At 9:03 am on Bokum Road, Old Saybrook:

On a stretch deck trailer, 1912 Boston & Albany boxcar 39569 begins a journey to the Railroad Museum of New England at Chase Yard in Waterbury.

37 minutes later, at Essex, it's coffee time:


J. David Conrad enjoys his hot beverage as 3025 also heats up.



J. David and VRR Lead Mechanic Wayne Hebert with well-deserved smiles--- 3025 looks wonderful!

The boxcar arrived about 10:30 in Waterbury. The rain held off until after dark.

Howard P.

Thanks for the pics, Howard...and that last one is a wonderful image!

Stephen

A New Haven Mike has to be the favorite locomotive on the railroad! I hope sufficient publicity has been circulated tot he Conn DOT and other publicity organizations.

Yes, that last picture is priceless...proud "parents" of a beautiful steamer. VRR, ya done good!

Howard -

Nice photos of Valley 3025 and J. David. But the move of the B&A boxcar is very interesting. Any historic photos of the cars lettering when in service? Do you have the trucks? How much genuine Boston & Albany equipment actually survives?

Les

Nice catch with the XM!

Boston & Albany 39569, after unloading at Chase Yard, Waterville, CT.

Car was built as part of Lot 312-B, numbers 39000-39904, by AC&F's Berwick Plant in 1914 (my first statement of 1912 was wrong). It is a 36-foot, 40-ton capacity car. The car has proper NYC Lines Vulcan 5 x 9 trucks with cast-iron wheels; trucks were brought to Waterville separately. Brake system was K-triple valve, never updated to AB. One door and the other one's door hardware are inside the car. On the "A" end, it has a type D coupler with a 9" knuckle, the "B" end is a type "E".

The warrantee stencil for the Murphy XLA Flexible Metal Roof is visible inside the car at the eave line; it expired in 1919 (a 5 year warrantee).

This appears to be the only Boston & Albany piece extant, except for the 1870-era "Eddy Clock" 4-4-0 at St. Louis.

This car and a number of others were sold after 1945 by their respective railroads to Norton Abrasives Co. at Worcester, Mass., for inter-plant service. About 1979-80, volunteers from RMNE (then named CVRM) selected and prepared for on-own-wheels movement, about 12 cars from the ones remaining at Norton (about 30 cars). Budget restraints and lack of space at Valley Railroad meant such gems as a gorgeous Lehigh Valley wood box were left behind for scrapping. The yellow color was Norton's paint scheme for their cars and they had Norton numbers.

At least 4 B&M 1929 XM-1 single-sheathed cars were saved and moved, 3 or 4 New Haven 36-foot cars (originally sold to NYNH&H by ace freight car salesman "Diamond Jim" Brady of Keith Car Co. in 1909) made the trip, one B&M 1918 USRA 40-foot double-sheathed car, the DL&W 36-foot double-sheathed car now restored at Steamtown, and a few others. It was the box car equivalent of Barry Scrapyard in the UK.

There may be an article about these Norton cars for RyPN, if I can figure out how to get it posted.

Howard P.

From the Steam Era Freight Cars website, sent along by my colleague Jon Chase. October 1914 built date.

Obviously, a lot of stencils to cut... but a very striking car when done.

Howard P.

Kudos to the gang for the 3025. She's beautiful!

Nice box car, we don't have many examples from that era.