Beacon Park Tracker

We now have seniority all the way out to Chicago and down to Richmond but prior rights does have effect on all terminal under the new Northern Mid Atlantic District roster.

railman616 wrote:We now have seniority all the way out to Chicago and down to Richmond but prior rights does have effect on all terminal under the new Northern Mid Atlantic District roster.

Can I come back? Lol.

No!

The year's end is upon us and Beacon Park still appears to be in full swing (at least for intermodal traffic). I'm curious what the permanent effect will be on other manifest from the temporary Grand Junction closure (hopefully it will resume as it were, but I'm skeptical). I've been watching closely and I really see no signs of them phasing out any operations, the yard appears to be shipping and receiving very consistently day by day. Has there been another delay in Harvard's takeover or on CSX's new developments?

Wasn't UPS sending trail vans to Beacon Park for delivery to the Charlestown UPS facility? I recall a long while ago seeing UPS trailers @ Beacon Park..

j

I havent seen the UPS train in Beacon Park for years now.

the UPS train normally starts and terminates in Worcester Yard. has for a few years.. I have seen the occasional ups trailer in Beacon park on a train... but for the most part they all go to Worcester. the last I checked Becaon Park - they where still getting 1 train a day of Trailers. however all the road power is still going to Boston also. there is also a local that still goes to beacon park to service Houghton and anyone else still there. I hear them occastionally when I get out of work following a comuter to boston out of framingham.

As of yesterday, January 5, 2013, the intermodal operation at Beacon Park appeared to still be in full operation and seems to have expanded into the yard between the engine house and Houghton Chemical. Anyone know what the new plan is?

Even when beacon park closes down, there's plenty of yards east of worcester to take the traffic. Readville is in a critical spot for multiple reasons. Framingham has two yards that are in operation plus the walpole yard. Csx will be fine east of worcester if traffic doesn't pick up substantially.

Mbta fan wrote:Even when beacon park closes down, there's plenty of yards east of worcester to take the traffic. Readville is in a critical spot for multiple reasons. Framingham has two yards that are in operation plus the walpole yard. Csx will be fine east of worcester if traffic doesn't pick up substantially.

What reasons might that be? Althou it does seem like readville is seeing a bit more traffic of late....
Ted

Ted, are u asking to elaborate on why readville is important for multiple reasons or do u want me to expand on what I said? I'm not sure what u want know.

MBTA FAN.......Just wondering what might be in store for Readville. Ive been going to the yard from back in NH days. I miss the days of 3-4 sd80s or c40-8w pulling in every day. What are the reasons you mentioned?
Thank Ted

The yard has become quite empty. They're still handling one Piggy back/COFC train a day it appears, but it seems to be getting shorter. Houghton's cars show up, and the junction's cars were there tonight, I assume waiting to be brought to Everett. Surplus equipment has been scrapped, and the good equipment is where the surplus (dead stuff) once sat. It's beginning to look like the end there.

Ted, readville is in a critical spot for these reasons. Has direct connections to lines that it serves, has access to one of the nations most critical rail corridors and is the last moderate sized yard east of Framingham and south of the city that would be left after beacon park closes. Many locals run from readville that serves everything from the Boston globe in Dorchester(i think) to Robert Bury panels in my hometown of walpole. All the small yards around metro boston can't handle traffic like readville can. Walpole's yard is only 4-6 tracks that are usually half full at most. I've seen walpole's yard empty for a while and readville has always had something in the yard when I go by.

MBTA FAN......
Hi neighbor !! Im in Dedham and have been going there almost daily since the Penn Central days. I hope they keep the yard and bring more traffic into it. I remember the yard having hundred car trains coming in all the time. Sad to see it now. Walpoles small yard has always interested me because its perfect size for modeling.
Ted