Boston Sand & Gravel

The other day while heading into North Station on board MBCR # 304 from Anderson RTC, a question came into my head and I did not know the answer to it. I know that once or maybe even more a week a Guilford crew takes NHN's DOBO into Boston from Dover, NH with the gravel train. Now I presume they must either pull it into the track it's in, or cut off and run to the back and shove it in. The real mystery for me is how they get the cars up to the end of the track where the actual BS&G plant is? I imagine the train crew just spots the train then leaves.

Thanks for any and all info

i think they use a front end loader

Yes they push the cars with a loader, which is constantly damaging them. Just take a look at the end posts of the cars!

How do they get to BS&G anyways? Do they follow the same route as the downeaster (via wildcat)...or do they have to go through Billerica?

They use the Wildcat Route.
Dick

Neat. Too bad it normally comes by at night.

Also I think they run about 5 days a week.

Ian MacMillan wrote:Yes they push the cars with a loader, which is constantly damaging them. Just take a look at the end posts of the cars!

Wouldn't it make sense for them to get a track mobile?

The frond end loader has a coupler on the rear that it uses for longer moves. While watching it from the bridge shoving hoppers for unloading I noticed that it was coupled to them.

l008com wrote:Also I think they run about 5 days a week.

Often times it's more like 4 days a week, Monday - Thursday. But yeah, 5 days happens isn't unheard of. Unfortunately it's so darn difficult to catch them in daylight! Even up in NH it's dark or getting dark by the time they start their run from Dover. And that's in the warmer months. Forget about it in the winter. I'm going to have to try to catch them up in Dover some afternoon when they arrive from NHN trackage.

And I almost never see BODO...I think they always sneak by when I'm asleep at like 3 or 4 in the morning.

I hear BODO often

How do the actually get to the BS&G? Do they run around? Thinking about it they must take the old freight cut off where BO-1 used to leave cars for LOSA, and curve around into the trackage by Sullivan, and shove into BS&G?

Guilford Guy wrote:How do the actually get to the BS&G? Do they run around? Thinking about it they must take the old freight cut off where BO-1 used to leave cars for LOSA, and curve around into the trackage by Sullivan, and shove into BS&G?

That is correct. They come down the New Hampshire, enter Yard 8 at a hand throw crossover at Winter Hill (they used to come down the 4th Iron from Somerville Jct., but use the hand throw crossover rather than fixing the track between there and Somerville Jct. which was damaged in a series of derailments), run through what's left of Yard 8 to a track called the "Willey" to the back side of BET, under the High Line Bridge, and then over to the tracks next to Sullivan Square. They then work BS&G by shoving across the East/West Routes at FX interlocking. Not exactly sure where they runaround the empties to head back north.

On very rare occasions they have run back and/or forth on the West Route. I could hear that move from my house.

DAW

If they have to run around the cars, they do it on the mainline between Tower A and FX.

Don't think there is much running around through, since the trains are now under
25 cars, a lot of times they back down to Tower A and go out the Lowell mainline
instead of wandering through the yard and messing with the handthrow crossover
at Walnut Street.

d

That must be a site to see the GP38's accelerating up the grade out of Boston...