CR Boston Line Vol.2

AMTK 448, behind E-8 497 and F40-PH2 300 crossing the town line into Chester.

Five years into ConRail, and GP35 3673 still wears it's "heritage" livery (and WELL!) as it leads westbound SPSE at North Becket.

Train 448, the Lake Shore, pauses at the "AmShack" in Pittsfield.

Westbound POSE has just crossed the state line into New York from Massachusetts.

SEBO passing the gantry signal at State Line.

Westbound PWSE passes SPENO ballast cleaner at State Line.

SPENO ballast cleaner crossing over from track 1 to track 2 at State Line.

Track crew working on the xing step back for westbound BOEL in Chatham.

TV-8 rolling downgrade at the "Art Colony", the bridge spanning the Westfield River marks the boundary between Chester in the foreground and Middlefield, in the background.

TV-8 rounding the Horseshoe between MP 128 and MP 129. The "Art colony" is about halfway round near Mile 128.5.

Leading westbound SBSE, 1942 passes eastbound TV-8 rolling downgrade.at mile 128.4.

SBSE continues hammering upgrade past TV-8 at the "art colony".

Rear of TV-8, with the train wreathed in smoke, rolls down with SBSE working upgrade.

Now that the trains are just about past, the sun breaks through.

BOEL rounds the Horseshoe near MP 129, and is about to leave Middlefield and enter Becket.

BOEL continues his uphill battle past MP 129.

Rear of BOEL at MP 129.

Boston section of the "Lake Shore Ltd." by North Adams Jct. in Pittsfield.

NHSE's power has cut off from his train, seen in the distance sitting on the "ramp" at the bottom of the west slope, and will go into the Junction yard to pick up cars.

Westbotnd BOEL, 6600 (C30-7), 6666 (SD45-2), 6685 (SDP-45), 6657 (SD45-2)

GP15$1 1689 as the power for local WNWS-5 at Chester.

Amtrak 448 tops the grade in Hinsdale behind, now extinct, F40 201, scrapped several years ago.

Three of the "usual susp\cts", C30-7A's, on the head end of SBSE at the "new lobation".

SEBO-A rolling downgrade eastbound around mile 128.6.

TV-9 working around the horseshoe at mile 128.8.

TV-13 at the "new location", mile 129.3.

TV-13 at the "new location", mile 129.3.

TV-6 rolling into Bancroft (Middlefield station).

Eastbound "Lake Shore Ltd." rhrough Bancrolt.

BOEL=working upgrade near MP 129 behind a trio of "Camels", including the "Class unit" in the lead.

BOEL continues his uphill battle past MP 129.

Another trio of "camels" leads SEBO-B near MP 129.

SBSE follows the setting sun, wo|king westward at the "new location".

TV-8B at the "new location", viewed from high up on the cut sefn?in the previous photo of TV-13. There is plenty of color in the Berkshires from late spring till fall, but the winter months are DRAB & DREARY!

Two differant 12 cylinder model GE's lead westbound BOEL near MP 129.

TV-6, with a nice mixed bag of 4-axles, rolls down past MP 129.

Going away view of TV-6's eclectic lash-up.

PWSE rounds the curve approaching MP 129.

Going away view of PWSE's trio of "camels" crossing the town line into Becket.

NHSE working on the grade near MP 129.

NHSE passing MP 129.

Going away view of NHSE heading for the first of two large cuts on the "new Location". The old ROW passed through the cut seen just above the caboose in the background.

SBSE going away toward the first cut at the "new location". SD-40 was a "treat", believe it or not, because it was SOMETHING OTHER than another friggin' C30-7A!

Three second-hand Bay Colony box cars bring up the rear with one of those new-fangled contraptions sitting on the rear coupler.

Amtrak 448 eastbound at "The Top 'O the B&A".

Eastbound empty ballast train stretched out across the Hinsdale flats, passing MP 139, just west of the summit. The tangent is just a little more than a mile and a half long, not something you'd expect to see on a "mountain railroad".

Eastbound empty ballast train past the summit of Washington Hill.

Ballast train snaking through the curves at the summit. The dirt road to the right of the tracks is actually the roadbed of the old track 4, a freight running track, which extended from MP 149 in Pittsfield to Washington Depot, about one more mile east of the summit.

ConRail didn't have many extended-vision cabooses, and they were scarce on the B&A.

SEBO-B has just passed the summit of Washington Hill, and we get a wave from the engineer.