Tag Archives: #Franklin Line

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Conrail Local on the Franklin Branch

Following up on Saturday’s post of the MBTA at Norfolk, Massachusetts, I thought I’d post this photo that I made of a Conrail local working at Franklin, Massachusetts in November 1984.

This is looking west where the tracks run parallel with East Street, at the junction between former New Haven Railroad’s New York & New England route running west toward Willimantic, Connecticut and the New Haven Branch to Milford, Massachusetts (since upgraded for MBTA service to Forge Park/495.)

I’d exposed this photograph on black & white film using a Leica 3A rangefinder fitted with a Canon screw mount 50mm f1.8 lens. For a few months, I used the Canon lens as a replacment for my Leica 50mm f2.0 Summitar that I’d damaged.

The Canon lens was faster than the Summitar but lacked the critical sharpness of the Leica lens. As a result, this period of photography has great interest to me in regards to subject matter, but suffers from inferior technical quality than some of my earlier work.

It took a few years, but ultimately I made significant changes in the equipment that I was using that greatly improved the technical quality of my photograhy.

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MBTA 717 at Norfolk, Mass.

Filtered winter sun is better than rain!

Thin layers of clouds and bare early winter trees makes for a setting that reminds me of growing up in Massachusetts.

Kris and I stopped into Norfolk, Massachusetts during a brief visit with family over the holidays.

We arrived at Norfolk’s MBTA Station shortly before the arrival of westward Franklin Branch commuter train 717 led by HSP-46 No. 2013.

In its heyday, this route had been the mainline of the New York & New England, an erstwhile competitor, and later component of the New Haven Railroad.

I made these images using my Nikon Z7-II. I made a host of adjustments to the RAW NEF files to make the most of soft directional light.

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MBTA Norfolk-Trailing View

On our return from Cape Cod last month, we paused at Norfolk, Massachusetts for lunch and to roll by MBTA Train 2706 on its way to Boston, South Station.

During an earlier visit to Norfolk two years ago, Kris and I noted that MBTA/Keolis was working to install two-main track (signaled in both directions on both tracks) on this portion of the Franklin Line—a former New Haven Railroad route that was at one time graded for directional- double track, but in my lifetime has been a single track railroad. 

Some progress was made and on this visit I noted that new signals and crossovers were in place on both sides of Norfolk, however the track through the station has not yet been completed, and the signal heads turned away, indicating they were not yet in use.

Using my Nikon Z6 with 70-200mm lens, I made these trailing views of train 2706 looking toward Walpole and Boston.

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Working on the Franklin Branch.

It’s been a long time since the White Train passed this way.

At one time, many years ago MBTA’s Franklin Branch was the New York & New England main line, which was then a double track line through Norfolk, Massachusetts.

When Kris Sabbatino and I paid a visit to Norfolk a week ago, Keolis track crews were busily working on the line installing a second main track.

So, I wonder, when will the line be extended west to restore the Inland route via Blackstone, Putnam and Willimantic to New Haven?

Photos exposed with a Nikon Z6.

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