Grafton & Upton Railroad (G&U) Discussion

slashmaster wrote:

g-u-rr wrote:Hi folks, Today, I was able to monitor snow-clearing operations on the G&U at North Grafton using the OLD G&U administrative frequency of 160.245. Conversations included items concerning switch-clearing, "scaring-off" snowmobiles coming up the track and calling CSX at Framingham to see whether 2 cars expected were actually going to arrive today.
I've made these monitorings kind-of vague so I don't run afoul of the rules regarding transmission of information heard. The GOOD NEWS is that the old G&U RR 160.245 frequency is ACTIVE !

Nice, how far away from the yard were you when you did this? I'm wondering how much range you can get.

----I'm afraid that I can't help you with the range question. I monitor from home about 1000' from the the NG yard .

I see, can you still monitor them when they go to Washington Mills?

slashmaster wrote:I see, can you still monitor them when they go to Washington Mills?

Up until the other day, I thought that the 160.245 frequency was " dead ". I've got it loaded into my other scanners and I'll be eager to hear when/where it's used !

g-u-rr wrote:

slashmaster wrote:I see, can you still monitor them when they go to Washington Mills?

Up until the other day, I thought that the 160.245 frequency was " dead ". I've got it loaded into my other scanners and I'll be eager to hear when/where it's used !

Great, let us know!

slashmaster wrote:

g-u-rr wrote:

slashmaster wrote:I see, can you still monitor them when they go to Washington Mills?

Up until the other day, I thought that the 160.245 frequency was " dead ". I've got it loaded into my other scanners and I'll be eager to hear when/where it's used !

Great, let us know!

Hi folks, it is about 7pm on Monday 01/24 and the 160.245 channel is active. I am monitoring the channel with a hand-held scanner with a rubber-ducky in my cellar and reception is clear. They mentioned snow-clearing to get the cars free up the line tomorrow morning. I think they are talking about getting the old loaded wood-chip? cars at Cumberland Farms free'd up to move down to North Grafton. If I can pick this up in my cellar, then I guess you can pick it up at least as well with a good mobile antenna. Happy hunting ! Mike Rossi

Looks like they've been to West Upton since the latest snow. Looked like there was still a couple of layers of snow on the run around track so I'm guessing they just came to pick up empty's. Has anyone been to North Grafton Lately? How does it look? I've been too busy to get a chance.

Here are some great shots of the GU switching West Upton on February 4
I thank D.M. Wenc for these terrific photos.


http://www.pbase.com/dmwenc/upton_yard

EastMassParanormal wrote:Here are some great shots of the GU switching West Upton on February 4


http://www.pbase.com/dmwenc/upton_yard

Ah so they came with 2 units, that explains it. Nice pics by the way!

Thanks for the comments on the photos. At times I was standing in snow well over my knees.

G&U does still use the 160.245 frequency. You will hear the engineer using the train radio to the guys on the ground, portables. No base stations/dispatchers, so you've got to have a good scanner/antenna set up or be close by to pick them up.

photogdm wrote:Thanks for the comments on the photos. At times I was standing in snow well over my knees.

G&U does still use the 160.245 frequency. You will hear the engineer using the train radio to the guys on the ground, portables. No base stations/dispatchers, so you've got to have a good scanner/antenna set up or be close by to pick them up.

Your welcome, do you happen to know how many cars they came in with and what they left with? Were they getting good traction or did they slip a lot? Several months back I saw them switching here and they were having serious traction problems.

Looks like business is good on the G&U:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=184368

Slashmaster,

They came to Upton with light engines. Not sure what they went home with, I had to take off. But I would have guessed a fair amount of tanks. They ended up coming back through Grafton center around 3:15 or so. At Upton the crew had to clear the snow around the rail and switches to make the moves in the yard.

thebigham wrote:Looks like business is good on the G&U:

http://photos.greatrails.net/s/?p=184368

They could use a good plow or Jordan Spreader to move some of that snow out of the way...

Article in the local paper today saying that a hit and run truck collided with the Grafton and Upton railroad bridge in Hopedale. Does anybody know if the bridge was damaged? I assume this is granite bridge going over Hopedale Street by route 16. This is on the unused Hopedale to Milford section of the track. The fire department is always complaining that the bridge is so low, they can't go under it. Looks like somebody in a white box truck hit it over the weekend and took off. Parts of the truck were embedded in the bridge. The bridge looks pretty sturdy so maybe it wasn't damaged. Trucks frequently hit the CSX bridge near Westboro center and I don't think it has sustained any damage over the years.

strawshop30 wrote:Article in the local paper today saying that a hit and run truck collided with the Grafton and Upton railroad bridge in Hopedale. Does anybody know if the bridge was damaged? I assume this is granite bridge going over Hopedale Street by route 16. This is on the unused Hopedale to Milford section of the track. The fire department is always complaining that the bridge is so low, they can't go under it. Looks like somebody in a white box truck hit it over the weekend and took off. Parts of the truck were embedded in the bridge. The bridge looks pretty sturdy so maybe it wasn't damaged. Trucks frequently hit the CSX bridge near Westboro center and I don't think it has sustained any damage over the years.

G&U is slated to raise the bridge when the reactivation project reaches that end of the line, so won't be a clearance risk much longer.