Building in wye at Lawrence Ma

[talltim]

Does anyone know what the building on the east side of the M&L branch wye at Lawrence is?
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Law ... b54e1fd5db" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
http://binged.it/1C6iA9V" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
It seems to be some sort of raised loading facility, but is too far from the line to serve the railroad. Looking at the older satellite views in Google Earth it has been there since at least 1992. Judging by the way the unpaved road to it has disappeared it now appears to out of use,.

[BostonUrbEx]

It seems to be some sort of raised loading facility, but is too far from the line to serve the railroad.

In the present day. There was likely more tracks in the past.

In fact, according to historicaerials.com imagery, the building was there at least as early as 1963. The clearest imagery is 1971, where you can see the building and two tracks. The additional track abutted the building. Couldn't tell you what it was, though.

[talltim]

Thanks. That puts research back to B&M days, rather than Guilford. I suspected by its location and the shape of the southern wall that it was built when there were more tracks in the area. What puzzles me was that it appears to be still in use long after the track serving it was removed.
http://www.historicaerials.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; looks like a very useful site, bookmarked for the future.

[Hux]

Thanks. That puts research back to B&M days, rather than Guilford. I suspected by its location and the shape of the southern wall that it was built when there were more tracks in the area. What puzzles me was that it appears to be still in use long after the track serving it was removed.
http://www.historicaerials.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; looks like a very useful site, bookmarked for the future.

Given that it is within the wye, wouldn't it likely have originally been a railroad property...ie maintenance related?

[TPR37777]

The upper portion of the building has several large overhead doors, the interior is filled with gravel, and from having been inside it I believe that it was used to load gondolas with ballast before being abandoned. Did it start life out as a coal tower? Not sure. Someone has tried, in vain, to keep homeless people from living there but they keep breaking in. The dirt road leading up to the top is littered with syringes and the current residents are less than benign so I would avoid exploring the site. The large grassy area within the wye was only closed off to vehicular traffic within the last year or so, prior to that it was a dumping ground for stolen vehicles and construction debris.

[JCitron]

There was quite some operation there a very long time ago.

http://www.historicmapworks.com/Map/US/ ... South+Side" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The building you see there now once held a concrete distributor who received concrete by rail and distributed it to their trucks. I remember watching the operation as a kid while my mom was getting the car worked on at Manzi Dodge, which is the big empty parking lot today. When she'd mention we were going to get the car worked on, my eyes lit up because I knew I'd see something interesting. When I was a bit older, I'd walk up to Salem Street and watch the train action from the bridge.

John