Fitchburg Line Upgrade Discussion

There are TWO temporary stations located at South Acton. The one west of the current station will be used during the week. During the weekends they will be doing work in the station area and trains will not be able to enter this area. So they made a temporary platform in the location of the old South Acton station to allow trains to make it to Acton instead of busing from West Concord.

Our conductor on the 6:30 Fitchburg express (#408) this morning came on the intercom promising a "special announcement" on this evening's trains, explaining the use of the new S. Acton temporary platforms.

[UPDATE: I got another e-mail message from MBCR with a change in dates for the temporary platform west/outbound of the current platform.]

Monday September 17th, 2012

Signs will be in place to direct customers where to board.

Beginning Monday September 17th, a temporary platform will be placed in service to facilitate the construction of the new South Acton Station.

[UPDATE: 5PM - The gist of the special announcement involved which cars/doors to use for unloading, plus the message "between a temporary fence and a live track, we will be using safety and caution", and urged the riders to do the same.]

Dan

Just a bit before 1200 on 09-14-2012, the MBCR Engineering crew finished the install on the cyclone fence between the north side of the 1 platform and West Main at Ayer. It provides safety, and it looks good. The only down-side is that it'll complicate life for photographers. The platform itself could use some asphalt, but mebbe they're waiting for the new 2 at Willows for that.

Hey, what's up with Waltham tower as of right now. Did it's CTC panel get cut over to the dispatcher or is that still waiting on the second track project to progress further?

Waltham Tower lost W.Cambridge, Hill Crossing and Clematis Brook Interlocking Friday morning at 7AM.
Now belongs to Boston West Train Dispatcher. No word on Waltham "proper" being transferred as yet.

D

Seems silly if they are paying a person to sit there, why not put the CTC computer in the tower until its closed. Anyway thanks for the update.

Waltham Interlocking is an older lever machine and is not electronic signal code like the remainder of
its territory. Brand new code has to be written and tested before that gets transferred to the train
dispatcher's office.

D

Rbts Stn wrote:We're hearing they will be totally rebuilding the crossing near Roberts Station on South Street over the next few months, so it will be a much more pleasant experience crossing the tracks by car.

I think this has been going on for 30 or so years, but this time for sure!

Memo came out yesterday that South Street will be closed over Columbus Day weekend so they can undertake this project. Should be done by Sunday night which gives them an extra day just in case.

Didn't mention any interruption of trains, but if they are going to do this right, they need to clear out the whole intersection.

South St. crossing will be easy. They will run single track between Waltham and Hastings.

Noticed during lunch that there are piles of ties in the lot behind the little market/sub shop.

Couple hundred or so, at least

Lots of activity at the S. Acton station this morning...MBCR work crews, front-end loaders all fired up with lights blinking, and several large piles of gravel. This was south of the track, west of the Rte. 27 bridge.

Noticed some equipment (small crane dropping rail?) on the tracks (appeared to be on the north tracks, just west of South Street) as I drove by on the way to lunch. By the time I got back the equipment was gone. There's a couple lengths of rail just South of the tracks (west of the intersection) with ties sitting on top of the track (can't tell if it's attached or "resting" there). Detour signs have been up for a few days warning traffic that the intersection is closed weekend after this one. I'm away that weekend so won't be able to see what they do.

Just a quick note to say that I won't be able to provide many more updates on observed progress, as I've moved from one end of the line (near Fitchburg) to the other end (near Porter Square). I'll keep an eye out for news articles, MBTA contract bid notices, etc., and will pass along what I can. The Fitchburg line will never be far from my thoughts, though...it sits about 10 feet from my new bedroom window!

Dan

The Fitchburg line will never be far from my thoughts, though...it sits about 10 feet from my new bedroom window!

Dan

I wouldn't give anymore details... You wouldn't want a horn waking you up

Couple of truckloads of ballast got dumped here overnight, and some heavy equipment has moved in (nothing that rides on the rails that I can see). Lots of jackhammer sounds yesterday, seeming to attach new rail to new ties.