Two recent acquisitons of mine. A UP extra train in Denver, 1949. A Colorado & Southern wreck in fabulous color.
There is a lot of head end equipment on that train. It could be that or some kind of seasonal mail/express extra, but given that this photo was taken in August (according to the notes on the rear), the latter option seems doubtful.
Another tower shot, this one of the B&O's abandoned FN Tower at Patterson Creek, WV located at the eastern end of the Patterson Creek Cutoff, which once provided a route around busy Cumberland, MD. Photo taken October 1994. Gotta love those colored position light signals.
Some of these look like lonely outposts. Are they? Or is there usually a town close by? This one has me wondering- With three stories, was there that much equipment inside? Or possibly living quarters at some time? Rats. Thought I might have a train order from here, but all I have in letter "F" are FC and FY.
This one was indeed a lonely outpost with nothing nearby. My wife and I were seeking to find FN and finally located it after a long drive with dozens of twists and turns following my railfan nose. It was late in the day, so we were happy to have a bit of dwindling sunlight to shoot pictures. I'm uncertain why FN was three stories, but it may have been to aid visibility. FN also took over the functions of CO Tower at McKenzie, WV at the west end of the Cutoff.
Mexico Tower (M) is another three story B&O Tower, standing at the east end of the Cumberland, MD yard. It was busily in service in October 1993 when I took this photo, but I think it has since been closed. Happily though, Mexico still stands.
A while ago I posted an on-the-fly photo of CPR's former Montreal West Tower. Here it is again, along with a scan of a photo in a book I came across not long ago: Mtlwest_tower_then&now by Mike VE2TRV posted Apr 19, 2016 at 8:34 PM On the left is the 2016 photo I took with my tablet as I passed by in the commuter train, and on the right is a scan of a 1954 photo showing the same tower before the extension was built.
A oldie from 1971. The last Union Pacific City of Portland departing Portland Union Station 30-4-1971
Looks a lot less spiffy than most UP passenger trains. I'm guessing that by this date they'd furloughed everyone they could, to scrape off a few extra dollars......
