CSX Readville Yard Boston

Where exactly into Boston do trains from Readville go? Up the NEC or through Dorcester? What's the final destination?

Also, what's the route they use to Framingham?

Any freight from readville to Boston would use the dorchester branch. To Framingham, the route is the Franklin branch to Walpole, then north on the Framingham secondary, Walpole to Framingham.

theseaandalifesaver wrote:Where exactly into Boston do trains from Readville go? Up the NEC or through Dorcester? What's the final destination?

Also, what's the route they use to Framingham?

highwayman wrote:Any freight from readville to Boston would use the dorchester branch. To Framingham, the route is the Franklin branch to Walpole, then north on the Framingham secondary, Walpole to Framingham.

Moves up the Dorchester Branch also only happen at night after commuter rail has stopped, since it requires going through otherwise busy Southampton Yard. The only customers CSX currently serves inbound of Readville are Boston Food Market at Widett Circle (one of the trucking warehouses next to the commuter rail maintenance facility), and the Boston Globe in Dorchester to deliver giant rolls of newsprint. BFM is as-needed...usually not more than once a week. The Globe is getting extremely rare as they outsource more printing to the suburbs, and those deliveries will stop altogether when they move out of Globe HQ to downtown with all printing relocated to the 'burbs.

Should container traffic start at Marine Terminal down Track 61, it'll be the same basic overnight job just expanded to nightly instead of on-demand.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:

theseaandalifesaver wrote:Where exactly into Boston do trains from Readville go? Up the NEC or through Dorcester? What's the final destination?

Also, what's the route they use to Framingham?

highwayman wrote:Any freight from readville to Boston would use the dorchester branch. To Framingham, the route is the Franklin branch to Walpole, then north on the Framingham secondary, Walpole to Framingham.

Moves up the Dorchester Branch also only happen at night after commuter rail has stopped, since it requires going through otherwise busy Southampton Yard. The only customers CSX currently serves inbound of Readville are Boston Food Market at Widett Circle (one of the trucking warehouses next to the commuter rail maintenance facility), and the Boston Globe in Dorchester to deliver giant rolls of newsprint. BFM is as-needed...usually not more than once a week. The Globe is getting extremely rare as they outsource more printing to the suburbs, and those deliveries will stop altogether when they move out of Globe HQ to downtown with all printing relocated to the 'burbs.

Should container traffic start at Marine Terminal down Track 61, it'll be the same basic overnight job just expanded to nightly instead of on-demand.

The Boston Globe hasn't gotten a box car delivery in almost 2 years. The Cold Storage trk is where the frozen box cars are stored for offloading/loading. Just last week there were 3 cars there, along with a few days of single cars, usually the ADMN frozen storage cars...but yes, they are as needed

The Boston Globe switch has had its frog and switch points removed in the last few days...Nothing official in our Bulletin Order about it being OOS yet...say so long to the Boston Globe siding!

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:Moves up the Dorchester Branch also only happen at night after commuter rail has stopped, since it requires going through otherwise busy Southampton Yard.
Should container traffic start at Marine Terminal down Track 61, it'll be the same basic overnight job just expanded to nightly instead of on-demand.

First off, when CSXT goes from Readville to The Boston Globe, they DO NOT go through Southampton Street Yard. The normal move is Dorchester Branch to clear Broad Interlocking and then shove west to the Middleboro Main at Cabot and south to The Globe. After switching the Globe there are 3 options for returning to Readville.

1) Pull into "The New Yard" at Fly Interlocking and go down one track, cut the engine away and run around the cars, then pull out onto the Middleboro Main at Fly and shove back to clear Broad and go west via the Dorchester Branch
2) Go from Globe to clear Broad and the shove around the loop and clear South Bay interlocking by the American Cold Storage building. The head west on the Dorchester Branch.

3)Leave The Globe and head north to Broad to the Wye Connector and take the Corridor back to Transfer and shove back into "1 Yard" at Readville.



In regards to container traffic at the terminal, I doubt it will ever happen and there's no long a direct connection between the Dorchester Branch and the lead to 1st Street.

CSX Conductor wrote:In regards to container traffic at the terminal, I doubt it will ever happen and there's no long a direct connection between the Dorchester Branch and the lead to 1st Street.

It is going to happen. Massport applied for $84M worth of TIGER grants for the Southie ports to build the Conley Haul Road, do the Marine Terminal north expansion, spur Track 61 near Drydock Ave. to the north expansion and do whatever demolition work gets it there, and modify the interlockings for a straight shot off the Dorchester Branch. They only got a portion of the funding in the last round of awards, so Conley Haul Rd. is the first fully-funded and shovel-ready project in the bunch. That construction starts next year with land prep already underway tied to the Conley expansion. They're trying again for the Track 61 grants by rolling in that Convention Center DMU shuttle to sweeten the pot and open up alternative funding sources. If the DMU plan happens, the Marine Terminal rail access happens in a single construction package. There is some track schematic in one of the documents itemizing what switches and structures in Southampton would be modified, but I can't locate them today on Google.


Now...when they have the actual customers to serve at the terminal and how successful Massport and the BRA are going to be at attracting said customers is anyone's guess. That's on their shoulders entirely. But the actual track configuration is set, and if it should get scrubbed by changing priorities or other complications the BCEC passenger dinky gets scrubbed along with it.

I'm in Boston for the next week and took a ride by Readville today and saw the fewest amount of cars in the yard I've ever seen. Is this just a rare occurrence and because I went to visit on a Saturday? Or has this been a regular thing?

Where is the Lumber coming from? I still don't understand where these cars are coming from and why they make it to Readville just to end up back in Framingham. Not any of these go to Boston anymore, correct?

I think Readville is holding its own with new business to the old Stop & Shop DC starting up during the past few months. Home Depot's distribution center in Norwood receives lumber on centerbeam flatcars originating from the US & Canadian west, the southeast and eastern Canaada as well as lumber/products and plywood in boxcars, too, via Readville.

How about Cohenno and Trask on the Stoughton branch? Are they still receiving rail?

AmtrakLocomotiveEngineer wrote:How about Cohenno and Trask on the Stoughton branch? Are they still receiving rail?

I believe only cohenno, there is a boxcar spotted there right now(1/14/19).

Tracer wrote:

AmtrakLocomotiveEngineer wrote:How about Cohenno and Trask on the Stoughton branch? Are they still receiving rail?

I believe only cohenno, there is a boxcar spotted there right now(1/14/19).

Correct Cohenno is the only customer that is receiving cars on the stoughton branch. Things are slow this time of year but picks up soon.
Good new is now that Foxboro terminal is closing only receiving wine cars. The beer contract has split to several distribution centers, one of them ABEX (old stop&shop) out behind Readville is now receiving a part of Foxboro Terminal beer contract they are getting 2 switches a day from B710 if the cars are available.

Home Depot is slow also getting a switch daily

Local B710 will be going on duty in Readville at 5:00am in the next couple weeks

You are correct about Coheno Lumber in Stoughton, Mass. Although there are a few other sidings along that line that begins at Canton Jctn , and South into downtown Stoughton only the lumber yard is active. Over a decade ago there was a run away lumber car that got loose from the lumber yard siding & traveled downgrade several miles towards Canton before a MBTA train came face to face with it. Cab signals alerted the engineer that something was on the line ahead of him and was able to slow his train & reverse it before a major crash took place. The problem was due to lack of a de-rail device being in place on the siding.

John Smythe wrote:You are correct about Coheno Lumber in Stoughton, Mass. Although there are a few other sidings along that line that begins at Canton Jctn , and South into downtown Stoughton only the lumber yard is active. Over a decade ago there was a run away lumber car that got loose from the lumber yard siding & traveled downgrade several miles towards Canton before a MBTA train came face to face with it. Cab signals alerted the engineer that something was on the line ahead of him and was able to slow his train & reverse it before a major crash took place. The problem was due to lack of a de-rail device being in place on the siding.

John, I'm sorry but your info right regarding the runaway flat isn't 100%. 1) Ronnie (The T engineer) was already stopped at RTE128 when this went down. 2) Due to ACSES, he was unable to reverse to try to soften the hit as he got a penalty of the brakes. 3) The problem was due to a new employee at Cohenno moving the flatcar with a forklift to clear the driveway. This practice was done regularly but the car was always guided the opposite direction of the main line because it was downhill into their building, and also to avoid something like the runaway from happening. Unfortunately, that day the regular guy Marty was not working and someone new moved the car the wrong way. There was a derail there, but it was an older flop style derail and with the bulkhead flat weighing about 120tons, it just rolled right over it.


Regarding the first siding at Canton Center, that was formerly PLymouth Rubber, which ceased rail activity in about 2003 or so. Last I heard, Keolis track department occasionally uses it for track cars. Other than that the siding is unused. The only other breaks in the iron are Cohenno & Warren Trask.

Btw, from what I understand, there are no longer any customers downtown, so CSXT has no reason to go east on the Dorchester Branch. Last I heard the only customer at RTE128 was Home Depot......and the old Stop & Shop is getting some boxcars of wine. Perhaps CSX Engineer98 can bring us more up to date. It's sad seeing Readville so dead, but at least it's still trying to hang on. More painful is Beacon Park.