Question about E Deerfield yard...

[NellsChoo]

I am curious if anyone has a clue what the east end of the East Deerfield MA yard consists of. I know eventually eastbounds go over a big trestle, but is there an actual hump in the yard? Any old buildings? What are those big tall tanks with the "G" on them? Is that grain silo-type-thing active? Is it at all possible to get into the engine house without getting arrested??!

JD


East out of Deerfield Yard


A view into the yard from the "Railfan Bridge"

[SLR 393]

Nell
Check this pic out:
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20040 ... 827473.jpg

A long time ago (like late 80s) a couple of us walked up to the yard tower at the east end - the hump office. The people there were pretty cool, they didn't seem to mind. If I remember correctly, the hump is about 12 tracks. Then there are 12 flat tracks between the hump tracks and the main, which skirts the yard on the south side. No retarders, its a small hump. When I first started going to EDY around 85, there used to be two switchers on during the day, east end and west end. Very cool! I have a lot of slides from those trips, B&M and GRS painted switchers still working the yard.

The tall towers with the big G's are sanding towers.

No way to get into the engine house, but you can go down McClelland (sp?) farm road - a public way - and use a telephoto to see a fair amount.
http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?20030 ... 010798.jpg

The grain place is still in business, they used to get boxcars and covered hoppers there.

[ProRail]

At the east end of the yard there is a yard tower but its not a brick one like the one abandoned at the west end. The tower has offices for the Yard, Track and Signal Depts. Not much to look at. The hump yard lead is out front. The Hump does not have retarders like Selkirk since its not very steep and cars don't roll very far into the classification yard.

Before that is the engine servicing facilities, car shop (in the old roundhouse), locomotive shop (a more modern building) and places where they store the wreck train and other equipment.

I strongly recommend NOT trespassing in that direction. The Railroad Police have an office there so they have a strong presence. It is also an extremely dangerous and busy place. There are RR owned trucks moving about the yard at all time shuffle men and equipment around and since its all dirt roads it is very dust and thus sometimes hard to see when driving.
The Rip tracks are also there and those cars are dangerous due to whatever mechanical defects that sidelined them in the first place.

You also cannot see much going on if the switcher is drilling the yard since the tracks are so long the train is sometimes buried out of view.

Stay on the Railfan Bridge. Its public property, you won't be hassled and its commonly accepted to be a gathering spot.