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  • MOW Equipment at Medfield Jct

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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New England

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 #1387167  by charding
 
...on the NERAIL photo archive site, Steve Hurley has a couple of photos of MOW equipment in the Bay Colony siding at Midfield Jct on the Framingham Secondary...are they, the infamous 'they', going to continue the track upgrade toward Walpole?
 #1387173  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
Yes. Tons of rail and ties have been dropped along the Secondary from Framingham all points south ever since last Fall, so they're quietly but steadily chipping away at the state-of-repair backlog. As well as re-doing crossing surfaces and installing full-gated crossing protection on most of the formerly flashers-only crossings. The work was obligated as an I.O.U. when CSX sold the line to the state. The line certainly looks worlds cleaner than it used to; CSX were chronic deadbeats on brush-cutting, and everything is now freshly-manicured.


I don't know who MassDOT is contracting out to do the work. Iowa Pacific? It's not in-house via borrowed MBTA crews, and CSX doesn't have much direct participation.
 #1387420  by charding
 
...this is great to see...one of my favorite lines...what's the latest on commuter rail from Gillette? With the upgraded rail, should make the start of this service, if approved, easier...
 #1387428  by charding
 
...could be right about Iowa Pacific...notice in this week's Walpole Times, there's a legal notice to the Walpole Conservation Commission from the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad (owned by Iowa Pacific I think)...hearing scheduled for June 8...in accordance with the Wetlands Protection Act...
 #1387669  by fogg1703
 
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:I don't know who MassDOT is contracting out to do the work. Iowa Pacific? It's not in-house via borrowed MBTA crews, and CSX doesn't have much direct participation.
Looks like a lot of NBM Rail MOW equipment.
 #1388646  by dbperry
 
MBTA has been very happy with the productivity of the Keolis work crews doing the tie replacement and rail destressing projects on the Framingham-Worcester line. Both those projects are scheduled to be complete in June 2016, so it would make sense that they might get the Framingham secondary work. Which would be consistent with the "extra work" theory in this article;

https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/ ... story.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The T and Keolis are negotiating several proposals that could funnel more money to Keolis, including offering employees extra work refurbishing old locomotives and splitting fare revenue if Keolis invests in ways to help the T collect some of the $35 million that currently goes uncollected.

The T has also allowed Keolis to take on extra work. In 2015, Keolis performed about $27 million worth of services outside its contract, according to Keolis’s financial statements. Those included jobs such as inspecting bridges and moving equipment.