Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

My father told me the Weetabix was served on US Navy ships during WWII. I've never seen a box in 70 years.

Back in the '80s, Patriots placekicker John Smith was spokesperson for Weetabix. We know how well that worked out.

We can buy Weetabix at our local supermarket here in midcoast Maine, and I know it's quite popular in the Maritimes (being a British item). As said, it's like Shredded Wheat except that the biscuits are round and have a finer texture.

Hmmm....check out Weetabix on Amazon and Wikipedia.

Was at the Hopedale yard mid-afternoon and saw one of the ex-CSX MP15's moving (3) empty rack cars back to Grafton.

Unfortunately, I was too far away to see the number.

At 0830 on Monday 3/19/18, GMTX lease MP15AC is switching N Grafton yard getting ready to take 5 center-beams loaded with sheet rock to Hopedale. Note that two of the newly arrived ex-CSX units are powered down and appear to be in storage with the older GP/CF units in the dead line while the 3rd ex-CSX engine is attached to a Weetabix load at the transload dock. The LPG transload facility appears to be in full operation with both tracks occupied with LPG tank cars.

What are the odds that John was at the yard Monday snapping pics, and WE were there yesterday?? Of course, when WE were there it was CLOUDY!!

Seems G&U isn't doing much to patch #1130.

3/23/2018

I was again at the Hopedale yard mid-afternoon today and saw the GATX 326 moving (3) empty rack cars back to Grafton.
This must have been the power used last week.

Upbeat article about JDP and G&U's new LPG transload facility at N Grafton in Progressive Railroading on-line:

https://www.progressiverailroading.com/ ... wth--54240

Provocative quote:

G&U — which only handled 40 carloads in 2009 after Priscoli bought the short line — expects to handle 5,000 carloads in 2018, with 1,500 generated by the propane facility. Going forward, the Grafton terminal likely will continue to help drive traffic, Priscoli believes.

“I think we can get to 20,000 cars,” he says.

“I think we can get to 20,000 cars,” he says.

... and the people who live nearby will no doubt complain more as business gets better... alas...

20k cars will average over 60 cars a day. Does that number cover both loads and empties?

The 1500 propane (for now?) only go a short distance, but how many will go to Hopedale or all the way to Milford or even thru traffic?

60 cars/day would be what, 1 or 2 trains/day each way? While that's a lot more than the G&U has handled recently that doesn't exactly make it a busy railroad. How many a day (freight and passenger) go through North Grafton on the B&A?

Especially when one considers that LPG isn't a commodity that has a consistent year-round demand; while there is still a steady baseline demand, there's always going to be much more demand for it in the winter than in summer. I'd expect that to reflect through onto railroad traffic as well.

[quote="At Apr 4, 2018 at 10:22 PM In an article entitled "Grafton & Upton Railroad officials tout safety of North Grafton propane site", Susan Spencer of the Telegram & Gazette staff"]

GRAFTON – After nearly six years of wrangling with local residents, including in the courts, over a 320,000-gallon propane storage and loading facility at its North Grafton rail yard, Grafton & Upton Railroad officials held an information session Wednesday night at Grafton High School to talk about safety.

Local fire, police, engineering and Board of Health representatives joined the panel.

The propane facility began operating Jan. 30. Since then, 76 propane railcars and 193 tractor-trailers have come through. Propane is pumped from trains to trucks, which carry the tanker loads out to the highways and their final destinations.

“There’s been zero safety issues; there’s been zero incidents with the propane,” said Grafton & Upton President Michael Milanoski.

He said Federal Railroad Administration officials have given them positive feedback on inspections, including two surprise visits.

“Everyone is trained to act on safety,” said John DeWaele, Grafton & Upton’s general manager, as the site team was introduced.

To demonstrate his point, Mr. Milanoski started the meeting by reviewing safety protocols for the high school auditorium. He said every railroad meeting begins with a safety check, including the address of the site, location of exits, who will call 911 in an emergency, who is certified in CPR and where an AED device is located.

Railroad officials said they “wanted to be a good neighbor” and highlighted not only safety features of their facility but also their commitment to reducing noise and environmental impacts.[/quote]

Read more of this story at the Telegram & Gazette's web site

Looks like Pan Am repainted ex-CSX MP15 1191 for G&U!
On Saturday 4/28/18 at N Grafton, a bunch a people were working under the hood of 1158, the other ex-CSX MP15. Lot of cars at N Grafton yard including a few gondolas that rarely appear here.