Ethanol Trains to Revere

There will be a Pan Am test train from AYER to REVERE this morning, Saturday 6-26, to look over the route for proposed Ethanol service on the old East Boston Branch. The train, probably just a pair of light engines, will depart AYER behind MBCR train #1406, due to leave AYER at 944am, and run to BOSTON, over the 4th Iron (out behind BET) and follow MBCR train #1157, due out of North Station at 1130am. The extra will turn at WONDERLAND and head back to AYER, it is planned to get them out of BOSTON ahead of MBCR train #1459.

When service starts, any word on origin-interchange? NS, CSX-RJ, CSX-Barbers, or NECR-Millers Falls?
If anyone hears a massive sigh, it'll probably one of relief from folks along The Brook...

Don't know at this time, the East Boston Branch has been in a state of neglect for many years and will probably need some serious re-hab, the least of which is a switch off the Eastern Route mainline that was removed from service a few years ago.

I'm assuming this will be a dedicated monster of a train. Good to hear business is increasing!

Is the Global Oil terminal on Rte 1A the proposed terminus?
just perusing the google satellite images,
I can see where that branch starts, just south of Bell circle, where a 1A bridge crosses over the MBCR tracks,

the right of way looks pretty seriously abandoned...

would Global do blending there for local distribution, or would the methanol be transferred to outgoing ships?

Its running late, as of 1030am, the test train has not appeared on MBCR iron.

Interesting development. I thought PAR was slowly trying to rid themselves of HAZMAT traffic.

bmcdr wrote:Its running late, as of 1030am, the test train has not appeared on MBCR iron.

A call to Boston West TD reveals, still no test train, District 2 has not heard from District 3 as to the whereabouts of the test train............stay tuned.

Hello David,

Thanks for the play-by-play report! I'm anxiously looking forward to finding out where this thing is and exactly what they are going to do. Will you grab pictures?

Chuck

The majority of that branch has been ripped up and turned into a rail trail, right?

MEC407 wrote:Interesting development. I thought PAR was slowly trying to rid themselves of HAZMAT traffic.

TIH (Toxic by Inhalation ) is what concerns them, mostly becasue of the added costs associated with stringent federal regulations. They have to run a special train just for the TIH loads to Merrimack (Jones) and Bow (PSNH). I see several placarded cars on the road freights, so I don't think they're shy about haz-mat, as long as it's profitable.
On a side note, here's some reading on TIH-it's scary stuff.
http://www.thei3p.org/docs/events/ifip2 ... artong.pdf

bmcdr wrote:

bmcdr wrote:Its running late, as of 1030am, the test train has not appeared on MBCR iron.

A call to Boston West TD reveals, still no test train, District 2 has not heard from District 3 as to the whereabouts of the test train............stay tuned.

Well nothing down the line here yet and 1408 is almost due, as is outbound 1407, so maybe not before 1407 gets to Ayer at 1230.

Yes and no. Google Maps reveals that a lot of the rail has been ripped up. but not converted to a rail trail.

Where would the ethanol train go? It looks like a train wouldn't be able to go very far beyond Global Revere Terminal.

cpf354 wrote:

bmcdr wrote:

bmcdr wrote:Its running late, as of 1030am, the test train has not appeared on MBCR iron.

A call to Boston West TD reveals, still no test train, District 2 has not heard from District 3 as to the whereabouts of the test train............stay tuned.

Well nothing down the line here yet and 1408 is almost due, as is outbound 1407, so maybe not before 1407 clears the Willows at around 1225?.

Keep me informed, as I am within a couple minutes range of King Street in Littleton.

Mcoov wrote:Yes and no. Google Maps reveals that a lot of the rail has been ripped up. but not converted to a rail trail.

Where would the ethanol train go? It looks like a train wouldn't be able to go very far beyond Global Revere Terminal.

If this is the same line I'm thinking of, from the MBTA Airport station to the waterfront has all been converted to rail trail. The section of track that's left is in AWFUL condition. It literally wouldn't be able to continue past the section that it's parallel to route 1A.