Budd Company | Tracking the Light

It looks to be Spring of 1979: My parents drove my brother, Sean and me to Springfield (Massachusetts) Union Station to catch Amtrak to New York.

At that time most Amtrak services on the Springfield-Hartford-New Haven run were operated with vintage hand-me-down Budd Rail Diesel Cars, the much loved RDCs.

I always liked the Budd Cars because I could talk our way into a cab-run, which was vastly superior to sitting on the seats.

Bummer about the post; but I made this view from the head-end of another RDC at Springfield Union Station in Spring 1979 (April, I think.)

On this day we were treated to running ‘wrong main’ (against the current of traffic) because of track-work south of Springfield.

Nothing finer than a forward view. The top of Sean's head is just visible in some this trips images. He was only nine at the time. — Nothing finer than a forward view. The top of Sean’s head is just visible in some this trip’s images. He was only nine at the time. Here we are looking westward at Springfield. Our train will take a hard left before reaching the Connecticut River and follow the former New Haven line toward its namesake.

We were running wrong main because of a track gang on the normal southward track. Note that this is traditional section gang, not a tamper in sight! — We were running wrong main because of a track gang on the normal southward track.

Approaching the Connecticut River bridge between Enfield and Windsor Locks, Connecticut. This span dates to about 1906. Today it has just one track.

At New Haven we changed trains for an electric-hauled run toward New York City. At that time, Amtrak served Rye, New York (rather than New Rochelle as it does today) where our grand parents would collect us. I always hoped for a Pennsy GG1 leading our train from New Haven, but usually had to settle for a boxy General Electric E60.

I made these views from the head-end of the RDC using my Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar lens. The train crews were always friendly and on this day the engineer gave us a detail running commentary about the line, much of which I’ve either forgotten or melded in with my general knowledge of the New Haven Railroad.

Back then all photos were film photos (except for Polaroid, I suppose). If could you make photos like this now with your phone, where do you think you’ll find them in 37 years?

Tracking the Light posts every day.

In the realms of rail-transit, certain vehicles survive in revenue service much longer than others. When I was growing up, antique streetcars on Philadelphia’s Red Arrow Lines, and old Lackawanna multiple units were among the oldest cars around.

When exploring the New York City Subway at the end of June with Walter Zullig, Jack May and my father, I made point of photographing the Budd-built class R-32 cars, which are now in their 51^st year of service.

Like most Budd-rail vehicles, the R-32/R-32As (known as ‘Brightliners’) are constructed from shot-welded stainless steel. Undoubtedly this has contributed to their longevity.