Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

From the Friends of The Grafton and Upton Railroad's facebook page.

Court date Tuesday, July 28, 2015.

papabarn wrote:From the Friends of The Grafton and Upton Railroad's facebook page.

Court date Tuesday, July 28, 2015.

g&u court date.png

Wow, both arguments in one day, huh? It's almost like no one saw that coming!

Well, it'll be a few days late for my birthday, but I'll gladly take a plate of that "Town Of" served up on a Federal platter.

OK, stupid question. Looking at Google Map & the Grafton News, the tanks (or at least one tank) ended up on the South side of Park St. (between Congress and Main), facing West (I guess they backed in?) I guess they were heading South on Congress, since they were attempting to make a right onto West St - although that doesn't make a lot of sense either since they were coming in from Fall River? What was the plan anyway?
Maybe if they get on Main St. North they can make the turn right onto Center St., head east and take the tanks to the little transfer yard at Bow St. & Center St., and leave them there for a bit till they finish the Y connection between that line and the G&U main.
Clearly they need to contact the spirits of these guys from the British Road Service, who clearly knew a few things about moving long cylindrical loads around narrow roads.

Hello Sir Ray -

When I went to Milford yesterday to have a look, one of the tanks was parked on Park Street, pointing westward; the other was parked on Congress street, pointing northward - I marked their positions with arrows on this map image. I attempted to make the arrows approximately indicate the actual lengths of the tanks as I observed them.

I believe the tanks were heading *north* on Congress, and attempted to turn *left* onto West Street; so they must've backed them up to their current positions.

Here are a few photos I took yesterday. I was interested to see how the front dolly worked - looks like the front end of the tank is secured to a turntable on the dolly, allowing the whole thing to be articulated and better able to handle turns. (But obviously not good enough to tackle the left turn onto West street )

FYI, The trucking companies have no say in the route that Over Dimension loads take. the routes are decided by the state which issues the permits and on the permit tell the driver which roads to take. base mostly on weight limits on bridges and low bridges along the way

[quote="On Jun. 15, 2015 at 5:27 PM In an article entitled "Milford: 120-foot propane tanks on the move after detour", Bill Shaner of the Daily News Staff"]

Milford: 120-foot propane tanks on the move after detour



The propane tanks Monday morning rest outside Draper Park in Milford. Daily News photo/Bill Shaner

MILFORD – Trucks carrying two, 120-foot-long, 80,000-gallon propane tanks postmarked for the Grafton & Upton Railway yard in Hopedale hit a snag Sunday morning.

When the drivers' route brought them to a tight turn leading from Congress Street to West Street, they were forced to turn around. The trucks had to back up and move their loads – which are empty, officials stressed – to parking spaces bordering Draper Park.

The drivers followed a route that would take them up West Street to Freedom Street in Hopedale to reach the rail yard's back entrance. By legal requirement, the shipping company and Mass Department of Transportation had to pre-plan a route for the massive steel tubes. They did so without consulting Milford Police, who would have quickly raised the red flag, said Chief Tom O’Loughlin.

“If they called we would have told them it wouldn’t work,” he said. Police responded Sunday morning to move parked cars and direct traffic.

Two days after the failed delivery, it’s back to the drawing board. At midnight, the trucks will take another route – directly down Rte. 16 to the yard’s front entrance.

The course seems to make sense, but it’s not without its own complications.

Near the intersection of Rtes. 16 and 140 there’s a small bridge crossing a culvert. The aging bridge isn’t designed to hold anywhere near the weight of the tanks, so crews will have to install a temporary steel plate structure over the bridge before the trucks cross, according to O’Loughlin.[/quote]

Read more at the Milford Daily News' web site..

Per scanner, Grafton PD reporting G&U suffered a minor derailment this evening. Dispatcher did not seem too concerned. Stated that railroad self reported to the department. Not sure of location at this time.

Train is blocking all of north street and boulevard street per Grafton PD.

The tanks apparently went "On the ground" in Grafton center!

[quote="On June 16, 2015 In an article entitled "Giant tanks derail in Grafton block traffic on North Street", Jennifer Doyle of the Upton Daily staff"]

The giant tanks which passed through Upton at 6 p.m. this evening derailed in Grafton approximately an hour later. The tanks are blocking North Street at the Grafton Common…avoid the area.

[/quote]



Read more at Upton Daily's web site

This ain't good for PR.. Especially just minutes before Jon Deli Priscoli was scheduled to meet with the selectmen..

https://storify.com/SusanSpencerTG/graf ... derailment

lots of pictures, none as good as pic in post above...

Is that LEAD PAINT on those tanks?

BandA wrote:Is that LEAD PAINT on those tanks?

Consideirng the age of the tanks, it's most likely lead based paint. Lead paint is still in use on bridges and other places exposed to the elements,as it lasts much longer than conventional paints. Some storage tanks these days are painted with an epoxy based formula.

J

Town should get an injunction preventing them from bringing in those lead-paint covered tanks. Worked for Kingston NY against the CMRR.