Downeaster Trackwork & Upgrades

swist wrote:Those plates are painted yellow at the Woburn/Anderson platform.

I'm going to guess that's a mistake (if they are cast iron, there was probably a slip up between the architect who specified iron and the guy doing the punch list who assumed they should be painted Federal Yellow...which will only get years of re-painting misery). Any chance Anderson is plastic?

The photos of the construction progress in Brunswick (MLF) show what appears to be a large depressed area on the East end of the building, looks to be 3 or 4 feet below the grade level, possibly covered in plastic sheeting. Anyone know the purpose of this excavation?

Arlington wrote:

swist wrote:Those plates are painted yellow at the Woburn/Anderson platform.

I'm going to guess that's a mistake (if they are cast iron, there was probably a slip up between the architect who specified iron and the guy doing the punch list who assumed they should be painted Federal Yellow...which will only get years of re-painting misery). Any chance Anderson is plastic?

I don't know what they're made of, but Portland, Old Orchard Beach, Saco, Wells, Dover, Durham (I think), and Exeter — basically all the stations that are overseen by NNEPRA other than Freeport and Brunswick — have yellow studded treads. They look sort of rubbery but maybe they're plastic. Whatever they are, they've held up very well since they were installed in 2001.

Rockingham Racer wrote:I'm wondering why they're building a passing siding in Yarmouth. Is the plan to increase the number of trains to Brunswick?

Yes, upon completion of the Brunswick facility, there should be 5 round trips BRK - BON.

pnolette wrote:They could use another siding or two between Rigby and State Line.

When NNEPRA seeks a 6th Downeaster round trip slot from PAR, they will have to double track CPF 258/Newfields to CPF 273/Plaistow. That will create the longest contiguous section of double track east (north) of State Line (most of the other stuff is only about 2 miles) and eliminate one of the two longest sections of single track between Rigby and North Station. The other 15 mile stretch of single track is CPF 211 to CPF 226. This will be a major improvement, and coupled with the Haverhill Line double tracking project, will result in approximately 38 miles of double track between CPW WJ/Wilmington Junction and CPF 256/Rockingham Junction.

If I were PAR, my next move after that would probably be 213.5 to 215.3 (at a minimum) to whittle down what would then be the longest section of single track and comes with added benefits. This would preserve current signal spacing, keep the Biddeford Detector inside of a new interlocking at 213.5, allow elimination of the Saco Industrial Track electric lock switch in favor of a power switch at the new interlocking, put the CHS customer on the Saco IT instead of the mainline, and would reduce interference when switching out Nissens and Correct Deck (if these are even active customers/businesses anymore). It would also be a great tie-down/recrew spot on both ends.

One thing that could be of concern during 2016 and beyond is the "quality"
of the PAR track work last year in District #2. It seems that past track work
done by PAR on freight only mainlines in MA and ME seems to only last into
the next year or two, before slow orders are again in effect. It appears that
the ties replaced last year in D-2 were decided by a track inspector walking
the line and putting an orange dot on the tie to be replaced. Visually, there
are still many ties that will not last for another 15 years, if that is when the
next major tie job will be done.

Hopefully, my concerns on PAR trackage will be unfounded.

The MBTA is another issue. They still seem to be dragging their feet on
completion of the double tracking in the Andover MA area. And their
poor condition locomotives, along with PAR locomotives, are causing
more and more delays for the Downeaster service. Just last night, an
MBTA breakdown caused #685 to be over one hour late and #687 to be
nearly two hours late.

Dick H wrote:The MBTA is another issue. They still seem to be dragging their feet on
completion of the double tracking in the Andover MA area.

While they have somewhat set themselves up for failure, at this present time the only thing they could complete is CPW WJ/Wilmington Junction to CPF LJ/Lowell Junction. And that's assuming the frozen ground wouldn't hamper their efforts.

Everything else is dependent upon other parties. CPF LJ/Lowell Junction to CPF VA/Vale is dependent upon Ballardvale Station work which is not included in the project. CPF VA/Vale to CPF JK is dependent upon a contractor for the drainage at Essex St and Pearson St.

Yes, upon completion of the Brunswick facility, there should be 5 round trips BRK - BON.

I believe they are only planning to increase to three RTs/day. You'd need another trainset to offer more than that.

Layover facility progress continues at a very rapid pace. About 1/4 of the building is now roofed and the rest was well underway during a recent driveby. The structural steel erection appears to be complete and wall sheathing and framing of doorways and windows is well underway and apparently complete on the east end of the building. Activity seems to be focused on the structure and its interior with any further earthwork apparently suspended until the spring.

Relatively good Winter weather has helped too. We've only had a few "normal" size snowfalls, and (until this coming weekend) pretty good temperatures for working conditions. Not something you can normally expect in BRK.

gokeefe wrote:Layover facility progress continues at a very rapid pace. About 1/4 of the building is now roofed and the rest was well underway during a recent drive by.

View the latest pic's added to the slide-show of the construction now completed on the site.
http://www.nnepra.com/projects/brunswic ... r-facility" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Thanks, Peter!!

From The Forecaster:

The Forecaster wrote:PORTLAND — It is a sound that is romanticized – at least from a distance.

But the blare of locomotive horns when trains approach grade crossings is something the city is prepared to spend $1.1 million to avoid.

“There are stretches, particularly in the Deering neighborhood where (crossings) are closely spaced, you would have an endless series of horn soundings,” Jeremiah Bartlett, the city transportation systems engineer, said Tuesday.

The city’s concern is that the Springfield Terminal Railway Co. tracks running from Congress to Riverside streets are in danger of noncompliance with federal regulations.

The rails are used by Pan Am freight trains and the Amtrak Downeaster passenger service to Brunswick. Bartlett estimated there are two dozen train trips daily.

The spending, with $800,000 in next year’s capital improvements budget and about $300,000 on hand, would go to engineering work and the installation of a more sophisticated quad railroad gate system at either the Brighton Avenue or Allen Avenue crossings.

Read the rest of the article at: http://www.theforecaster.net/keeping-ra ... -portland/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Not following this. There are currently no grade-crossing horns between So Portland and the Falmouth connector. The crossings are even labelled as such to traffic.

Correct. They're saying they can't continue to be a quiet zone unless they do some upgrades. If they don't do the upgrades their FRA safety score will go down and they'll no longer be able to keep the crossings horn-free.

Other than switching from incandescent bulbs to LEDs, I don't believe any of Portland's crossings got any functional upgrades during the Portland-Brunswick upgrade.

Due to the higher number of trains following the Brunswick extension, it makes sense that the scores would go down, and thus require some upgrades in order for the quiet zones to remain. This is consistent with what the other communities between Portland and Brunswick are being required to do in order to maintain existing quiet zones or add new quiet zones.

My only surprise is that it has taken this long for it to happen in Portland.

For what it's worth, there is still one crossing in Portland which is not a quiet zone, and that's where the Mountain Branch crosses County Way, between the county jail and the new Mercy Hospital campus. Downeasters have been blowing their horns at that crossing since the service began in 2001.