Old CENTRAL MASS ROW

I found the entrance to the facility when I was looking for the wye the delorme map shows. Not much to see, but it was still being guarded. Never did find the wye, or remnants of it. this was about 3 years ago or so. I was also looking for the location of the Gleasondale Station. I found the spot that the map shows, but there is no remnants what so ever of ROW. The map could be wrong though..

Thanks for all the info. I also tried to locate Gleasondale Station and although I think I found the general location, it was heavily wooded, and there were no good places to park and look around. If i remember correctly, the ROW was below the road, and the cut for the railroad had been filled in. Again, there was very dense tree cover, so i don't know if this was the exact location. If the tracks were last used only 25 years ago, I wonder if this area was too thickly forested to be the ROW. I'd like to find approximate locations for Gleasondale as well as Ordway, if anyone has any info. Thanks.

Check this link:
http://www.farnwr.org/AssabetTripNotes.html

I'm not sure if tells you anything you don't already know...The current locations for both stations are mentioned.

If you walk into the area from the west end in Hudson, you will come across the siding at Ordway, and the remains of the wye that lead into the ammo dump. It is about 1 mile in. Most of the track on the mainline is still intact. All of this is on the south side of E. Main St (Hudson) and Hudson Rd (Sudbury). The guarded gate was on the north side of Hudson Rd. I don't think the ammo dump tracks went this far, but I could be wrong. There is a grown over road across from the abandoned guard gate.

This entire area has been tuned over to the surrounding towns. They will be using it for recreational purposes. It is no longer Devens Annex. You can wander around in there as much as you like.

The ammo trains in and out of this area were faily large. They commanded two 2-8-0 locos on some trips. Pictures have been published in the B&M Bulletin from time to time.

Well, I was wrong. The guarded gate to the Devens Annex on Hudson Rd. WAS the roadbed entrance to the ammo dump. I just looked at the map. White Pond road passes very close to the edge of the dump. It might be easy to access the area from that side.

There was a large yard on the south side of Hudson Rd.

Has anyone every walked the Central Mass branch to where it crossed over the Fitchburg line near 128? I've passed under this crossing on a Fitchburg train, but have always wondered if it could be accessed on foot. Is it possible to reach this location on foot?

I know the bridge over 128 is accessible from the east, but there's a fence on the west side at a junkyard (IIRC). You may be able to continue on the other side of the junkyard.

If you are headed west on Rte. 117, just after you cross Rte. 128, on the left you will see Jones Rd. Turn there and you will go into a small industrial park. At the back of the park, you can see the Central Mass bridge over the B&M mainline. If you go into the parking garage and go to the top level you can clearly see the CM ROW and the bridge to the West.

The industrial park you mentioned, is it easy to get in and out of? With security around complexes being very tight these days i just want to make sure that i could go into this garage and get my pictures without any problems. How far away from the garge is the bridge over the Fitchburg?

The industial park is at the ned of the street, and open to the public. There are a number of companies in the building (including Microsoft), so there are no securty gates or guards. The parking garage is open with no gates or tolls. I am sure that there are security cameras around, but I had not problem with driving up to the top deck to view the bridge over the Fitchburg mainline. The bridge is about 300 yards from the west end of the parking garage.

You should be able to park you car anywhere, take pictures from the garage, or even walk down the ROW right up to the bridge. Nice lattice truss thru truss.

Engineer999

Thanks for the info, hopefully, I'll make it over there soon.

Hello

I chased some ghosts on the Central Mass in Hudson last Sunday after visiting the Collins Foundation open house.

Sections of the RoW have complete, hi-railable track, needing only attention from a brush cutter. All of the road crossings (at grade, over and under grade) I looked at were paved over/removed, etc.

So, can anyone tell me when the bridges started coming out? Namely the big trestle at the Wauchusett Reservoir, Rte 62 undergrade bridge and the noteworthy crossing of the New Haven? (and river and road) at Berlin?

Must've been a neat ride ... especially west of Hudson. There were some good pacing shots there!

As of 6/20/04, the brush as been cut around the abutment for the big bridge at the reservoir. Can't miss it now. The tunnel is still wide open (surprised some teens when I checked it out last Sunday). Park Ranger mentioned something about it being a Geo-Cache now?

Note: the reservoir's dam area and the RoW west of the big bridge site (including the cut and bridge over the spillway) are CLOSED to the public at present. Mr. Park Ranger said access *may* be granted in the fall. Stay tuned.

* JB *

The bridge work at Rte 62 and the New Haven grade crossing was removed within a short time after abandonment. Look around there, the old B & M Valuation Plans in Lowell indicate the WC (Worcester Consolidated) St Ry had a separate trestle to cross the NH to avoid a grade crossing here. The WC had a line from Hudson to Clinton.
The Wachusett trestle had the spans connected to the land removed early on, but the bridge stood for about 15 yrs until the MDC, the reservoir agency, had it removed. Early 1970s.
I think Route 62 has been slightly relocated between Hudson and Berlin, probably had something to do with Route 495 construction in mid-1960s.

Where is the most recent Central Mass thread? I could only find this old one.

thebigham wrote:Where is the most recent Central Mass thread? I could only find this old one.

This thread: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... =77&t=1359 in Fallen Flags is more recent.