CSX Track Upgrades & Infrastructure of Pan Am

RJ Corman has had a high rail ten wheeler with boom for dropping ties parked at the Clinton depot this week. Today the equivalent PAR ten wheeler along with a PAR pickup truck were at the old depot. Neither ten wheeler had ties on it. On a (sort of) related note, the Fitchburg running track consist has been tied down close to the depot for the last couple of days. There are no C&D cars but there are boxcars. It looks like after servicing the lower half of the line, they never returned south and just tied down.

I am curious - in the places where Pan Am "could have" run at 50 MPH but chose to cap their speeds at 40 MPH (ie between Plaistow and Portland) - is CSX still sticking to 40 or have they upped it to 50?

Thanks, by the way, for all of the great information that is shared in this group.

I haven't heard of (or witnessed) any speed increases yet; only rumors that they might do so at some unspecified point in the future.

Personal observations: the Plaistow-Portland line hasn't had its rails grinded (ground?) in a pretty long time. 10-15 years, I think...? Seems like it might be due or overdue for that. And I wouldn't be surprised if another tie job is in the cards. Also wondering if there's any bridge work needed. The Saco Main Street bridge was rebuilt a few years ago, but other than that, I don't think there's been any significant bridge work elsewhere on the Plaistow-Portland line since 2000-2001.

One half of the combined CWR trains has been dropped on the west end of the Camp track at Ayer as of 1115 Saturday 7/30/23. Not sure where CWRX portion of the CWR train that came into Worcester is.

Dropped as in the CWR was actually dropped on the ROW, or just the train itself was dropped into the siding?

Apologies…I should have said “tied down” instead of dropped. As far as I could tell, no rail has been dispensed from this consist.

johnpbarlow wrote: ↑Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:41 am One half of the combined CWR trains has been dropped on the west end of the Camp track at Ayer as of 1115 Saturday 7/30/23. Not sure where CWRX portion of the CWR train that came into Worcester is.

The other half is on the Worcester main on the Clinton siding. Pictures from about 3pm today. Same power as your pictures from Ayer. Power is on the Worcester end of the siding.

The rail in Clinton is most likely then for the upgrade through the reservoir watershed

Just to clarify a picture on NE Rail photo archive identifies the rear car as this boxcar---http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ex=1&key2= that is actually the lead car of the train behind the locomotive. The "rear car" that spits the rail out is this one------http://photos.nerail.org/showpic/?photo ... ex=1&key2=

I wonder what size rail it is? That may give a clue as to where it's going.

The switch panels dropped at Burncoat St and Clinton feature 136 pound rail. Much of the installed Worcester main's rail is 100 lb or 115 lb rail.

Q: what is the order in which a major rehab of a line's rail, ties, and ballast is typically conducted? Replace rails first followed by replacing worn ties followed by dropping stone followed by surfacing? I'm guessing a lot of ties will need replacing on the Worcester main. Thanks.

Ties first (easier to attach new rail to good ties than existing junk ties) ,followed by new rail, drop ballast, raise and align track, dress up stone.

OK - once CWR strings are dropped, we should then see work trains begin delivering stacks of ties, I guess.

I’m watching Keolis rehab the Fitchburg line inside 128. The order they’re doing it in is rail first, and presumably they will eventually break open the stacks of ties that have been sitting next to the track for a couple years and start replacing them. They’re replacing 115# rail with 136#, and using pandrol clips instead of spikes for the new rail. Maybe they didn’t want the extra holes in the new ties?

When they rebuilt the Western for the DownEaster, it was definitely ties first, then the CWR. Ties on the Fitchburg (MBTA) aren't nearly as beat up as those on the Worcester main and Stoney Brook so not really a full rebuild.