The Rivals - B&M vs B&A vs CV

railroading in New England has always been a difficult proposition that's even more so today in highly competitive transportation environment of region or interstate trucks by and compete with rail lines for meager traffic pickings there are three rail lines though that managed to survive in this very competitive environment and that's what we're going to be talking about the three of the Central Vermont the Boston and Albany or Conrail the Boston and Maine the three as we said are picking over a meager traffic base in an intense rivalry that's gone back 150 years there the rivals let's look at a map of New England's trunk lines today we have the Boston domain and Boston and Albany our Conrail paralleling each other east-west from Boston to Rotterdam Junction New York north-south are the Conn River Line of the Boston and Maine and the settle from watt which lens from du London Connecticut to st. Albans via White River Junction we'll look at the New York Central which today is part of Conrail this line runs between Boston Mass and Rotterdam Junction New York while Worcester and Springfield following our study of the Boston and Albany well then look at the Boston of Maine's who's a tunnel route or Fitchburg division running east to west from Boston Mass all the way to Rotterdam Junction New York via the famous who's that tunnel this line operates through some of northern Massachusetts largest towns including Gardner & greenfield mass we'll then proceeded to study the north-south Conn River Line of the Boston and Maine this track is operated jointly by several tomaten vnm and has been for over a hundred years it runs between Springfield Mass on the vnm - wiper or Junction Vermont Central Vermont joins in at East Northfield and runs jointly from there all the way to White River White River Junction is where the Boston of Maine and Central Vermont part ways CV heading up towards st. Albans Vermont and the bnm continuing north toward Newport an important interchange point of the corner of the line in years gone by highways Bellows Falls from one this is where the C V and B nm crossed the old wetland today the wetlands operated as the Green Mountain Railroad and is still an important connection because the Conn River served as such an important bridge line north to south it saw units from many different railroads Canadian Nationals longtime affiliation with some of the want brought with it some CN Power Boston and Maine for many years pool power with the Canadian Pacific of a down the line occasionally other motivepower arrangements produce some unusual rash ups on the Connecticut River route such as this one seen here at Claremont Junction we'll begin a discussion with the east-west competition of the Boston and Albany or Conrail today and the Boston and Maine the two railroads bear as many similarities as they do differences Boston the main in Boston and Albany each had across the Berkshire Hills but they did it in different ways very different ways the Boston of Maine chose the Hoos a tunnel route it took 25 years to build the tunnel but it gave them what many people consider to be a decided advantage in grades however the Troy and Greenfield railroad which became the Boston and Maine had many serpentine alignments a very curvaceous track pattern going up to the tunnel mm-hmm Boston and Albany into the hint shows steeper grades wider curves it was engineered by Whistler and depending on who you talk to is probably the better of the two lines we're gonna start a discussion here at the summit of the Boston in Albany in Washington summit Massachusetts gone rails Boston and Albany mainline serve some in Massachusetts largest cities including Worcester Springfield and Pittsfield we'll begin a look at the BNA mainline in Worcester Mass and we'll work our way west from there in addition to the day-to-day operations on the VNA mainline occasional extra trains are operated as well such as this massbay road enthusiast excursion extra at the rear end we see the private car Caritas although Springfield Massachusetts is only a shadow of its former glory it still serves as an important junction point with carnival the Boston MA and Amtrak here we see an eastbound Quarry Lake something paid toward Boston he was clean to your station and the background awaits a southbound traffic attorney ready to head out for - Connecticut and New Haven conrail has a tough haul over the Berkshire Hills in western mess back in Boston Albany days Chester Nez was a busy helper station from here many units were dispatched pushing westbound trains up over the hill to Washington summit the west side of the Berkshire Hills has its steep grades as well as witnessed here by this scene in Pittsfield in addition to being Massachusetts largest city west of the Connecticut River pittsfield mass is also the home of a large General Electric Company manufacturing facility transformers are may here and shipped out on specially designed separate request flight paths such as that with you see in this scene poking through a small Ridge just west of the New York Massachusetts border are the twin State Line tunnels these are the only tiles on the Boston and Albany mainline here we see an eastbound Carlisle job working its way up to the eastbound tunnel here we have a westbound massbay will of enthusiasts extra passenger train running through Chatham New York Chatham was at one time a connection with both eleven world and New York Central's harlem division Rotterdam Junction New York in addition to being an important viola and Conrail it's also the Boston the main road Western connection in our next segment we'll be talking about the Boston mains east/west Fitchburg division mainline this was originally the Fitchburg railroad found in 1841 and it features the 4 and 3/4 mile long whose act tunnel it still serves as an important conduit for traffic coming from the state of Maine going west as well as for raw materials coming into New England will study the Fitchburg division from west to east in addition to the bm's interchange with Conrail at rotterdam junction new york the railroad also interchanges with the Delaware and Hudson at Mechanicville our first scene will open up al Plus New York showing the vnm crossing over the dnh Oh who is a tunnel in northwestern Massachusetts it was here in the early part of the 19th century that engineer Louie Baldwin first proposed a canal tunnel to ship goods from Boston to the western markets that idea died in stillbirth but later in the century a businessman from Fitchburg Mass Alva Crocker nurtured an idea that finally grew to become what we know today as the who sack tunnel quarter straw in Greenfield railroad was empowered with a charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to build the huge 44.7 five miles long the tunnel project proved more than the little training Greenfield could have to take however the Yankee ingenuity had definitely met its match after nearly a quarter century of drilling digging blasting and political firestorms in Boston whose that tunnel was finally completed by a Canadian engineering firm it stands here today 115 years later as a monument to the tenacity and spirit it was Alva Crocker the Troy in Greenville railroad each of the east-west lines and Massachusetts has their problems the Boston Albany of course has it's very steep grades the bnm line thanks of the Hoos a tunnel doesn't have to deal with that problem however it does have to deal with considerably shop occurs here is a scene at sha Wan mess that pretty much typifies the serpentine alignment of the Boston the main west of Greenfield at the junction of the bm's east-west and north-south main lines is the East D affiliate in addition to being a major freight classification point East da field also has large engine servicing facilities as well as tile repair shops now that we've taken a look at the east-west climate issues let's switch over to the north-south between the Central Vermont and Boston named the CV begins in New London Connecticut it proceeds north from there through Massachusetts crossing the Boston in Albany at Palmer and the bnm at Miller's Falls it joins in with the Boston to Maine's north/south Connecticut River mainline from Springfield at East Northfield mass from the other two railroads run together to White River Junction who want at White River the CV branches off toward the northwest to st. Albans and eventually to Montreal the BNN mainline has just about due north to Newport Vermont will begin on north-south study at Springfield Mass on the bnm from there we'll head north to White River Junction Vermont and we'll turn on a wheel and head back down the CV toward in London Connecticut servicing bm's lines in Connecticut is symbol flaky DPL operating out of HDL to claim that Nigel here et PL is heading south photography mask movies trash like for a moment now and hop in the cab of one of Vienna's vintage Jeep nines for a ride down the Conn River Line vm's Weston it isn't the only part of the wheel with serpentine curves when is this shot of a southbound at Westminster Vermont negotiating some lanta shop curves in the Conn River Line the east-west lines have natural obstacles to overcome and that they have steep grades and sharp curves however in the case of the Conn River Line a man-made obstacle serves as the restricting feature this is the bellows falls tunnel and Bellows Falls from what it wasn't until 1977 that the Florida tunnel was lowered enough to allow for the passage of tri-level auto wrecks here we see southbound bnm for a WJ Edie operating between White River Junction to want and East Deerfield mass the hybrid Jat West clan mother nature in addition to being the tallest in the Connor Italy is also the tallest in the Boston MA let's talk about the CV you know sentiments traffic primarily consists of cement paper products and lumber coming from Canada it enters New England through st. Albans Vermont coming down into White River Junction and then following south into Massachusetts and Connecticut regularly attract passenger service on the corner of a line was suspended in May 1987 due to deteriorating track conditions passengers were bused north of Springfield Mass all the way to Montreal this condition existed for almost a year and a half the ensuing court valve which was finally settled in September of 1988 saw ownership of the section of track from East Northfield mass to White River Junction Vermont go to the Central Vermont railway central moi subsequently upgraded the mainline to once again allow for the resumption of Amtrak passenger service here we see a multitude of CV track equipment working on grooming the mainline in preparation for the reinstatement of Amtrak passenger service this is what you said reservoir in West Boylston mass we began this production in early 1990 the Boston and Maine and conrail reach running their respective east-west traffic over their own main lines however Boston to Maine's Western connection the Delaware and Hudson was put in receivership sometime back and as a result of that because of the tenuous ongoing problems with the Western connection and the interchange with Delaware Hudson Boston the main saw fit to divert much of its east-west traffic over the Conrail mainline until the situation was resolved subsequently we have traffic running over the BNA then up the Worcester Road main line of the Boston to Maine to air at Eric and then travel to points in eastern Massachusetts and down east in Maine no one knows how long this situation is going to go on for but you can be sure of one thing no matter what the outcome the face of railroading New England will never be the same again

Channel: sjwhitney

Views: 22,422

Rating: 4.8857141 out of 5

Keywords: Boston & Maine Railroad, Boston And Maine Corporation (Business Operation), Conrail (Organization), Boston & Albany Railroad, Central Vermont Railway (Business Operation), B&M RR, CVRR, B&A RR, NMRO, Ashpit Video Productions, Boston And Albany Railroad (Rail Line), Trainspotting (Film)

Id: EZJtfhKSEHI

Length: 73min 44sec (4424 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 16 2013