CSXT local L063 (formerly known as DO-1) has 17 loads (16 tank cars of propane for SEA-3 in Newington and one centerbeam for Boise Cascade Building Materials) headed east on modern day CSXT's Portsmouth Branch. The train is only about a mile from its starting point at Rockingham Junction as it steps out onto the causeway over the tidal Squamscott River where it empties into Great Bay. They are at MP PMT13 (the new CSXT milepost) and will cross from the town of Newfield into Stratham when they reach the east side of the river. A nice merger set of power leads the train in the form of CSXT 6229 (EMD GP40-2 blt. Feb. 1979 as BO 4330 in Chessie paint) and MEC 517 (a Pan Am blue GP40-2W blt. Apr. 1976 as CN 9660 and one of 20 acquired by Guilford a quarter century ago).
This line dates from 1852 and in its earliest form was known as the Portsmouth and Concord Railroad linking the state capital with its only seaport. The line to Concord was short lived however being replaced with a branch from Candia to the big mill town of Manchester. For nearly 120 years the line survived as a through route as part of the spider web of Boston and Maine routes across the southern part of the Granite State. However by 1982 only the portion east of the Portland Division mainline connection at Rockingham Junction survived.
This 15 mile branch (in total including the portion known as the Newington Industrial Track) would soldier on through the turbulent Guilford and Pan Am eras and since June 1, 2022 has belonged to CSXT. Today this line is the coastal port city's only rail connection to the outside world, but as late as 1934 the city could be accessed from five different points. Trains came from the north via the old Eastern (PS&P) from North Berwick and a connection with the mainline and even further back via direct second parallel thru route to Portland. Ten miles north on that route there was a connection at Jewett to the original Conway Branch to Salmon Falls, Somersworth, and the north country. Prior to 1934 there was still yet another line extending beyond current end of track to Newington northwest to Dover.
But most importantly was the former Eastern Route mainline to the south which extended 57 miles in a nearly straight line from Boston, and hosted passenger trains as late as 1965. Severed as a thru route at the Newburyport drawbridge shortly thereafter it became two long branches until abandonments began in 1982. The final 10 miles the junction a mile west of the yard at at a point known as Emery, lasted until 2008 when Pan Am ran the last train ran to the final customer in Hampton with the rails finally being lifted in 2013.
Newfields, New Hampshire
Friday February 14, 2025
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Due to not having enough people marked up to cover the 2 shifts, a 3 man 601 was sent out to cover the work. Here they are seen passing under the signal bridge at CP 147 Walpole NH
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L07023 heads west past Merrill road in Lewiston with the oldest SD40-2 on CSX in the lead
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A pair of 8-40CWM's and 2 geeps lead L07022 into Leeds Jct
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One more image of a Wisconsin & Southern T4H train, this time while running on Canadian National trackage about nine years earlier than my previous two photo posts.
After an overnight round of freezing rain, the skies have cleared and 20 minutes before a March 2016 Sunrise, three WSOR EMD SD40-2s with dynamic brakes whining are slowing their train for the Duplainville crossing of the Canadian Pacific just a mile ahead. ~~ A Jeff Hampton Photograph ©
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