BOSTON and MAINE

This page will cover the Boston and Maine from Portland, Maine to the Albany, New York area. 

Most of the images here were taken in the late 1970's a pre-date the Guilford takeover in the early 1980's.  There are a few post merger images included at the bottom. 

We will begin at Portland, Maine.  Rigby yard was operated by the Portland Terminal Railroad and the B &M had a major interchange with the Maine Central here.  The vast majority of westbound traffic off the MEC was sent out via the B &M.  The Maine Central and the Boston and Maine were affiliated over the years, sharing paint schemes and other things.  By the late 1970's each was separate.  The MEC painted their engines in a bright yellow, while the B &M went to the medium blue.

                                                                                   
Here are a few images from Rigby all taken in 1978.  The new GP40's had just arrived, while GP38 #200 remained in the bicentennial colors.

  Here is GP40 304 leading a westbound at Pine Point, Maine. 1978

  The former diamond crossing at Rockingham Jct., NH.

  The station at east Kingston, NH was well preserved in 1978.

Lets jump over to Lowell, Massachusetts.

                                            
In 1978, the fledgling MBTA had converted some of the B & M RDC's to push-pull operation with the RDC engines used for lighting and AC only.  Several of the B & M GP7's already had equipment for this purpose as built.  Here on June 19, 1978 1571 works a local to and from Boston.

                                            
Eastbound train NE-2 makes a stop to set out a unit and some cars at Lowell.  A by-pass for freights around Boston proper was via Ayers Jct, through Lowell and east to the Boston-Portland main.

  A switcher in the classic maroon and yellow colors once shared with the Maine Central works at Lowell.

  Another EMD switcher in the old colors, but with the maroon just about faded away works in Wilmington, Mass.

  1230 also in the red works in Somerville     1570 works a local push-pull RDC train at Somerville.

                                             
Boston and Maine's main station in Boston was North Station.  The famous Boston Garden arena is located in the same building.  In 1978 a major construction project was underway, but the RDC cars remained in service, with some used in push-pull service with GP7's.

                             
Just north of the station was the large engine and passenger car service area.  1565 is in fresh new paint in 1978.

                                             
North Billerica, Mass. was the site of the B &M's main locomotive repair shop.  Here an assortment of out of service Alco's sit most likely awaiting the scrappers torch.

  GP38 211 leads eastbound freight RB-30 at Ayers Jct. on June 19, 1978.  At Ayers Jct., lines from the by-pass from Lowell and from downtown Boston joined and then west of the junction a line went southwest down to Worcester, Mass. to connect with the former New Haven while the mainline headed west to Albany, NY.

  1557 on a caboose hop stops at the tower at Ayers Jct.

I have a rather large gap in the Boston and Maine material here.  For whatever reason, I never got to the middle portion of the mainline.  

                                            
We will resume at East Deerfield.  Here the B & M had a modest yard and locomotive shop.  At this point the north-south oriented Connecticut River line crossed the east-west mainline. ( The last image of 1848 courtesy of Gary Madden.

   This view looks west at the point where the Connecticut River line swings in from the south ( left ).

            Here are some views at Springfield, Mass.  1731 and 1704 are in the B &M yard, while 1733 is on the Conrail main.

  This is from 1977.  Canadian Pacific operated a through train down from Montreal to East Deerfield.  It ran over the CP line via Newport and St. Johnsbury, VT.  This train was SJ-1.

  East Deerfield is just east of the larger town of Greenfield.  Here an eastbound rolls through Greenfield in 1978.

  GP38 202 leads westbound train NE-1 at Charlemont, Mass. on June 29, 1978.

            A series of shots of NE-1 at the east portal of Hoosac Tunnel.

  A somewhat blurry image of GP18 1754 exiting the west end of the tunnel. Aside from the one GP38 painted up for the U.S. bicentennial in 1976, several other units received red, white and blue stripes as seen here on 1754.

  After cutting across a small corner of Vermont, the main enters New York State.  This location is Johnsonville.  It was here that the old Rutland line to Albany swung off toward Albany while the B &M freight main headed due west toward Mechanicville, NY.  1744 is eastbound.

     GP38 200 ( ex-212 ) in full Bi-Centennial colors heads west with NE-87 passing through Johnsonville.

  NE-87 skirts the edge of the Hoosic River at Valley Falls, NY.    An eastbound at Valley Falls.

  Just north of Mechanicville, the B & M main crosses the Hudson River.

  The NE-87 arrives at the twin yards at Mechanicville.  The Delaware and Hudson and the B & M were laid out side-by-side and westbound trains off the B & M typically yarded their trains in the D & H yard.  B & M trains to Boston or Portland, ME departed from their own yard.  A diamond crossing was located at the east end of these yards and was called "XO".

  After dropping the train in the D & H yard, the engines ran back to "XO" and ran into the B & M engine terminal.

              With NE-87 out of the way, train MB-2 departs the B & M yard for Boston.  The third picture gives a good view of the interlocking plant here at "XO".

  After crossing the Hudson River, MB-2 begins to climb out of the valley.

      
Some views of the engine terminal area and the small hump lead from 1974 and 1975.

                            
The B & M ran a interchange train between Mechanicville and the big PC yard at Selkirk.  U28B 2879 and two B & M units have arrived at Mechanicville in 1975.

                                                
The twelve GP-38's were the B & M's main power for several years.  They were numbered 201 to 212.  Number 212 became 200 and was painted into the bi-centennial colors.

                                            
Thanks to a photo editing program, those annoying telephone poles can be magically erased.  1754 is a GP18.

  A dozen GP40's joined the roster in 1978.

  A very old truss rod coach was part of the work train.

    Here are some B & M units over at the Selkirk yard.

      
A visit in the fall of 1990, revealed a very much abandoned facility that was once very active.  Guilford eliminated both the B & M and adjacent D & H yards following their takeover of both railroads.  A very sad sight.

  An old B & M Alco switcher sits in Wilkes-Barre, PA enroute to an unknown future.

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