LAST TRAIN: Bay Colony Railroad's last day - Dartmouth, MA - 12/15/2023
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- Опубликовано: 14 дек 2023
- On 12/15/2023 the Bay Colony Railroad ran its last train on the Watuppa Branch between New Bedford and Westport, MA. This marked the last train after 41 years of operation. The Mass Coastal Railroad purchased the Bay Colony this month so the line will still be in operation to serve customers.
Special thanks Vincent Colombo for filming this video and making the sign as well as Dave Blazejewski for snapping the group photo at the end of the video.
Westport, Dartmouth, New Bedford, MA
12/15/2023
Flickr:
www.flickr.com/photos/1404502...
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Lasted longer than Conrail. I have pictures of me standing next to a Conrail loco on that same line in Dartmouth
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That's really too bad about Bay Colony. They have lasted a long time, and served or communities well. I really hope Mass Coastal keeps their employees, maintins their customers and continues to operate 1705 and 1706. They were a nice small railroad. Thank you for sharing this sad, yet meaningful moment. That "Bay Colony Last Run" sign was so sad to see.
They have been gone a long time. Jack Kennedy took over the railroad quite some time ago when George Bartholomew went bankrupt and lost both his businesses. His railroad and realty business. Jack was responsible for restoring the Old Colony Railroad back to it;s former glory. The MBTA has taken over the old Baldwin plant in Taunton as their new southcoast manrience facility. Jack has a lifetime lease with the scudder family for the Hyannis engine house which is now his cape cod freight yard and maintenance facility.. It was turned into a nightclub for a time in the early 70's though the 80's.
Something similar happened to the Caney Fork & Western RR in middle Tennessee, it was a two-horse road (a pair of ex-L&N high hood GP's) that was responsible for reviving the L&N's Sparta Branch based on a community-first approach, then some hotshot doctor bought the railroad when the General Manager retired in 2006 and everything went to pot after that. Now it's a division of Ironhorse Resources, which is basically a smaller version of the G&W.
A lot of the employees are retiring from what I heard
I do not think Jack Kennedy has anything to do with the railroad anymore. He definitely has not been involved with Bay Colony since they left the Cape Cod lines. Mass Coastal took that trackage but Bay Colony retained and operated this line (Watuppa) and the Millis line until now.@@VickyGeagan
There were only 2 part time employees and one full timer.@@bukasb
I used to repair radio equipment for Bay Colony; mostly hand-held (walkie-talkie) portables, but also locomotive radios. Their radio repeater system was located in the head house of the Cape Cod railroad bridge (on the Cape side). The repeater radio equipment rack was about 20 feet away from the 16 - foot diameter cable sheaves that raise & lower the movable center span of the bridge. Was up there many times serviced the repeater system when I’d hear the warning horn (for canal maritime traffic) sound, & watch the 2 huge sheaves start spooling up to lower the bridge. If I stepped out onto the walkway outside the head house, I could see the train crossing below. From that height, it looked like a Z - scale model train! 😅
Tom
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Hey Tom: What radios did they use back then? U should help out MC and MBTA with their radios!
@@wavesnbikes
The portable radios they used were Standards, sold by the company I worked for at the time (C & L Communications). Standard (who also made some very nice amateur radio equipment) was eventually bought out by Yaesu. They were a good quality Japanese radio.
The locomotive radios were Motorla Motracs (old even back then); a "hybrid" radio that had a solid -state receiver & lower - level transmitter stages, but still use vacumm tubes for the final RF power amplifier stage. They were pretty reliable, though; most problems with them were either power issues or bad handsets.
Their repeater system was a 100 - watt Johnson located in the Cape - side headhouse of the Caoe Cod Railroad bridge.
OMG memories ! Worked this line as a brand new conductor for CSX in 2002. Back then the line was a 5 mph dumpster fire , and the train often ran 15 - 20 outbounds from Mid City Scrap. Derailments were common.
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I remember working the line in 99 before joining the Army and yep, dumpster fire! The rails SUNK INTO THE TIES!
In this day and age of buying/ selling/ merging/ conglomerating 41 years is a great run for an independent RR. Though not too familiar with this particular line, I can sympathize with the sentiments of "losing a friend". Being independent...if a Railroad, or other business, is a VERY unique and fulfilling feat. But, at least the line will continue to service customers and remain a reminder of what it has achieved in its' 41 years! Great video and great tribute!
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I really enjoyed this video. It reminds me of my childhood in Westport. When I was a very young boy, about 1952, I rode a steam engine from Davis Road all the way to the Blossom Road in Westport. The tracks went all the way to Brayton Avenue at that time. My dad was a friend of the engineer, and he gave us a ride with me on my dad's knee. I remember the noises of the engine most of all. As a matter of fact, Reed Road was named after my great, great grandfather.
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Both my uncles ran Bay Colony RR trains back in the mid80’s…. Used to go to buzzards bay to see them as well as ride on the trips to Falmouth and Hyannis with them. So fun!
Jack Kennedy owner and president of the Mass Coastal railroad has restored the Old Colony Railroad.back to it's former glory. He is uses a lot of their original equipment. As well as a lot of the former New Haven and Boston and Main equipment. Just giving the engines a new much needed coat of paint.
@@VickyGeagan that’s pretty cool! All I ever wanted as a kid was a train in those silver yellow and orange colors! Seeing my uncles as engineers was so cool!
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😂 Vicky that's a funny tale you tell!
The way you spell Chris Podgurski 😮 is a lot different than reality 😂!
Oh leave George Bartholomew alone!
@@wilfred8326 I met George through my Grampa when I was a youngster. He was very kind to us.
An excellent video of the last day , particularly nice touch at the end of the employee's together . The positive is that the line will live on 🙂
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Thanks for posting this in the spirit of the railroaders of the past
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Thank you Bay Colony for 40 years excellent service to your customers and delivery of loads and employees love of jobs and service .
You set the standard how a local railroad is run safely and getting your customers loads delivered
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Farewell Bay Colony Railroad. BCLR #1705 and #1706 lead the last Bay Colony Railroad train before the Mass Coastal Railroad takeover. #1705 wears last run sign. We'll never forget you Bay Colony Railroad. RIP Bay Colony Railroad 1982-2023. Cause of death: became a part of Mass Coastal Railroad and now ceased to exist as an independent railroad.
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Not being from the area, dont know the situation, but glad rail service will continue, albeit a different railroad.
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Great catches and awesome video mike
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❤ I love the video whoever did the video did an outstanding job job well done the end of an era so sad excellent video
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The Fay's had to shell out a ton of $ down here to fix bridges after hurricane Ian (Seminole Gulf RR) I'm guessing that might have something to do with this. I wonder what will happen to the GP's......sad to see it but glad there's another small RR getting it.
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The most interesting part of the sale will be the future of the Millis Line and the 1701.
No reason why 1705 & 1706 could not continue to service the Watuppa branch for the Mass Coastal. Only time will tell, many thanks to Bay Colony
Is there any news on what the future is for the millis line?
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Long as they keep the Railroad a going any tracks taken out is a win for Trucking.
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I would hope they’d keep it all going .
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Bay colony small short line will be missed but mass coastal is growing and that's better for all we need good rail service
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Awesome job shooting this historic footage! Will Bay Colony GP9's # 1705 and 1706 become Mass Coastal units? If Mass Coastal reuses these vintage "Geeps", that would be even better. You just gotta love that growl of the nonturbo 567 engine, one of my favorite engine sounds. God bless.
1701, 1705 & 1706 are included in the sale.
Sweet!@@alwhalen3488
@@alwhalen3488 hasn't the federal government mandated scrapping of most first generation diesels?
California is trying to enforce something like that. Some railroads have made deals to acquire newer power in exchange for scrapping older stuff. No mandates on a Federal level as of yet.@@suppylarue220
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Love that GP-9 Engine sound!
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Well done video. Thanks.
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Another fallen flag in New England railroading. I just hope to see 1705-1706 in MC livery colors. Very sad to see BCLR go! But it was inevitable,MC is growing and maintaining and rehabbing the south coast so it was a matter of time before they bought them out . RIP BCLR! I’m glad I still have a bunch BCLR HO scale models!
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RIP Bay Colony Railroad 1982-2023
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Awesome
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This is definitely sad news thanks for sharing this and what is going to happen to the Bay colony Railroad and what's going to happen to the railroad line but is mass coastal going to use their line too
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@@SouthCoastRailVideos You're Very welcome so what is going to happen to this line
The Bay Colony RR Corporation was purchased by Massachusetts Coastal. The Lines the Bay Colony RR ran over in some way were owned by the State of Massachusetts who is also leasing connected lines to Massachusetts Coastal, the Bay Colony as a separate RR entity will no longer run, and its lines + customers assumed by Mass Coastal.
@@wilfred8326 Cool that's pretty awesome the mass coastal is taking over for them keeping the lines open that's pretty awesome
It would be nice if Mass Coastal would repaint 1705 and 1706, I think they should keep them. They’re both in great condition, I hope they don’t sell them.
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Mass Coastal has to keep the 1705 just for the horn..... alone. Best horn on New England rails !!
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I still can't figure how they were also in Needham Ma. We use to drop cars off for them.
Medfield to Needham and vicinity was part of the Millis Line at one time.
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Very good Mike.
Thanks for watching!!!!! The videographer did an amazing job.
Shame I never got to see this railroad in real life. Still glad that the line will still be in use.
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For posterity purposes the crew at the end is L to R: Al Whalen, engineer, Bob Duponte, retired track supervisor, Ben Walter, roadforeman, Mike St. Louis, conductor
Solid crew
Will MC continue to operate BCLR power?
Mass Coastal 2006 is headed to the line for now. Unknown what they will do with the BCLR power. Millis Line and 1701 also included.
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Scared me for a sec there.
I was on the last train out of North Station, New year's Eve back in.....1989? 88? Can't remember.....
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What a sad story 😢.
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✌️✌️🇺🇸🇺🇸
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Oh dang…
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Wonder what will happen with the Seminole Gulf Dinner Train in Florida ? Great little operation, interesting detective mystery and food to boot !!
Dinner Train still runs from Ft. Meyers
Hi, do you know if the line will fall abandoned or will they pull up the rails?
Line will remain in use.
Mass coastal owns the bay colony now so no the rail's will not be abandoned and torn up. It's still an active line
Thanks for letting me know! I’m happy the line will remain active.
I wonder what's up going to happen with the Millis Branch
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The RR might use it!
😮
😂
All they need is a customer
We'll don't know what will happen to the 1701, 1705 & 1706?
Wait and see is probably the best 👌 advice.
I learned one thing in the Army, only trust what I know now! Everything subject to change....
Great video! Why does 1705 have different colors?
Experimental paint scheme that combined the Bay Colony and sister railroad Seminole Gulf colors.
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😂 contrary to popular belief it isn't an "experimental scheme" to combine Seminole Gulf + Bay Colony RR 😂 colors.....
The Unit is Former OmniTrax 1777.
It arrived in that paint *Blue + Grey* in fact the paint was so FRESH it smelled and it was shiny ✨️....
The Bay Colony RR employees said it would be a shame to have to take it out of service "just to paint it" when it has a perfect coat of paint right now.....
They took out a tape measure and figured there would be a "gap" between the bottom of the Blue and the top of the Yellow, but if the YELLOW + ORANGE were made Wider to touch the blue and make the Grey at the Bottom "Balance"
Then it'd work and they'd save time + money.
No one thought it was going to be an almost 20 year paint scheme!
Bay Colony looked promising in the 80's... What happened?
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Um the State of Massachusetts happened and many businesses didn't ship via Rail! Or they cut back to the point that they couldn't be bothered to purchase by the carload, so carloadings went down....
They also didn't own the lines SO there's that, BCLR was never guaranteed to "be there tomorrow" if they made an investment in facilities.....
In 2008 they lost the Cape Lines and with it the daily Trash Train....
will they still use the engines?
Engines are included in the sale. Unknown if Mass Coastal will use them.
Sad day!
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So much for the 1701....
It is included in the sale.
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Is mass coastal taking over this rr and keeping their units?
YES
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It’s been over 40 years.
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About time that Jack got around to repainting those engines. Their going to look good with a fresh coat of paint.
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No more of the Geeps?
All three BCLR units are included in the sale.
We just don't know what Mass Coastal will do with the BCLR Geeps.
@@Slipperyisimproving ok then
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Why are people so worried about inanimate objects....
"What about the Geeps!?!?😮"
What about the people?(i.e. any employees)
2023 was a bad year! 😢😢
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Could be worse? I feel like Bay Colony RR is getting the respect it deserves this year vs what it didn't get in 2007-8 ending ops on Cape Cod....
🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂🚂
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Why doesn't the crew blow the whistle/horn for the road crossings?
Unnecessary to use the horn when an employee is out stopping traffic. There is a special instruction to that effect in the employee timetable. Horn is used when the train is crossing roads with active signals.
Wow how old are those tracks? They look scary
I have seen and ran over worst.
Some of the rail dates to 1918.
@@alwhalen3488 wow Thank you
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Back in the 90's when Conrail still owned half of the Watuppa.... thier half was more "hair raising" than Bay Colony's 😂 when piping cars in and out of Mid-City.... you would see 😮 the rails disappear into the ties and/or see-saw "up + down" as your car or locomotive rolled over them😅.....
Last runs are sad.
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Are those locomotives ex-SCL?
1705 is ex Great Northern, 1706 is ex FEC
Twas only a matter of time very sad nonetheless
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I wondered Did they also purchase their sister RR the Seminole Gulf RR
No