Gardner Gawking

[jaymac]

Proving that serendipitous timing is everything, things were busy a coupla miles west of PAS's highest elevation during the late morning of 04-15-2011. ED495 with NewBlue 310 and OldPaint 614 plus 39 were east of CPF-345 at 1030. Construction may picking up, given the string of Ciment Quebec hoppers on the tail. Next, the LCT made a stop to pick up a company rider, and with NSs 8856, 8693, and 9693 plus 88, was east of town at 1103. Final, concluding the easterly motif, TC 1612 got on at the Heywood, heading towards ever-lower-numbered MPs a few later.

[trainsinmaine]

Anybody know where those Ciment Quebec hoppers come from (as in, what route they take to get to PAS) and where they're heading?

[jaymac]

trainsinmaine-
Haven't seen any CQ bills, but others have said PAS gets the cars from CP/DH, so that would seem like MOED/ED495 or other EB outta ED/NA-1 from PAS to PAR to the CQ facility on Johnson Road in Bow. A bit of both Googling and Gearthing showed the main CQ facility in St.-Basil, P.Q., and another, but small CQ distribution facility at East Baldwin or thereabouts, Maine, which is currently truck-supplied. I didn't dig deeper than seeing the hit, but there was also a Maine DoT hit for the E. Baldwin CQ and the Mountain Division.

[newpylong]

They come down out of Saratoga on D&H train 412, and the combined with 413 to form MOED, or at least they used to. Not sure how it works now...

[jaymac]

On 04-20-2011 at 0915, the yard was fairly full. Besides racks, there were covered hoppers, at least some in plastics service, and loaded open hoppers, Sullivan and AEMX, as well as a couple of TFM gons with coiled wire, presumably for PW pickup. A couple of gons were on the dead track, mebbe for tie service. On the live portion of 2 by The Jade were a few piles of enough sand to keep all the nearby cats happy, presumably from an EB that had stopped and had trouble getting going again.

[jaymac]

During lunch break on 05-02-2011, in between bites, noticed that there was a good accumulation of rust on the Heywood. IS NEWW a lesser or no-longer customer now?

[newpylong]

they are still active. Never got more than one switch a week from what I remember.

[MCER401]

I caught MEC 381 coming off the Heywood tonight around 5:30pm with 2 empties from NEWW.

They also moved the 2 black tankers that have been sitting on the old station track near the MART maintenance facility and parked them on the Heywood. Does anyone know if the MART is using whatever is in those tankers, or are they just bad order cars?

[jaymac]

On 05-09-2011 at 0930, the two black tanks were still on the Heywood. According to a local and frequent observer, one or more trucks had been replaced.
Also, a PW pickup showed up in the lower paved lot, and according to the same frequent observer, the PW sends the truck to inspect cars prior to accepting them. Southbound racks were getting eyeballed when I left.
A bit to the west, but still somewhat Gardnerish, there is reportedly spot tie work going on in the Royalston area.

[atholrail]

That "spot tie work" at Royalston "should" be the scrap tie crew picking up all the junk along the ROW

[jaymac]

atholrail-
That's what I deservedly get for reporting what others said.

[jaymac]

As of sometime before 0820 on 05-13-2011, those long-time Gardner fixtures, the two black tanks, have gone. Sitting on the old T track were shiny yellow MOW devices, a spreader and a tamper. Mebbe Dead Track reanimation is at hand!

[newpylong]

more than likely just a good spot to stash MOW equipment out of the way, ha.

[jaymac]

Lately and regardless of the day, Gardner gawking has been a Friday the 13th for me, but today, Friday the 13th plus a week, Gardner gawking was active.
At 0726, ED495 with NewBlues 505 and 607 stopped on 2 a bit west of CPF-345 with however long or short a train obscured around the curve to wait for EDPO and a following TC to go west. ED495 was next supposed to go down Da Hill and take 1 to the place still called the Bike Shop. By 0729, OldPaints 333, 510, and 379 plus 73 were west of 345 at a good clip with a good amount of slurries, some LPGs, and a couple each of TiO2 and HCl tanks plus boxcars. Curiously, there were neither lumber loads nor MTs. At 0735, the 346.6 talker called out 3,418 of length without the infamous "train too slow." This was just seconds before the westbound TC cleared 345.
The signal on 2 stayed solid red, so I got into looking-around mode and saw more ground-up sand on the trucks and lower carbody of 505 than I had ever noticed on any other OldPaint, Smurf, or NewBlue. Just about then and in explanation, D-3 asked 505 if it was still having wheel slip and got the answer yes, but then it would dig in. The signal still didn't change, and at 0748, D-3 told ED495 that it would be held until the OCS -- which still hadn't left Ayer -- went west. The prospect of a wheel-slipping 505 on wet rail maybe stalling east of 345 and west of the summit on the single and thus delaying the OCS was seemingly enough to go into caution mode.
Maybe ED495 set out at Fitchburg, but it wasn't until 1059 that it rolled through Ayer on 1 with 17(yes, seventeen).

[atholrail]

ED495 setout their Ayer's and Fitch's at OX...