riding the Vermonter
Dec. 30th, 2014 11:14 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
asakiyumeTrain tracks run behind my neighborhood, where I walk. I often see trains go by: long New England Central Railroad freight trains and the Amtrak passenger train--the Vermonter.
On Christmas I learned that in January, the route of the Vermonter will change--it will no longer travel the length of track near my house. We've often talked of riding it, but our chance was fast disappearing, so on Saturday, December 27,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
wakanomori and I bought tickets to ride from Springfield, Massachusetts, to Amherst. Here are some photos of that journey (to see more in the series, or to see any of the pictures bigger, click through to Flickr):
In Springfield, waiting
Long evening light off the old mill buildings
River near Palmer, Massachusetts
Cars, you will stop for us!
The first is near where I waved atjanni when she was riding the train and passing through; the second shows the woods between my neighborhood and the tracks--where you and I often walk, littlemoremasks-- and the third is from the railway bridge that was the sixth bridge in my story "Seven Bridges." I've travelled under that bridge on foot, bicycle, and car, and over the bridge on foot and now by train.
And here is a picture of the setting sun that Amtrak liked so much it asked to use it--I said yes.
And here we are in Amherst. I heard other people talking about how this was near to the last journey. Others were also commemorating it, as you can see.
Then we drove home in the deepening sunset
On Christmas I learned that in January, the route of the Vermonter will change--it will no longer travel the length of track near my house. We've often talked of riding it, but our chance was fast disappearing, so on Saturday, December 27,
wakanomori and I bought tickets to ride from Springfield, Massachusetts, to Amherst. Here are some photos of that journey (to see more in the series, or to see any of the pictures bigger, click through to Flickr):In Springfield, waiting
Long evening light off the old mill buildings
River near Palmer, Massachusetts
Cars, you will stop for us!
The first is near where I waved at
janni when she was riding the train and passing through; the second shows the woods between my neighborhood and the tracks--where you and I often walk, littlemoremasks-- and the third is from the railway bridge that was the sixth bridge in my story "Seven Bridges." I've travelled under that bridge on foot, bicycle, and car, and over the bridge on foot and now by train. And here is a picture of the setting sun that Amtrak liked so much it asked to use it--I said yes.
And here we are in Amherst. I heard other people talking about how this was near to the last journey. Others were also commemorating it, as you can see.
Then we drove home in the deepening sunset
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Date: 2014-12-30 04:22 pm (UTC)Will the train not run at all, or will it have a different route?
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Date: 2014-12-30 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-12-30 05:40 pm (UTC)Turns out that it's actually a restoration of the original Connecticut River routing; Amherst was added to replace the missing Northampton stop when it was rerouted off of that line. The Conn River Line was limited to 10 mph service because the owner, Guilford, didn't want to pay for repairs to keep it in spec for higher speeds. Instead, Amtrak ran through Palmer in a move that required reversing the train in order to switch lines to continue northward....
More recently, MassDOT bought the CRL and used stimulus funds to rehabilitate it for restored passenger traffic. There are also plans for a new station in Holyoke.
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Date: 2014-12-30 06:12 pm (UTC)As a transportation geek, you might appreciate this super-awesome route map my son did for the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority--it's got all the bus lines, etc. (You can click through to see it bigger)
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Date: 2014-12-30 05:02 pm (UTC)But sad . . . I won't get to ride that one, I guess, sigh.
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Date: 2014-12-30 08:29 pm (UTC)Those are very beautiful photos. The news that the Vermonter will no longer run through Amherst caused me to shout, "Crap!" loudly enough to alarm
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Date: 2014-12-30 10:14 pm (UTC)There was so much nostalgia and affection in the air at the Amherst station.
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Date: 2014-12-30 10:59 pm (UTC)Love your icon!
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