{"id":4983,"date":"2014-01-06T05:31:01","date_gmt":"2014-01-06T10:31:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/?p=4983"},"modified":"2014-01-06T07:53:45","modified_gmt":"2014-01-06T12:53:45","slug":"daily-post-maine-centrals-east-wind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/daily-post-maine-centrals-east-wind\/","title":{"rendered":"DAILY POST: Maine Central\u2019s East Wind"},"content":{"rendered":"

Short and Sweet, That’s It?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In July 1983, on one of my first solo-trips by automobile, I visited Bangor & Aroostook\u2019s yards at Northern Maine Junction. My friend Bob Buck had recommended this location because at the time the railroad was very accommodating of photographers.<\/p>\n

You could sign a release and pretty much have the run of the place\u2014so long as you stayed out of the roundhouse. The railroad had a guestbook and a gift shop. The employees were friendly and would answer questions.<\/p>\n

I think I was there on a weekend, because the Bangor & Aroostook was quiet. There was dead line filled with F3A and BL2s that garnered my attention, but nothing was moving.<\/p>\n

I asked one of the railroaders if there was anything running; he replied there wasn\u2019t, but he\u2019d find out if anything was coming on Maine Central. A short time late he came back to me and said there was an eastbound close.<\/p>\n

Maine Central\u2019s line bisected Bangor & Aroostook\u2019s facilities, and I waited on the south side of the main line to favor the sun. After a little while, a lone former Rock Island U25B hauling two piggyback flats rolled by with its bell ringing and strobe lights flashing; this was the East Wind <\/i>(New Haven, Connecticut to Bangor, Maine).<\/p>\n

\"U25B<\/a>
Maine Central\u2019s hot intermodal train East Wind blows through Northern Maine Junction in July 1983. Exposed on Ektachrome film with a Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar lens. Although not a great photo, this documented a fleeting period of railroading, and I’m glad to have made it. While, catching the strobes lit was just pure luck.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I made several image with my Leica 3A, but I wasn\u2019t<\/i> impressed. One engine? Two cars? Four piggyback trailers? No caboose?!<\/i> I said to the Bangor & Aroostook man who had waited with me, \u2018Not much of a train, was it?\u2019 He just shrugged. I don\u2019t think he was impressed either.<\/p>\n

What I had witnessed was Guilford\u2019s early 1980s effort at capturing high(er) value piggyback traffic. The theory behind trains such as Maine Central\u2019s East Wind<\/i> was that by speeding schedules and lowering operating costs, the railroad could compete with highways for more lucrative time-sensitive shipments, rather than merely settle for low-priority low-value bulk-commodity traffic.<\/p>\n

In retrospect, although the train didn\u2019t impress me at the time, I made a valuable record of that early period after passage of the 1980 Staggers Act, when railroads were trying to break into new markets. It was also the first caboose-less train I\u2019d seen, and gave me a hint of what was to come in the future. The U25B? That was a bonus.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tracking the Light<\/a>\u00a0posts new material\u00a0every\u00a0morning.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Please spread the word and share\u00a0Tracking the Light<\/a>\u00a0with anyone who may enjoy seeing it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

http:\/\/briansolomon.com\/trackingthelight\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Related articles<\/h6>\n