New Owner Hopes to Bring Back the Glory of the Greenville NH Railroad Station

( SOURCE:  https://www.ledgertranscript.com/Greenville-rail-station-under-renovations-to-return-to-its-old-glory-43099370?fbclid=IwAR2RZzrXQAzVB7J-OV1soINdXKoErWjnw6SoYOictkyktLluS-sq3h1YkKk )

... Tom Hawkins of Temple recently purchased the building to be the new home of his sign fabrication business. But, he also has another goal – bringing back the building’s original shape, when it was first built and used as the Greenville rail station.

“I didn’t really want to do my business in a restaurant, but it dawned on me that I could peel it back and get back to its original shape,” Hawkins said. “And I realized it’s a real gem.” ... READ MORE 

The Union Freight Railroad Office - 87 Atlantic Ave Boston MA

The Union Freight Railroad's office at 87 Atlantic Avenue, Boston MA.  Judging by the cars, I'd guess the photo was taken in the 1940s.  The building at right still exists.

Boston & Maine Railroad 99-Car Freight at Waltham MA 5/30/1928

I recently treated myself to an Ebay item... an original glass negative of a freight in Waltham Massachusetts.  The caption reads "3009  B&M  May 30, 1928  99 CARS   Waltham Mass".  

I wondered why a photographer would make a special note of the "99 cars", and tried finding newspaper accounts via the Boston Public Library e-resources.  

On May 19th a special train for then president Calvin Coolidge was run on the B&M to Andover MA.  The president spoke at Phillips Academy for their 150th anniversary.  But that event was 11 days before the "99 car train" ran.

On June 5th the B&M had a celebration to open the new hump yards at Somerville, complete with a "parade of boxcars" to demonstrate the system to over 1,000 guests.  Were those 99 cars "props" en route for that event?  

Was 99 even a lot of fright cars on one train for that era?

AND did railroads close down for Memorial Day Weekend in the 1920s?  Was this train run to get freight moved before the holiday?  

Well, in 1928, Memorial Day was also called Decoration Day, and it was celebrated on May 30th, not the last Monday in May like today.  That means the train in the photo ran ON Memorial Day!  Perhaps the photographer just plain had a day off from work and went trackside?

Unless the train was mentioned in an employee magazine, we may never know just what caused the photographer to document that particular train.  

Now, what about the location of the photo?  It seems to me if the train is on the Fitchburg mainline, then  the old Central Massachusetts line is at right.  That means the train is somewhere west of Waverley in the Clematis Brook area and traveling "eastbound" toward Boston.  

There also appears to be an overhead road bridge in the background, with some semaphore signals just visible.  That could be the Linden Street bridge BUT it should be off to the right of the Fitchburg main, so that may possibly just be a signal bridge.

A period track chart would come in useful... 

The easiest info to find is the locomotive type:  2-10-2 "Santa Fe" Alco S1-a, built in 1920.

Am I delving too much into this photograph?  YOU BET!  But HEY, it keeps me off the mean streets!

Pan Am Rail Worker Dies After Getting Trapped Between Rail Cars

https://www.wcax.com/2021/05/20/worker-pinned-between-nh-rail-cars-dies-investigators-on-way/

https://www.seacoastonline.com/story/news/local/2021/05/20/subcom-worker-pinned-rail-cars-hurt-accident-newington-nh/5181441001/

https://www.unionleader.com/news/safety/pan-am-worker-dies-after-getting-trapped-between-rail-cars/article_29a735aa-9887-5408-9377-c33abefd8092.html

https://www.eagletribune.com/news/new_hampshire/worker-from-seabrook-dies-after-he-is-pinned-between-rail-cars/article_3ad622a5-713c-5dec-9a78-6f5f31a90f3e.html

"Slow Speed Incident" at MBTA Orange Line Near Wellington Station Medford MA

One of the MBTA's brand new Orange Line trainsets "...was crossing southbound tracks to accommodate maintenance work when it slipped the the rails at 11:04 a.m. There about 100 passengers on board and no injuries". 

The T plans to keep the line shut down for THREE WEEKS while repairs are completed.  Buses will be provided as substitute transportation.  

WNBC claims that "The MBTA is among the nation's worst transit agencies when it comes to derailments, according to federal records the NBC10 Boston Investigators reviewed...  Over the past five years, the MBTA reported trains came off the tracks 57 times, and 27 of those incidents involved passenger trains...
Only the transit system in New Orleans saw more derailments during that time, with a total of 77... A string of high-profile derailments in 2019 prompted creation of an independent panel to examine safety at the MBTA. In December of that year, the group concluded that the T had a "questionable" approach to safety including frequent lapses in maintenance and inspections."

https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/03/17/new-trains-out-of-service-as-mbta-investigates-orange-line-derailment/

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/new-orange-line-train-derails-shuttle-buses-replacing-trains-on-6-stops/2330278/

https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-orange-line-train-derails-in-work-zone-at-wellington-station/35853192

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/mbta-pulls-all-red-orange-line-trains-after-medford-derailment/

Boston Revere Beach & Lynn Ferry Package Ticket

 

Boston Revere Beach & Lynn Ferry Package Ticket

The Boston & Maine Railroad's Minuteman Logo - A Small History

With the introduction of maroon/gold EMD E-units to the Boston & Maine diesel roster in 1945 came a nifty new logo, usually simply referred to as simply the "Minuteman".  But do people outside of New England understand that the logo was actually based on something real, not just an idea from the B&M advertising or art department?

The patriotic logo was apt for a railroad so connected to Boston, Lexington, and Concord Massachusetts. And here in Massachusetts, when someone says "The Minuteman Statue", you have to then ask "which one?". For there are TWO of them, one in Lexington and one in Concord.

The Lexington statue is of "a colonial farmer with musket by Boston sculptor Henry H. Kitson... stands at the southeast corner of the Lexington Battle Green, facing the route of the British advance... Originally a functioning drinking fountain and watering place for men, horses, cattle and dogs, it was unveiled on April 19, 1900, the 125th anniversary of the battle... was supposed to depict Captain John Parker, leader of the Lexington militia in 1775. Medford resident Arthur Mather, among others, served as a model for the sculptor... although called the 'Minuteman', it is meant to represent a member of the Lexington militia... The actual Minutemen were an elite subset of this group, young and fit and able to respond quickly".

The Concord statue was made by Daniel Chester French and was "unveiled for the Centennial celebration of the battle on April 19, 1875... is set near the spot where the first colonial militia men were killed in Concord... 7 foot tall bronze statue was cast from old Civil War cannons by the Ames Foundry of Chicopee Massachusetts. The pedestal base measures 7 ½ feet tall and 4 ½ feet on each side. Inscribed on the front facing is the first stanza of the poem 'The Concord Hymn' by Ralph Waldo Emerson". 

The B&M logo was based in the Concord statue.

With the takeover of the B&M by Patrick McGinnis in the 1950s came a switch of maroon/gold paint to (in general) one of blue/black/white.  

To mark the United State's bicentennial in 1976, the old Minuteman was applied to various equipment, such as boxcar 77039 and locomotives 200, 1750 & 1751.

In 2021, both statues are still with us, but the Boston & Maine in Lexington is now the Minuteman bike path, and in Concord is the MBTA Fitchburg commuter line.  No name passenger trains, no freight trains.  The B&M name itself is set to finally die with the purchase of Pan Am Railways by CSX.  

https://www.tourlexington.us/attractions/pages/minuteman-statue

https://www.nps.gov/mima/learn/historyculture/the-minute-man-statue-by-daniel-chester-french.htm

http://www.faracresfarm.com/jbvb/rr/bmrr/diesel.html