Take the train to the Game! (Pat's Train)

SouthieSox08 wrote:Here's my experience from Sunday's Patriots train during the Noreaster.

Got to South Station about 10:15 for the 11:00 train. Long line snaking throughout the lobby for people waiting to buy tickets. Around 10:35, boarding began. T officials were checking on the platform and only let people with tickets on the platform. Meanwhile, hundreds of people are waiting for tickets in a line that doesn't move. At 10:55 people begin panicking, and the ticket line collapses in an instant. I noticed that they were no longer checking for tickets on the platform. Everyone makes a beeline for the train, including me.

Train leaves at 11:05, leaving people behind at South Station. There was a vague announcement about another option for those who missed the first train. I paid my roundtrip fare on the train with no problem.

Our train, 11 cars, at least 7 of them bi-levels, is filled at South Station, with standees. I stood the whole way down.

Meanwhile, my buddies were waiting at Back Bay for the train. We wound up going nonstop to Gillette, passing by cold and wet fans at Back Bay, Dedham Corp. and Norwood.

They did send another train, to take everyone left behind to Walpole. My train got to Gillette around 12:15. I decided to stay on the train and keep dry, as I had the football tickets for my friends. T conductors and police were cool.

We went back to Walpole and picked up the other fans. Train arrived at Gillette at 1:30. By the time we got to our seats it was 5 minutes before halftime.

We had been told there would be two Boston trains after the game - 30 minutes after and 60 minutes after, assumedly doing the same shuttle. But in the 4th quarter they announced there would only be one train to Boston, 30 minutes after the game. Fearing overcrowding, we left with five minutes left in the game to walk to the train.

While I enjoyed taking the train and it was much better than driving in the Noreaster, I just wish the T had been a little more organized and anticipate the huge response. It would have been nice to actually see most of the first half...

That's the worst thing about a suburban location for a stadium. TPTB should have found a way to locate the stadium along a T subway line instead of the far-out location in Foxboro [Although squeezing a 65,000+ seat stadium would have been one hell of a challenge to locate in Boston, I also heard that driving there is a total bitch].

At least in Philly, we stuck the Linc in an accessible location in far-South Philly where it is accesible by both Subway [Broad St Line], and easy access from I-95.

The Boston train and the original Providence set coupled up as one at "FOX", which is the station sign at the stadium to where the 2 trains meet. On 12/16, the 2 trainsets were coupled and pulled north of FOX. This allowed the Providence crew to cancel their orignal EC-1 from MANSFIELD to FOX and get another new EC-1 to deadhead another equipment set to FOX to become the return set back to Providence.

Mdlbigcat wrote: That's the worst thing about a suburban location for a stadium. TPTB should have found a way to locate the stadium along a T subway line instead of the far-out location in Foxboro.

That was the original idea, but it was killed by the politicians and NIMBYs. The Patriots relocated to Foxboro in the early 1970s only after having exhausted their options in Boston, and built the current Razor Blade Stadium on the same site after threatening to move to Hartford if the state didn't pay for some highway improvements. (Nice guy owner Bob Kraft can play hardball when he wants to.)

The congestion on Route 1 really does make it hard to get to and get out of. The solution would be increased rail service to accomodate a greater portion of the crowd of 68,000, but that would require significant track improvements, and the MBTA is unlikely to fund them for a service that runs only a few days a year.

BTW, the Pats trains have been running from Boston and Providence since the original Schafer Stadium opened about 35 years ago.

Agent at Clicquot wrote:Couldn't the 1st Boston train return to Walpole, stopping on the Secondary at the Northbound homeboard. It should clear the switch between the Secondary and wye that connects to the MBTA main. Once here, couldn't it's EC-1 be canceled so the 2nd Boston train can head for Fox?

Or ... are the Football Trains crossing the diamond?

* JB *

The football trains use the East Wye from the Franklin Branch northward onto the Framingham Secondary, change ends and then head South over the diamond. The Lewis Wye which goes from the Franklin Branch through the parking lot to the Framingham Secondary south of the diamond hasn't been used in years. The major problem with it is that both ends have hand-thrown switches and derails. additionally, the switch @ the Franklin Branch is an electric lock, with a timer. Also, the derail is always submerged in ice every winter because it's in the middle of a little bowl in the grade.

By the way, anyone who take it think the train did 10MPH or 25MPH? Just curios as the "Temporary Speed Restriction" of 10MPH that was on crew's Dispatcher Bulletins for 3 or 4 years has been removed. However, a General Bulletin was issued a few months ago stating that the entire Secondary was permanently 10MPH. The problem is many MBCR crews don't keep up with their bulletins, especially here because runs on the Framingham are very rare.

I was on the train and it definitely was going at 10 mph between Walpole and FOX. That train back to Boston had to be one of the longest consists I've been on in a long time. And there will still people standing.

May have 2 trains from Boston again this Sunday and one from Providence. Stay tuned.

Were there football specials for today's game? I did not see any mention of them on the T website this week.

What are the scanner frequencies used on these football trains. 1 = Franklin Line & Framingham Sub?2= NEC (still 160.920?)

Skullitor wrote:What are the scanner frequencies used on these football trains. 1 = Franklin Line & Framingham Sub?2= NEC (still 160.920?)

Frankline Line & the NEC (for the Providence train) is Amtrak Road Channel (AAR 54-54) which is 160.920. The Framingham Secondary would be CSXT Road Channel #1 (AAR 46-46), which is 160.800. However, if either train needs to talk to the CSX NA Dispatcher they should be on the new "dispatcher channel", which is AAR 38-38, but I don't have the frequency number for it. Perhaps you may find it in the CSX forum.

CSX Conductor wrote:

Skullitor wrote:What are the scanner frequencies used on these football trains. 1 = Franklin Line & Framingham Sub?2= NEC (still 160.920?)

Frankline Line & the NEC (for the Providence train) is Amtrak Road Channel (AAR 54-54) which is 160.920. The Framingham Secondary would be CSXT Road Channel #1 (AAR 46-46), which is 160.800. However, if either train needs to talk to the CSX NA Dispatcher they should be on the new "dispatcher channel", which is AAR 38-38, but I don't have the frequency number for it. Perhaps you may find it in the CSX forum.

Thanks, Thats what I thought.

The NA Dispatcher channel 38-38 is 160.68.

NaDspr wrote:The NA Dispatcher channel 38-38 is 160.68.

I hope you don't know this because you listen to yourself for fun, lol. Thanks for the update.

I took the Pats train today for the first time this season from Mansfield. The train in to the stadium was late in arriving at Mansfield by 15 min mainly due to an Acela SB and MBCR local NB in the area. the consist was 9 Kawasaki double deckers and one Bomb single level with an F40PH-2C powering the consist. The ride outbound was hampered by a 10 minute delay due to an MBCR local receiving priority and making its station stop at Mansfield before we could proceed. Clearly if the T can gather the funds, an upgrade of the line from Mansfield-FOX-Franklin to 30mph would be beneficial in terms of running second trains to pick up stragglers and/or early trains. Perhaps second trainsets could be parked at sidings in Franklin or a siding in the vicinity of Mansfield.

Patrick

The Framingham Secodary's regular timetable was 25MPH up until a few years ago when the track went to crap in various sections, then they got lazy and made the whole thing a Temporary Speed Restriction of10MPH. This summer they put out a General Bulletin stating that they entire line is 10MPH. This is CSXT's track, not the MBTA.

As for the 10 minute delay @ Mansfield that is because the football trains are extras and priority has to be given to the regular scheduled revenue trains.

As for extra trains for "stragglers", if people don't make it back to the station in 30 minutes afer the gme, the must not have been too responsible, it's not a 30 minute walk. Also if you go back and read other parts of this thread you will see that having more than one train from each direction isn't feasible.

In Sunday's Boston Globe, there was an article published that stated how much the MBTA has lost this December because the Patriots did not make the playoffs The numbers are interesting...

MBTA shares grief on Pats
Still sore about the Patriots missing the NFL playoffs? So is the MBTA.

The T says it made $53,125 last year running special commuter trains to and from home playoff games. That's about five minutes' pay for Tom Brady, but the T could use the money.

The indebted transit system still sold more Patriots train tickets during the recently ended regular season than it did during the undefeated 2007 season, so it was down only about $30,000 from last year's numbers. Fans pay $12 for the round-trip tickets from South Station or Providence to Foxborough, a safer alternative for rambunctious tailgaters.

Joe Pesaturo, an MBTA spokesman and a diehard New York Giants fan, dodged when asked whether he was disappointed that the Patriots missed the playoffs: "Are you asking me on a personal level or a professional level?"