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| PHOTOS: FUN WITH MARC (936109) | |||
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PHOTOS: FUN WITH MARC |
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Posted by Jersey Mike on Sat May 22 14:37:47 2010 Unlike like some people I know who can go to the same grade crossing day after day to photograph the same old stuff and then send out e-mails about them, I tend to burn out on those locations I frequent and so you won't usually catch me posting many pictures from Baltimore Penn Station or 30th St as the novelty wore off years ago.However recently I was in a position to ride the MARC Camden line in order to get to a Nationals vs Phillies game and since the old Geeps may be hitting the used locomotive lot in the not too distant future I thought it a good time to refresh my collection. My trip involved riding MARC from Camden to Dorsey then catching a ride to Greenbent where my friend and I would them park and take the Metro into DC. You can see the entire set of photos at: It's not as large as some of my more recent epics, but you should still check it out. So, diving right in when I got to Camden station I found waiting for me MARC GP39H-2 #75 and GP40WH-2 #61 fulling two of the three tracks there.  All are MK rebuilds that replaced older F units around 1990. The GP-39's used to be GP40s and the GP40WH's were cobbled together from GP-40s and parts left over from old SD45s. There is not a lot of service from Camden station, only about 4-5 trains in each peak period in each direction and trains don't spend much time laying over in Camden station outside of those periods so if you want to catch trains at Camden you have to go around the times they are scheduled to leave/arrive.  My train was going to be hauled by the GP39, which with its V12 engine is only rated for 2300hp instead of the 3000 of a GP40.  Fortunately it has a seperate HEP engine which probably makes the amount of power available for traction comparable to a GP/F40 without one.  After de-training at Dorsey I was able to get a picture of westbound CPL signal at DORSEY interlocking displaying a Clear signals.  Half the fun of the old Geeps is their distinctive sound so I opted for a video of the train departing the station and knocking down the Clear signal. Here is a zoomed view of #75 traveling through the interlocking.  The sun peeked out allowing me a nicer shot of the CPLs alone.  An aggravating trip down I-95 and the Beltway later I arrived at Greenbelt station where I took a quick hop by the MARC platform in time to see GP39H-2 #74 arriving with an eastbound Camden Line train.  Here is #74 from behind posing with a B&O CPL dwarf signal displaying Medium Clear.  Closeup of the CPL dwarf. I love that CPL green, no other signal uses it. Reminds me a little of the Penn Central green.  Of course I took a video of it departing. Here is Can K-Car #7762 passing through the switch back onto the main track. Greenbelt has high level platforms and like the NJT stations on the Lehigh Line steps must be taken to allow wide clearance freight loads to pass. Here pocket tracks were used instead of gauntlet tracks.  Later on an unrelated trip to Fort McHenry I stopped by the CSX Locust Point yard where MARC has a maintenance facility. Most people don't know it is there and the yard is surrounded on all sides by nasty fencing, but I used some mounds of construction debris to get some zoom shots in. Here we see the facility with a variety of geeps within.  Also lurking around as new MP36 #12, which had been recently delivered and was undergoing testing prior to service. I really hate the paint scheme on the new Meeps compared to the red nose GP40WH-2's. It's so understated compared to almost every other MP36 operator.   Coupled to a train and looking a little worse for wear was GP40WH-2 #57.  I know they aren't fixed guideway vehicles, but in Baltimore harbor there are a number of Ro-Ro ships belonging to the Military Sealift Command that can be activated on short notice to transport DoD asserts world wide. On the far right is the SS John W. Brown, one of only two surviving WW2 Liberty Ships. It serves as some sort of floating museum and occasionally makes ocean going cruises.  Well that's it for this installment. Tune in next time where I go back to my standard fare with an in depth tour of several interlockings in the Pittsburgh area. |
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