Re living days gone by.

Thanks for the videos Marty!

All I have around my house growing up were freight trains, never seen a passenger train till I went to the big city of Seattle! lol

Nice video Marty!

Thanks Mike.  I consider myself a very lucky train watcher.  Growing up (age only) I lived with my aunt and uncle in Pennsylvania every summer.  We were right on the PRR main and down the street was the Reading MU line.   I got to watch PRR GG-1 locomotives, box cabs, sharks, and almost anything the Pennsy had.  My dream as a youth was to someday have catenary  into South Station in Boston and hopefully see a G motor at South Station.  The G motor has gone into history but we now have catenary.  The Acela and many others are not the same as the GG-1 but it is not a bad train to watch.

whoosh! She's gone!

Pretty cool.

Close to 100 mph.  Both trains were going inbound to Boston.  I always worry about the wind gust that follows them will blow Dotty off the platform.  Anytime anyone is in Boston, hit South Station with your camera.  The Amtrak P.D. will let you on the platforms with the camera.  Usually 2-4 Acela sets in the station at one time.  Lots of other Amtrak locomotives and many commuter engines.

Awesome Marty. Looks like Dottie caught some "bow wave" effect. This hobby and real life trains would be lost without you! Jim

Next time we watch trains on the main line, she will need to put weights in her pockets.   I do not want to loose her.

Great shots, Marty!! I have similar memories as a kid, growing up in central NJ. Dad would take me to New Brunswick station to watch the trains come through, and I have vivid memories of watching GG1s and the Metroliner fly by--quite a thrill. After watching the trains go through, a trip to New Brunswick wasn't complete without stopping at Steve Varga's Hobby Shop. Dad & Mr. Varga were good friends, and as a kid I always thought it was the greatest thing that the owner of the local hobby shop knew my Dad by name. 

Enjoyed the story Marty. I still get that rush every time I'm waiting for something to scream by on the NEC down here in Rhode Island.

And yes, please put some rocks in Dottie's pockets.

Paul

Great videos thanks for sharing!

Marty,

Thanks for sharing the videos and the childhood memories. Like Mike G., my childhood train watching was all freight.  I lived near the former NYC "Hojack" line that ran along the shore of Lake Ontario.  My buddies and I used to race to get trackside on our bicycles whenever we heard a diesel horn.  I also have fond memories of visiting my grandfather who lived in Dunkirk, NY near the NYC main line. He was employed by the NYC for 49 years as a fireman and an engineer.  When he passed I was too young to know or understand what steam he operated, but I know he finished his career on RS-3s.  Again, I have lots of memories of running to the tracks to watch the trains pass with my siblings when we were kids.  But, I was born a tad too late to have witnessed steam.   I still enjoy seeing real trains in action, and never pass an opportunity to see a steam tourist railroad.  Thanks again for sharing. 

Thanks for posting, I love these real train videos from around the country.

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

Close to 100 mph.  Both trains were going inbound to Boston.  I always worry about the wind gust that follows them will blow Dotty off the platform.  Anytime anyone is in Boston, hit South Station with your camera.  The Amtrak P.D. will let you on the platforms with the camera.  Usually 2-4 Acela sets in the station at one time.  Lots of other Amtrak locomotives and many commuter engines.

Whoa 100, you do know I meant that the train was really moving? (not Dotty!!!)

Fantastic!

Peter

About 10 miles south of my location, the Acela goes a real 150 mph.

Marty,

Thanks for the east coast history lesson. 

Here in Cleveland much of the youthful train watching spots are gone. (Erie and NKP).  The upside is the NS and CSX New York to Chicago main lines cross twice here now. One location is south of the airport and is in a safe area. 

I do remember well the PRR and B&O sharks!

Erie's ruling grade out of Cleveland was near my grandmother's house.  I remember seeing an Erie berk followed by 50 ore cars followed by two cabooses and two more berks. And the pacifics that pulled the passenger trains. 

Thanks again my friend. 

Lou N

Marty,

My childhood memories of trains are not unlike yours. My Dad used to take me watch the PRR and LIRR in Sunnyside Yard. These days, I live about 8 miles from the NEC near Bridgeport, Connecticut. Now that I'm retired, I go to the station every day to watch Amtrak and take a ride on Metro-North. Then I come home to work on my trains.

MELGAR

Good stuff Marty.  Twenty years ago I'd take my daughter there at lunch time.  Amtrak, MBTA, and an occasional freight.  Now I take my grandson.  We also get to Mansfield, Canton Junction, and 128, where an Amtrak engineer got out, shook the kid's hand, and wanted to know if we'd like a cold drink from his onboard fridge!  Unforgettable.  RICH

Thanks so much Marty for your story and your videos!!  When I was a very young little guy, my dad would take me to the B&0 station in Laurel, Md. and watch trains on some Saturday afternoons.   I grew up on the B&O Washington branch ( now called the Camden line ) between Baltimore and Washington DC.  I had the opportunity to see most of the B&O's name passenger trains pulled by E 8s and locals pulled by GP 9s or a single F unit plus the RDC one, two, and three car locals.  

Every horse racing season I would see a B&O "race track special" being pulled to Laurel Raceway ( home of the DC International ) from Baltimore and beyond.   These trains were 5, 6, or more  RDC cars or heavy weight coaches pulled by a GP9/7 or AA F units ( could have been E units too ).    I also saw long freight drags and fast freights pulled by first generation diesels.  Many times on the point of the freights there would be a mix and match of GP9/7, A unit Fs, B unit Fs, or ALCO FA 2s with the ocassional end cab switcher thrown into the consist.  It was quite a variety show!!  Thanks for evoking the memories! 

Marty 

That was two awesome videos 

Thanks, Alex 

Thanks Alex.  Those were done on my phone.

Great videos Marty - each clip just long enough to excite!!

MIKE

Great videos, Marty!  I have never seen an Acela as the furthest east I have been in my adult life is Michigan.  Your story is one of childhood memories of the magic carpet made of steel that makes our hobby a lifelong love affair.  It becomes so much intertwined with our lives that we never lose interest.

thank you marty

good story

Thanks for the videos Marty.  Please post some more when you get a chance.

Wow, I did not think this would be liked as it is.   I am very fortunate to live in the main line.  Sorry the clips are so fast.  These trains are rocking through at 90 + mph.   The Acela was doing 150 mph a few minutes earlier and had to slow down a bit as it is headed inbound to South Station Boston.  Busy time with York in my sights.  I will try to get more before.

Excellent videos! I have a stepson in Somerville, so we get up to Boston, usually by train, with some regularity. I've seen Readville from the train, and always thought it would be a good place to take photos.

Now you've shown me just how good!

Thank you Marty for sharing your memories with us. The Plainfield New Jersey station on the Jersey Central railroad was that magical place for me as a kid growing up. Three railroads, the Reading, Baltimore and Ohio and the Jersey Central all operated on the four track main line heading East into Jersey City and New York City. Old battered and beaten up steam engines were still operating in the early 1950's but the brand new shinny first generation diesel are what caught my attention as a kid. The Reading CNJ and B&O all had colorful paint schemes that were different and did vary within each railroad between freight and passenger locomotives. It was truly a great time to be a kid and to be fascinated with railroading.

Today when possible travelling back East to visit with family and friends I visit the Plainfield Station. What was then four tracks has now been reduced down to two and where the RDG, CNJ and B&O once operated now only New Jersey Transit now operates. Gone are the long distance freight and passenger service and local freight trains with REA service, now only hourly commuter service can be viewed.   As Bill Burke once said "a bad train is still better that no train" and he was correct but I still drift back in time, setting in the Plainfield station with my grand father as a kid watching the greatest show on earth pass by.

Great videos Marty. I've been to South Station many times on both the Acela and NE regionals. Quite a varied collection of rolling stock and diesel/ electrics to see.

The ultimate train trip- Board LIRR to Penn Station, go across Penn to Amtrak, board Amtrak back out to Long Island, thru Sunnyside again before the train turns north over the Hell Gate Bridge.

When I was a youngster I used to sit by the ballfield on 11th street in Bayonne, it was on the inside of a curve of the 4 track CNJ main line.  CNJ commuters, Reading, all sorts of freight traffic until 1967 when they took away the trains.  When my sons were younger we would sit in the Linden NJ station and watch NJ transit and Amtrak at rush hour.  The GM plant was active then as well so we had lots of action on the 6 track main line.

Guys, thank you for sharing.

Thanks Marty, for the reminiscences. I,too grew up along the NH main line in New Rochelle. And I am envious of you for having seen an I-5 in full flight. It must have been quite a sight. Did you ever witness the NH big steam at Maybrook?

Thanks for sharing, Marty;  I grew up a few blocks from CNJ's Seashore Branch that led to Sandy Hook, and my grandmother lived 2 blocks from the NY&LB tracks of the North Jersey Coast line.  I'd badger my folks to drive from station to station in an attempt to beat the train to the next stop so I could see it again and again.

Old enough to remember the last vestiges of steam on that line, but of course no details (was about 4 at the time!).  Budd cars were about the only traffic I recall on the Seashore Branch with a few freights thrown in. Would always stop to put cents on the tracks on the way home from school.