Out of curiosity...

I meant to ask the the guys of the PL 2 when they came down the Waterbury branch last week, so maybe a B&M employee can help.
Where do your trains that service the Waterbury originate?
Does your railroad have it's own police force like the NYS&W and CSX?
Does your railroad have any CTC territory with or without cab signals or is it manual block like the Waterbury?
You can IM me privately or you can post your replies here. Thanks.

I can answer at least one of those questions: yes, Guilford has its own police force -- the Boston & Maine Railroad Police Department -- which is one of the oldest railroad police departments in the country.

I will answer as best I can although I have never worked for the B. & M.,
I have ridden much of it and have loads of timetables from it too.
Last I knew the line between Springfield and East Deerfield/Greenfield was
mostly CTC operated although there were some double track sections
that were operated under 251, ABS rules without CTC. This territory
extends west all the way to CPF-467 which is in the Mechanicville area.
West of there, they run on the CP for a way then the extreme west end to
Rotterdam Junction is DCS rules.
East of Portland, Maine, the former Maine Central the present route uses
the "back road" which had a good section of DCS territory. With that
exception, most of the route between Portland and Bangor is also CTC.
In 1995, the Northern Main Line at least as far as Manchester was also
CTC and north of Manchester was DCS.
The Conn River north out of Springfield shows in 1995 as being CTC all
the way to East Northfield but I think I read somewhere that the section
between Greenfield and East Northfield was changed to DCS sometime
after 1995.
As I said above, my most recent timetable is January, 1995 which in my
opinion was a very well done timetable and most interesting to read.
Guilford might have some problems but they have some mighty good
railroad people with them.
Maybe somebody else can up-date or correct my stuff above.
Noel Weaver

The locals for Connecticut, PL-1 and PL-2 are based out of Plainville, CT west of New Britain. Office is the old NYNH&H freight office in downtown Plainville near the Police Station.

They work the Waterbury Branch and the Canal Line Branch to Southington from there.

They also bring the train to/from East Deerfield to Plainville about once per week in each direction.

Thank you all for the responses. I appreciate the info and now I have learned a few new things.

MNRR_RTC wrote:Does your railroad have it's own police force like the NYS&W and CSX?

As mentioned above, yes they have the B&M PD, which shows a heck of a more presence than CSXT's 1 cop between Selkirk & Boston.

The last time I was at Springfield Terminal, I believe around 09.22.05 I chatted with the Guilford (B&M) PDetective for a moment. Real personalable and chatty. He saw me in and about the tracks with a camera and never said a thing about it. I remember saying to myself that I hoped every encounter with the Rail Detectives should go so good

It depends on the individual officer. Some of them are very friendly (and railfans themselves), while others are no-nonsense and won't tolerate any kind of railfan activity, even if it is done from public property.

My interactions with Guilford's law enforcement officers have all been positive -- bearing in mind that I've never done anything that would give them reason to warn or ticket me.

How many cops does the big G have?

rb wrote:How many cops does the big G have?

I do not think the answer to this question belongs on here.
Noel Weaver

It is a legitimate question. I do not see how the answer could possibly threaten anyone or anything.

I will speak with Michael and Otto and find out how they feel about it. This is their web site and I will defer to them on whether that information is appropriate or not.

In the meantime, if anybody knows the answer to the question, please refrain from posting it until I hear back from Michael and Otto. Thanks.

I have spoken with the principals of this site and they believe that the question of how many police officers Guilford has is appropriate. If you know the answer (no speculation), you may post it; however, detailed information about their duties and activities, such as when and where they patrol, should be kept to yourself.

Thank you!

In my opinion should be no reason why this information cannot be posted here. Quit liven in such a post 9-11 state of mind. After-all, if you live in fear the terrorists win.

I agree with Noel Weaver.

The bad guys most likely have the info already -- that's what makes them bad guys. As railfans, knowledge of location and activities of the rr police departments should be of minimal consequence to us as law-abiding citizens. If you plan your train chasing trips based on where they aren't, then I wouldn't want to be hanging around with you anyway.

The railfan community is an asset to the railroads, whether they acknowledge it or not. Posting that type of info here doesn't do our image any good. As some previous posts have stated, there is a good rapport out there with some of the officers. There is no sense in jeapordizing those good relationships where they exist

Ron