Nostalgia & History > Orphans...pieces of railroads looking for a legacy

Scanning thousands of negatives has been an ongoing time machine for me. So many memories are triggered, and so many things have been lost in the memory bank. One reason I stayed single until my thirties was because I never was around long enough to develop a relationship. In hindsight, my love of the rails were my date nights, and days, lol! The trains, the railroaders, the sights, the different locations, and even the smells were sirens calls for me. During those pre digital years, and using medium format film, one would be much more judicious in their shooting, but I did take many images, that I asked why?!  Just pieces of railroads that were everyday things, or nothing particular at all. I can't claim all this was because of some inner drive to be able to put it on TO four or five decades later, or for some historical value... sometimes it was as simple as a lull between train activity, or, just being bored by NO train activity. Whatever the rationale, the images are here now, so, here is some "stuff" for you to ponder, and for me to take that time machine ride once again.

top...Carroll interlocking Baltimore. The tower, power, and that piping from the Armstrong levers...long gone.

middle...a mile marker on the Western Maryland

bottom...a wreck on the Penn Central

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...construction of the new Howard Street tunnel extension to make way for Interstate access into Baltimore.

middle...Riverside engine terminal in Baltimore...This scene is completely gone today. I remember at the time, I was pissed at the lack of power around that day...I'd take the scene like it is here, today though!

bottom...former CNJ main line east of Wilkes Barre Pa.

 

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...a so common site in the 60s

middle...This is for my buddy EL833. Close as I came to being a boat person in Cleveland

bottom...walking along PC main dumping ballast

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...So common back then. I always marveled at the bulk of these structures. No wonder they so outlasted what they serviced.

middle...the faithful on WM excursion...when railroads actually practiced PR.

bottom...From the 28th street bridge in Baltimore...Mount Vernon yard. Building to left under bridge was the old Notrthern Central passenger station. This was  a gravity fed yard with car riders. Today it is all a maintenance facility for the Light rail line out of Baltimore.

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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top...Not my thing, but on a rainy Sunday in Pholadelphia, it was something to photograph

middle...When you could see what they carried...Cumberland


bottom...engine view of cars being weighed, Bay View yard Baltimore

Bill Rettberg
Bel Air, MD

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Thank you. These might be the only photos of these sights we ever see. These add interest in a new way.
Bob

I get it.  And I am glad you made the effort.

Outstanding shots and observations. Thanks!

The space between those tracks at Bayview was close. You would literally have to walk side ways to walk down some of the yard tracks. Yea, Riverside could be like that, I lurked there before hiring out in the late 70s. Feast or famine. Do I spy a steam locomotive tender in the distance? Was this one of the three C&O steamers that were sent from Huntington to the B&O Museum in the 1970s?
CR

Your look back shots are just amazing. You shot littlerally everything. Great job. Number seven is so cool. 
JB

Wonderful shots. Glad you "wasted" some film on them.

Kim Heusel

All wonderful photos of images long gone.  I have to ask; the Western Maryland Excursion that you are referring, was this the steam trip in 1972 with the former Reading 2102?  I do believe that this was where the photo run by occurred, correct?

John in White Marsh, Maryland

Wonderful Stuff Bill !  In hindsight, these are the type of shots that everybody wishes they would have taken the time and resources to capture on film. I have to say that I am a confirmed Boatnerd just like EL833 and love the shot of Laker being towed in Cleveland.

All interesting photos, but number 9 strikes a chord. Engineering work is hard. It is was really hard back in the day.

Unloading ballast in the old days could involve a lot of dust and a potential mishap from time to time. Each bay was chained individually to allow a gradual release of the pocket's contents by an employee walking alongside the car. In dry weather, it was dusty work - you'd frequently look like a ghost afterwards when using granite ballast as we did on the MoPac.

A tie was placed ahead of the trailing truck to level out any ballast dumped. Occasionally we'd get ahead of ourselves and too much ballast would jam the tie and allow the truck to ride up and potentially derail. A deft touch was required to avoid such problems.

Thanks for posting these gems.

Very interesting series!!

Larry

Yes, a very interesting series, thanks for posting.  I had to laugh at the last photo, "when you could see what they were carrying."  There was a long discussion on the Model Railroading board the other day about this and I was glad to see the prototype evidence!  

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

Great series

I wonder if some of those damaged Chevy vans were fixed and resold, or if they were all just scrapped?

A great series indeed of that time machine we all love to visit.  Thank you for sharing!  Please continue to share more if circumstances allow.

Cheers,
Harry

About those Chevy vans, I don't know about back then but from what I know now any vehicles involved in a derailment and damaged like that are scrapped. Not parted out, restored, repaired just scrapped. Too many liability issues.
CR