Fitchburg Line Upgrade Discussion

There is a mixture of new and old signals being used from South Acton all the way to Fitchburg. Some intermediate(automatic) signals have been retired and replaced with new ones. This is has mostly been down around the new Littleton interlocking and the new Derby Interlocking which is fully operational.

What milepost is Derby?

Rockingham Racer wrote:What milepost is Derby?

I think it is somewhere between 42 and 43. I will try and look tonight to see if I can get it exact.

-mike

re. Derby, there's a marker in the straightaway leading to the curve (i.e. along the new siding), B43, I believe...didn't get a great view. But the next marker towards Shirley was definitely B42.

Yes Derby is at MP 43. It's name in the planning stage was CPF-43.

Since I only go to Fitchburg on the weekends and the last two weekends my trains were stopped at South Acton I have not seen the work west of Acton. They have been doing a lot at the Willows. A new crossover from the Number 2 track(this one is west of the former one) to what will become the Number 1 track is in place and in use!

Thanks for the CP Derby answers!

Some photos taken yesterday morning, showing the progress of construction at the Littleton/495 station. These were taken from the lower parking lot, looking south and west.

...and one more, due to the 3 attachment limit.

Noticed yesterday morning that the western end of the passing siding just east of the South Acton station has now been severed. No bumping post installed (yet). Not sure if this siding is going to be pulled up once the second track is installed. It is frequently used to store MOW equipment, although we also once used it as a passing track, and another time two summers ago to push a crippled set onto it. Backed out and then continued further west. I've always wondered if this siding is a remnant of the B&M's Marlborough Branch, which according to USGS maps looked like it connected with the Fitchburg somewhere around South Acton station.

-Mike

I would say that the track alignment is going to be changed fairly extensively in that area. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire siding gets removed at some point. I have been told that the siding was put in back in the 80s when the south acton station was last redone. However, I have also been told that there was a small section of the old marlboro branch in that dirt area near the only tree that remains standing. The grass/weeds there are overgrown, but I think it is still intact.

Using the Route 27 overpass as a reference point, the original South Acton station was to the east, and the Marlboro Branch joined the main line between the bridge and the original station. The (wooden) Route 27 bridge was in two sections, one across the main line and one across the Marlboro Branch. Between the two sections of the Route 27 bridge, but at the same height, there was an intersection with Maple Street. The new Route 27 bridge moved this intersection slightly southward and obliterated the Marlboro Branch at this point.

-John

agarturbo wrote:I would say that the track alignment is going to be changed fairly extensively in that area. I wouldn't be surprised if the entire siding gets removed at some point. I have been told that the siding was put in back in the 80s when the south acton station was last redone. However, I have also been told that there was a small section of the old marlboro branch in that dirt area near the only tree that remains standing. The grass/weeds there are overgrown, but I think it is still intact.

Search isn't precise enough to turn up the exact post(s), but I think several pages back on this thread it was confirmed that pretty much all sidings between Boston and Ayer were going. Less need to have MOW parking spots with a full double-track line sporting additional crossovers. The Alewife MOW facility to Willows is not a particularly long distance or schedule-burdensome one if trains have to cross over and pass an MOW vehicle. As noted, South Acton has that track because it used to be end of the line and still is a short-turn stop. Southside tends to have much longer average spacing between turnouts, and Pan Am/Guilford/B&M could never be bothered to rip out their unused ex-freight sidings like CSX/Conrail did per company policy...so there's lots of "surplus to a requirement" sidings littering the northside that are prudent to prune off after X decades of decay. Especially when lines are being CTC-resignaled like this.

ThinkNarrow wrote:Using the Route 27 overpass as a reference point, the original South Acton station was to the east, and the Marlboro Branch joined the main line between the bridge and the original station. The (wooden) Route 27 bridge was in two sections, one across the main line and one across the Marlboro Branch. Between the two sections of the Route 27 bridge, but at the same height, there was an intersection with Maple Street. The new Route 27 bridge moved this intersection slightly southward and obliterated the Marlboro Branch at this point.

-John

When I rode the line regularly, I had noticed by what is now a grain mill business what looked like the telltale curvature of a branch or siding off the main line. I looked at the aerial shots again, and it looks like the curvature would have crossed 27 just south of the current Maple St intersection.

And then I noticed something...in the water area listed as Fort Pond Brook Reservoir, there appears to be a short section of a wooden railroad bridge, with rails, across the water. If you follow the curve I'm talking about, it would follow along the western edge of the water to this bridge, then continue southward on the eastern edge.

There is a disturbance in the tree line that might indicate the old ROW, heading south down towards where the Paper Store corporate office is, and from there I pretty much lose the trail.

caduceus wrote:

ThinkNarrow wrote:Using the Route 27 overpass as a reference point, the original South Acton station was to the east, and the Marlboro Branch joined the main line between the bridge and the original station. The (wooden) Route 27 bridge was in two sections, one across the main line and one across the Marlboro Branch. Between the two sections of the Route 27 bridge, but at the same height, there was an intersection with Maple Street. The new Route 27 bridge moved this intersection slightly southward and obliterated the Marlboro Branch at this point.

-John

When I rode the line regularly, I had noticed by what is now a grain mill business what looked like the telltale curvature of a branch or siding off the main line. I looked at the aerial shots again, and it looks like the curvature would have crossed 27 just south of the current Maple St intersection.

And then I noticed something...in the water area listed as Fort Pond Brook Reservoir, there appears to be a short section of a wooden railroad bridge, with rails, across the water. If you follow the curve I'm talking about, it would follow along the western edge of the water to this bridge, then continue southward on the eastern edge.

There is a disturbance in the tree line that might indicate the old ROW, heading south down towards where the Paper Store corporate office is, and from there I pretty much lose the trail.

Historic Aerials knows the score: http://www.historicaerials.com/aerials. ... &year=1963


And, yep, that tracked bridge looks like it's in good condition: http://goo.gl/maps/ojCCZ.

The Assabet River Rail Trail site has some photos of the South Acton station back in the old days, plus updates on plans for the bike path that will replace the old Marlborough branch.

Dan