I may have burned half a tank of gas from my grandparents to shoot it, but the Housatonic Railroad is a gem of the Berkshire Hills.
Do you have any videos of the Housatonic in Massachusetts? We used to have a weekend ski house in Great Barrington.
I watched Harrisonâs video (Very enjoyable!) of the Housatonic RR and with that cool old preserved train station and the very scenic country it passes through all I could think of was âWhat a great location for a steam tourist railroad!â
Maybe the Housatonic should get a pet steam engine and some passenger cars for a little extra income?
Donât think any steam engine can be considered a âpetâ. The maintenance required to keep it operational soon makes it a MONSTER when it comes the organizationâs financial bottom line.
Oh for goodnessâ sake, canât you tell when Iâm joking and having a little fun?
I know how expensive running steam can be. Before anyone decides to get a âpetâ steam engine theyâve certainly got to do a âcost-benefitâ analysis. Obviously US Sugar did one before they restored that old ACL Pacific, so did SMS Rail in NJ when they began restoration of that soon-to-be in service 0-6-0.
Câmon man, lighten up!
Much of the Canaan depot was destroyed in an arson fire in 2001. I believe your video shows the rebuilt part.
About 30 or so years ago the Housatonic did run excursion trains south of Canaan but with a diesel locomotive. They used to have a âRailroad Daysâ festival in conjunction with the runnng of the train. There was an excursion from Lenox, MA to Great Barrington that I rode in about 1988 that used old Erie Lackawanna coaches. I donât recall if that was the Housatonic RR or not.
Their ex Conrail RS3M would make for a great pet, but I assume by the video that their own motive power like that and the GP35âs are out of service.
Is the former BAR GP7 (Obviously one of the Santa Fe rebuilds that they bought in the early 1990âs) theirs, or another leased unit?
My impression from bits and pieces Iâve read over the past 20 years is that theyâre struggling compared to the 1990âs when they appeared to be growing and thriving. Is that accurate?
Nope but my buddy Ryan has some.
The BAR GP7u/m has HRRC reporting marks, therefore I think itâs safe to assume they own it.
They certainly are not doing as well as they once were, but they still have a decent business going compared to other shortlines in the area.
RS3âs are fun to run, especially NYC units with manual transitionâŚ
Not 1:1 scale, but still worth a watch.
My dad filmed this one for me⌠Some great catches!
Every railfanâs dream: A special interest locomotive shows up twice, in daylight, when they happen to be railfanning a particular line. In my case, that was CSXT 1776 on the River Line. Follow along as we catch it twice!
At the end of the video you said something like- thatâs a lot of stacks for Mechanicsville. Did you mean they were heading for there, or would be now diverted from there over CSX Boston line?
On 22K/23K, any part of the train that includes double stacks is bound for mechanicville. The single stack sections are bound for Ayer, as a general rule. This 22K was a Mechanicville only train, as all will soon be once the Ayer section is routed via the southern route/B&A.
Do the double stacks get unloaded at the Mechanicville intermodal facility, or do they go on to someplace else, like Montreal on CP ?
All go to Mechanicville. Many are trucked to industries in Plattsburgh, and places around the capital region. Hopefully a CP intermodal service could resume someday, but right now they are hyper-focused on St. John.
In this video, weâre in Plattsburgh practicing some driving for my road test when 929 arrives with an awesome lashup and consist. By the way, I passed my test! I hope to be roaming the northend this summer alone and with a friend.
Congratulations on passing your road test Harrison! Thatâs certainly going to open up a new world for you!
Just one word of advice, âWatch out for the other guy!â As in donât trust ANY other driver on the road to do the right thing! I shake my head every day at the foolishness I see out there on the roads.