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  • Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.
Discussion of the operations of CSX Transportation, from 1980 to the present. Official site can be found here: CSXT.COM.

Moderator: MBTA F40PH-2C 1050

 #1473037  by Ironman
 
Stp243 wrote:Looks like some signal work being done on the B&A east of Springfield. The old type G tri-lights are coming down and new modern signals are going up. Could see excavation work being done around the base of them at Athol Jct and the new towers are already standing (one with heads installed but turned away) where the double track slims to one before the Wilbraham town line along Verge St. Anyone know if how far east this is going?
All the way to Worcester. Scheduled for early 2019 PTC completion.
 #1483396  by johnpbarlow
 
Interesting well illustrated article from 8/18/18 Saturday's Worcester Telegram:

http://www.telegram.com/news/20180818/t ... eavy-lifts

Highlights:

- Three trains arrive at the terminal each day
- We ship to 13 different destinations from here,” Ms. Oppedisano said, adding, “We go as far south as Winter Haven, Florida, as far west as Louisville, Cincinnati and the Ohio River Valley, and as far north as the New York and New Jersey ports
- The terminal averages 3,300 lifts a week.
- UPS is one of the terminal’s biggest customers, Ms. Oppedisano said. “We service the three major UPS facilities in this area: Worcester, Shrewsbury and the Chelmsford yard.”
- UPS freight doubles from Thanksgiving to Christmas Day, she said, the industry’s peak season. During those months, the yard is open 24/7.
- But...Mr. O’Connell worries that the state’s East-West rail plan for passenger service from Boston to Springfield could hinder some of the progress CSX has made in improving operations at its terminal here.
 #1483407  by bostontrainguy
 
Got to add that you will soon be able to watch a baseball game and see some rail action when the Pawtucket Red Sox move to Worcester in a couple pf years.
 #1483421  by Backshophoss
 
It's about that time of year again,when the Lake Shore Ltd returns to NY Penn in Sept,will CSX start their seasonal trackwork blitz on the B&A,
Forcing the busing of 448/449 till late OCT??
 #1489901  by Ironman
 
I'm happy to admit that it seems I was wrong in some of my other posts, things are looking up on the B&A now. The Pittsfield local is back and Q424 now runs with distributed power, it's been running 12,000+ tons all the way to Springfield. The old weight limit was 10,600 tons with all engines on the head end. A CSX local based in Worcester now runs the Q426/Q427 between Worcester and Ayer. A new online customer in Wilbraham is coming.
 #1489907  by bostontrainguy
 
Are Worcester and Springfield yards getting overwhelmed? The decision to kill Beacon Park seems rather shortsighted. There is unused yard space in Framingham which hasn't been given up. Is there any potential to reopen things there if the need arises?
 #1489917  by J.D. Lang
 
Here is a picture of Q425? westbound with the DPU that I took with my drone over Muddy Pond near the summit at Washington Ma. on 10-31-18.
Enjoy:
Q264 Muddy Pond.jpg
Q264 Muddy Pond.jpg (162.24 KiB) Viewed 4157 times
J.Lang
 #1489928  by Jeff Smith
 
Just a heads up the B&A may get some additional "passenger interference" via a pilot service to start in 2020 (http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=165466" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;):

Check the last page on the Amtrak thread...

Looks like a "pilot" is in the works, and will be run by Amtrak. I will cross-thread over to Amtrak.

I can't get the original source to load (theberkshireedge.com), so I'm providing a link to the Trains in the Valley FB page: https://www.facebook.com/trainsinthevalley/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
NEWS LINK — "Berkshire Flyer pilot rail service funded for 2020; passenger rail on Housatonic line remains a question mark" | Berkshire Edge

This article provides an excellent overview of the many efforts underway to expand passenger rail service in the Berkshires — a region that today is only served by a single long distance train.

Note in particular the focus on "last mile" travel options in Pittsfield for people using the Berkshire Flyer service, which is to start in the summer of 2020.
Note: when I was able to view the original source a few days ago, it specified Amtrak operation via "Rensselaer ".
 #1490066  by Stp243
 
Regarding the new customer in Wilbraham, would this be at the old garbage transload center on Old Boston Road? I noticed a lot of tree and land clearing in that area over the past few months. That facility still had a switch and siding if I remember right.
 #1491391  by Ironman
 
Stp243 wrote:Regarding the new customer in Wilbraham, would this be at the old garbage transload center on Old Boston Road? I noticed a lot of tree and land clearing in that area over the past few months. That facility still had a switch and siding if I remember right.
Yes, that's it. Five new tracks being built, switch still exists but the frog will have to be replaced. It's one of the special frogs that strongly favor the straight move, I think it's called a jump frog.
 #1491393  by Ironman
 
roberttosh wrote:CSX must be running a lot of heavy trains these days with everything into and out of New England being jammed onto three manifest pairs.
Yes, Q424 is regularly running 13,500 tons direct to West Springfield with DPU's. Q426 and Q436 are usually right at 10,500 tons with three engines no DPU. Q020 is now running with DPU's as well, regularly close to 12,000 feet long. I assume this will change soon with the DPU's and you'll see it running 14,000+ feet like Q004 on the river line.
 #1491632  by roberttosh
 
With all the new business coming on line in the Springfield area CSX may have to start running a second section of Q424/425 sometime in the not too distant future.
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