CSX Fitchburg Secondary Discussion

MatheusB2008 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 23, 2023 12:32 pm Off topic here, but as far as the yard in leominster goes:

The rail car has been moved, no longer in the yard
There is some main line strength rail dropped off there (jointed of course) with 3 piles of ballast
And there is a whole new switch there

I take it that this could be prep work for a restoration of the yard, whether that be for the new customer or general storage
DISCLAMER Yes I did technically trespass to go there, big whoop. But I can assure you I neither planned on or did touch anything there, whether that be switches, MOW cars, etc. I was simply on my bike cutting thru the pathway to avoid high traffic areas

You can actually see this new switch and a stack of new ties on the most recent Google Maps.

I was not able to find the new switch on the map
But the image is relatively recent. 16 cars at the c&d yard, 4 at teknor apex and 6 at the lumber facility in sterling

Thanks!
That’s a different and more recent image than what could find

That looks like it's going to be a replacement for the existing one at the north/west end of the yard. However, it's hard to tell (and hard to know what will happen - as an example, there's a high-speed crossover staged alongside the Amtrak main line in north Providence that (based on aerial photos) has been sitting there waiting to be installed for over three years just gathering rust...)

But I guess they are planning to do the runaround all the way up to the end of the line.

jamoldover wrote: ↑Thu Aug 31, 2023 4:46 pm That looks like it's going to be a replacement for the existing one at the north/west end of the yard. However, it's hard to tell (and hard to know what will happen - as an example, there's a high-speed crossover staged alongside the Amtrak main line in north Providence that (based on aerial photos) has been sitting there waiting to be installed for over three years just gathering rust...)

speaking of said xover; was installed a few weekends back at ORMS interlocking. Amtrak replaced the 21sw xover.

That staging area along the NEC is the Turnkey ind track

I took a ride and meandered around Pratt's Junction area. I also saw the empty lumber car that was empty on the siding in back of some company. Still didn't get a picture yet , but I will. I saw a track car coming east on Friday when I was going over the Rt 85 overpass.

The welded rail gang is working south, and as of today at 4PM,they are about 1/3 mile north of route 20 crossing in Northboro,ma.They should be working at route 20 area on Sunday.I spoke to workers 2 weeks ago and they said they started at 3AM, I am not sure if they still start that early.They work 8 10 hour days and than have 6 days offTHEY work Monday to Monday,and they should be off this Tuesday to Sunday.He was From Tennessee and had a 13 hour drive home.Where they are working Sunday is a great location to see them work. NORTHBORO has an apple fest going on today and Sunday right near the route 20 crossing.

All the heavy rain yesterday and last night did a lot of damage in Leominster. I saw some videos on the tv of the damage and railroad tracks were in the picture. Does anybody have any information as to what might be compromised?

T Commuter rail had several washouts and bank erosion issues. Looks like about a 30-35-foot double track washout made the national news.

over on the pan am boards I posted pictures of a big washout on the PAS/B&E/MBTA fitchburg mainline in north leominster. That said, there are reports of significant flooding on fall brook generally and by Lancaster st around fall brook. Fall brook goes under the fitchburg secondary right by the C&D facility. So the fitchburg secondary tracks or the c&d facility were def at risk of flood damage. We will see as more info becomes available.

The washed-out tracks shown on the news videos are located directly behind Wyman's Liquors (the 15 Railroad Square location) with Hamilton Street on the other side of the tracks, which is where the video was taken.
I don't know of any streams or culverts in that immediate area so I'm not sure what caused the roadbed to washout at that spot.

any further comments regarding the washout on the MBTA Fitchburg/Wachusett mainline should be directed to the MBTA commuter rail forum. Lets get back on topic for CSX's Fitchburg Secondary track.


***NOT to be confused with the MBTA Fitchburg mainline track; this specific post is related to CSX's Fitchburg Secondary branch***

There was track work being done with track equipment (same equipment being used for the welded rail installation further south?) at the Deershorn Rd crossing Tuesday around noon.