Hi, all, I'll have a free day in Boston, Massachusetts on Thurs Oct 8th. Any recommendations for hobby shop, model RR club, or railfanning? I'll have a car, and have all day free. My flight leaves Boston at 640pm. Thx.
Its a big place, and I'm up in that direction a lot. I don't know much about the hobby side, but from a railfan side there are several 'unusual' things to do in the area. One of my favorites is Lowell, MA - 25 miles N/NW of Boston. It's on the end of an MBTA line with frequent service out of North Station. You can up/back it from North Station, or pick one of the other online stations to base from. Tends to run with F40's, etc. At Lowell, the National Park Service operates vintage streetcars about a mile from the commuter rail terminal to the two museums and the visitors center there, along with some static B&M equipment on display. Lowell's a rather different city as it is laced with canals from the original water power of the city. Guilford also runs freight through there on an irregular basis but that's pretty much of a luck shot.
John, I will second a visit to Lowell NHP. I am biased, though. My father, Jim, is one of the trolley Motormen. Jim (Jr.)
Too add on to this suggestion, if you take the commuter rail to Lowell, you will pass through a lot of old and active sidings along the way - particularly in Lowell. There are also often strings of freight cars sitting on sidings around the Lowell station. There are a number of museums in Lowell - including a National Streetcar museum: Museums Art Museums in Lowell, Massachusetts | Lowell.com I've also taken the canal tour - part of the National Historic Park system in Lowell: Lowell National Historical Park - Guided Tours (U.S. National Park Service) In short, you could easily spend the day there, although not necessarily all train related. I don't railfan, so others would have better ideas of where to catch the action. Guilford (now Pan Am Southern) operates a lot of older locos you typically don't see in operation very much anymore.
Hi, Daniel, yes, I did, just overwhelmed with my real life (i.e. job and work), and haven't had time to respond yet - will do so on Friday to your personal email - thx for emailing me.
