Saturday train watching in Mass.

Hey guys, a bunch of us are headed to Springfield on the 30th, and will be out buffing after the show. In previous years we got skunked as far as trains are concerned, so we were going to Selkirk afterward. Since it's a pretty long drive to get there, is there any worthwhile Saturday ops to be seen within like 50 miles of Springfield?

Thanks, EH

Try Palmer at the Steaming Tender restaurant, up the Mass Pike about halfway between Springfield and Worcester. Can't promise much traffic, but NECR, MCER, and CSX all run through there, as does the Vermonter and the Lake Shore Limited, so if you time it right and get lucky you might catch something.

http://www.steamingtender.com/

electric heat wrote: Since it's a pretty long drive to get there, is there any worthwhile Saturday ops to be seen within like 50 miles of Springfield?

How many trains are you expecting to see out there, anyway? It's Saturday. Get up early in the morning, or head out in the evenings. That's when you'll find peak traffic... on any line... at West Springfield, Palmer, Deerfield...

There is also west springfield itself across the street from the fairgrounds or the springfield station if you want to stay real close. I'll probably do that this year and make a quick stop in Palmer.

Well, when we were in Selkirk last year in about 4 hours we saw like 10 or 12 trains, plus yard moves. Even half that would be nice. As far as Psgr, we can pretty much see that anywhere in the Northeast and are looking for freight action if possible. The yard in Springfield never has much going on other than an occasional drill move. I guess We'll try Deerfield area and then Palmer. Are there any detectors in the area to listen for? If so what are the radio channels...Thanks.

EH

electric heat wrote:The yard in Springfield never has much going on other than an occasional drill move.

I have been there on weekends and it was active. Especially later in the day. I've once seen three trains preparing while one left. I also might try Westfield.

Selkirk is a major, major area, I don't really think there's anything in MA on the scale of Selkirk.

Palmer has the CSX Boston mainline so there's usually train traffic flowing 7 days a week. It also has the NECR mainline and Palmer yard.

In East Deerfield you have the PAS yard so you might see something being built or if your lucky they will launch a train towards the mountains you can follow.

Riverside park in Springfield is right by the CSX/Amtrak/PAS diamond and while it's only on the Amtrak line to NHV, you'll know when the trains are due.