX's "good will" gestures after taking control of neglected Guilford assets.  The MBTA Fitchburg Line station Shirley might look like something out of the 19th century, but it was actually constructed in 1993 after the station itself was reactivated in 1981 after over a decade of Fitchburg Line extensions and retrenchments. Although the minimal infrastructure gives the station a vibe similar to some of MARC's least used stations, Shirley currently serves a respectable 100+ passengers a day.   Because I had been out all day getting photos of 1940's and 50's vintage railroad signaling I hadn't really noticed that it was almost sunset when I had encountered an actual train movement in the form of a Norfolk Southern run-through freight with a former Guilford C40-8 leading a trio of NS units including SC70ACC #1807, AC44C6M #4857 and C44-9W #9928. In the 2010's NS had invested in a joint venture with the Guilford to run freight from Harrisburg to Ayer in conjunction with NS's of the former Delaware and Hudson route between Sunbury and Schenectady.     Much of the traffic consists of autoracks heading to the Boston area vehicle terminal near Ayer. A condition of CSX's purchase of Guilford was NS gaining trackage rights on the former Conrail Selkirk Branch and Boston Line, so these "Guilford-Southern" trains are likely to seen significant drops in traffic and frequency.  After a quick dinner, I showed up at the Ayer MBTA station where the freight from earlier was shoving the manifest cars into the yard behind the Ayer MBTA station. One of the box cars happened to be a survivor from the old Chicago Northwestern.   I got a second chance to photograph the same freight engines from earlier. The lead unit, #7541, was an old CSX standard cab C40-8 that Guilford management had purchased on the cheap in the mid-2010's only for CSX to get them back after the purchase of Guilford assets.      With light fading I changed my focus to static objects like AY tower and a westbound MBTA train from Boston with F40PH-3 #1025.   Getting back to Boston after dark I managed to snag another quick video of a northbound MBTA Old Colony train taking an Approach signal indication at VIC interlocking. My return trip south was courtesy of a Sunday afternoon Acela riving me enough time for breakfast and a round trip on the MBTA Blue Line. Here is MBTA 01731 at Shawmut and new CRRC car #01406 at Downtown Xing.   I can never remember if the Blue Line dumps riders outside of fare control at Wonderland so instead of risking an unnecessary fare, I got off at Revere Beach instead. Here are some photos of Blue Line stock including 0724, 0774, 0786 and 0781.     Next stop was Orient Heights where the yard is located. Here I caught #0079, #0758 and #0709.    Up through the 2010's one had to what proverbially curtains to look behind in order to find the vintage "Scollay Under" signs from before the station was renamed from Scollay Square to Gov't Cntr. Today there are not one but three Scollay Under mosaic signs in public view.  Due to the lack of a direct Blue to Red line connection, I had to due the Green Line shuffle between Gov't Cntr and Park St. Here we see Type 7 LRV #3673 at the former and Type 8 #3813 at the later.   Both the Red Line and South Station had been commandeered for an ad campaign by the defense contractor Anduril.    I was pleased to discover that my southbound Acela would be handled by what was arguably the premier trainset with power cars #2000 and #2002. I was later informed that this set had recently been considered out of service, but was somehow patched up and put back to work despite some battle damage.   On the adjacent track #5 was MBTA HSP-46 #2034.  For a nearly complete NEC trip I used a coupon to upgrade into Acela first class. To avoid those damn vegan meatballs I started off with a shrimp and noodle salad.  Heading back I managed to get this cool shot of the main arch span of the Hell Gate Bridge.  At Penn Station my premier Acela set was on Penn Station's Premier tk11/12 platform, which is both the longest and benefits from a straight shot into the tunnels. Back in the day this platform would have been used by the PRR's longest and most important trains. On my trip we had pulled in next to a standard Regional with ACS-86 #623.   Upon departure from Penn I used the fading light to capture NJT Veterans unit #4502 and PATH car #5798 at Harrison.   Well its been quite the weekend in New Englande. Next time I'll be back for the re-re-re-opening of PATCO's Franklin Square Station. |
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