Rockport in the Mid-sixties

 

Here three rather weather beaten RDC-1s and an RDC-2 headed by 6117 await their duty.  This gives a view of the platforms as they existed in the mid sixties.

by Geoff Southwood 

In the mid sixties, my parents vacationed at Cape Ann, Massachusetts, northeast of Boston.  As a teenager, they would rent me a bike and of course all roads led to either Gloucester or Rockport Stations.  At the end of the line in Rockport, weekends were a particularly bountiful time to find any number of Budd Rail Diesel Cars wiling away their time awaiting the Monday morning call to commuter duty to take passengers to North Station.  By the sixties, the station was gone but the freight house still stood.  In fact the freight house was recently the subject of an excellent craftsman structure designed by Jeff Grove of Carolina Craftsman Kits and produced for Ipswich Models.  The loop track that was used to turn head end power before the RDC era was still in existence and a walk around the loop and its marshy pond was sure to land you more than a few mosquito bites!  The loop track right of way is still visible on Google Earth.

On a typical weekend, RDCs were literally scattered around the trackage and most varieties were on the scene.  Here’s 6154, one of the last deliveries of RDC-1s manufactured in 1957.

By the mid sixties, RDCs with baggage and mail facilities had been relegated to commuter service.  

Here’s an RDC-2, 6211 laying over.

And an RDC-3, 6303, looking surprisingly unweathered for its age.

Even a rather forlorn looking RDC-9, 6929 is parked for the weekend.  Clearly some consist assembly would be required come Monday morning.

Lastly, a single car weekend departure, RDC-1 6114, approaches the Rockport loop track as it starts its journey to North Station.  Here’s a weathering challenge.