CSX Fitchburg Secondary Discussion

ST377 wrote: ↑Sun Apr 30, 2023 9:16 am Good Morning All,

Going back in the discussion a bit, there are six active customers on the Fitchburg Secondary. From south to north -

Safety Kleen (a pair of tanks) - Marlboro Jct, generally switched twice a week (Tues & Thurs)
Ken's Foods (tanks and hoppers) - Marlboro, generally gets 3 switches a week (I've mostly seen Tu-Thurs-Fri)
NewCorr Packaging (up to 5 boxcars) - Northboro, generally twice a week (Tues & Thurs). This used to be a Toys R Us warehouse back in the day.

There are no active customers between Northboro and Lancaster. The last Clinton customer, Reiser scrap on the Lancaster IT, closed up a few years ago

Culpepper Lumber (formerly Bestway, centerbeams) - Lancaster, generally switched M-W-F, sometimes less outside construction season
WinWaste (formerly UMM, C&D gons) - Leominster trash customer, generally M-W-F
Teknor Apex (typically 1 tank and 1 hopper)- Leominster, switched once a week, generally either on Mon or Wed.

Obviously things can change with customer needs and the railroad's ability to perform. The Secondary is designated 'other than main track' so it's all 10 (a far cry from the 25 of the recent past).

On Leominster days they'll run up to the small yard, run around the train and head back south.

Mass Container in Marlborough, just north of Ken's Foods receives occasional box cars of rolled paper.

NewCorr is a separate switch than the former Toys R Us building. The Toys R Us switch is railroad south (compass east) of the Lyman Street overpass (now occupied by FedEx Ground in the right of the attached Google Image), while NewCorr is railroad north (compass west) of Lyman Street (in the left of the image).

I believe I heard a train come into Clinton on Saturday night about 11:30pm. A very unusual move for a Saturday and even more unusual for that late time of day.

SpiderHill wrote: ↑Sun May 14, 2023 7:19 pm I believe I heard a train come into Clinton on Saturday night about 11:30pm. A very unusual move for a Saturday and even more unusual for that late time of day.

I heard there may be track work going on starting this week. Last week and this past weekend there was MOW track maintenance equipment tied down on the Mass Container siding in Marlborough. It was gone this morning (Monday). I wonder if the track work will be going on during the day and the local running overnight?

Local freight, southbound, passed under the Mt. Wayte Avenue Bridge in Framingham about 11:30 this morning. About 22 cars, all trash.

Knucklehead wrote: ↑Tue May 09, 2023 4:46 pm Mass Container in Marlborough, just north of Ken's Foods receives occasional box cars of rolled paper.

NewCorr is a separate switch than the former Toys R Us building. The Toys R Us switch is railroad south (compass east) of the Lyman Street overpass (now occupied by FedEx Ground in the right of the attached Google Image), while NewCorr is railroad north (compass west) of Lyman Street (in the left of the image).

Ah I see now...I was reading an old handwriting sketch from the late 80's incorrectly (Sweet Life foods looks closer to Lyman than it actually is). Appreciate the correction.

Another 11:30pm-ish run into Clinton on Monday.

Confirmed trackwork on the Fitchburg Secondary is happening. L004 is on duty at 1400 for the time being.

ST377 wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 8:52 am Confirmed trackwork on the Fitchburg Secondary is happening. L004 is on duty at 1400 for the time being.

Do you know what type of work is being conducted, and the approximate location?

Looked like ties, and late last week they were in Northboro.

They ran to Leominster on Friday coming into Clinton heading north just after dark. They tied down the train on the way back. It was there for the weekend on the main track in Clinton...at least through all day on Sunday. Mostly loaded C&D. Last car was a tank that had one truck on the bridge over the Worcester main. Two or three more cars would have made for an over & under photo of M426 or M427 passing underneath. It doesn't happen very often as when they do tie down it is usually with the train facing north. Only once have I seen a train tied down across the entirety of the bridge. That was earlier this year as it was all C&D cars on the bridge.

Caught two moves on the line today in the Clinton area. The normal loaded C&D heading to Framingham this morning. Certainly unusual for a Saturday.

Much more unusual was a loaded rail train that came through about 5pm. Here are pictures from Bolton Station and the Clinton Depot. Passed through Clinton. Looks like 136lb rail. Is this for the Clinton clearance project? Seems this rail is too heavy for this branch, but then if NS is paying for it maybe CSX required it. Moving the train to Leominster to store for a while? This seems more likely to me

I’m stunned
The only logical explanation to me is csx is replacing the old light rail to Leominster
There’s no where up there to store a train and the line desperately needs rail
I’m going to speculate that it is relay rail and they want to return the line to 25mph

10mph is not great for crew utilization

SpiderHill wrote: ↑Sat Jul 08, 2023 4:19 pm Caught two moves on the line today in the Clinton area. The normal loaded C&D heading to Framingham this morning. Certainly unusual for a Saturday.

Much more unusual was a loaded rail train that came through about 5pm. Here are pictures from Bolton Station and the Clinton Depot. Passed through Clinton. Looks like 136lb rail. Is this for the Clinton clearance project? Seems this rail is too heavy for this branch, but then if NS is paying for it maybe CSX required it. Moving the train to Leominster to store for a while? This seems more likely to me

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Yeah, I saw it northbound through Southborough at 1500. The line already has CWR from Marlborough Junction to just south of Lyman St. I believe that was laid in the late 1970s. I also think there was some CWR put down in the Clinton area (outside rail only on a curve) around 2010-ish?? There was a derailment in Berlin in April involving a few C&D cars as L004 was southbound near Linden St. Speaking with the neighbors, apparently this was not the first derailment in the area. Perhaps they are upgrading the line finally!