This the scene as seen from aliens thousands and thousands of light years away - and wait till they get here, it'll all be gone. Fantastic photo, Don! So much to see, so much to imagine. Thanks!
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Love those vintage cars/autos.
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Man, what changes! Why where all the cars parked there? Last time I was there, a long time ago, I admit, it was nothing but a weedy, tree grown lot with some homeless camps.
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A really neat look back Donald. I love those NH colors.
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Great nostalgic photo, thanks for sharing it!
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Hate to dispute the date, but it appears that there is a '60 Ford and '60 Chevie parked in the lower left corner of the photo.
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The PA1s had one major advantage over the FL9s: They rode far better than the flexi-coil trucked FL9s ever did. The problem was once New Haven closed the Readville shops, they were in a very difficult position as their diesel fleet aged. Some of New Haven's passenger diesels needed replacement in 1959, namely the remaining DL109s, all of the PA1s and FM CPA24-5s. Failing to replace the shop capacity of Readville meant New Haven would fall behind on maintenance of all their diesels, which they never caught up on. Long, long before this, three new lightweight passenger train sets hit the rails and two were total failures. This area is not a railfan friendly area by any stretch of the imagination.
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Just a few things I have to say ...First THANKS again, Don, for sharing some more New England History. Secondly, there seem to be a small number of mechanical things that have perfect, classic proportions thanks to their engineers / designers. The Alco PA series are certainly members of this elite group along with the PRR GG1, the Corvette Stingray Coupe, . . .we all have our own lists. Third, while I personally never cared for the NH's "simplified" black & orange on the Alco FAs, it seems to really WORK on the PA, due to the additional length. Imagine how striking the PAs would have looked in that scheme if only they had had stainless steel air grills. Last, I also wanted to mention the curious similarity in the color scheme the owner chose for the Nash/AMC product parked in the center of the field. Perhaps also painted in the NH shops?
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Gritty but great! Nice piece of history!
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Regarding the comment on the 1960 Ford and Chevy, remember that the new model year came out in September of the previous year.
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| Posted by JLG on December 17, 2009 | |
So very happy you HAD to settle for the PA's!!!
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Excellent post Don. Thanks.
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Fantastic photo Don!! Thanks for my nitely New Haven fix.
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