Green Line Extension Lechmere to Medford

[Arlington]

Big piles of ballast have been delivered to many spots throughout Somerville along the Lowell Line. Some is holding back the retaining walls, but what is the rest for?

[ceo]

Also, the other day I noticed it looked like new rail had been delivered along the corridor, at least in the vicinity of the Central St bridge. It might have been the rail left over from the old freight track (it was two rails next to each other, next to the inbound commuter rail track), but I had thought that had all been taken out.
Incidentally, the newly-rebuilt Hoyt-Sullivan Playground has a nice overlook over the corridor.

[Arlington]

I'm pretty sure that the freight track was stick rail (wasn't it?) so if the rail you/we see is jointed then it is being taken out.

[ceo]

This really looked like CWR. And the freight track was definitely stick rail, at least the bit near the Lowell St bridge I watched them taking out.

[ceo]

OK, so they're building a track for real along there, to shift the CR to that side of the corridor and make room for bridge abutment and retaining wall work along the other side. MassDOT sent out a notice that the new ties are going to reek of creosote before they get covered with ballast.

Do we want a new thread for construction updates? Right now they're getting split between this thread and GLX Impact on NH Route (Lowell Line).

[zski128]

That was me posting on the Lowell line thread. I can start posting glx updates here. All the old rail was removed a while back so all the rail you see now is new. There is a mix of cwr and some stick rail along the route now. There looks to be a permanent switch installed just south of the bridge entering Boston. Not sure how they will swing to Lowell line over, it will be a fairly sharp turn.

[kwf]

They layed down the ties for the new track in the Somerville Jct area and the rail is being put in place

[Arlington]

Can anyone quickly explain how laying a third track (and then taking out one or two of the existing)works better than relocating one of the tracks that's already there?

[MBTA3247]

Cutting the rails at either end of the new triple-track section and dragging those over to connect them to the new track can be done in a day or less, which is way faster than dragging the entire track over.

[ceo]

To be clear, that's a day or less of having to take the Lowell Line out of service, as opposed to the entire week or so it would take to drag the track over. What I don't know is if the track is going to be pulled up, or left in place to become the inbound Green Line track when they're done.

[CRail]

Do we want a new thread for construction updates? Right now they're getting split between this thread and GLX Impact on NH Route (Lowell Line).

Mod Note: I don’t think another thread for the topic is necessary, though I do think GLX impacts on RR infrastructure warrants it’s own discussion. Just use your best judgment as to which your comments better fit in, and certainly use the quoting feature to cross reference between the two.

[Arlington]

Do we happen to know yet whether they will be using concrete sleepers or wooden ones on the GLX?

As we speculate on whether today's commuter rail tracks could become the future GLX tracks 1 limiting question could be as simple as the weight of the rail and the choice of sleeper material.

[MBTA3247]

From a standpoint of weight, commuter rail tracks would have no problem handling light rail vehicles. They would, however, at a minimum need to be re-ground to match the APTA track profile used by transit lines. I'm not familiar enough with the differences between that and the AAR profile to say if they would need to relay the track altogether.

[zski128]

Do we happen to know yet whether they will be using concrete sleepers or wooden ones on the GLX?

As we speculate on whether today's commuter rail tracks could become the future GLX tracks 1 limiting question could be as simple as the weight of the rail and the choice of sleeper material.

So far it seems like all wooden ties.

[orange1234]

Do we happen to know yet whether they will be using concrete sleepers or wooden ones on the GLX?

As we speculate on whether today's commuter rail tracks could become the future GLX tracks 1 limiting question could be as simple as the weight of the rail and the choice of sleeper material.

I have a feeling it'll all be wooden as concrete ties amplify the noise of wheels.