Eastern Railroad Discussion > "Earning Their Keep" MA&N's Alco's

Mohawk, Adirondack & Northern's Alco's Nos. 2456 and 805 are featured here bringing 65 empty tank cars back to Utica, NY. The cars had been in storage in Boonville, 35 miles north of Utica, since early spring. The freight passes under a NY Central-era farm bridge. The "rhythm of the rails" is nicely captured, probably because the train is passing through a cut.

Several hundred tank cars remain stored on the otherwise unused ten-mile stretch of tracks between Boonville-Lyons Falls, the terminus of the line.

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Nice video!

Are there long stretches of track in that area with no grade crossings, or do they have to make judicious cuts when they store the cars?  Also, is there any inspection of the stored cars before they couple them up and haul them out, or is it just the usual cursory lookover?

rbenko Wrote:
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> Are there long stretches of track in that area
> with no grade crossings, or do they have to make
> judicious cuts when they store the cars?  Also,
> is there any inspection of the stored cars before
> they couple them up and haul them out, or is it
> just the usual cursory lookover?

I'd estimate there are 20-30 crossings (both public and private) in the ten miles between Boonville-Lyons Falls they have to work around.

As far as inspecting the cars, I don't know what procedure is followed.

Glad you liked the video!

5 Gold stars for a great video. The beautiful countryside, the clickety-clack of the wheels, and of course, those wonderful ALCOs. 

Love the old bridge, looks like that was double track at one time in history
Nice video!

Nice!

Jim Baker
Riverside, CA

Pretty good speed for a "storage branch".

tronarail Wrote:
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> 5 Gold stars for a great video. The beautiful
> countryside, the clickety-clack of the wheels, and
> of course, those wonderful ALCOs.

+1. I couldn't have said it better myself.

tomstp Wrote:
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> Pretty good speed for a "storage branch".

I was about to say the same thing--it got rolling along pretty good on an "unused branch line."  The ALCO's sounded great--working hard.

coach Wrote:
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> tomstp Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Pretty good speed for a "storage branch".
>
> I was about to say the same thing--it got rolling
> along pretty good on an "unused branch line."
>  The ALCO's sounded great--working hard.

The MA&N's Utica-Lyons Falls line is 45 miles long. This farm bridge is located in Marcy, 8 miles north of Utica. There are two customers in Boonville, 35 miles north of Utica. Adirondack Scenic has trackage rights over the first 23 miles, Utica to Snow Jct in Remsen, where its home rails are reached to Thendara (Old Forge), Big Moose and beyond (rails OOS Big Moose to Lake Placid).

Only the northerly 10 miles of the MA&N Utica-Lyons Falls line, between Boonville-Lyons Falls, would otherwise be unused but for the storage of cars.

There was a big paper mill in Lyons Falls which was served by the railroad but that went under approx 15 years ago.