Category Archives: Rail Photo of the Month

Rail Photo of the Month: May 2024

Posted on by
Reply

Siemens Charger SC-44 4623

Location: Jackson, MI
Operator of Vehicle: Amtrak
Date of Photo: October 17, 2020

Amtrak began operation on May 1, 1971, so it seems fitting for an Amtrak Rail Photo of the Month to mark the occasion.  After many years of associating the GE Genesis engines as the most common head end power on Amtrak services outside of the Northeast Corridor, the Siemens Charger is becoming a more frequent sight across the national rail company’s network.  Siemens Charger locomotives can be found on Amtrak’s long distance services, California state supported services, and on its “Amtrak Midwest” services such as the Wolverine, seen here departing from Jackson, Michigan on its way from Chicago to Pontiac in 2020.

For more photos of Amtrak’s Siemens Charger locomotives, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: April 2024

Posted on by

Metro-Cammell Glasgow Underground Stock 118

Location: Cowcaddens Station, Glasgow, Scotland
Operator of Vehicle: Strathclyde Partnership for Transport
Date of Photo: August 2, 2005

A recent video by railfan and videographer extraordinaire Geoff Marshall about the new Glasgow Subway rolling stock caught my attention.  The third generation of rolling stock for this unique subway system is in the process of being introduced, which means that the second generation stock that has been in service since 1980 will be retired soon.  This second generation stock is what I rode when I visited Glasgow for a day in the summer of 2005, so it seemed fitting to feature the outgoing rolling stock as a Photo of the Month.

The Glasgow Subway opened on December 14, 1896, making it the third oldest subway in Europe (only London and Budapest are older).  However, it does have the distinction of being the first mass transit system in the world to be known as a subway.  The trains have an uncommon gauge of 4 feet, making the trains narrower than those on the deep level tube lines of the London Underground.  The Glasgow Subway also has the distinction of having never been expanded since it opened, it serves the exact same 15 stations and 6.5 miles (10.5 kilometers) of track that it has been serving for over 127 since opening.

With the arrival of the third generation rolling stock, it is expected that the second generation stock will be phased out over the course of 2024.  The third generation of stock is designed to be converted to driverless operation and will have full front views for passengers, just like the Docklands Light Railway, once “ZPTO” begins.  There are also plans to install platform screen doors in conjunction with the transition to driverless operation.  Geoff Marshall covers these topics and more in his video, which can be seen here.  

Have you been on the Glasgow Subway?

For more photos of the Glasgow Subway, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: March 2024

Posted on by

M9 9010

Location: Grand Central Terminal, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: Long Island Railroad
Date of Photo: February 26, 2024

About a year ago and after about 60 years of planning and construction, the Long Island Railroad finally arrived at Grand Central Terminal on Manhattan’s east side.  Since 1910, the LIRR’s sole Manhattan terminal had been Penn Station on the west side but there had been a longstanding desire to make it convenient for LIRR passengers to reach the east side and avoid congestion at Penn Station.  The first proposal to bring the LIRR to Manhattan’s east side was formally made in 1963.  In 1968, the MTA proposed the construction of the 63rd Street Line, a two level tunnel under the East River and Roosevelt Island that would have subway trains running on its upper level and LIRR trains on its lower level.  Groundbreaking for the 63rd Street Line took place on November 24, 1969 and the upper level subway tunnels would open for service on October 29, 1989, initially as a stub line to 21st Street-Queensbridge before being connected to the Queens Boulevard Line at the end of 2001.  However, the LIRR tunnels remained unused and unconnected to any other tracks.

In the 1990s after a study showed that more LIRR riders worked closer to Grand Central than to Penn Station, the MTA began to make plans to make use of the lower level tunnel meant for LIRR trains.  Construction on the tunnels to the east (in Queens) and west (in Manhattan) of the initial tunnel, as well as the LIRR platforms at Grand Central itself, began in 2008.  On January 25, 2023, the new station, referred to officially as “Grand Central Madison”, opened for service.  For about a month, trains shuttled between Grand Central and the LIRR’s hub at Jamaica.  On February 27, “full service” at Grand Central Madison began.  In conjunction with the construction of a third track on the LIRR main line east of Jamaica, a significant increase in the number of trains that the LIRR could operate into Manhattan at peak periods was facilitated with this service change.

Grand Central Madison features eight tracks served by four platforms about 140 feet beneath street level.  The escalators that serve the station’s mezzanine are the longest in all of New York City.  One of the most remarkable things I found while exploring the station earlier this week is that despite this section of Grand Central being brand new, it was designed to feel as if it was a part of Grand Central “proper” with its curved roofs and using the same style of font and positioning for wayfinding as the older parts of Grand Central.  With the exception of the escalator that created the “transition” between the Metro-North section and LIRR section of the station which didn’t mesh nearly as well as the rest, the aesthetics really made for a unified station experience.  The artwork above each escalator from the concourse to the mezzanine featuring elements of the New York State seal was a nice touch as well.

Have you been to Grand Central Madison yet?

For more photos of the Long Island Railroad, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: February 2024

Posted on by

IC3 DMU 7203

Location: Jerusalem-Malha Station, Jerusalem, Israel
Operator of Vehicle: Israel Railways
Date of Photo: May 18, 2012

Israel Railways, the only operator of the IC3 DMU trainsets outside of Scandinavia, retired the rolling stock type in the past month.  The IC3 was introduced to Israel in 1992.  At the time, it was the first new rolling stock purchased by Israel Railways in over 20 years and the trains quickly became popular with staff and passengers alike due to their spacious interior layout and other modern (for the time) features.  

The most notable feature on the exterior of these trains is the rubber diaphragm at the end of each three car set.  When two sets were coupled together, the entire cab would be folded back allowing for seamless movement between the individual trainsets.  This setup also meant that a train could be easily split or recoupled almost “on the fly” so to speak, for example, to separate to provide service to a branch line.  Each trainset consisted of three cars and up to five trainsets could be coupled together to create a 15 car train.  

In 1997, two Israel Railways trainsets were demoed by Amtrak in the United States and VIA Rail in Canada.  Called the “Flexliner” for North American marketing purposes, Amtrak trialed the train on the Hiawatha, Kansas City Mule, St. Louis Mule, San Diegan, and Cascades services, while VIA used it in the Windsor-Quebec corridor.  The trains were certainly a novelty and garnered some attention during their time in North America, but neither operator purchased them.

In Israel, the IC3 was the only rolling stock to operate on the old Jerusalem-Tel Aviv route, as this was the only equipment that had the power to go up the steep grades on this line (any other train would have had to be “doubleheaded” due to the gradients).  They were also mainstays on the Be’er Sheva-Dimona line and, since its 2019 opening, the Jezreel Valley line to Beit She’an.  However, their age combined with the closure of the old Jerusalem-Tel Aviv route during the Covid-19 pandemic means that Israel Railways can replace them with newer equipment, especially as the project to electrify the entire network proceeds.  

I rode them a number of times on the old Jerusalem-Tel Aviv line.  They certainly are unique trains and while the new high speed line between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv is a game changer for getting between the two cities, the retirement of the IC3 will make the Israel Railways fleet more homogenous and less diverse.  

Did you ever ride the IC3 in Israel?  What about Denmark, Sweden, or on its North American tour in 1997?  Post a comment either way!  You can still find the IC3 in revenue service in Scandinavia, and one Israel Railways set has already been preserved at the Israel Railways Museum in Haifa.  

For more photos of Israel Railways’ IC3 “Flexliner” DMUs, please click here.  And to learn more about these trains, you can read this article from Walla News (Hebrew only).  

Rail Photo of the Month: January 2024

Posted on by

R1 100

Location: Broadway-Lafayette Station, New York, NY
Operator of Vehicle: MTA New York City Transit
Date of Photo: December 27, 2015

For the past five Saturdays, New York City Transit ran the “Arnine” vintage train during the winter holiday season for the first time since the pandemic.  This tradition began nearly 20 years ago, typically with the train operating each Saturday or Sunday from Thanksgiving through Christmas or New Years Day along the 6th Avenue Line and then to Queens Plaza via the 53rd Street Tunnel (most years) or to Harlem via Central Park West (other years).  However, no vintage train was operated in 2020.  In 2021, a series of events to mark the retirement of the R32s was held instead.  In 2022, the “Train of Many Colors” was used for the holiday train, running along the 7th Avenue-Broadway Line.

Some transit fans complain that the MTA just does the same thing each year and never changes up the route or equipment all that much.  I’ve always enjoyed getting to run into friends in the transit fan community on the vintage train in the years I have been able to ride it, and Mrs. Oren’s Transit Page and our son have enjoyed riding it as well.  My attitude is be thankful the MTA runs anything at all, since they could always opt to run nothing.

I didn’t make it to New York to ride this year, but did you ride the vintage train this year?  

For more photos of MTA New York City Transit’s “Arnine” cars, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: September 2023

Posted on by

A Car 1243

Location: West Oakland Station, Oakland, CA
Operator of Vehicle: BART
Date of Photo: January 11, 2006

Late last month, BART announced that its legacy fleet will no longer be used in regularly scheduled service as of September 11, 2023.  Incidentally, this is also the 51st anniversary of the opening of the first BART of segment between MacArthur and Fremont.  The legacy BART fleet consists of three car types, two of which currently remain in service.  The A and B cars were manufactured by Rohr (same company that manufactured the 1000 Series cars for WMATA) and remain in service.  The A cars are cab cars noted for their sleek slanted fronts, though this design created a number of operational constraints that led to some cars being converted into B cars, which do not have an operators cab and could only operate in the middle of trains (though they do have a hostler control for use in yards and other emergency situations).  BART rectified this by ordering what became known as the C cars from Alstom and Morrison-Knudsen.  These cars had operator cabs but could also be placed in the middle of a train consist.  Unlike the A and B cars, the C cars were never refurbished and all of them have been removed from service.  

In 2012, BART announced that it was procuring a “Fleet of the Future” to replace the legacy fleet.  The Fleet of the Future began revenue service in 2018.  As a result of the changed ridership patterns during the recovery from the pandemic, BART has determined it no longer needs the Legacy Fleet to maintain the schedule that takes effect today.  However, some Legacy Fleet cars remain available for use in the event of any rolling stock shortages or to provide excess capacity during special events.

Most of the legacy BART cars are being scrapped and recycled, but eight proposals for preserving the cars have been accepted by the agency.  You can read about those proposals here.  

For more photos of BART’s Legacy Fleet, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: August 2023

Posted on by

ICTS 3027

Location: Kennedy Station, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Operator of Vehicle: Toronto Transit Commission
Date of Photo: March 12, 2007

In various parts of the transit enthusiast world, there have been people saying that if you want to ride the Scarborough Rapid Transit Line (also known as Line 3 Scarborough) of the Toronto subway system, you better do so soon, as the line is scheduled to shut down this November 18.  Unfortunately, it is possible that you may have missed your chance already.  The line is scheduled to close this November in order to be dismantled and ultimately replaced by an extension of Line 2 Bloor-Danforth.  Currently, Line 2 ends at Kennedy, and passengers who wish to continue to Scarborough must change trains there.  By the end of the decade, this trip will be a one seat ride but until then, a long term substitute bus service will provide the service between Kennedy and Scarborough.

Line 3 is unique within the Toronto transit network.  The line is a “light Metro” line that was originally going to be a streetcar line operated using CLRV vehicles.  However, provincial politics resulted in a decision to redesign the line to a design that was developed by a Crown corporation owned by the Ontario government, known as ICTS (Intermediate Capacity Transit System).  ICTS was meant to provide service on routes that had more ridership than buses but lower ridership than traditional heavy rail lines.  However, the implementation in Toronto proved to be problematic in several regards.  One such example is that the trains were meant to be operated in a fully automated mode but the TTC opted to have them operate in a partial manual mode, increasing wear and tear on the vehicles and requiring additional equipment to be added to support manual operation.  Another example is that the cars were found unable to handle a tight curve on the reversal loop at end of the line, ultimately resulting in the loop’s abandonment.  

With the “S Series” ICTS cars that have served on Line 3 since its 1985 opening nearing the end of their useful lives, it has been decided to shut down the Scarborough RT line and extend Line 2 to Scarborough as a replacement.  However, a derailment near Ellesmere Station on July 24 shut down the line and it has yet to reopen, prompting some to suggest that the line may not reopen prior to its scheduled closure in November.

Although the Scarborough RT line appears to have had a troubled and turbulent history based on this writeup, you shouldn’t think that the ICTS technology was a failure.  The Vancouver SkyTrain uses the same technology and is arguably the most successful application of ICTS.  The ICTS design was ultimately sold and bought by various manufacturers and improved upon over the decades.  It is now owned by Alstom, known as Innovia Metro, and can be found on the AirTrain JFK in New York City, Beijing Subway, Younin EverLine in South Korea, and the Riyadh Metro.

For more photos of TTC’s Scarborough Rapid Transit Line, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: July 2023

Posted on by

1973 Stock 126

Arnos Grove Station, London, England
Operator of Vehicle: Transport for London
Date of Photo: May 21, 2008

This month, the London Transport Museum is celebrating the 90th anniversary of the Piccadilly Line extension to Cockfosters.  In 1932, the line was extended from Finsbury Park to Arnos Grove.  Then on March 13, 1933 the line was extended to Oakfields and again on July 31, 1933 to Cockfosters, which remains the terminal today.  To mark this occasion, the London Transport Museum is running a special fantrip using its 1938 rolling stock on Sunday, July 9.  I haven’t been in London when any of these special types of events put on my the museum have occurred, but from what I see on social media, they look to be great.  As it is, the museum itself is a must see attraction for any transit fan visiting London.  

The photo featured here is of the 1973 Stock that currently operates on the Piccadilly Line at the Arnos Grove station.  The 1973 Stock is among the oldest rolling stock in use on a transit system in Britain but TfL has plans for new deep tube stock that may begin operating as soon as 2025.

For more photos of the 1973 Stock, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: June 2023

Posted on by

Bombardier 5000 Series 5040

Location: Quincy/Wells Station, Chicago, IL
Operator of Vehicle: Chicago Transit Authority
Date of Photo: July 9, 2014

This month, the Chicago “L” celebrates its 131st birthday!  The first section of what is now known as the “L”, then operated by the South Side Elevated Railroad, began service on June 6, 1892.  The line ran from a station at 39th Street (between the current 35th-Bronzeville-IIT and Indiana stations on the Green Line) to Congress Terminal.  When it opened, a ride on the steam powered trains from end to end took 14 minutes and cost five cents.  The line was later extended to Jackson Park and the site of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair (World’s Columbian Exposition), where incidentally, the concept of an electrified third rail to power trains was introduced.  This form of traction would ultimately be used on the entirety of the “L” as well as on underground and elevated train systems around the world, replacing steam powered locomotives. 

The Lake Street Elevated Railroad and the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad came into existence after the South Side Elevated, and each railroad had its own terminal on the edge of Downtown Chicago.  Financier Charles Tyson Yerkes had bought up many of the streetcar and elevated railroad lines in Chicago in the 1890s and proceeded to build an elevated loop track in Chicago to connect the individual lines.  The Loop was completed in 1897 and its two tracks along a 1.79 mile (2.9 kilometer) route remain in service to this day.  

In the featured photo, a relatively new train of 5000 Series cars is seen departing the Quincy station, which opened in 1897 shortly after the Loop was completed.  Some of the station’s features are original to its 1897 opening.

For more photos of CTA 5000 Series trains, please click here.  

Rail Photo of the Month: May 2023

Posted on by

Siemens SD-160 302

Location: I-25 & Broadway Station, Denver, CO
Operator of Vehicle: Regional Transportation District
Date of Photo: July 21, 2014

Last week marked the 10th anniversary of the opening of the W Line in Denver.  On April 26, 2013, this route opened between Denver Union Station and Golden, marking the completion of the first line to be part of the FasTracks program, an ambitious plan to build six new rail lines and a host of other transit infrastructure in the Denver region.  FasTracks also included the A Line to Denver International Airport and the reconstruction of Union Station in Downtown Denver for use by both RTD and Amtrak trains.  Although there were many line openings and extensions in the 2010s, FasTracks will not be officially completed until after 2050.

For more photos of RTD Light Rail, please click here.