Grade crossing rehab in District 1

Mikejf wrote:The signals would eliminate the stop signs that no one pays attention to. This road has had an increase of traffic due primarily to the Pine Land redevelopment, and GPS telling everyone it is a short cut to somewhere.

Makes sense to me. Pineland Farms certainly has been growing!

News video from WCSH-6: http://www.wcsh6.com/news/local/story.a ... yid=251411" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Just an update, Morse Road in New Gloucester was closed at least today (first time I had been by there in a while) at the railroad crossing.

Monday, the crossing at 231 in New Gloucester is closed. There are piles of stone stockpiled next to the track ready for rebuild.

From the Morning Sentinel:

Morning Sentinel wrote:FAIRFIELD — After years of fielding complaints about a series of railroad crossings that have banged up car tires and shocks, Fairfield’s municipal leaders have something to be happy about.

“Every day, I have to take a little detour to drive over them, just to smile,” Josh Reny, town manager, said about recently completed renovations of railroad crossings at Burrill and Summit streets.
. . .
The town chose to close two crossings, at Willow and Elm streets, which generated enough money to get a larger project moving.

Under the plan, crossings at Lawrence and Western avenues will also be repaired, and the railroad is taking the opportunity to upgrade its track and signal system at the same time.

The newly installed panels underneath the road at the crossings should last for about 30 years, and the pavement on top of it should last a decade or more.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Pan_ ... ings_.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Several crossings in Auburn/Lewiston are slated for replacement. The pavement is marked up and new rubber and other materials are at some of them. No word on when work will start.

They were doing one in Lewiston today, I think near the hospital but forget the name of the street.

Thanks too Mike's post, I drove after work for some pictures.

Here's the new pavement for the Whipple St crossing.
The ballast dropped in Lewiston has been tamped. Haven't checked east of here yet. Here's a shot of the regulator near Whipple St.
The tamper was working near Holland St tamping the rock recently dropped near the new crossings. The Middle Street crossing has been completely redone. That track panel I had pictured being assembled was put in and the surface is now a little raised. I didnt take pics here as the xing was closed and crews were still at work on it. It will probably be the nicest crossing in Auburn and Lewiston when opened. The crossing at Spring St in Auburn is marked to be worked on. Lines and arrows spray painted on the pavement. There are 2 long sections of rail that were dropped nearby the crossing about 2 weeks ago so this one may be getting a major rebuilt too instead of just pavement. It sure needs it!

MEC407 wrote:From the Morning Sentinel:

Morning Sentinel wrote:FAIRFIELD — After years of fielding complaints about a series of railroad crossings that have banged up car tires and shocks, Fairfield’s municipal leaders have something to be happy about.

“Every day, I have to take a little detour to drive over them, just to smile,” Josh Reny, town manager, said about recently completed renovations of railroad crossings at Burrill and Summit streets.
. . .
The town chose to close two crossings, at Willow and Elm streets, which generated enough money to get a larger project moving.

Under the plan, crossings at Lawrence and Western avenues will also be repaired, and the railroad is taking the opportunity to upgrade its track and signal system at the same time.

The newly installed panels underneath the road at the crossings should last for about 30 years, and the pavement on top of it should last a decade or more.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.onlinesentinel.com/news/Pan_ ... ings_.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Does anyone know what the signal system improvements are? Is this just a reference to grade crossing signals?

Here are some more pics of the crossing work in Lewiston. In addition to these two, Holland Street (between the below 2) and Spring Street in Auburn are marked up for future replacement.

Middle Street Whipple Street

From CentralMaine.com:

CentralMaine.com wrote:FAIRFIELD — Motorist fears of flat tires and broken shock absorbers from driving over Fairfield’s railroad crossings may finally be coming to an end.

Beginning next week, the railroad’s parent company, Pam Am Railways, will begin repairing and replacing three track crossings and will close two other crossings, one at Elm Street and one at Willow Street.
. . .
The fix includes replacing the rail itself, placing panels under the road, then paving the road. The new panels under the road at the crossings should last for about 30 years and the pavement on top of it should last a decade or more. Reny said a railroad train car will be run over each section of track where repairs are made to compact the rails before paving is done.
. . .
Under the deal, the Fairfield crossings at Elm Street and Willow streets will permanently be closed to traffic and landscaped by the transportation department to form the dead ends. The agreement for Pan Am Railways to receive the federal safety money called for rebuilding two railroad crossings for each crossing that is closed.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.centralmaine.com/2014/07/29/ ... -be-fixed/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Annebessacook Rd in Monmouth has been closed to through traffic for the last 2 days account railroad work. Not sure what they're doing, but I imagine its a standard crossing rebuild.

Photo by Derek Carpine:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=218492" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

A stack of ties has been dropped by the crossing at MP 128 (Belgrade). Not sure if these are actually being used for a crossing, but it seems likely, since there aren't really enough to do anything else with them.

The grade crossing on Thompson's Point Road in Portland is being rebuilt this weekend, presumably in relation to the upcoming major redevelopment of Thompson's Point.

690 wrote:A stack of ties has been dropped by the crossing at MP 128 (Belgrade). Not sure if these are actually being used for a crossing, but it seems likely, since there aren't really enough to do anything else with them.

Makes sense that crossing was in terrible shape last year when I was up in that area often.